Novak GoldFoil opinions....

[Footbutt]

I'm thinking about building another Jazzmaster with the Novak Gold Foils as the pickups.

I'm SUPER happy with my JM-90/JM-V combo in my 3TS, but i'm REALLY curious about putting some GFs in a Jazzmaster.

[wproffitt]

What would you like to know? I’ve got a Novak GF at the bridge of one of my JMs and love it, but what are you looking/hoping for in terms of sound?

[Unicorn Warrior]

Following

What does a gold foil offer that the standard fender pups don't?

[Embenny]

Following

What does a gold foil offer that the standard fender pups don't?

I have a pair of the Guyatone-style goldfoils, which are distinctly different from his DeArmond/Rowe-style GFs.

The guyatones he describes as having a "bell-like Fender tone" and I'd agree. The bridge is kind of like a Telecaster, but with a blunted character to the attack (which I find characteristic of all goldfoils). The neck pickup is extremely thick and smooth as far as single coil designs go.

If there was a spectrum of string attack with Fender alnico poles at the "sharp, immediate" end and goldfoils at the "smoothed, softened" end, I'd put P90's in the middle.

I find that the hallmark of all goldfoils...a smoother transient to the attack. That's great when you want thick, singing solos (hence the popularity with slide players), but it's the opposite of what I'd want for playing syncopated funk guitar, for example.

Beyond that, I'd describe mine as being weighted more toward the midrange and bass than standard JM or Jag pickups. They're not dark, but they're dark "for singlecoils", which is to say that they're quite balanced.

[wproffitt]

Following

What does a gold foil offer that the standard fender pups don't?

Beyond that, I'd describe mine as being weighted more toward the midrange and bass than standard JM or Jag pickups. They're not dark, but they're dark "for singlecoils", which is to say that they're quite balanced.

To be honest, I have no idea what kind of gold foil mine is modeled on, but it sounds like what was described above! I feel like this pickup gives me a fuller response across the range of frequencies that I like to hear in a guitar than you would get out of a standard JM bridge pickup. Also, I still think the middle position is jazzmastery enough (I have an AV65 in the neck) to give me the sound I love. It sounds great on recordings!