Interesting new Michael Kelly Patriot. (Dual JB's)

[ArtieToo]

It's interesting that they went with dual JB's. A JB in the neck seems odd. But then again, maybe not.

https://www.michaelkellyguitars.com/en/products/view/patriot-instinct-sb-mod-shop-duncan?utm_source=Michael+Kelly+Special+Offers+and+Updates&utm_campaign=9500bae4ec-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_04_27_02_06_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-58d9d25668-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=9500bae4ec&mc_eid=2d88f61676

[Inflames626]

It's interesting that they went with dual JB's. A JB in the neck seems odd. But then again, maybe not.

https://www.michaelkellyguitars.com/...eid=2d88f61676

I find the JB sounds better in the neck than bridge for what I do. Rather mushy by today's standards for faster tempos.

[jeremy]

jb in the neck isnt new, but its an interesting choice. i had a rhoads with jb neck and distortion bridge. sounded really good for hard rock and metal, but cleans were ok at best. the middle position was better than neck or bridge for that. the neck was great for fat solos and the distortion does what it does.

hamer used an odd combo on a few guitars with a sh5 custom neck and sh11 cc in the bridge, but again it worked surprisingly well. albeit clean tones not as pristine as i prefer, and the middle was the best choice for that again

[Inflames626]

jb in the neck isnt new, but its an interesting choice. i had a rhoads with jb neck and distortion bridge. sounded really good for hard rock and metal, but cleans were ok at best. the middle position was better than neck or bridge for that. the neck was great for fat solos and the distortion does what it does.

hamer used an odd combo on a few guitars with a sh5 custom neck and sh11 cc in the bridge, but again it worked surprisingly well. albeit clean tones not as pristine as i prefer, and the middle was the best choice for that again

jeremy I'd suggest going with split or parallel to get better cleans out of the JB in the neck, but you probably already know this. The JB has a really interesting split sound that I think makes it very versatile. And of course the stock series sound sounds good for hot leads from the neck. Reminded me a lot of the A2PB with more output. And maybe the JB's mid spike helps with definition in the neck.

I've had success with a Custom 5 in the neck and Custom in the bridge, both with Triple Shots. Very versatile.

I have not yet tried a CC but if it does not work in the bridge I will try it in the neck as I tend to like A2s there over A5s.

[Aceman]

JB in the neck is a bold manly statement. And it is a killer pickup for leads there.

[Mincer]

Maybe they ordered a whole crate of them and had to get rid of them? I think the JB in the neck has happened quite a bit on this forum, but less so in production guitars. It wouldn't be my choice at all, but some people really do dig it.

[GuitarStv]

It wouldn't be something I'd have considered. Sounds muddy as a neck humbucker, but surprisingly OK in the mid + bridge position. Pretty nice when split on the neck too.

[NegativeEase]

I dig everything except the paint color choice -wrong hue of blue fading into that shade of white with a black headstock -not awful, but just not as good as it could be IMO

But really cool guitar -no idea what a JB sounds like in the neck

[marcello252]

that upper mids honk does have a sense on neck for solo only purpose I think

[ArtieToo]

I dig everything except the paint color choice . . .

Yeah. I'm not crazy about the colors either. Then again, you could put a pair of JB's into almost anything.

[ArtieToo]

I just noticed they're covered JB's. I've only used uncovered. I wonder how much impact the covers would have on the classic JB sound?

[esandes]

I find the JB sounds better in the neck than bridge for what I do. Rather mushy by today's standards for faster tempos.

JB mushy? listen to rust in peace. rhythym and lead all JB for the whole album. all bridge too AFAIK from the tone.

[orpheo]

A 16K pickup in the neck, I'd never go that route. But then again, the BKP Ragnarok Neck is 15.8K ceramic and that pickup is syrupy thick.

[Inflames626]

JB mushy? listen to rust in peace. rhythym and lead all JB for the whole album. all bridge too AFAIK from the tone.

Rust in Peace was 30+ years ago and is not a modern metal sound. The JB was used because it was then a popular pickup that was common, like the EMG 81 or DiMarzio Super Distortion.

Yes, mushy. They probably rolled off the lows in post with a hi pass filter to some degree.

Fairly sure they also used boosted Marshalls, which are not so much a modern amp for extreme metal vs. Mesa, Peavey, Diezel, Engl, Bogner, etc.

Also I've found the JB mushy in my personal experience. I go for EMG 81s in 24 volts, Blackouts, Full Shreds, and Parallel Axis pickups instead of the JB.

Modern metal is also 16ths at 200+ bpm, sometimes to 240, far in excess of 80s-early 90s thrash metal of the period.

The JB is a fine rock pickup at moderate tempos in the bridge, but I have other things I would use first, even the Duncan Custom line.

You can make up pickup deficiencies later in your signal chain. I happen to like the EMG HZs that many people consider anemic. But I compensate by adjusting the preamp as necessary.

[Inflames626]

To be tight is not enough now. Especially if you're djenting, the material almost has to sound like it has been deliberately slip edited and crossfaded so transients end rather abruptly and are synced more or less to the tempo grid exactly.