Am I the only one who hates AV65 Jazzmaster pickups?

[DesmondWafers]

I've owned a few jazzmasters in my time, my favorite of which being an avri 62 that I had a long time ago and foolishly sold. Since then, every Jazzmaster I've owned has had av65 pickups and every single time I find myself hating the sound of the guitar. They always have this shrill high end that forces me to roll back the tone below 5 to get a sound that I find usable.

I know about changing pots and I know that I can adjust my amp's tone controls. I just find it so odd that these pickups are almost universally adored yet I cannot seem to make them work. I am very aware that Jags and JM's are regarded as bright sounding guitars, but the only time I've ever had an issue with the extreme brightness of a guitar is with these pickups. Am I alone in this? It's crazy to me that my tele's bridge pickup sounds more mellow than the neck pickup on my JM with the tone rolled down.

For reference, I have a vox ac10 and a princeton reverb, so it's not just with one type of amp. I'm considering trying antiquity 1's in this guitar, but would like to see what OSG thinks before I make that leap.

[soul1]

Nope, you're not alone. I put a set in my JM, and didn't like them at all. They were very bright and thin to me, almost like running the guitar through a high-pass filter.

[PJazzmaster]

I once tried a pair of them. Even though I like bright JM bridge PU sounds much more than I appreciate JM neck PU sounds, they were too bright for me. I actually really like the AVRI 62 Stock PU's.
It's funny that it's exactly the opposite for me when it comes to Jaguar PU's. The AV 65's are cool but I found all the AV RI62's that I've tried quite boring.

I don't hate AV 65 JM PU's but they are definitely not in my top 5.

Side note: I recently bought a pair of used AVRI PU's from 1999 (!!!) here on OSG, they should arrive this week

[DeathJag]

I found the exact same problems with the tone, so I got a set of Novaks and they aren’t really that different. Still slightly too hot and super bright. But I got the Source Audio digital EQ and it tamed all of that.

[Larry Mal]

Huh.... I thought everybody liked those.

[DesmondWafers]

As did I, but I feel a little bit better after seeing that other people have had similar problems with them. They actually sound pretty good to me with dirt, but I use dirt so infrequently that I should probably just swap them out.

[Shadoweclipse13]

I found the exact same problems with the tone, so I got a set of Novaks and they aren’t really that different. Still slightly too hot and super bright. But I got the Source Audio digital EQ and it tamed all of that.

Which Novaks did you get? I've been planning a JM-type guitar with a set of his (JM-Fat for bridge, JM-V for neck) for forever.

[jvin248]

.

Longer guitar cord.

Lower pickup height.

Lower kohm volume pot(s). Instead of 1Meg go with 500k or even 250k.

Get the JMJM pickups, basically the two ceramic bar JMs that are built like P90s, not the Alnico V pole pieces in the classic pickup styles.
Even regular humbuckers or 'Jazzblaster' types of pickups may do better.

90% of the aftermarket and boutique JM pickups chase the old style Alnico V pole pieces like the AVRI not the 'modern' P90 style JM pickups.

.

[DesmondWafers]

I addressed many of those concerns in the OP. As I said, I've owned several Jazzmasters and am not exactly new to setting up guitars. I've played many other jazzmasters (Including a couple of vintage ones) and none have sounded as shrill as the ones with AV65 pickups. I'm not really looking for advice on how to change the tone of the guitar as much as I am checking to see if AV65 pickups are truly as universally loved as I thought they were.

[DeathJag]

I found the exact same problems with the tone, so I got a set of Novaks and they aren’t really that different. Still slightly too hot and super bright. But I got the Source Audio digital EQ and it tamed all of that.

Which Novaks did you get? I've been planning a JM-type guitar with a set of his (JM-Fat for bridge, JM-V for neck) for forever.

Yep, those two. I emailed and said the av65 pickups were too hot and trebely, and suggested a shorted-wind / lower output. He said those two were the ones to get.

After swapping them (my first pickup swap!) I noticed they almost sounded the same but way more smooth. Still slightly too hot but the highs were not painful, and very clean. I put it through the Source Audio Programmable EQ with a slight volume tweak lower, and pulling out a little high mids / highs. Now it sounds darker and kind of “tough.” I play clean with a ‘63 reverb tank so it really needs those highs tamed!

The av65s were so noisy and ice picky. The Novaks sound smooth yet very distinct. It’s pretty scoopy like the jag, just darker and somehow tougher.

[blackbox]

A lot of people complain about the AV65 JM pickups. I've always thought it was the AV65 Jaguar pickups that were universally loved.

[Francer]

I’ve grown to like mine, but i fully understand what you’re saying. All my guitar, pedal and amp settings are about taming the ice-pickiness. I don’t have experience of other pickups and often consider it just so see what I’m missing out on, but on the whole when i hear some nice pickups on youtube or whatever I can usually EQ my AV65s to close enough to where I can’t justify the expense, with the disclaimer that I am old and a bit deaf

I play with a twin reverb and I shudder to think what it would be capable of, with the bright switch up , the settings on full treble and the volume cranked, seriously weapons grade icepick!

[601210]

I like mine. So it's probably a safe assessment to say that some people love them, and some people hate them. If you don't like them you opinion is just as valid any.

But as far as I know nobody really thinks they're the best Jazzmaster pickups bar none. Your Lollars and Novaks and whathaveyou are probably better, but I think lots of people love the AV65s because they're very reasonably priced and are generally considered better than the 62s. Or at least that's the consensus I've heard.

[zenarcade]

Ha, I thought i was the only one. Hated them in my american Original with 1meg pots. sounded nothing like a vintage PU. Too shrill and lifeless. ended up putting duncans (normal Vintage for JM) in that guitar which sound amazing.

But yesterday i put the neck PU in a modded Affinity squier with a 500k volume put and it sounded surprisingly good so far over my Helix. Have to test it with a real amp though

[Telliot]

Before I bought my ‘66, I went through a ton of pickups on my old CIJ JM. After much experimentation, I found I much preferred Antiquity I’s with 250m pots. Those sound like a JM to me, much closer to the tone of Nels’ Watt.