Best Pickups for Jazz?
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Huggy Love
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This is going in two different directions in my mind, warm is hotter and I guess your term most acoustic would mean more passive to me.
The players in the vid are so good that they make it sound great but IMHO the PRS Archtop pickups have a more jazz tone to my ears than the 58/15.
From my experience I've found that a more passive pickup and just enough gain on the amp will get you a better and *more controllable* jazz tone. If your pickups are warmer you can get a fat tone for single note runs but can't roll back to a clearer tone for chording as well as a less hot pickup.
Actually Huggy, in the audio world warm means “less-extended top end” or “less top end shrillness.”
It doesn’t mean “hotter.” A hotter pickup will usually be brighter, and therefore less warm. I realize that doesn’t seem to make logical sense, but there you have it.
Incidentally, in PRS pickups, if you can find a set of 53/10s, they’re incredible pickups for jazzier tones; articulate, rounded attack, but not as bright as other PRS pickups, including the 58/15s, 58/15 LTs, etc., that are actually pretty sparkly/bright pickups.
Huggy Love
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My bad, I had my head turned around on the terminology, but from what I actually think I have right is the lower the DC res, the more passive a circuit it is, correct? and that's where the arch top PUs excel being the lowest DC Res of PRS PUs.
I've tried HBs with 58/15s and other pups but they all sounded brighter & "sparkly"-er to me than the archtops.
sergiodeblanc
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I agree with Les and Huggy, 53/10’s or some Archtop’s.
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Sage
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You're correct, though I wouldn't use the word "passive," as that's more of a technical term (as in the opposite of "active," i.e. battery-powered). But yeah, the lower the DC res, the lower the output, generally speaking. And lower-output pickups tend to also have more clarity. None of this is 100% true all of the time, but generally speaking, these are truisms.
I was specifically recommending the 58/15 LT, which is a different pickup. The LT stands for "low turn," which means fewer winds of wire, which in turn means lower resistance and lower output. According to our own CantankerousCarl:
As you can see, the 58/15 LT measures a lower resistance, particularly in the bridge position.
The McCarty Archtop pickups tended to measure 6.20Ω / 7.00Ω, so they'll be even lower resistance. I hated them in my HBII for rock tones, but they're probably good for jazz. Easier to get than the 58/15 LTs, too.
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Actually, I think the term ‘passive’ in pickups simply means that they don’t need a DC power supply from a battery or other power source in order to provide a signal/gain. ‘Active’ pickups need a battery.
Please double-check, but I think I’m correct; passive guitar pickups use magnetic coils, active pickups are battery powered (though I suppose they could be powered from a power supply of some kind, I just haven’t seen any of those, and doubt anyone’s marketed them).
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veinbuster
Zombie Three, DFZ
I have both and like them for jazzy stuff.
I have never played 85/15 in any form, so can’t comment on them.
sergiodeblanc
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Same.
ViperDoc
Plugged In.
By "working on a singlecut", might you mean Private Stock, or just shopping around, or modding? The 58/15 LT pickups are great. Also heard great things about 53/10, but never had them in hand. What about a P90?
bodia
Authorities said.....best leave it.....unsolved
Whatever happened to him?
jjhookemup
Gearoholic
+1 on the 53/10’s. Very clear with a unique fatness. I personally think they’re the best PRS pickups. Sound beautiful with split coils, and probably the best neck pickup in my book.
sergiodeblanc
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Wife killed him for bringing one last guitar home?
That’s exactly what happened to me a few years ago.
11top
Cousin Eddie's cousin
So, how is bachelorhood?
It’d be great if it wasn’t for the fact that at this stage of my life, it’s impossible to attract any women younger than 90.
I was visiting my mom at the ‘retirement apartments,’ and all the ladies with walkers were kind of giving me the eye.
“So when did you move in?”
“I haven’t moved in, I’m too young.”
“Bulls$it. You’re an old fart like us.”
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Charlie
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PRS #7's, Archtops. 53 10, and 58 15 LT. All sounded great with Jazz. The 7's are pretty sweet!
Huggy Love
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I had the same experience, in the clean mode the Archtops sound great, but distorted the bridge PU is way too shrill, while the higher res pups sound fatter in overdrive. I've gotten into the habit of playing rock solos in the neck PU, fatter top end tone although sometimes a little on the tubby side.
Just go to show that there is no swiss army knife pickup, although I think having an Archtop in the neck position and something hotter in the bridge position would give a ton of versatility. Being able to do jazz & heavy rock tones with the same axe.
Huggy Love
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Yeah I'm just screwed up terminology-wise. Don't know what the right terms are for pups with less or more resistance in the circuit, but that, the windings, and the magnet are what makes the most difference in tone from what I've read on the subject.
Active PUs were thought to be an item that would revolutionize the game when they came out. They're still around but never took over like that thought it would.
