JP 15 pickups

[LordRiffenstein]

This is a PSA of sorts for anyone who has a JP 15 but is considering a pickup swap, maybe it's been mentioned elsewhere but I never saw it. The illuminator pickups appear to be of a special variety for the guitar. They have a pcb on the underside and the bracket the pickup is on doesn't have legs but is flush to the bottom making standard replacement too tall. I've seen it mentioned that the body is routed for uncovered pickups, but the cavity also doesn't support standard uncovered humbuckers without filing down the plate/bracket or altering the body of the guitar. I tried to replace the pickups with Dimarzio Crunchlab and Liquifire and found there were a number of ways they don't fit and I am absolutely not going to alter this beautiful guitar to make them fit.

This is just a heads up to anyone thinking about changing pickups in this guitar. I had already altered the new pickups I was going to install when I noticed that they would also be too tall. Shame on me for not checking.

 

[fwbulldog]

Can anybody confirm this? I really dislike the Illuminator neck, and want to swap it out for something else.

 

[lifeson1]

I believe there is a way to get around this, if I've read correctly in the past. However, with the current routing, I'd assume you could upgrade with his current Dreamcatcher/Rainmaker setup, if they ever become avail.

 

[PeteDuBaldo]

I believe there is a way to get around this, if I've read correctly in the past. However, with the current routing, I'd assume you could upgrade with his current Dreamcatcher/Rainmaker setup, if they ever become avail.

They are available to order now, I should have some with standard baseplates arriving on Friday.

It is possible to order pickups from DiMarzio with the newer EBMM style baseplates

 

[LordRiffenstein]

That's good to know you can get them from DiMarzio. EBMM are not the only one using that pickup style, seems like its an OEM option for production guitars with DiMarzios direct mounted.



This photo compares the one from the JP 15 (top) to a stock DiMarzio pickup (bottom). The legs are flush to the base plate and the corners are rounded off.

 

[PeteDuBaldo]

That's good to know you can get them from DiMarzio. EBMM are not the only one using that pickup style, seems like its an OEM option for production guitars with DiMarzios direct mounted.

View attachment 35265

This photo compares the one from the JP 15 (top) to a stock DiMarzio pickup (bottom). The legs are flush to the base plate and the corners are rounded off.

Yep! The ones with standard baseplates arrived today, and we have an order pending with DiMarzio for Dreamcatcher & Rainmaker sets with the quick connect baseplates.

 

[fwbulldog]

Do you just call up Dimarzio and say "I want the EBMM version of the rainmaker with quick connect"? I can't find any option to order them on the Dimarzio website.

 

[Chaka5150]

a bump on this thread. I have the JP15 and the illuminators are the pcb quick connects. I've been talking with sales at Dimarzio and they said i can order pickups with base plates. I'm looking at the Dominion for the bridge and Transition for the neck. I'd love to go covered pickup but i highly doubt they'd fit. Hoping anyone has any comment on this. If not, not a big deal. the rep at dimarzio did say the medium powered pups (dominion) arent as tall as the illuminator apparently so may need to put a washer underneath. Not sure about this as their dimension pdf shows they are all same dimensions but perhaps the illuminators with pcb are unique that way

 

[PeteDuBaldo]

Do you just call up Dimarzio and say "I want the EBMM version of the rainmaker with quick connect"? I can't find any option to order them on the Dimarzio website.

You may be able to call them and order as a customer, I know that we as a DiMarzio dealer simply order them directly.

a bump on this thread. I have the JP15 and the illuminators are the pcb quick connects. I've been talking with sales at Dimarzio and they said i can order pickups with base plates. I'm looking at the Dominion for the bridge and Transition for the neck. I'd love to go covered pickup but i highly doubt they'd fit. Hoping anyone has any comment on this. If not, not a big deal. the rep at dimarzio did say the medium powered pups (dominion) arent as tall as the illuminator apparently so may need to put a washer underneath. Not sure about this as their dimension pdf shows they are all same dimensions but perhaps the illuminators with pcb are unique that way

The pickup cavity on the JP15 is rounded to match the general shape of the pickup bobbins - you would need to do some routing to the body/top in order to fit rectangular covered pickups

 

[Chaka5150]

Thanks, Pete. In that case I won't bother with covered pups. Dimarzio also told me that i'd likely have to drill larger holes in the tabs to accommodate the wood screws used by EBMM.

 

[PeteDuBaldo]

Thanks, Pete. In that case I won't bother with covered pups. Dimarzio also told me that i'd likely have to drill larger holes in the tabs to accommodate the wood screws used by EBMM.

Yes, that is normal - the pickup baseplates from DiMarzio (and many other manufacturers) are threaded to accept screws that mount to a pickguard or trim ring. When direct-mounting to a guitar body these baseplates must be drilled oversize - it's not a big step up in diameter and is easy to do with a drill and a correctly sized bit.

 

[mrpingua]

Great thread.

I also am considering a pickup swap for the JP15. So order direct from Dimarzio and mention it’s for a JP15 and check with them that the pick up you choose is the right size?

I’m thinking a Tone Zone and Air Norton for JP15. Anyone have any feedback with this setup? I’m looking for something more traditional heavy metal. Illuminator is too hot when on clean you have to roll back volume and tone a whole lot to tame it.