Curtis Novak PAF or WR?? (JM, bridge)

[ophset]

Phriends!

I recently picked up one of the all rosewood neck Jazzmasters (in beautiful shell pink) that Guitar Center released in a limited run. I have another Jazzmaster with vintage 65 pickups that provide that classic, warm, tasty JM tone. For variety, (and because I’m not in love with the American Pro pickups) I want to make my pink JM into a bit of a Jazzblaster. I’m trying to decide between buying a bridge position Curtis Novak PAF or WR. I’ve done a fair amount of research, but before pulling the trigger I figure I’d consult the forums.

Which pickup will give me more growl?

My research points me towards the PAF, but the WR has me intrigued because of its Fender heritage and the fact that it was Seth Lover’s second take at the humbucker.

Will the WR sacrifice growl for clarity?

Any insight will be greatly appreciated!

Ophset

[Embenny]

Define growl. It's so hard discussing sound with words.

WRHBs sound like humbuckers to me, but they have the strong attack of alnico pole pickups, which I prefer. If you've played PAFs and P90s, you probably noticed there's this roundness to the pick attack on them. Kind of like they blunt the transients. That's why I prefer alnico-poles pickups. WRHBs have that string response, but are still much thicker sounding with less highs and more mids than a regular Fender-style pickup.

I was underwhelmed by my experiment with WRHBs, but keep in mind I'm underwhelmed by PAFs too. Modern WRHBs don't sound "that" different from a good bright PAF. The difference in string attack in the main thing I noticed.

[ophset]

Thanks for this insight! By what you’ve described, it seems like I will prefer the WRHBs.

And by growl, I mean overall thickness/aggressiveness of tone. I’m hoping to find something noticeably different than the hot v-mods in the ampros. Overall, it seems like a swap will be pretty underwhelming.

Anyone have hands on experience with either Curtis Novak pickup? (WRHB or PAF)

[andy_tchp]

Thanks for this insight! By what you’ve described, it seems like I will prefer the WRHBs.

And by growl, I mean overall thickness/aggressiveness of tone

Go the PAF then. I had a pair of his WRHB in Jazzmaster form factor, and sold them a few months later.

Cold, sterile, boring, overly compressed generic-electric-guitar sounding pickups.

[Embenny]

Yeah, PAF style humbuckers will be thicker and more aggressive than WRHBs. They tend to have more of that midrange hump.

I do agree that I find WRHBs boring and sterile, but I also find PAFs boring so I don't have a horse in this race.

What I will say is that a JM cover with hold any humbucker you can find. All you need to do is centre it in some foam cut to the dimensions of the cover. I wouldn't necessarily pay for one of the niche PAF-on-JM-bobbin designs. There is such diversity in humbucker offerings that I'd just find something you like and hide it in a JM cover.

I've even hidden two full humcanceling strat pickups inside a JM cover...you can get very creative with that giant footprint.

[Chat Noir]

I'm planning a new build myself. My current Jazzmaster has a FAT JM bridge and VINTAGE JM neck. There's no sense making another guitar sound the same and I'm trying to get something closer to the Fender Classic Player Jazzmaster - loud and hot. I think I'll shoot for the FAT bridge again with the P90 in the neck, but I've always been curious how Novak's WR would sound...

[Unicorn Warrior]

I've never played any other buckers in a JM, but I am loving my Novak WRHBs. I've played traditional pups and the p90ish that come in the JMJMs to compare to and these WRHBs are what I was after

To me, the WRHB is just what I needed in contrast to my Johnny Marr jags low output singles. I really enjoy that it still kind of retains some character of the bright JM, but is also able to dull it somehow. It's a contradictory statement but explaining sound has never been my strong point. What I will say is that it is capable to performing more aggressive music while at the same time sounding good for open chord ambient stuff. I also love all positions on it. I'm usually a neck and middle guy, but I don't mind using the bridge.

Are they worth the full price? Idk..I'd look for used.I got mine for a steal at $200 for both.

[CorporateDisguise]

I have Novak WRHB in the bridge postions of my JM. It's definitely airier than a paf style pickup. Its brighter, and has a faster, less compressed feel than a paf. I find it matches really well with a standard JM neck pickup. You get great cleans on the neck and great grind in the bridge. I don't think that it suited for the heavyest styles of music as its a bit to bright and not compressed enough, but it suits my needs perfectly.


I always thought that PAf in the bridge of a JM would be jarring to switch between, both in terms of sound a feel. Fine if your going to change both pickups, but if your leaving the standard neck pickup you might want to think about how the two pickups will sit together.