Best neck humbucker for that Wes Montgomery/Gibson L-5 jazz sound?

Bob Hoover Ross

Bob Hoover Ross

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I have an Ibanez AF-75 archtop f-hole jazz guitar that my wife gave me ~20 years ago, and it is a *surprisingly* nice instrument: super comfortable, great feeling neck, plays like butter.

The sound, however, is just a bit "meh"

I've got it strung up with D'Addario 12-52 flatwounds, and I'm playing it through a Polytone MiniBrute III combo amp; were this a classic Gibson archtop from their heyday, that'd be the perfect recipe for my timbral goals. So I'm thinking the electronics in this Ibanez are the weak link. If I had to characterize it, the sound just doesn't "pop" as much as it does in these examples; it's a little 2-dimensional, lifeless.

For reference, I'm looking for that archetypal neck-pickup humbucker "jazz guitar sound", e.g., Wes Montgomery (here playing a Gibson L-5)

or Pat Martino (here playing a Sam Koontz)

or Joe Pass (not sure what that guitar is; a D'Angelico or a D'Aquisto perhaps?)

or - sometimes - Steve Howe (here playing a Gibson ES-175D)

So... what currently available standard-sized humbucking pickup would you recommend for achieving those tonal goals?

Thanks
 
The tone in the demos you posted seem different to me. The first Wes Montgomery video seems to have plenty of brightness. Its got good definition considering the way he picks with his thumb. Then the Joe Pass video seems warmer, like its a PAF like pickup combined with with Jazz string gauges. The warm tone seems very nice when playing without accompaniment.

Have you tried your Ibanez with the lighter gauge strings like 10s or 11s? In that case did it give any more more of a pop or was it just too bright?

There is quite a range of Jazz humbuckers. Some of them are intended to have strong mids, others are more scooped which is better for fingerpicking. I'm not even a Jazz player.. maybe more like a Jazz listener! I think it would be good idea to ask the question of a specialised Jazz guitar forum.
 
Played a bunch of Jazz and I would avoid the Duncan "Jazz" pickup. Its too scooped for the sounds you posted. I would start with a Duncan 59 or Alnico 2 pro.

There are many other pickups out there but the Duncans are easy to source used and cheap enough to see what direction you might want to go from there.
 
JohnnyHardtail said:
Have you tried your Ibanez with the lighter gauge strings like 10s or 11s? In that case did it give any more more of a pop or was it just too bright?
Click to expand...

Oh yeah, it sounds worse with lighter gauge strings! 10s were completely unacceptable; 11s were close enough that I can tolerate them if the 12s aren't available, but definitely not better sounding in any sense.
 
From your comments and online demos, I get the feeling the AF75 may have some upper-mid brightness or generally thin tone. It's hard to attribute it to either the stock pickup or the guitar itself. It could even be a little bit of both.

It seems you are after a full sounding tone (ie warmer overall balance). Gibson 57 classic seems like a logical choice if you can find one at a fair price.


EDIT: Duncan APH-1 is also an interesting option. I think it's going to be a little brighter than the Gibson 57 classic. I found its a balanced sounding pickup in the neck position, which seems to reveal the qualities of the guitar (either good or bad). Perhaps a slight emphasis on lower mids.
 
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I've personally found the semi-hollow Ibanez to be better than their true archtops until you get into the signature Pat Metheny/George Benson range. It'd be disappointing indeed if a new pickup didn't liven it up enough.

It might also be worth trying half-rounds or round wounds and dialing in the rolled-off tones more at the amp than from the string type.
 
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