Leaderboard

Don't laugh, but go check out a Squier Classic Vibe Jazzmaster. Shockingly good for the asking price, and perfect for a JM noob. Most people love the way the offsets hang on you, but their pickups, electronics packages and trems are either loved or, um ... not loved. The Squier will let you figure out in which camp you fall for a fraction of the investment.

The guitar, posted in a separate NGD thread. Will post amps separately

I've found that the Duncan 59's I've had, in several Hamer's, sounds like that. Might be the A5 mag and that they are heavily wax potted. The 59 neck is a great sounding paf for those BB King like tones. But the 59 bridge has never made a fan out of me. Before you decide to change the pickups, try a mag swap. I would suspect that Alnico 2 magnets in the 59's would make them sound looser and more oriented towards a classic rock sound through a distorted amp. That's what I would try. Alnico 2's usually remove that stiffness I find that A5 mags can have in some guitars. They have more mids, not as tight in the bass and can be perceived as "creamier", if ya get what I mean.... It's an easy and cheap remedy, and you can keep the original pickups in the guitar. Whatever you do DONT change the pots. The Hamer pots are absolutely great, and they don't affect the sound you hear. The cap... maybe? I don't think so. It's not gonna do much for you anyway. But changing the magnet will make a big difference. A magnet is like 5-10 bucks. And you can keep the original magnets so that you can return the guitar to stock. "Stop Tail adjustment. Could raise the stop so strings clear the bridge completely" -- this you should definately do. Just a tad of free air under the low E. It should not touch the bridge.

My personal experience is that there is a level of smoothness I get with single cuts that isn't there with Double cuts. They seem to have more punch. One thing to note is that the Pearly Gates and Seth Lover are a bit lower output than the '59s, and they have Alnico 2 magnets. The '59s have Alnico 5 magnets.