This is the fifth article in our series about best selling Lollar pickups. In this article we’ll talk about some of our best selling items that can’t be classified among the main categories of pickups like strat, tele, and humbucker style pickups.
Lollar Jazzmaster Pickups:
Lollar Jazzmaster style pickups are a consistent favorite. Overall the Lollar Jazzmaster style pickups have a nicely detailed treble and a bit more midrange and bass when compared to a strat style single coil. They also have a very responsive dynamic range.
As you may already know, the size and shape of a pickup coil affect the quality of the tone it will produce. For example, the Jazzmaster coil is very short (1/8″) but very wide. This gives it more surface area and allows the pickup to sense the vibrations of a longer length of the strings. This is part of why they have their own unique tone qualities. To read even more about the unique properties of our Jazzmaster pickups, follow this link to an earlier Lollar pickups blog about Jazzmaster pickups and the Jazzmaster guitar.
Also worth mentioning are our “hybrid” style P-90 / Jazzmaster pickups. They are an interesting option to consider if you are looking for a little more midrange and a little fatter tone than our standard Lollar Jazzmaster. The thickness of the coil and internal construction of the bobbin is actually like a P-90. But the forbon flatwork top and bottom are sized to fit a Jazzmaster sized cover, rather than a P-90 cover. So essentially, they are a P-90 coil wound onto a Jazzmaster sized bobbin. And rather than the fixed AlNiCo pole piece rod magnets of a Jazzmaster, they have the adjustable pole pieces of a P-90. They are also made using two flat bar magnets—just like a P-90. We make the hybrid P-90 Jazzmaster in all of the same versions that we build our standard P-90s, including an underwound neck and an overwound bridge.
This photo shows a side view of the hybrid Lollar P-90 Jazzmaster (top pickup) and the Lollar standard Jazzmaster (bottom pickup). When you look at them from this angle you can really see the differences between the two pickups. You can see the thin Jazzmaster bobbin (1/8″) and the thicker P-90 style bobbin (1/4″). You can also see the P-90 style bar magnet spanning the full distance alongside the adjustable pole piece screws of the hybrid P-90 Jazzmaster. Compare this against the 6 individual pole piece magnets of the standard Jazzmaster. You can also see how these 6 AlNiCo pole piece magnets are set to a radius.
To read more about either of these styles or to listen to sound clips, follow this link to Lollar Jazzmaster pickups.
Lollar Single Coil for Humbucker Rout:
Another popular “miscellaneous” pickup is our Single Coil for Humbucker Rout. For a “non-standard” pickup, they are a popular choice. The main advantage to this pickup is that they offer a chance to install a single coil pickup into an instrument that is routed for full sized humbuckers. AND – best of all – no routing required.
We like to be precise with our terminology when talking about this pickup. Customers often call and ask if we make a “P-90 for humbucker route.” We think it’s important to point out that this pickup sounds very much like a P-90, but it’s not a “true” P-90. Like we mentioned above, the size and shape of the coil affect the tone. The most popular cosmetic choice is the chrome surround with the matte black top. To learn more about this pickup please follow this link to Lollar Single Coil for Humbucker Rout pickups.
We hope you have enjoyed this series of blogs on best selling Lollar pickups. Like we’ve mentioned before, there is no “wrong” answer. All of our models of pickups have their own unique advantages, and much of what’s involved in the selection process is simply a matter of personal preference. Our best advice is to know what you’d like to accomplish for the particular instrument you’re working with, and then choose the pickups that will help get you there. Contact us if we can help point you in the right direction.