Description
Johnny Smith didn’t just play jazz guitar—he helped engineer the archtops that defined its sound, working directly with Gibson to shape instruments with warmth and clarity in every register. Bartolini’s 5J pickup carries that legacy forward, built to the original Johnny Smith footprint and tuned for the same smooth, clear character that archtop players chase.
This is a dual-coil humbucker, so you get natural hum cancellation without sacrificing the openness and note-to-note definition that single-coil-style jazz pickups are known for. It sits comfortably in the neck position, where its balanced output favors round low mids and articulate highs over anything harsh or compressed—ideal for chord-melody work, walking bass lines, or clean single-note runs that need to stay intelligible at volume.
This particular version comes with a 2″ bracket designed to mount at the end of the fingerboard, matching the traditional Johnny Smith installation method rather than requiring routing or a pickguard mount.
- Electric Guitar: 6-string
- Pickup Shape: Johnny Smith
- Position: Neck
- Coil Type: Dual Coil (humbucker)
- Width: 1.09″ / 27.81mm
- Length: 2.59″ / 65.78mm
- Tone: Smooth, clear
For archtop players and jazz purists who want authentic vintage voicing without the noise floor of a true single-coil, this pickup delivers the tone Johnny Smith himself would recognize.
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