Jared James Nichols Signature JJN P90 Silencer
Jared James Nichols burst onto the scene as a throwback to the P90 playing power trio titans of the 70s. To deliver his signature sound, he needed a P90 that was voiced with limitless range that could cover everything from sparkling cleans to barking dirty tones. In his own words, he needed something “delicate and strong, like a grizzly bear and a paper airplane landing.”
After years on the road playing different venues coast to coast and abroad, he’s encountered a variety of unique hum inducing sources. Having a pickup that could retain the quintessential tone and appearance of the classic P90 pickup without hum was a must. The JJN P90 Silencer was custom voiced specifically to Jared’s unique tone without the hum. The pickup is a drop-in replacement for any standard P90 route.
“Simply put, the Seymour Duncan Jared James Nichols P90 Silencer is my dream pickup.”
P90 Silencer
NECK:
P90s have always been somewhat of an insider’s pickup. Those in the know recognized the P90 as the bridge between single coil and humbucker tones. With the bright and articulate treble tones you’d expect from a single coil and, due to their shape, also the warmer rounded tone that gets close to what you want from a humbucker. But, because P90s are single coils, they also bring the noise. The innovative noiseless design of our P90 Silencer neck pickup retains all the tone and appearance of the classic P90 pickup without the 60-cycle hum. The output for this model is matched to the vintage spec. These pickups are drop-in replacements for most standard P90 routes.
Pair this model with any of the P90 Silencer bridge pickups for a well-balanced set and classic P90 tone.
HOT (Bridge and Set):
P90s have always been somewhat of an insider’s pickup. Those in the know recognized the P90 as the bridge between single coil and humbucker tones. With the bright and articulate treble tones you’d expect from a single coil and, due to their shape, also the warmer rounded tone that gets close to what you want from a humbucker. But, because P90s are single coils, they also bring the noise. The innovative noiseless design of our Hot P90 Silencer retains all the tone and appearance of the classic P90 pickup without the 60-cycle hum.
The Hot P90 Silencer is a hotter version offering a more aggressive sound. These pickups are drop-in replacements for most standard P90 routes.
VINTAGE (Bridge and Set):
P90’s have always been somewhat of an insider’s pickup. Those in the know recognized the P90 as the bridge between single coil and humbucker tones. With the bright and articulate treble tones you’d expect from a single coil and, due to their shape, also the warmer rounded tone that gets close to what you want from a humbucker. But, because P90’s are single coils, they also bring the noise. The innovative noiseless design of our Vintage P90 Silencer retains all the tone and appearance of the classic P90 pickup without the 60-cycle hum.
The output for this model is matched to the vintage spec. These pickups are drop-in replacements for most standard P90 routes.
For more information, please visit seymourduncan.com.
The inspiring new Relentless pickups combine ceramic (Relentless P) and Neodymium magnets (Relentless J), producing a better balance and up to 70 percent more output than traditional passive pickups. And best of all, these titans of teeth-rattling tone are dead quiet. Expanded mid-range punch, snappy highs, and precise lows are hallmarks of the Relentless J, while the Relentless P pickups sound simply massive, offering impressive output levels, beefy lows, growling midrange, and crispy highs that sing with superior string definition. All Relentless pickups are fully potted and include our new comfort-sculpted metal covers with foil-shielded cables, along with a broad magnetic field. There are no limitations here, just high-powered tone.
Relentless pickups will breathe new life into any bass, increase playability, and work well for any style of music from Motown to metal.
DiMarzio’s Relentless PJ pickups are made in the U.S.A. and may now be ordered for immediate delivery. Suggested List Price for the Relentless PJ is $310.00 (MAP $219.99).
Dimarzio continues that tradition with the new Sixties PJ set, a rumble-and-roar replacement designed to satisfy those with a vintage soul and a fervent heart. The Sixties PJ pickups revitalize time-honored tones, utilizing keenly-applied technology and artist-tested ingenuity. Both pickups use a fully humbucking coil design with sculpted metal covers. Our potted coils connect to the electronics with foil-shielded cables, keeping the system incredibly quiet with a tone-forward sound. The Sixties PJ has an impressive 3db of noise reduction over stock PJ sets.
DiMarzio, Inc. announces the release of the Sixties PJ (DP306) pickups for 4 string basses.
DiMarzio invented replacement pickups in the early 70s, and guitar builders and custom shops soon recognized the improvement that adding DiMarzio pickups made to their instruments. This started a trend, where bass players and manufacturers began combining our P Bass and J Bass models in one instrument, creating the enduring, eponymous PJ Set. Builders like Jackson and Charvel began using PJ combinations instead of the more traditional pickup configurations.
It’s not just the lower noise floor that enlivens these pickups’ character. Their Alnico 5 magnets follow the arch of the chic metal covers, ensuring a more even, immediate, and balanced response from each string. Player comfort is also optimized, thanks to borrowed improvements from the Relentless pickups’ rounded edges and curved top shape, co-designed with the legendary Billy Sheehan. All these innovations deliver increased headroom, improved dynamics, and a more detailed response.
The Sixties PJ pickups also feature the same circuit board mounting system, which lowers the height adjustment screws so they are below the pickguard, removing any obstruction to right-hand techniques.
All Sixties P and Sixties J pickups are handmade in New York City, tested, and matched for quality control.
DiMarzio’s Sixties PJ pickups are made in the U.S.A. and may now be ordered for immediate delivery. Suggested List Price for the Sixties PJ is $310.00 (MAP $219.99).
For more information, please visit our website at dimarzio.com.
An older pickup winding machine, which requires the human operator to use an apparatus to guide the wire.
Choosing pickups isn't easy! Not just because of the sheer number of models, but because most of us lack an understanding of detailed electrical and magnetic values, which most manufacturers don't provide anyway. Most pickup descriptions just share DC resistance and magnet material, which is what customers tend to discuss instead of learning to read wirings, a pickup's frequency response curve, or the interplay of different electrical values.
Luthiery schools teach far more about inlays and bindings instead of the basic physics behind the electronic circuits students will have to deal with. Not everybody has to be able to repair tube amps and electronics, but it would be helpful to know how to discuss the tonal influence of magnetic materials as well as how to handle a simple equation or an equivalent diagram of a resonant circuit.
Of course, terms like "resistance" and "capacitance" are familiar, but once a current in a magnetic field gets into motion, things will indubitably aggravate. Terms like impedance, inductance, resonant frequency, ohmic load, and eddy current don't make it less confusing, nor does the interplay between all those things. This opens the door for marketing claims and misinformation.
Choosing pickups isn't easy! Not just because of the sheer number of models, but because most of us lack an understanding of detailed electrical and magnetic values, which most manufacturers don't provide anyway.
Hand or machine?
We all have some legendary tones we're searching for, and there are lots of pickup manufacturers claiming to do exact replicas of our heroes' tools. But how close can they get?
You might guess it's sufficient to know the exact ingredients, like magnets, bobbins, wire, and the count of windings. Good luck finding the correct magnets—alnico can vary extremely, even among what is supposed to be the same type of alloy. Here, differences in magnetic force aren't the problem, but eddy currents (losses) are. It might be easier to get the right wire, since production consistency has improved a lot. And finally, there is the count of windings.
According to some manufacturers, this is not where it ends. In the early days of our instrument, pickups were wound by hand. They did have a motor to rotate the bobbin, but there was always a person standing next to the machine, guiding the wire by hand, which would lead to less consistent or loose windings, while an automated machine keeps tension and density constant. Handwound pickups are also called scatterwound, as the wires often crisscross diagonally over the bobbin. The theoretical result would be a slightly higher resistance, since more wire is used, and, thus, a minimally lower inductance and capacitance, but the differences are rather marginal since the lower density can lead to parts of the wiring being farther away from the stronger field. Practically, all these differences are hard to measure, and there should not be an inherent difference between handwound and machine-wound pickups.
Does zig-zag winding cause a different tone?
Fig. 1 — The right-hand rule—a common physics mnemonic for understanding the location of axes in a three-dimensional shape—for the Lorentz force (F) describes the force on a current-carrying wire (I=current) in a magnetic field (B) and shows the dependance of the angle (∝) between the two. (For the super nerd, also see Maxwell's equations and Faraday's law of induction.)
Courtesy of Wikimedia
Magnetic pickups work thanks to the changes in the magnetic field and flow via induction in the wires. Remember the right-hand rule of the Lorentz force from school physics [Fig. 1]? The main point here is the direct proportion of induction and right-angled orientation to the magnetic field gets smaller as a function of said angle 𝜶. In short: A diagonal wire has a longer run through the magnetic field but experiences the same induction signal as a straight one for an identical length of the magnetic field. The wire is longer and can have a higher ohmic resistance, but due to the pickup's long length and small depth, this difference is slight. It's therefore highly unlikely that the zig-zag pattern is causing a tonal change, rather than the unknown variance of eddy currents within the magnets. And it's even more unlikely that any of these patterns can be measured from outside a pickup, let alone distinguished!
So, we should be skeptical about the claims we read from manufacturers, whether it's from a company that claims it can identify 728 scatter patterns by measuring an installed pickup by using proprietary tools—as one pickup maker does—or whatever technical information it is that they won't share and we won't necessarily understand.
Can they make good pickups? Of course! Exact replicas? You judge.
