Novak JM-V vs JM-Fat

[gusgorman]

Hello,

I've had the Novak JM-V / JM-Fat combo in my CIJ pretty much since I owned it. I love the JM-V in the neck, but never really bonded with the JM-Fat in the bridge, certainly not on its own anyway. It does sound good with overdrive, but I play my Jazzmaster clean 99% of the time.

I want to stick with a classic JM sound in this guitar, so I'm debating getting hold of a JM-V for the bridge too.

Can anyone describe what the difference is going to be? I know its hard to put these things into words.

Or as I'm in the UK I'm wondering if I should just try a JM bridge pickup from one of the UK winders, such as the creamery,

Thanks!

[IceBlueBoogaloo]

I can’t speak from experience but my understanding of the JM-Fat (and fat bridges in general) is that it’s designed to compensate for the weaker string vibrations near the bridge.

But I managed to nail a much more satisfying tone from the bridge just by adjusting the pickup height until volume levels were balanced between the two pickups. For reference, this is on a stock Vintera JM which is supposed to be pretty faithful. Novak and Creamery should both be good options for getting a classic JM bridge.

[gusgorman]

I can’t speak from experience but my understanding of the JM-Fat (and fat bridges in general) is that it’s designed to compensate for the weaker string vibrations near the bridge.

But I managed to nail a much more satisfying tone from the bridge just by adjusting the pickup height until volume levels were balanced between the two pickups. For reference, this is on a stock Vintera JM which is supposed to be pretty faithful. Novak and Creamery should both be good options for getting a classic JM bridge.

Thanks for the reply.

Yep I think I need to give a classic JM bridge p/up a try. I've had the JM-Fat for about 4 or 5 years now so I've given it a good go.

[ryland]

I had a JM-V/JM-V combo in a Jazzmaster and found that the bridge sound was too shrill. I replaced the bridge with a JM-FAT, which evened out the high end ice pick sound. I find it much more useable than the JM-V.

[MapachoPunk]

Hello,

I've had the Novak JM-V / JM-Fat combo in my CIJ pretty much since I owned it. I love the JM-V in the neck, but never really bonded with the JM-Fat in the bridge, certainly not on its own anyway. It does sound good with overdrive, but I play my Jazzmaster clean 99% of the time.

I want to stick with a classic JM sound in this guitar, so I'm debating getting hold of a JM-V for the bridge too.

Can anyone describe what the difference is going to be? I know its hard to put these things into words.

Or as I'm in the UK I'm wondering if I should just try a JM bridge pickup from one of the UK winders, such as the creamery,

Thanks!

I'm currently trying to decide on this very thing. What did you decide? How did it go? I also play clean most of the time and want to maintain the classic JM sound, but it seems many favor the JM-Fat in the bridge.

Thanks!

[redchapterjubilee]

Most smaller pickup makers will allow you to customize your pickups a bit. Like our OSG'er that runs Sunday Pickups, and to a certain extent Lollar, Fralin, Pickup Wizard, and others allow for a little bit of bespoke work. Lollar and Fralin make + 5% and -5% of their standard Jazzmaster style pickups. A -5% neck and a +5% bridge balance well. Sunday and Pickup Wizard will allow you to really customize windings. Both my pairs of black bobbin Pickup Wizards have +10% bridge pickups. They don't hit an amp as hard as a JM-FAT does but have enough windings to attenuate a bit of treble. That has worked better for me than anyone's set of off-the-shelf standard Jazzmaster pickups.

[gusgorman]

I'm currently trying to decide on this very thing. What did you decide? How did it go? I also play clean most of the time and want to maintain the classic JM sound, but it seems many favor the JM-Fat in the bridge.

Thanks!

Sorry I've only just seen this. I never made the change in the end, but still may do at some point as I've got some wiring issues to sort out anyway.

What did you go with?

[MapachoPunk]

I'm currently trying to decide on this very thing. What did you decide? How did it go? I also play clean most of the time and want to maintain the classic JM sound, but it seems many favor the JM-Fat in the bridge.

Thanks!

Sorry I've only just seen this. I never made the change in the end, but still may do at some point as I've got some wiring issues to sort out anyway.

What did you go with?

I ended up putting PV65s in mine, which have worked out well for a lot less money. Still curious about the Novak's tho...

[NICQ]

Yep I think I need to give a classic JM bridge p/up a try. I've had the JM-Fat for about 4 or 5 years now so I've given it a good go.

I have a Jazzmaster with JM-V / JM-V and it sounds too vintage for me - very bright bridge only sound. i would like to have a thicker bridge sound and want to get a JM-FAT ... already had it in my cart yesterday on Curtis' site but haven't pulled the trigger.. if you want to swap PM me

[therizzla]

I had the JM-V/JM-V, JM-V/JM-90 and later JM-V/JM-FAT set ups in my old AVRI and while I liked the JM-V in the neck just fine I didn't like any of the bridge pickups; the V and FAT sounded too shrill and the 90 sounded great with OD through fuzz but too compressed for cleans for me. Currently in my Vintera I I have Lollars and like them quite a bit, they're a bit brighter than I like but they're not shrill like the Novaks.