The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    hey,

    I am about to get a new guitar the Ibanez Rg421 lvs with to Humbuckers, 24 frets, maple neck and a mahogany body. I know its a cheap guitar, but it sounds great and it's not my main guitar.
    The guitar it self sounds very smooth and warm and i thought this could be an allrounder for my playing stiles so i am looking for some Pickups.
    On the bridge I thought about the "shadow Eq5" for more styles.
    the neck Pu should be able to sounds great for clean stuff like Jazz and still great with more gain.

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    Id suggest that you talk to Pete Biltoft at

    Vintage Vibe Guitar Pickups

    He makes guitar pickups. Pete's best feature is that he will answer his own phone and talk with you directly. He can make literally any kind of pickup you want, in nearly any form factor. Pete will talk with you till he knows exactly what sound you want and what style pickup you want. Then he will make that pickup and sell it to you at a reasonable price. I built a guitar with two pickups from Pete Biltoft and it was so good, I sold all my other electrics, well over a dozen of them!! Not affiliated with him other than being a very satisfied customer.

    A cool feature I forgot to mention - Pete Biltoft's pickups have interchangeable magnets. Pete has figured out a mounting system that holds the magnets in with screws - you can change magnets in around 15 seconds. Pete has Alnico 2, 3, and 5, and ceramic magnets. And he includes two different sets of magnets with each pickup.

  4. #3

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    why would you use the neck pickup for high gain?

  5. #4

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    I guess that will be difficult because gain usually means high output and it hardly helps for clean.
    Better to have a good clean pickup for your clean and just kick in the overdrive for the high gain soloing when needed...
    For instance on my Les Paul I can easily play nice Jazz tone on the neck pickup and if I need gain for metal or fusion soloing I kick in the Bad Monkey...

  6. #5

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    plus most folks use the bridge pickup for lead so get a mellow jazz neck pickup and a slightly hotter bridge pickup for lead

  7. #6

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    Cartload of questions aside, you may want to read the "Tech Talk" here:

    Air Zone? | DiMarzio

    (I should add that I went this route once before and wouldn't do it again)

  8. #7
    1. Most solos (I know)with Overdrive are played with the neck pu,
    2. I have a high gain amp(Evh 5150 III 50 Watt) and if I need it i can boost it with i tubescreamer (on my amp i barly get over gain settings of 12 o'clock)
    3. i want a neck pu that can easy get a good clean sound for jazz because my Emg will not do it
    4. that Pu should not sound extremly bad if there is some overdrive (some do, they just sound dirty and muddy )
    so my list would be
    -Seymour duncan 59'
    -Seymour duncan Jazz
    -DiMarzio Air zone
    -DiMarzio liquid fire
    -Dimarzio air norton

    bot have no idea which one i would take, but i prefer the DiMarzios

  9. #8

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    Petrucci, Morse, Gambale, Holdsworth, Vai, satriani all use mostly the bridge pickup for heavily distorted tones. The reason is that the bass tones sound muddy and flubby when overdriven

    Some of these guys don't even have a neck pickup on their guitars.

  10. #9

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    I can easily play extreme metal (black, death, thrash whatever) using my stock 490R on my Gibson Les Paul Standard as I can do great clean Jazzy tones.
    I do use the neck pickup a lot for heavy rock soloing or metal even rolling off the tone for that Bob Fripp / Steve Hackett effect.

  11. #10

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    Hmmm. I'd probably go with something good for jazz in the neck and something good for high gain in the bridge.

    OTOH, I used to play doom metal using a Strat loaded with noiseless SCN single coils on the neck pup only. The bridge would squeal with the hideous amount of gain (Peavey 5150) I was using

  12. #11

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    even for higher gain stuff, i still prefer paf style pups, or perhaps a higher gain version of that. i preferred to have the gain come from the amps and pedals and not the guitar, because there were a lot of clean passages that needed covering, too. and it was more of a unique sound, too. the jazz/jb combo is pretty standard for a do it all kind of guitar, but i'd also consider the alnico 2 pro for the neck. i wouldn't go with two pups that are too different in output levels so they are sort of matched, but that's me.

    jack- some shredder types use the neck pickup for that "liquid-y" tone. and some guys (slash) just used it because they did. not super common, but it happens.

  13. #12

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    I prefer medium output pups for everything, and when it comes real tube amp distortion, I find the neck pup is what gives that legendary sweet, singing, blues tone.

  14. #13

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    You're asking a pickup to do two completely opposite things. A PAF type will sound more jazzy but no passive neck pickup will sound as tight with high gain as your EMG so you're going to have a tradeoff in either direction. I suggest you call EMG and see what they suggest. They have a bunch of onboard tone shapers for their pickups, they may already have some gadget for what you want.

    As an aside, don't get too hung up on having a specific tone. If you're just practising and learning jazz, not recording or gigging for pay it's really not that important. BTW, I know a very good professional jazz guitarist who uses an EMG in the neck.

  15. #14
    It might be that the Lollar CC does the trick. Its extremely clean and full, but delivers wonderful bluesy overtones when used on a cranked up blues amp.

  16. #15

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    DiMarzio LiquiFire...they suggest it for clean jazz as well as for high gain. I have one in the neck of one of my Strat Partscasters and it definitely is a sweet pup for clean sounds, and jazz as well.

  17. #16

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    As a general rule and taste, I don't like the neck PU with overdrive and distortion, much better bridge pickup.
    I've always been a neck pickup guy, but when I started to play using overdrives I noticed there was something wrong with my sound. Then I noticed I just had to switch to the bridge pickup.
    But, of course, everyone plays according to its own taste.
    Regarding your request I'll throw in Bareknuckle The Mule.
    Last edited by Jazz_175; 05-23-2014 at 04:44 AM.

  18. #17
    I play a lot with both clean and hi gain tone, and the carvin holdsworth
    pickups are the absolute best for my use. Its a bit dark and quite fat in the neck and sounds so thick with distortion, but it never gets muddy. I could post some clips if you're still
    looking.

  19. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by cosmic gumbo
    I prefer medium output pups for everything, and when it comes real tube amp distortion, I find the neck pup is what gives that legendary sweet, singing, blues tone.
    Ditto. I just played a blues and rock gig in a large venue using my chambered Les Paul through the house Twin Reverb. 12 gauge rounds, unwound G, and I didn't even need to activate a pedal. All through the neck pup.

    I really like the neck pup on this guitar - a Gibson Burstbucker Pro. It can do jazz too.