Curtis Novak JM-Historic?

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matsasf
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Re: Anybody tried Novak JM-Historic pickups?

Post by matsasf » Wed Mar 16, 2022 2:27 am

I am also waiting for such a comparison to pull the trigger on one of the three :D. I hope its not long now before Puisheen makes a video about them..

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Re: Curtis Novak JM-Historic?

Post by alexac2 » Sat Nov 26, 2022 7:24 am

Resurrecting this thread from earlier this year. Has anyone else had experience with his Historic line? I am contemplating going with either his regular JM FAT/V combo or going down the Historic route and getting a FAT bridge with it (as he now offers that as part of the range too). When I reached out to him, he wouldn't provide much details on the tone characteristics of each vintage.

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Re: Curtis Novak JM-Historic?

Post by Embenny » Sat Nov 26, 2022 7:42 am

pwu wrote:
Fri Mar 04, 2022 4:30 pm
Ok everyone. Here are my findings. When going back and listening with intense scrutiny to the audio files I've recorded, I could not tell a difference between the tracks played with or without the pickup shields grounded. Not once. The visible differences you see in all the posted analysis grabs are just noise/buzz/hum reduction. Listen and decide for yourself.
FYI, eddy currents have to do with the magnetic field, not the electrical circuit, so grounding and ungrounding the pickup shield with a switch shouldn't A/B anything audible on that front. The eddy current effect is there so long as additional metal is interacting with the magnetic field set up by the polepieces.

The ground switch will also exaggerate the noise difference, because when the foil is grounded it's acting as a shield, and when it's ungrounded it's acting as an antenna that the unshielded pickup wouldn't normally have to contend with.

So unfortunately, none of those A/B tests are applicable to an unshielded pickup. I commend your approach, but you need to make sure that you're properly isolating the variable you're trying to test, which wasn't the case here.
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Re: Anybody tried Novak JM-Historic pickups?

Post by jondom22 » Sun Nov 27, 2022 10:52 am

Longtim JM-V/JM-Fat user, who's been curious about the Novak JM-Historic sets. Has anyone had a chance to compare yet, or gotten some details on the differences between these and his JM-V/JM-Fat which was basically his defacto standard JM set.
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Re: Curtis Novak JM-Historic?

Post by jondom22 » Sun Nov 27, 2022 10:59 am

alexac2 wrote:
Sat Nov 26, 2022 7:24 am
Resurrecting this thread from earlier this year. Has anyone else had experience with his Historic line? I am contemplating going with either his regular JM FAT/V combo or going down the Historic route and getting a FAT bridge with it (as he now offers that as part of the range too). When I reached out to him, he wouldn't provide much details on the tone characteristics of each vintage.
Funny enough I was just asking the same thing in the tech forum. Been a happy JM-V/JM-Fat user for a long time, but the historic sets have me curious.
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Re: Curtis Novak JM-Historic?

Post by Telliot » Sun Nov 27, 2022 12:38 pm

I’ve merged these two threads for your convenience.
The cool thing about fretless is you can hit a note...and then renegotiate.

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Re: Curtis Novak JM-Historic?

Post by alexac2 » Sun Nov 27, 2022 2:41 pm

Thanks. Glad to hear the JM FAT and JM V combo works out well. Given his 20% sale ends tomorrow, I will probably pull the trigger on those, unless I hear more info about the Historics before then.

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Re: Curtis Novak JM-Historic?

Post by kick_the_reverb » Thu Dec 01, 2022 6:54 am

Just a follow-up on my experience with the historic 58. It sounded good, but the construction, being historically accurate, puts the pole pieces very low, so I could not get them close enough to the strings to match what I like. So, if I ordered another one, I would have asked for later (higher) position of the pole pieces.
The reason for trying this pickup set in the first place is to try a darker set that would work with new strings. When it was still too bright, Curtis suggested I change pots. I did have both pots changed to 250k. Still too bright and not loud enough for my taste. So, I asked my bandmate to swap to a set of AVRI62 pickups I supplied, and gave him the Novak set.
My set-up and preferences may not be for everyone, so don't take that as a diss on the Novak set. I am sure they are historically accurate, just not what I needed.

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Re: Curtis Novak JM-Historic?

Post by jondom22 » Wed Aug 02, 2023 12:56 pm

Anyone else with experiences that can chime in? Have been using a JM-V neck for a decade, and a JM-FAT for almost as long. Love the neck, but find the bridge still kinda thin and bright (I've spent many hours and days tweaking pickup heights, strings gauges, amp settings over the years). Wanting a bit more mids/low-mids but still a traditional JM pickup, so was thinking that the 59 might be a good option w/Alnico 5 wound to 8-8.5k using 43AWG.
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Re: Curtis Novak JM-Historic?

Post by GilmourD » Sat Aug 12, 2023 8:37 pm

So, I'm thinking about getting a set of 1959s. Anybody out there install a pair and have opinions?

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Re: Curtis Novak JM-Historic?

Post by GilmourD » Sun Aug 27, 2023 5:23 pm

pwu wrote:
Fri Mar 04, 2022 4:30 pm
Audio here:
https://soundcloud.com/pwurso/sets/anot ... al_sharing

Ok everyone. Here are my findings. When going back and listening with intense scrutiny to the audio files I've recorded, I could not tell a difference between the tracks played with or without the pickup shields grounded. Not once. The visible differences you see in all the posted analysis grabs are just noise/buzz/hum reduction. Listen and decide for yourself.

So I've decided to completely shield the pickups once again. This time, I shielded the tops the same, but the sides are now separate and the bottoms have a long separating cut in them to further reduce eddy currents. I am very happy with the results. Take note that the copper foil and insulating tape laminations increase the pickup dimension slightly, and not only will it be a tight fit in the pickup covers, but the covers will also bulge slightly and fit tighter in the guitar. Since the pole pieces are longer on the underside in these Novaks, I installed the pickups upside down to ensure the pole pieces would still come through the pickup covers.

Take care!
Peter

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Playing Shielded 6 (Bridge Pickup)
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Playing Unshielded 6 (Bridge Pickup)
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Shielding Test 4 - Grounded (Both Pickups)
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Shielding Test 4 - Grounded (Bridge Pickup)
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Shielding Test 4 - Ungrounded (Both Pickups)
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Shielding Test 4 - Ungrounded (Bridge Pickup)
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Playing comparison. White waveform is really the amount of hiss reduction!
Note, I've been setting these at 50% amplitude to ensure the waveform is visible in the window.
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Bridge noise comparison. Same as above.
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Both pickups noise comparison. Same as above.
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So, I was inspired by these posts to do this.

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Re: Curtis Novak JM-Historic?

Post by JazzmasterRick » Sun Jan 07, 2024 5:10 pm

I have a set of Novak 59s (with the FAT bridge) in my JM and they are magnificent: Just what one should expect - not quite as dark as the 58s, yet not as "chimey" (for lack of a better word) as the 60-64s. I actually have a 58 set that was to be installed in a new-build, but decided to order a 60-64 set for the more distinct sonic difference from the 59s. Novak is a remarkable gentleman of inimitable skills; he is patient, responsive, sincere, and incredibly learned. While I do not particularly embrace the current era in which we exist, I do cherish the fact that there are genuine craftsmen such as Curtis, Mark Bartel, Larry Fitzgerald (master luthier, Long Island), Gabriel Tenorio (Gabriel Tenorio String Workshop), Hank Donovan (Rattlesnake Cable Co.). and Matt Brewster of 30th St. Guitars, NYC, who have enriched my life with their friendship, generosity, professionalism, and incalculable talents. Great men, all.

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