JZM Pickups - Output Balancing

[K-Bar]

I recently finished a scratch-built JZM-JAG hybrid. I built this as a tribute to my dad who gave me my first guitar in 1965; a Daphne Blue 1962 Jaguar that had been outfitted with Jazzmaster pickups. This "Tribute Guitar" is a gem - I couldn't be more pleased! I've been working the kinks out of it one by one: flattened the pickup side of the bridge to keep it from touching the strings, replaced the saddles with Mustang saddles, added custom bushings to take the rock out of the bridge, smoothed and polished the pivot points in the tremolo, re-machined the collet to take a shorter threaded trem arm, fret dressing, etc. I wanted to stay as true to the original as possible.

SO HERE'S MY ISSUE: I am using Fender USA 62 reissue pickups which are great - BUT - as one might expect the neck pickup is noticeably louder than the bridge pickup.

SO HERE'S MY QUESTION: I'd like to replace the bridge pickup with a higher output model so when I switch from one to the other, the output or volume is consistent, balanced. I'm not looking to replace the tone of the pickup which I love. Reading other entries in the forum it seems the "Seymore Duncan SJM 2 Hot" might be a good choice? Or maybe something else? Has anyone found a good solution for this that leaves the beautiful jangly tone of the guitar intact at a reasonable cost? Any advice would be welcome. Thanks! K-Bar

[SY6655321]

Im not too sure about your pickup question, but I just wanted to say I love that guitar. Nice job.

[K-Bar]

Thanks so much. I traded the original in the late seventies for some guitar or other and have kicked myself ever since. I love the jangly sound and the short scale. It's really fun to play!

[bandomoon37]

Awesome guitar! I typically set my bridge pup a bit closer to the strings than the neck pup. I find that the neck pickup isn't as pickey as the bridge pup with jms and you can still get great tone and decrease it's volume by lowering it a bit. But get that bridge pup as close to the strings as possible.

[bandomoon37]

But if that doesn't work, the lollars bridge pickup is by far my favorite. It's more high output but still retains JM tone perfectly.

[K-Bar]

Since this post I've installed a Seymour Duncan 2 HOT Jazzmaster pickup in the bridge position - the output between this and the Fender 1962 JZM re-issue pickup is now nearly identical. This makes it much easier to take advantage of all of the Jazzmaster's different voices - and have the volume constant. 2 Hot JZM Pickup - it's a winner!

K-Bar

[jorri]

How are your pickups set?

Try setting the height the way fender recommends. with the string fretted at the last fret they should be the same distance from the strings.
Or just try setting it by ear. there's a tendency to set same distance form pickguard or open string, some guitars that works but many the bridge is a lot higher.
In simplified terms the string doesn't move as much at the end, its picking up much quieter harmonics in bridge position so it needs to either be hotter or closer..

[Nick and the Noise]

Wow, that body pickguard color combination is absolutely fantastic! Strange, I don't have this problem with AVRI pickups...