Music Man JP15 Replacement Pickups

[andrew_k]

I just bought a Music Man JP 15. I was looking for a guitar with this specification (roasted woods, 24 stainless steel frets, flat finger board radius etc.) so despite the fact that I have never listened to Dream Theater I grabbed one. I love how nicely it plays, and also really appreciate it's resonance when unplugged. However I am a little ambivalent about the stock pickups. The bridge unit has a slightly clinical quality to it. I like the neck more, and it does sound good for improvising but I think I would like a little more character here too. I have a Jackson SL3 with an alnico Nailbomb in the bridge and 2 Irish Tour single coils, hence thought about replacing the JP's pickups with Bare Knuckles.

Although my taste in guitars might indicate otherwise I am not a metal player. I grew up playing Ibanez instruments so this style of guitar is what I am used to. My music tastes range from Sigur Ros to Eric Dolphy. Guitar tone wise I love Shawn Lane and Allan Holdsworth. I do like the richness of the Nailbomb, however to my ears it also has a slightly percussive quality to it when playing legato lines. To be fair this could well be something the Jackson is contributing to. The Jackson has a maple neck through with alder wings. I am after a rich, smooth lead tone (from both neck and bridge) with plenty of sustain (I don't pick much!). I would also like sweet clean tones and a nice split coil  sound if possible.

Any advice hugely appreciated.

[Dave Sloven]

Have you thought of trying the Nailbomb in the Music Man?  If it goes nicely in there I would take the chance to get a new pickup for the Soloist, something better suited to a maple neck through

[Slartibartfarst42]

I have a Jackson SL3 with an alnico Nailbomb in the bridge and 2 Irish Tour single coils.

Wow!  I used to have a Jackson SL3 and tried an A-Bomb in the bridge and it was easily one of the most hairy, tight and aggressive pickups I've ever tried. I hated it. Even my son, who loves very aggressive pickups, came through as he was curious what was making such an awful noise yet it clearly works for you. As much as I disliked it in that guitar, I'd say that if it works for you there, leave it there. In answer to your original question, I'd say it sounds like a Holydiver to me but as you seem to like things a bit more aggressive, I'll throw the Juggernaut into the ring too.

[Yellowjacket]

::not a metal player:: 

Crawlers?

I LOVE the Juggernaut and they are definitely an option worth putting on the table!

[andrew_k]

Have you thought of trying the Nailbomb in the Music Man?  If it goes nicely in there I would take the chance to get a new pickup for the Soloist, something better suited to a maple neck through

Thanks for your reply. That is an option, however I think I am looking for something a bit smoother and sweeter (and definitely less percussive in its attack) than the Nailbomb.

[andrew_k]

Wow!  I used to have a Jackson SL3 and tried an A-Bomb in the bridge and it was easily one of the most hairy, tight and aggressive pickups I've ever tried. I hated it. Even my son, who loves very aggressive pickups, came through as he was curious what was making such an awful noise yet it clearly works for you. As much as I disliked it in that guitar, I'd say that if it works for you there, leave it there. In answer to your original question, I'd say it sounds like a Holydiver to me but as you seem to like things a bit more aggressive, I'll throw the Juggernaut into the ring too.

Big thanks for your reply. I am not sure the Nailbomb is working for me. When I bought the Jackson about 8 years ago I emailed Tim, saying my concern with the maple through neck and the Floyd Rose was that the sound would be a bit thin. Hence he recommended the Nailbomb. Living in New Zealand made it a bit tricky to send things back, and it certainly wasn't thin sounding. I would definitely like something smoother and sweeter. Just out of interest, what did you end up with in your SL3?

[andrew_k]

::not a metal player:: 

Crawlers?

I LOVE the Juggernaut and they are definitely an option worth putting on the table!

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I will go and have a listen to your recommendations.

[Ephemeria]

How about a Holy Diver and Cold Sweat? You said you like the neck, and the Cold Sweat has that fluidness. Holy Diver I found just as tight as the Crunch Lab, it's a great pickup. The Holy Diver feels a lot different to how it sounds. It's hard to explain. Feels tight, but expressive.

[Dave Sloven]

Wow!  I used to have a Jackson SL3 and tried an A-Bomb in the bridge and it was easily one of the most hairy, tight and aggressive pickups I've ever tried. I hated it. Even my son, who loves very aggressive pickups, came through as he was curious what was making such an awful noise yet it clearly works for you. As much as I disliked it in that guitar, I'd say that if it works for you there, leave it there. In answer to your original question, I'd say it sounds like a Holydiver to me but as you seem to like things a bit more aggressive, I'll throw the Juggernaut into the ring too.

Big thanks for your reply. I am not sure the Nailbomb is working for me. When I bought the Jackson about 8 years ago I emailed Tim, saying my concern with the maple through neck and the Floyd Rose was that the sound would be a bit thin. Hence he recommended the Nailbomb. Living in New Zealand made it a bit tricky to send things back, and it certainly wasn't thin sounding. I would definitely like something smoother and sweeter. Just out of interest, what did you end up with in your SL3?

He used a Miracle Man combined with two bridge model Sinners with baseplates in the middle and neck slots.  There is a review here somewhere

If your Nailbomb is the correct configuration for the Music Man (I am assuming both are short legs and 53mm) then I would try it there, as it will give you a baseline that you can get back to us (and BKP) regarding what works about that combo or does not in relation to a pickup that a lot of people know well.

[andrew_k]

He used a Miracle Man combined with two bridge model Sinners with baseplates in the middle and neck slots.  There is a review here somewhere

If your Nailbomb is the correct configuration for the Music Man (I am assuming both are short legs and 53mm) then I would try it there, as it will give you a baseline that you can get back to us (and BKP) regarding what works about that combo or does not in relation to a pickup that a lot of people know well.

Thanks again. Just discovered that the Nailbomb won't go in the Music Man without alterations. The metal tabs at the bass of the Music Man pickups are triangular whereas the Nailbombs are square.

[darrenw5094]

He used a Miracle Man combined with two bridge model Sinners with baseplates in the middle and neck slots.  There is a review here somewhere

If your Nailbomb is the correct configuration for the Music Man (I am assuming both are short legs and 53mm) then I would try it there, as it will give you a baseline that you can get back to us (and BKP) regarding what works about that combo or does not in relation to a pickup that a lot of people know well.

Thanks again. Just discovered that the Nailbomb won't go in the Music Man without alterations. The metal tabs at the bass of the Music Man pickups are triangular whereas the Nailbombs are square.

Ask for 'Tri Tabbed' pups when ordering

['Ash' J. Williams]

I have a limited ed. JP6 with a mahogany body and a roasted maple neck/pao ferro board.
The crunchlab was too sterile for me so I put a Holy Diver and VHII neck. Had them for a while and it was wonderful.
It now has an Abraxas bridge and the VHII neck and it's still awesome. I'm thinking about trying a Crawler I have too.

[andrew_k]

Ask for 'Tri Tabbed' pups when ordering

Will do, cheers

[andrew_k]

I have a limited ed. JP6 with a mahogany body and a roasted maple neck/pao ferro board.
The crunchlab was too sterile for me so I put a Holy Diver and VHII neck. Had them for a while and it was wonderful.
It now has an Abraxas bridge and the VHII neck and it's still awesome. I'm thinking about trying a Crawler I have too.

This is a similar spec to my guitar. If you get a chance could you tell me how you felt about both pickup sets? How would you describe the sounds as compared to the stock pickups? Would love to hear your thoughts. Played the JP this morning in church and the bridge pickup is definitely a little too cutting for me.

['Ash' J. Williams]

I have a limited ed. JP6 with a mahogany body and a roasted maple neck/pao ferro board.
The crunchlab was too sterile for me so I put a Holy Diver and VHII neck. Had them for a while and it was wonderful.
It now has an Abraxas bridge and the VHII neck and it's still awesome. I'm thinking about trying a Crawler I have too.

This is a similar spec to my guitar. If you get a chance could you tell me how you felt about both pickup sets? How would you describe the sounds as compared to the stock pickups? Would love to hear your thoughts. Played the JP this morning in church and the bridge pickup is definitely a little too cutting for me.

Well mine is a JP6 so my stock pickups were the CrunchLab bridge/LiquiFire neck combo so I can only talk about those.
Your JP15 has Illuminators in them which are supposed to be a bit less surgical sounding, but I never tried them.

So coming from the CL/LF combo, with the HD/VHII, it changed the very modern feel/sound into more of a modern vintage rock/hard rock Suhr superstrat sound, which is what I was aiming for.
It became far more versatile.
The HD/VHII is a very reliable combo that many people uses because it covers a lot of grounds.
OTOH, the HD is less prone to Modern Metal sounds such as djent/metalcore than a Crunchlab.
The Abraxas shifted the general feel and sound more to the vintage side of things while still retaining massive versatility.
As a rule of thumb, what I always experienced when replacing DiMarzios with BKP is the enhanced dynamics as you lost a lot of the compressed sound (which can be good or bad according to your needs).

Basically, the HD is a bit more powerful than the Abraxas (surprisingly not so much) and with a good general focus on the mids (it's very musical, best leads of the BKP range for sure) and the Abraxas is more of a very well balanced super PAF, it does so many things right.
I feel the Abraxas doesn't get enough recognitions as it's basically the Super PAF that all other brand would have hoped to make (looking at you DiMarzio...)

As for the VHII, I'm biased because it's my favorite neck pickup (with the Emerald neck).
It's like playing a big single coil, with plenty of fendery-attack but as the same time still sound like a fat humbucker for jazzy runs. It's really great.

Also, the trick with the JP6 for me was to choose pickups that were hot enough on one of the coils to retain the beautiful 'Petrucci' middle position (both inside coils splitted in parallel) and the VHII is one of the neck pickups that does it well in my experience.
The HD worked too, but I feel the Abraxas does it even better now (the Crawler is supposed to be the greatest splitter by the way).

Oh and be aware that if you want to retain the original JP wiring you got to order the neck pickup with the magnet flipped ! (and Tri-Tabs on both like the guys said !)

Good luck !