The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary

View Poll Results: Best Johnny Smith style pickup?

Voters
66. You may not vote on this poll
  • Seymour Duncan

    3 4.55%
  • Jason Lollar

    24 36.36%
  • Kent Armstrong

    36 54.55%
  • Curtis Novak

    0 0%
  • Lindy Fralin

    3 4.55%
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Posts 26 to 50 of 85
  1. #26

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    Quote Originally Posted by Woody Sound
    I think you need to be more specific when asking about a "Johnny Smith Style Pickup." Does that specifically mean a floating mini-humbucker? Or does it mean *any* floating pickup?
    "Johnny Smith style" always means floating mini humbucker.

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  3. #27

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    AN EXCELLENT and interesting bunch of info here. As a long time collector of J.S. type my personal preference is for the old detachable or fixed DeArmonds 1180 and 1185. These are available sometimes cheap, but also expensively. May have biased opinion because commonly on the old good acoustic archtops, but likely because they were considered the best at the time. What p.u. was on original Johnny Smith Gibson? artb
    Attached Images Attached Images Best Johnny Smith style pickup?-img_2352a-jpg 

  4. #28

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    I just got the Lollar installed and it sounds great. The only thing is, I'm getting a lot of buzz… Like it was a single coil. Is that the pick up, or the install, or something else?

  5. #29

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    My Lollar JS's (two guitars) are quiet as can be. I suspect something wrong in your wiring, unshielded wire, poor solder joint, etc.

  6. #30

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    I think you're right. When I touch the metal tailpiece it goes away. I'll take it back in...

  7. #31

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    Maybe strings and tailpiece not grounded?

  8. #32

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    Is the tailpiece supposed to be grounded? Never heard of that. I'm sure the guy will fix it as the install is not yet complete if it doesn't work. Pickup sounds great though. Very clear high-end - intriguing.

  9. #33

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    I took it to the store tonight and curiously no buzz. It's not the cables or the amp...hmmmm.

  10. #34

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    Wiring in your house? Dimmer switches and fluorescent lights are notorious for causing buzz. Check the wall outlet your amp is plugged into for proper ground. If you use a tube amp, the transformers generate a field that can induce buzz; that usually is worse when your guitar is pointing in one direction and better in another. Wires should be shielded between the pickup and the pots; Gibson used to shield the pots in archtops with metal cans that fitted over them.

    Archtop guitars are typically grounded to the tailpiece, through that to the strings and through that to you- sort of using you as a capacitor. I have found mini humbuckers to be somewhere between a full size humbucker and a single coil in terms of susceptibility to noise. The Allparts mini I used to use was more so than the minis on my Ibanez GB10. The Allparts mini base plate didn't cover the ends of the coils which might be part of the problem, whereas the base plate of the pickup that replaced it does. My KA PAF-0 floater was also prone to picking up noise, albeit less so.

  11. #35

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    Quote Originally Posted by pingu
    Yeah and also ...

    Why oh why can't you get full size humbuckets in a jonny smith mount ?

    Peter Bernsteins got one but I think its a one off
    You can. You can get one from EMG (low impedance), one ffrom Shadow (the Atilla Zoller model) and I am pretty sure you could get one made by Kent Armstrong, Jason Lollar or Pete Biltoft for some extra dollars. Or you can modify a full size humbucker into a floater which is what I did. Of course I also SNAFU'd it up and had to send it to Kent for repair, but the end result has been good.

    Having enough vertical room between the top and the strings is a big issue and many- maybe most- don't have enough room to do what I did.

  12. #36

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    I do have dimmers everywhere. I tried it in a different room in my home, back to lots of buzz. I'll give the tech a call today. Once I'm playing, I don't notice it - I can also run the noise suppressor on my Boss multi.

    I don't mind the noise if it's supposed to be there. My fave electric is my Strat, and it's really buzzy in my house. The JZ4 stock humbucker didn't have good tone but there was no buzz.

    I am playing it thru a solid state bass amp - Fender Rumble 40. Did that at the store last night, quiet as a mouse. Then at home this morning, two different buzzes. One that didn't go away, and one that got grounded when I played or touched the tailpiece.

  13. #37

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    The Lindy Fralins sound great.


  14. #38

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    i also had a couple of Bartolini 5Js over the years and really liked them for that sound. stopped using it when i switched to 7 because they didn't offer it in a 7 string version.

  15. #39

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    Hi
    Im thinking of going for the Kent Armstrong . How did you find the tone on the one you have ? Regards.

  16. #40

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    I am thinking of buying a Kent Armstrong Johnny Smith pick-up from Archtop.com. As the poles are adjustables, do you think that it could be used with bronze strings and the balance could be adjusted? I want to change my pick-guard mounted single coil to a neck mounted pick-up. According to an e-mail I got from Archtop.com it is supposed to work but it is nice to have the opinion of players not only from the salesman.

    ac accessories

    Thank you,

    Daniel

  17. #41

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    My personal experience with the Lollar JS is that you can adjust for most, but maybe not quite all, of the imbalance due to acoustic strings. I don't consider my experience definitive: there are lots of kinds of strings. IMO it is worth trying.

    For the record, I used acoustic strings with a JS PU for several years, and I adjusted my picking style a little to help compensate. It's not that hard, and only the real nut cases (most of us here?) will ever notice the subtle imbalance.

  18. #42

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    I'm reviving an old discussion. My question is, how would a JS pickup sound in the neck position in a solid body guitar? I was thinking of having a JS made with the Firebird-type mounting option, not with the neck tabs or pickguard mount.

    I read through the comments and there was discussion as to what makes a Johnny Smith pickup a Johnny Smith pickup. I think the internal construction is the primary deciding factor. One coil has a bar magnet and the other coil has adjustable iron slugs, and the steel bottom plate transfers the magnetism from the bar magnet to the iron pole pieces.

  19. #43

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    Try it. Several great guitarists, Jim Hall for one, took the Zoller Shadow floating pickup and had it set in on his D'Aquisto.

  20. #44

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    I have a kent armstrong floating humbucker that says "vintage" on the back and it sounds as good as my 69 JS pup. Dearmond is now selling 1100 pups again and i have read they sound as good as the originals. Imo, those are the best sounding floaters ever.

  21. #45

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    Hi,

    I am a little bit off the poll proposed, but another "floating" solution is a CC Pu proposed by Pete Biltoft. I first had a hand-wired Kent Armstrongfloater installed on my L5C but I wasn't convinced by it. Then I switched for the CC and it is a really great PU.

    See demo below.


  22. #46

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    On my Bozeman L-7C I have a handwound Kent Armstrong PAFO. It's has no adjustable poles and has an ebonized finish that makes it disappear into my black Gibson. The sound is wonderful. It is tied to hidden tone and volume pots, and it sounds lovely across the strings, with treble rolled anywhere on the dial.

    On my Crestwood Howard Roberts I have a set of vintage Ibanez Super 70 floaters (like on the 2461, or even the GB-10) that sound absolutely fantastic! I only have the neck installed but it sounds so good I am going to have the bridge pup installed on a custom pickguard.

    So a vote for the handmade Kent but also a big thumbs up for the vintage floating Super 70!

    -Chris

  23. #47

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    Quote Originally Posted by Fred Archtop
    Hi,

    I am a little bit off the poll proposed, but another "floating" solution is a CC Pu proposed by Pete Biltoft. I first had a hand-wired Kent Armstrongfloater installed on my L5C but I wasn't convinced by it. Then I switched for the CC and it is a really great PU.

    See demo below.

    Fred, your video convinced me to give the Biltoft a try. I'm looking forward to receiving it and having a new pickguard made and installing it in an 18" guitar. Pete has been super about responding to questions via email!

  24. #48

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    Only good things to say about Pete Biltoft's pickups and customer service

  25. #49

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    +1 for Biltoft's pickups. I've got a 12 pole floating Johnny Smith that sounds superb, I opted for 12 poles to allow for more adjustment if using bronze strings. I've also got a floating CC- that's my favourite pickup. His customer service is top notch too, as well as the value for money.

  26. #50

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    I have the Lollar on my super eagle and it delivers. Can't go far wrong there.