Seymour Duncan has just dropped a super-hot modding option for one of the most modded electric guitars of all time, with the electric guitar pickup specialist’s Jazzmaster Silencer offering players with one of the offset those classic tones without the hum.
The Jazzmaster Silencer is available as a Vintage pairing, which presents you which a period-correct range of tones, surf rock, indie, the whole nine yards. But if you want to hit the front-end of your guitar amp a little harder, there is the Hot Jazzmaster Silence, which packs a bit more punch.
Both are “drop-in” options that will fit any standard Jazzmaster, and they are available individually or as a set, with parchment covers as standard but Seymour Duncan also offering a range of Jazzmaster covers for $5.99 each (choose from Black, Cream and White) if you wanted to switch things up.
The Jazzmaster Silencer pickups were designed by Kevin Beller, vice president of engineering, Seymour Duncan, and while they give you that big single-coil voicing of a Jazzmaster pickup they are technically a triple-coil design, in which one inner coil handles the tone, while another two get to work in nixing hum.
Both sets have an Alnico V magnet design. You can see the pole pieces poking through the plastic housing just like a regular Jazzmaster pickup – there is a good chance that no one will be aware that you have modded your guitar, but they might be wondering where all that 60-cycle hum has gone.
Jazzmasters, like any single-coil guitar, are vulnerable to unwanted noise and hum, especially when played through a well-stocked pedalboard, at high volume, and with a fuzz pedal or some drive in the mix.
All that noise adds up and gets in the way. And let’s face it, that’s pretty much the Jazzmaster’s target audience – the offset guitar crowd are pedal stackers, the indie-rock soundscaper. It’s not hard to see the appeal here. Can they do for the Jazzmaster what the P-90 Silencer did for the Les Paul Junior?
The Vintage Jazzmaster Silencers are described as “perfect for surf-inspired riffs, shimmering indie textures, modern pedal-driven explorations” with their hotter siblings doing much the same with a bit more oomph for “gritty surf riffs, glimmering melodies, grungy fuzzed-out rock, reverb-drenched shoegaze, and beyond”.
You’ll find a DCR reading of 11.39k at the neck, 9.30k at the bridge on the Hot Jazzmaster Silencer set, while Seymour Duncan lists the Vintage set at 9.19k for the neck pickup, 10k for the bridge.
The Jazzmaster Silencer is available now, priced $278. See Seymour Duncan for more details.
