Jess Loureiro pickups

[Haustnótt]

This a response to this old thread. I read it while doing research on these pickups, and wanted to put my 2¢ in.

I recently ordered a set of Jazzmaster pickups from Jess Loureiro, and I am extremely pleased with them as well as with his service. He answered my e-mails very quickly, and was very helpful and polite. Even though my pickups were a custom job, they were done and shipped two days after my order.

The pickups were also dirt cheap, $96 for two handwound custom pickups. Are they any good? Yes, they are. Best Jazzmaster pickups I've had, in fact. Warm, complex, articulate and bright. Highly recommended.

[PGLIVE]

Thanks for the information

[borntohang]

Not much to add but I'll reiterate my post on the last page of that thread - the telemaster pickup I have of his is an excellent sounding pickup and was very reasonably priced; I didn't deal with him in person so wouldn't like to comment on the issues people have had.

[Haustnótt]

I've written a little review of the pickups I bought. If anyone's interested, I could add some sound clips as well.

The pickups in question are the Jess Loureiro Original Jazzmaster set. Alnico 5, 42 AWG heavy Formvar wire. The neck pickup has a DC resistance of 8.33kΩ, the bridge pickup is somewhat overwound and measures 9.47kΩ.

This product is impressive even before installing the pickups. The very nice wrapping in cardboard, bound with hemp string, gives a feeling of old-world quality. The pickups look just beautiful, and clothed wire is so much nicer to work with than plastic-wrapped wire.

I heard that this was going to be good even before stringing up; tap-testing of the pickups after installing them sounded remarkably loud and clear. So I stringed up as fast as I could, very eager to try the pickups.

And boy, this is impressive. Suddenly the blanket is completely gone from my Jazzmaster. The first thing I noticed is how much broader bandwidth these pickups have compared to the Duncan Designed units they replace. Extremely clear and articulate highs, a very transparent midrange and rock solid fundamentals is what these pickups give me. They also seem to breathe a lot easier, no compression when I dig in, just more of that glorious sound.

The bridge pickup is just what I have been dreaming of: A thick, chimey and somewhat twangy, archetypical Fender sound, with some stardust sparkle on top. This is the Jazzmaster equivalent to Hank Marvin’s early 60s Stratocaster sound.

The neck pickup is just as delicious. It needs some distance to the strings to sound its best, especially at the bass end, but once the “Goldilocks zone” is found, it sounds absolutely stellar. A very articulate lower midrange is beautifully complemented by a sweet-sounding and complex high-end. Some treble-reduction results in a very handsome, somewhat smoky sound, making the Jazzmaster actually quite jazzy.

The pickups combined in parallel is very clear and chiming. With the old pickups, it was impossible not having the neck pickup over-powering the bridge pickup, but these pickups are working well together. They retain a strong fundamental, making the hum-cancelling middle position useful for anything. No sign of sick waterfowl here.

The rhythm circuit makes a lot of sense with this neck pickup. The 50K tone control takes away the broad treble spike and gives an almost acoustic-like quality to the sound. Since there is more treble to begin with, this setting is wonderfully clear and open-sounding. I use a 10nF capacitor instead of the stock 22nF, so reduced treble results in a thick voice actually reminiscent of a hollowbody instead of a trip to mud city.

But ... how do these pickups react to distortion? Beautifully so. Played through massive amp gain as well as through various dirt pedals, alone and in combination, the voice of these pickups always shines through. I couldn’t make a mushy, indistinct sound even if I wanted to.

Is there nothing bad about these pickups at all? Not that I can think of. They’re simply extremely good Jazzmaster pickups at a very, very good price.

[Balley Warson]

Hello,

I see on Jess website homepage a pickup that seems to be a Wide Range Shaped in a jazzmaster pick up, but i can't fond no information about it.
Does someone know something about it ?

Thanks

[Haustnótt]

Hello,

I see on Jess website homepage a pickup that seems to be a Wide Range Shaped in a jazzmaster pick up, but i can't fond no information about it.
Does someone know something about it ?

Thanks

I can't find it, but why don't you send him a mail?

[Balley Warson]

I do !

This is his reply

Thanks for the interest. For Jazzmaster I also make P-90s, humbuckers (PAFs and superdistortion), and wide-ranges, I can supply covers as well (you can see some pictures attached). I will upload this models this week to my webshop, right now I'm selling this models just via direct order (paypal).

Nice, no ?

[ToneFerDayz!!1!]

Interesting. Not to derail, but how balanced are the two pickups, Haustnótt? I know resistance doesn't mean output necessarily, but his Jaguar pickups are really different resistances, 6.21 k (neck)/ 9.5 k (bridge) respectively.

[Haustnótt]

Interesting. Not to derail, but how balanced are the two pickups, Haustnótt? I know resistance doesn't mean output necessarily, but his Jaguar pickups are really different resistances, 6.21 k (neck)/ 9.5 k (bridge) respectively.

My neck pickup measures 8.3k and the bridge 9.5k. They are actually very well-balanced, in my opinion. I did not want the bridge pickup to be too middley, and I think it ended up just right. I have the neck pickup set rather low, though.

[Haustnótt]

I do !

This is his reply

Thanks for the interest. For Jazzmaster I also make P-90s, humbuckers (PAFs and superdistortion), and wide-ranges, I can supply covers as well (you can see some pictures attached). I will upload this models this week to my webshop, right now I'm selling this models just via direct order (paypal).

Nice, no ?

Indeed. He seems to be the man when it comes to custom pickups.