Ibanez Joe Pass JP20

[Stringswinger]

Well, I checked the rest of my guitars and with the exception of the JP-20, all of my guitars that have neck pickups have the pickup at or near the 24th harmonic. The JP-20's pickup is at the 29th harmonic, so Jack Zucker was correct in saying that the JP-20 does not have a neck pickup. But neither does a single pickup ES-330/Casino. And they are awesome guitars in their own right. As is the JP-20.

If you want an electric archtop with thunk and the traditional jazz guitar sound, get an ES-175.

If you want an electric archtop that is brighter and more detailed that is superb for fingerstyle solo jazz guitar get a JP-20.

If you are really smart, you will have both!

Thanks to those posters who pointed out the whole 24th fret harmonic thing. I learned something from this thread. And that is a good thing! It is always good to be learning.....

[neatomic]

Unfortunately there's no real 'centre' for a HB pickup; it has 2 coils, both sensing the string at different places, and the resultant sound is a combination of the string picked up at two 'centres' ( which is why the HB sounds like it does). The typical softer HB sound is partly a product of 'phase cancellation' between the two sets of pole pieces ( i.e. some high harmonics get cancelled out).

So, it makes the question of which harmonic is over the adjustable poles somewhat irrelevant, even with open strings.

Incidentally, the adjustable pole pieces have slightly less influence on the signal than the hidden 'slug' polepieces under the cover; they are much thicker.

odd then that every manufacturer who has ever used a neck humbucker on a guitar has positioned the screw polepieces closest to the neck!!

cheers

ps- and hasn't it now been verified that the jp20 does indeed have the screw polepieces under the (virtual) 29th fret..do u think this is just haphazard??

[pingu]

ps- and hasn't it now been verified that the jp20 does indeed have the screw polepieces under the (virtual) 29th fret..do u think this is just haphazard??

yes i believe Joe said something like
"can you move the pick out of the way a bit
because thats where my hand goes"

interestingly Joe's latter gibson175 had the pickup
right up as far as it can go against the f/b
a la L4 and he picks right over it anyway

ps I'm jealous as hell , I want a JP20 when I grow up !

[notablemusician]

I just modded my JP-20 and I'm delighted with the result.

I've been playing around for a while with floating pickups and it all started with the wreck of a washburn J6 I bought and installed a single Gibson 57 reissue hamburger at lack position.
Later I acquired a goodin fifth Avenue cutaway with the two P90 pickups (bad choice for me) so I took off the P90's and modified a 57 Gibson reissue humpback simply by snapping off the two doglegs and installing it as a floater on a bracket which I made from aluminium and which was fixed to the neck. It worked really well and of course taking off the P90's releases a lot of town but it's a cherrywood guitar and has its limits. I still have the guitar but I was looking for something else so I found a Joe Pass JP 20 1989 for a decent price in Lyon France. It is in really good condition although there could be some fretwork and neck adjustment which I got to yet.
The point is if you are assessing a guitar it's a personal thing and you don't want to generalise or put words into other people's mouths so I speak for myself.
Regarding the comments going around about the thinness of the Tone it it all depends what you do with the guitar. If you play on stage with a full-size arch top, very responsive acoustically and fitted with a floating pickup, then good luck with feedback and so on. I have found smaller guitars and also thicker varnish as on the washburn J6 and also the JP 20 give more realistic volume performance because they are more inert. With a good amplifier such as an acoustic image you got pretty much any sound you want to get and have it reliably.
So I now come to the modification that I just completed today to my JP 20 and I must say I'm pleased. I'd been thinking about it for some time and then a brainwave came to me how I could side mount the JP 20 Humbucker to the plectrum guard using some more of this lovely aluminium strip and plate which I have in stock. It's very easy to work and bend and strong enough for the purpose.
The whole pickup including its mounting ring has now been raised just enough so that it floats above the belly of the instrument and there are no attaching screws or pickup bring touching the guitar and damping or distorting it sound. I am quite astonished at the amount of tone and clarity and sustain that has been released by this operation.
I had been very critical about the neck and the fretwork which is absolutely brilliant of course but then I'm very hard to please! Some notes had strange resonances to them and I had the feeling that some frets had air underneath them (this can cause dead notes) and I could not get the homogenous attack ring and sound that I crave along with mid and low range. Since I began playing electric guitar in 1958 I have constantly searched for THE sound and I think that I may be near my goal.
There remain some small tweaks but even as it is it's a wonderful improvement. I'm in the process of making a series of solo guitar jazz videos and whilst I'm an admirer of Joe forever and also highly appreciative of his teaching tips I do not copy his style or that of Jim Hall, I'm too busy following my heart which dictates my true sound in my true self.
I'll post something here very soon with pictures of the mod and also a quick soundbite until the videos are done.
Wishing you all a happy Christmas and that we all be kind and gentle with each other, the best present that I could hope for!

Alan