Ryder
Wholenote
Butterscotch Blues
Posts: 856
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Post by Ryder on Apr 7, 2020 7:46:26 GMT -5
Hey, I bought a new, 2018, 60th Anniversary Jazzmaster about a week ago. It came from a Music Store in a different state. It was set up by them.
Whoever (tech) did a great job on the action and intonation.
I have one problem. The neck pickup sounds like a dream but the two pickups are not equal in volume. The neck pup is much louder than the bridge pup...to the point the bridge pup sounds to thin.
The reading I have done points out that the foam under the pickups might be old and needs replaced. I’m wondering if mine needs that because although I can bring the bridge pup up...until it’s too close to the strings, the neck pup seems to be as low as it goes.
The neck pup screws are almost under the pick guard and harder to go any or much further..
Also the question...can I loosen the strings enough, that I can bring the pickups up enough that I can slide the foam out and slide new foam in? Do I have to take the pick guard off? I really don’t want to do that. I’m unsure what is attached to the pick guard.
Can you give me some guidance please? I have two luthiers that I use but each one is at least an hour from me, and I doubt that is an essential trip.
thanks,
Steve
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Post by walshb 🦒 on Apr 7, 2020 8:22:53 GMT -5
I don't have a Jazzmaster (yet) and I know little about them, but I did find this video for pickguard removal. It looks easy enough, and it looks like there would be enough room to get the foam out from under the pickups, from watching this anyway. Video
Edit: Found this one also, this guy removed the pickups without removing the pickguard. It doesn't answer your pickup height adjustment question, sorry. He actually added additional foam due to a different issue. Adding foam under pickups |
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Ryder
Wholenote
Butterscotch Blues
Posts: 856
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Post by Ryder on Apr 7, 2020 8:49:55 GMT -5
Thank you Bill. I will check this out. I did read about the foam thing and one person said you could do it without removing the pick guard.
I watched both videos and both are great. Now I know I can change guards easily if and when I want to. I would maybe like a black one with this vintage blonde or desert sand body...whichever it is.
The video about adding foam was just what I needed. Like he says, easy and cheap. I have foam in my garage but it may be too old. I can order it on Amazon easily enough. I also appreciated that the guy was a little unsure, just like I would be without having watched this.
Thanks a lot, Bill.
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Post by walshb 🦒 on Apr 7, 2020 13:26:13 GMT -5
Thank you Bill. I will check this out. I did read about the foam thing and one person said you could do it without removing the pick guard. I watched both videos and both are great. Now I know I can change guards easily if and when I want to. I would maybe like a black one with this vintage blonde or desert sand body...whichever it is. The video about adding foam was just what I needed. Like he says, easy and cheap. I have foam in my garage but it may be too old. I can order it on Amazon easily enough. I also appreciated that the guy was a little unsure, just like I would be without having watched this. Thanks a lot, Bill. Well, I didn't think it would be quite as helpful as it apparently was. I'm glad to help out, good luck with the new project! |
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Post by Peegoo 🏁 on Apr 7, 2020 16:47:39 GMT -5
The only way to get foam under the pickups is to remove the four little screws. That's the right way to do it.
Far as the neck pickup overpowering the bridge pickup, this was common through the late 70s/early 1980s because Fender didn't make neck- or bridge-position pickups; they just made a Jazzmaster pickup, and two of them went into every Jazzmaster. This may be the case with your guitar.
But Fender does 'calibrate' their pickups now, and the neck pickup is slightly less powerful than the bridge pickup. This helps keep volume levels equal and in control when switching between pickups.
It may be that your pickups are calibrated, but they're installed the wrong way 'round in the guitar (neck pickup in the bridge position, and vice versa). I have encountered this on Fenders and Gibsons straight from the factory.
You can test this by turning all the guitar controls to 10, plugging in a short guitar cable, and then using a multimeter set to read Ohms across the other end of the cable. Use the pickup selector to flip from neck to bridge.
Properly installed, the neck pickup should read lower than the bridge pickup. DC resistance for a JM pickup should be in the ballpark of 8.0k Ohms. For example: if the neck pickup reads 8.0k, the bridge pickup should read around 8.2k. If the neck pickup reads higher than the bridge pickup, they're installed backwards.
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Ryder
Wholenote
Butterscotch Blues
Posts: 856
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Post by Ryder on Apr 7, 2020 17:08:13 GMT -5
Thanks Peegoo, I will be trying that. Geez, I hope they were installed correctly. I'm not the guy to switch them....and I don't think I'll be going anywhere for a while.
Great information as usual Peegoo.
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Ryder
Wholenote
Butterscotch Blues
Posts: 856
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Post by Ryder on Apr 7, 2020 18:11:33 GMT -5
Here are my findings.
Neck pickup = 6.63
Bridge pickup = 6.59
How is that? Why so low? This is a 2018 60th Anniversary Jazzmaster. The guitar cord was 10 ft. I may have a 6 footer or I left it at chuch when I had to stay home. Does the length of the cord matter? I did see you said short cord.
Answered the cord question. Used a 6 footer and the readings were actually the exact same as with the 10 footer.
Proceed with addition of foam so I can get the neck pup lower?
Or maybe I just need to get the neck pickup lower possibly without adding foam?
How far below the pickguard can those screws go?
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Post by walshb 🦒 on Apr 7, 2020 18:52:41 GMT -5
Here are my findings. Neck pickup = 6.63 Bridge pickup = 6.59 How is that? Why so low? This is a 2018 60th Anniversary Jazzmaster. The guitar cord was 10 ft. I may have a 6 footer or I left it at chuch when I had to stay home. Does the length of the cord matter? I did see you said short cord. Answered the cord question. Used a 6 footer and the readings were actually the exact same as with the 10 footer. Proceed with addition of foam so I can get the neck pup lower? Or maybe I just need to get the neck pickup lower possibly without adding foam? How far below the pickguard can those screws go? Did you have all the volumes turned to 10? What about the roller controls? I would think all volumes should be maxed when testing the resistance of the pickups. Just my opinion, but more important than the low readings is the fact that it appears the pickups are reversed. If you know how to solder and you can swap them, it should even out the volume somewhat. As Peegoo stated, the bridge number should be higher, but yours is lower. |
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Ryder
Wholenote
Butterscotch Blues
Posts: 856
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Post by Ryder on Apr 7, 2020 19:04:21 GMT -5
Oh wait, dang. The bridge is reading lower than the neck. I got myself upside down...backwards forward square or round.
But, I did get the neck down,,,too far down and I raised it. Lowered the bridge some and they sound about the same now. Not bad, I must say.
I don't think I had the slider volume all the way up so I guess I'll try again.
Tried it again. Slider and bottom volume both up all the way up, including tones.
Now they both read 6.6. What does that mean? Put the pup heights at the places they sound the best and are of equal or almost equal volumes?
So far that's what I've done.
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Post by LTB on Apr 7, 2020 19:09:35 GMT -5
Oh wait, dang. The bridge is reading lower than the neck. I got myself upside down...backwards forward square or round. But, I did get the neck down,,,too far down and I raised it. Lowered the bridge some and they sound about the same now. Not bad, I must say. I don't think I had the slider volume all the way up so I guess I'll try again. Tried it again. Slider and bottom volume both up all the way up, including tones. Now they both read 6.6. What does that mean? Put the pup heights at the places they sound the best and are of equal or almost equal volumes? So far that's what I've done. Glad to hear you fixed the problem without reversing order of pickups etc. That always leaves one with a feeling of satisfaction.  |
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Ryder
Wholenote
Butterscotch Blues
Posts: 856
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Post by Ryder on Apr 7, 2020 19:16:58 GMT -5
Oh wait, dang. The bridge is reading lower than the neck. I got myself upside down...backwards forward square or round. But, I did get the neck down,,,too far down and I raised it. Lowered the bridge some and they sound about the same now. Not bad, I must say. I don't think I had the slider volume all the way up so I guess I'll try again. Tried it again. Slider and bottom volume both up all the way up, including tones. Now they both read 6.6. What does that mean? Put the pup heights at the places they sound the best and are of equal or almost equal volumes? So far that's what I've done. Glad to hear you fixed the problem without reversing order of pickups etc. That always leaves one with a feeling of satisfaction. It sounds good but are the pups supposed to be the same ohms? I guess I don't care if it sounds good. I tend to think, can it sound better? |
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Post by Peegoo 🏁 on Apr 7, 2020 22:25:50 GMT -5
Some JMs have identical pickups in them. Your Ohms readings seem a bit low though; I have not messed with any factory JM pickups since around 2014, so they may have changed the specs.
I just looked 'em up, and the current Fender Pure Vintage JMs should read 6.8k Ohms for both the bridge and the neck. So you are in the ballpark.
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Ryder
Wholenote
Butterscotch Blues
Posts: 856
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Post by Ryder on Apr 8, 2020 7:11:08 GMT -5
Some JMs have identical pickups in them. Your Ohms readings seem a bit low though; I have not messed with any factory JM pickups since around 2014, so they may have changed the specs. I just looked 'em up, and the current Fender Pure Vintage JMs should read 6.8k Ohms for both the bridge and the neck. So you are in the ballpark. I feel better. Thanks Peegoo again. Play on Sir. |
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Post by walshb 🦒 on Apr 8, 2020 7:35:38 GMT -5
Glad to hear you fixed the problem without reversing order of pickups etc. That always leaves one with a feeling of satisfaction. It sounds good but are the pups supposed to be the same ohms? I guess I don't care if it sounds good. I tend to think, can it sound better? I tend to lean towards lower output pickups. You might get less sustain or distortion, but usually better clean sounds. It all depends what your preferences are. To me, they're more versatile; with most amps, you can add more gain if you need it. Pickup output article |
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Ryder
Wholenote
Butterscotch Blues
Posts: 856
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Post by Ryder on Apr 8, 2020 8:36:37 GMT -5
It sounds good but are the pups supposed to be the same ohms? I guess I don't care if it sounds good. I tend to think, can it sound better? I tend to lean towards lower output pickups. You might get less sustain or distortion, but usually better clean sounds. It all depends what your preferences are. To me, they're more versatile; with most amps, you can add more gain if you need it. Pickup output articleThanks Bill, these pickups are what I need for how I play and the tones I like. Good article! |
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Post by LTB on Apr 9, 2020 9:36:33 GMT -5
Glad to hear you fixed the problem without reversing order of pickups etc. That always leaves one with a feeling of satisfaction. It sounds good but are the pups supposed to be the same ohms? I guess I don't care if it sounds good. I tend to think, can it sound better? I put a set of Fender 60's Jazzmaster pickups in a Squier model a few years ago. They were identical in pickup resistance. |
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Post by Leftee on Apr 10, 2020 9:34:38 GMT -5
Just as a point of interest, I’ll measure the resistance of the pickups in this AmPro Jazz Master. 🤔
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Ryder
Wholenote
Butterscotch Blues
Posts: 856
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Post by Ryder on Apr 10, 2020 10:05:51 GMT -5
Thanks Leftee.
I'm not really concerned too much about the ohms of my pickups...should I be?
I've got the heights set just about to my liking. Each one and the middle position are sounding pretty darn good.
Thank you.
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Post by Peegoo 🏁 on Apr 10, 2020 10:58:42 GMT -5
That's all you need!
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Ryder
Wholenote
Butterscotch Blues
Posts: 856
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Post by Ryder on Apr 10, 2020 11:15:01 GMT -5
Yes sir, and thank you again, Geno! Information much appreciated! |
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Post by Leftee on Apr 10, 2020 12:15:06 GMT -5
Thanks Leftee. I'm not really concerned too much about the ohms of my pickups...should I be? I've got the heights set just about to my liking. Each one and the middle position are sounding pretty darn good. Thank you. I’m doing it for science. I don’t know squat about JM’s any ways. I know I luv the one I’m with. |
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Post by LTB on Apr 10, 2020 12:23:33 GMT -5
Thanks Leftee. I'm not really concerned too much about the ohms of my pickups...should I be? I've got the heights set just about to my liking. Each one and the middle position are sounding pretty darn good. Thank you. I’m doing it for science. I don’t know squat about JM’s any ways. I know I luv the one I’m with. I know the most accurate method of checking resistance of a pickup is with one leg disconnected but I found it resonably accurate on guitars where you can select each pickup individually and using a guitar cable plugged into the guitar but not the amp, connect the meter to the unused end of the cable and read between tip and sleeve while only one pickup is selected. |
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Post by Leftee on Apr 10, 2020 12:33:29 GMT -5
Yep! Close enough!
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Post by Leftee on Apr 10, 2020 15:34:14 GMT -5
B: 8.68k
N: 7.39k
These are the new Fender American Professional pickups.
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Post by LTB on Apr 10, 2020 16:33:01 GMT -5
B: 8.68k N: 7.39k These are the new Fender American Professional pickups. The perfect match! Neck vintage spec and Bridge a little hotter to compensate |
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Ryder
Wholenote
Butterscotch Blues
Posts: 856
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Post by Ryder on Apr 12, 2020 7:13:33 GMT -5
I measured mine the same way. I’ll try it again just to see, but mine were the same @ 6.6.
This JM sounds so good. I’m not too concerned.
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Post by Leftee on Apr 12, 2020 7:30:39 GMT -5
If it sounds good, it is good. 😎
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Post by LTB on Apr 12, 2020 8:01:34 GMT -5
If it sounds good, it is good. 😎 +1 agreed |
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Ryder
Wholenote
Butterscotch Blues
Posts: 856
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Post by Ryder on Apr 12, 2020 11:53:56 GMT -5
I found some specs on my guitar, the 60th anniversary.
Pickup resistance=6.1-7.5 so mine is right in the middle, kind of, at 6.6.
Yeah man, it sounds great. The middle position is a dream. The bridge and neck...I don't know which one I like best but the neck pup is great.
Thanks guys!
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Post by Leftee on Apr 12, 2020 14:11:20 GMT -5
I found some specs on my guitar, the 60th anniversary. Pickup resistance=6.1-7.5 so mine is right in the middle, kind of, at 6.6. Yeah man, it sounds great. The middle position is a dream. The bridge and neck...I don't know which one I like best but the neck pup is great. Thanks guys! I feel the same way about mine. It’s all good. 😎 |
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