History of Pickups in MusicMan guitars?

[meckintosh]

Hi,

after all MM changes the Pickups from time to time and model to model.

A friend of mine has an old JP6 and asked me what pickups could be in there.
For sure I couldn`t tell.
Serial: G38830

Is there a list of the pickups MM used over the years?

 

[DrKev]

Without knowing the date the guitar was made it's hard to say as the serial numbers are randomly assigned. Best thing to do is to post the serial number in the thread below and ask them the date of birth of the guitar and what pickups were installed.

http://forums.ernieball.com/music-man-guitars/3830-what-production-date-my-guitar.html

 

[meckintosh]

Did so .. its February 2008 ..

 

[Dr.Strangenote]

In 2008, you have the D Sonic in the bridge and the custom wound in the neck.

 

[meckintosh]

Okay,

just checked back with the DiMarzio HP and the D Sonic looks different.
The Custom wound is nowhere to be found.

Does anyone have specs? Like Output, what magnets, etc...

 

[Dr.Strangenote]

the custom wound is closest matched up to the Air Norton.

 

[aaroa]

Air Norton and Steve's special are the closest in the early Petrucci models. The D-Sonic was never too popular, but I personally think it's a pretty good sounding pickup. Although the Liquifire is an improvement for sure.

 

[AUTIOK]

Im confused are these pickups the same? I thought my guitar would have;- Neck: DiMarzio LiquiFire, Bridge: DiMarzio Crunch Lab, but the info I got from the serial number says, DiMarzio D-Sonic & Custom Wound humbuckers?

info from serial number;G40816 - DOB: 04/17/08, fully loaded Pearl Redburst JP-6, rosewood fretboard, DiMarzio D-Sonic & Custom Wound humbuckers

Is there a differece? should I replace them? is that expensive? any information about this would be great, I am new too this brand.

 

[Dr.Strangenote]

They are different than the LF/CL set. When I owned two loaded JP6's, one with that combo you have, and the newer combo, I have found the D-Sonic to sound more aggressive. It had a really punchy lower bottom end bite, rather than the smooth growl that the crunch lab has. They still are close from what I could tell. The custom wound neck pickup is smooth, much like an air norton. The liquifire is more bell-like chime, or glassy if I can try and describe that tone. The current config that you have is sought after as they are discontinued. There are folks who prefer that setup. I enjoyed every minute of the JP6 that had that pickup combo. To answer your question, me personally wouldn't replace them, but if you must, it's pretty easy to do. The price for a new set of CL/LF pups are about $170 USD new on the bay (prices vary depending on where you go).

 

[AUTIOK]

Thank you Dr.Strangenote that was very helpful, I think I'll give them a chance and see if I like them. Anyone know when they were discontinued? and how many years they were used?