To select the best guitar pickups for Alternative Rock, Indie, or Pop, we must first describe the genre’s sound. Fortunately, Fender’s legendary offset guitars have remained a part of the scene’s sound character since these genres’ heyday in the 1990s.
Mustangs, Jaguars, and even JagStangs may be seen in the lineups of innumerable Alt. Rock and Indie bands. But none of them can match the Jazzmaster’s legacy. From Vampire Weekend’s alt-pop to Sonic Youth’s noise pioneers, this offset jewel constantly delivers its clear and accurate, yet enormous and untamed voice.
Jazzmaster pickups are among the greatest guitar pickups for Alternative Rock, Indie, and Pop for these reasons, and here are three of our personal favorites. If you are interested in these models, keep reading our 3 Best Jazzmaster Pickups review for more information below.
Our Top Pick: Seymour Duncan Antiquity Humbucker Set
Description: This vintage-style single-coil pickup is made with Alinco 2 Magnets and a single enamel-coated copper coil. It has greater sound quality, especially considering it is a recently produced drop-in replacement.
The Antiquity’s distinctive coil design is one of its most stunning features. You may expect a pleasant, mellow tone with a lot of snap. You are not required to accept our word for it.
To distinguish between the Seymour Duncan Antiquity and Duncan Designed pickups. Jazzmaster pickups are used in both of the listed products. However, there’s no doubting that Antiquities has a distinct soundstage.
If you are looking for the 3 Best Jazzmaster Pickups, you should give this one a chance. This is probably one of the best 3 Best Jazzmaster Pickups you can find. The Antiquity is intended to be installed in the neck and bridge cavities of any standard-sized American Fender Jazzmaster.
Remember that you’ll need to either put them into your original soapbox covers or buy replacements.
The Antiquity neck pickup, according to Seymour Duncan, collects mild bass and mid-range impulses as well as high treble signals. The same is true with their Antiquity bridge pickup.
Every Seymour Duncan item is handcrafted in Santa Barbara, California by master builders. The firm has been in operation for 21 years. Each product comes with a full money-back guarantee. You have 21 days to switch your pickups if you don’t like the sound.
Remember, this discount is only valid for goods sold by authorized Seymour Duncan dealers in the United States.
Remember that the Antiquity II kit is simple to assemble. On their website, Seymour Duncan even offers a “Pickup Installation 101” training. This video guidance, we discovered, made installation simple and stress-free. Remember that with the right equipment and resources, you should be able to replace your pickups in less than 3 hours.
Pros
- Provide a warm yet robust tone response thanks to Alinco 5 magnets
- The copper coil wrapped uniquely for clear, sharp highs, mids, and lows
- Aged (gray coating) provides a truly vintage appearance that nicely complements the sound
Cons
- The tone is not identical to that of the original Jazzmaster pickups
Runner Up: Seymour Duncan Vintage Blues Humbucker Pickup Set
Description: Drop the Seymour Duncan SH-1 Vintage Blues Set into your favorite guitar for a warm PAF-style tone.
Features: These pickups are inspired by late-’50s Seth Lover-designed humbuckers and include simple enamel wire, a long-legged bottom plate, and vintage-correct single-conductor cable. Experience plenty of old-school sonic richness, but with a slightly scooped midrange compared to the originals and vacuum wax potting for squeal-free performance.
The lack of Seymour Duncan branding maintains a realistic appearance. These pickups are excellent for rock and blues. The SH-1 Vintage Blues Set is ideal for versatile tones with a vintage feel.
If you are looking for the 3 Best Jazzmaster Pickups, you should give this one a chance. This is probably one of the best 3 Best Jazzmaster Pickups you can find. The SH-1 Vintage Blues Set delivers a vintage-correct, late-’50s humbucker sound with sweet and sparkling clean tones.
This classic-style pickup produces full and vibrant distorted sounds with clean sustain. Plain chrome wire, a long-legged bottom plate, antique single-conductor cable, and the lack of a Seymour Duncan branding are all classic features.
The SH-1 has a brighter top end, a more compacted sound, and is vacuum wax-potted for squeal-free performance in contrast to the SH-55 Seth Lover according to our 3 Best Jazzmaster Pickups review.
Seymour Duncan has spent much of his life perfecting the skill of making pickups. Seymour Duncan is committed to getting the finest tone out of his pickups, which range from current metal monsters to accurate replicas of vintage treasures from the 1950s and 1960s.
We understand how vital tone is to you, which is why we sell Seymour Duncan pickups. With Seymour Duncan’s huge selection of pickups, you’re sure to get the sound you’re searching for.
They have a distinct tone. Whereas Antiquity II’s sound is solidly anchored in the 1960s, Vintage’s sound is firmly rooted in the 1950s.
Their tone is more equally distributed throughout the lows, mids, and highs. They aren’t as brilliant as the Antiquity IIs, but they have a little more warmth on lower notes according to our 3 Best Jazzmaster Pickups review.
Pros
- Set of vintage-style humbuckers for rock and blues.
- PAF humbuckers from the late 1950s, recreated with simple enamel wire, a long-legged bottom plate, and vintage-correct single-conductor cable.
- It has an old-school tone with a stronger top end and a more compressed sound.
- The lack of Seymour Duncan’s branding maintains a realistic appearance.
Cons
- None
Best for Budget: Fender Pure Vintage '65 Jazzmaster Pickup Set
Description: This is a wonderful option for anyone who wants to replace the soapboxes and pickups on their Jazzmaster.
Features: When it comes to original Jazzmaster pickups, Fender has certainly done their homework. These prospective substitutes even outperform vintage cloth wire and fiber bobbins. Flush-mount polepieces give a full, resonant string response.
Wax potting has been applied to the pickups. This procedure eliminates microphonics and the generation of undesired electric noise. Furthermore, the wax protects the pickup’s interior components, ensuring that it will endure for decades.
While it is true that many guitar components are no longer manufactured in the same manner as they once were, this is not the case with Fender’s Jazzmaster Pickup Set.
If you are looking for the 3 Best Jazzmaster Pickups, you should give this one a chance. This is probably one of the best 3 Best Jazzmaster Pickups you can find. The pickup covers are a hue called “Vintage White” by Fender. It does have a little weathered aspect that mixes in with the background of a well-worn, well-used antique guitar.
Even the box is retro, with salmon color reminiscent of the 1950s and old-school typography.
Believe us when we declare that this product isn’t for show. The pickups may emulate the snarly edge and texture of a vintage Fender Jazzmaster. It’s no surprise that Fender was able to duplicate its original formula. Their attention to detail is well valued.
Installation could not be simpler. A little red dot may be found on the bridge pickup. The neck pickup, on the other hand, has a blue dot. Each pickup contains two wires that are color-coded according to our 3 Best Jazzmaster Pickups review.
These must be connected to the appropriate connectors on your Jazzmaster. The kit also includes the essential hardware as well as a documented warranty. You will need a few tools to properly install these parts.
As long as you have a soldering iron and a screwdriver, you can ensure a flawless installation. The strings, pickguard, and current pickups must be removed before the pickups may be mounted.
Pros
- Wax potted for protection and anti-microphonics.
- Uniquely wrapped single-piece copper coils and pole magnets for that classic Jazzmaster sound “Vintage White” soapbox covers
- For even string response, flush-mount pole parts.
Cons
- It may not be suitable for those seeking a soft, quiet sound.
Buyer’s Guide for 3 Best Jazzmaster Pickups
The choice to replace antique pickups is not taken lightly by many artists. Even experienced guitarists may wonder whether the advantages will exceed the hazards. We’ve discovered that the correct pickup replacements increase the sound of a guitar.
Pickup installation is actually rather simple. It’s quite improbable that you’ll harm your guitar in the process. Furthermore, you may always change your mind if the replacements aren’t as delightful as you expected.
In this day and age, full installation and demo videos are readily available on the internet. These materials allow inexperienced musicians to change and repair their instruments with minimal assistance according to our 3 Best Jazzmaster Pickups review.
What exactly is a guitar pickup?
Pickups are components of electric guitars that are incorporated into the neck and bridge. They are little, square-shaped parts made of magnets wrapped in copper wire. These factors combine to create an electric field surrounding the strings of a guitar.
Because pickups are frequently the first object to pick up a sound signal in an audio amplification chain, artists take special care to select ones that may create unique and highly reproducible blueprints according to our 3 Best Jazzmaster Pickups review.
The Fender Custom Shop ’69 System is the greatest vintage-sounding Jazzmaster pickup set. This combination comes with two single-coil pickups that provide traditional Stratocaster tones that are ideal for jazz and blues. They’re also quite adaptable, making them an excellent choice for any musical genre.
Neck Pickup vs. Bridge Pickup
Keep in mind that pickups are available in both individual units and sets. Like other guitars, the Jazzmaster has a bridge pickup as well as a neck pickup. The original pickups were designed to create a wide spectrum of tones, including a bright treble, a clear mid-range, and a deep bass.
They’re referred to as “soapbox pickups” by industry insiders. This is due to the fact that they are white and rectangular in form. Each pickup has magnet pole components as well as a single copper coil.
The coils are coiled backward in a broad, flat pattern, as is Fender’s characteristic style. The Jazzmaster’s characteristic sound comes from the unusual pattern of the copper coil. The tone produced by this instrument is mellow, warm, and brilliant according to our 3 Best Jazzmaster Pickups review.
Another feature that distinguishes the Jazzmaster pickups is the guitar’s unique slide-switch circuitry. On the face of the instrument, a slide switch allows users to isolate the sound of a single pickup. The switch has two settings: “Rhythm” and “Lead.”
When the switch is set to “Rhythm,” users may only use their neck pickup and the corresponding onboard thumb wheels. In contrast, the “Lead” position allows users to use both pickups as well as all of the Jazzmaster’s onboard controls.
Tone
Jazzmaster guitars have been utilized by performers from a variety of genres. Elvis Costello, Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, Win Butler of Arcade Fire, and J Mascis of Dinosaur Junior is among the most well-known Jazzmaster players.
While the Jazzmaster did not catch on with Fender’s intended audience, it did gain the appreciation of numerous well-known guitarists. At the height of their careers, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, and Jimi Hendrix all dabbled with the Jazzmaster.
Shortly after, and most likely as a result of its more renowned users, the Jazzmaster’s popularity skyrocketed among American teenagers according to our 3 Best Jazzmaster Pickups review.
Conclusion: 3 Best Jazzmaster Pickups (2022 Review)
After researching various Jazzmaster pickups, we’ve decided on the Fender Pure Vintage ’65 Jazzmaster Pickup Set as our budget choice. We adore that Fender produced this set. They are the only firm that understands the significance of a Jazzmaster’s pickups.
They’ve certainly gone above and beyond to build gear that sounds and looks genuinely antique. They provide a wide spectrum of tonal perfection with no amplification or fuzz.
Of course, the Seymour Duncan Antiquity Jazzmaster Single Coil Pickup Set is our top pick for recreating the tones of some of the nation’s most iconic 1960s surf rockers. We hope you liked our 3 Best Jazzmaster Pickups review and it was helpful.