View Poll Results: Best Johnny Smith style pickup?
- Voters
- 66. You may not vote on this poll
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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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My Greg Bennett JZ4 is a beautiful guitar with a meh pickup. I am considering these neck mounted pickups as a replacement. Cost is not an issue except where noted. Does anyone have any thoughts pro/con/other about these?
- Seymour Duncan - Johnny Smith from custom shop - $225 (too much...I think)
- Jason Lollar - Johnny Smith - $175
- Kent Armstrong - Jazzy Joe - $107
- Curtis Novak - Johnny Smith - $150
- Lindy Fralin - Johnny Smith - $154
Am I leaving anything out? Not that many custom companies make neck mounted pickups.
Thanks.
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03-19-2014 06:10 PM
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If money were no object, I'd get the Lollar.
But for me money is an object so I got the Kent Armstrong Jazzy Joe.
BTW you don't have to buy KA from WD Music, they're much cheaper on eBay, in fact $69.95 shipped.
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Kent Armstrong makes a custom had-wound neck pick-up,too at $169 that is supposed to be better.
Kent Armstrong Adjustable Floating PAF (Handmade) - DjangoBooks.com
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Thanks DRS. that looks nice, but I'm really looking for a neck mounted one…
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Originally Posted by tomems
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There is the Bartolini 5J which gets some good reviews...
Jazz Guitar Humbucker - 5J - Bartolini Pickups & Electronics
It was not convincing enough for me however, after upgrading a Korean Kent Armstrong (not the American hand made) with it.
In my case I guess I just don't like the tone they give in a general way that's why I routed a classic 57 into the top of my Regent.
On the other hand maybe a Regent being laminated is not the right vehicule for a floater.Last edited by Dirk; 06-12-2020 at 04:51 PM.
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Interesting. The JZ4 is Korean made laminate with a Korean made "Duncan designed" floater. It's not horrible but I think a different pickup will make a big difference.
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Djangobooks sells the handwound KS's for $20 cheaper than archtops.com
http://www.djangobooks.com/Item/kent...adjustable-paf
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How come the original Gibson JS HB's are not an option on the poll? That's what I have on my guitar. I guess one is assuming they are unobtainable now? But you can still get original Monkeys on a stick, still, no?
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Having owned the Bartolini 5J and now the Benedetto S6.
Each of those are the most acoustic pickups I've ever owned. They each allow the woody tone to shine through. Darker than KA handwounds I've owned, and less electric sounding. That's been my personal experience.
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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
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I like the Bartolini 5J. It sounds better to me than an Armstrong hand wound I used to have. The Bartolini is warmer, but retains a nice acoustic tone. They also cost less and they're readily available through retailers like Musicians Friend.
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Originally Posted by pingu
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Originally Posted by pingu
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I took a Bartolini off of my '77 L-5C and replaced it with a Lollar. Now I have the Lollar on two guitars.
I love the Lollar. It is relatively low output and has beautiful crystallize highs. I hear the frequency response as quite flat, and it is able to do a fair acoustic guitar sound. I use the amp for tone shaping.
The Bartolini was a lot of people's idea of a great pickup, but not mine. It had big output, lots of mids, and little treble. I think you have to know what you like or want.
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I notice that the Bartolini 5J isn't advertised anywhere with a pickguard mount. Is this an option?
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Originally Posted by DRS
5JNB | Bartolini Pickups and Electronics
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So how on earth would you mount it?
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You could attach your own flat bracket to the pickup to mount it on the pick guard or you could mount it to the top of the guitar with some kind of removable adhesive.
If it's not mounted to the neck though, it's not really a Johnny Smith-style, is it?
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Originally Posted by David B
although Peter's doesn't have the metal cover on it , does it ?
I wonder how the neck bracket fits to the PU ?
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I've never heard these in person, but they are supposed to sound nice. Bartolini, Atilla Zoller (by Shadow?)
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I too own a JZ4 and replaced the stock PU with a Bartolini; this made a sensible change but not the one I expected.
I then went to a routed Classic 57 in order to get the tone I was after (ie:more electric than acoustic) and I'm happy since.
The Bartolini is a very good PU but never compared it to a KA.
Maybe it's just me or the acoustic property of the JZ4 which didn't convinced me? Anyway eventhough the JZ4 is really a very good archtop, it's cheap and you can't expect to get same acoustic tone from a real L5 (x10 more expensive), wether amplified or not.Last edited by mambosun; 04-01-2014 at 05:07 AM.
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Originally Posted by kamlapati
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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?
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After drooling over the Collings City Limits, I decided on the Lollar for my JZ4. It's in the mail; I'll let you know how it sounds...
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