Neck Pickup Match For JB In Bridge?

[Bruce Reed]

For many years I used a JB in the bridge position of my LP Custom. Because I mainly relied on the bridge position in those days I rarely used the neck pickup, but when I did the neck pickup (the stock Gibson T-Top) was much less lower in volume. I know that Seymour has always recommended the average-output "Jazz" model to be paired with the JB, so I was wondering if anyone using those two together noticed the same thing as I did... a lower volume in the neck position?

If so, did you drop the JB a little lower to even the output up? No noticeable volume difference?

I took the JB out of the Custom because I found myself wanting to use the combined-pickup position as well the neck only position more. I have tried a few other pickups, included the original one, and really miss the amazing tone the JB gave me. The Custom is a bright sounding guitar and that JB was perfect for it.

Any observations or recommendations?

[Clint 55]

Re: Neck Pickup Match For JB In Bridge?

Yes, you can drop the JB, nothing wrong with that. You have to drop it pretty far before it will sound bad. Or you can get a hotter neck pickup.

[Mincer]

Re: Neck Pickup Match For JB In Bridge?

I'd start with the easiest thing- dropping the pickup height. You may love the sound and balance. A lot of people like the 'volume boost' you get when switching over to the JB, If the balance doesn't work for you, and you want something lower volume, you can always use a 59 or Jazz bridge and boost the signal down the line.

[jeremy]

Re: Neck Pickup Match For JB In Bridge?

i like the tone of the jb pretty close to the strings, not jammed up there but sure not low. its worth dropping it a bit to see what you think. the screamin demon in the neck actually pairs well with a jb in the bridge

[David Garner]

Re: Neck Pickup Match For JB In Bridge?

I just installed a JB and 59 set in my Les Paul (the one on the bottom in my avatar), and they sound amazing together. The 59 is a perfect compliment to the JB in my view. It holds up well under higher gain, and it also has this hollow, flutey tone to it under lesser gain settings. If you split the JB, the full 59 and the split JB together is a really cool tone as well.

I don't have the JB set particularly low, maybe 5/64 or 3/32 or so. I don't notice any volume drop swapping between them. As I said, to my mind it's a perfect match.

[Aceman]

Re: Neck Pickup Match For JB In Bridge?

I am a fan of hot bridge/classic neck pickups and I have never had problems pairing Pearly Gates and Customs, for example. Also have a T-TOp with a Duncan Distortion. Matches fine.

Just a matter of quality time with a screwdriver and you're ears...

[beaubrummels]

Re: Neck Pickup Match For JB In Bridge?

I used a JB/Jazz and a JB-A2/Jazz in my LP Studio and didn’t have significant level differences. But I tend to use bridge for lead and neck for clean rhythm/backup parts, so for me it worked really well to just flip the switch and have a cleaner sound. The neck level wasn’t different to my ears, it just wasn’t hitting the amp so hard. The middle position worked fine. I tended to keep the bridge on 7-9 when not doing leads and that balanced with the neck on 10 perfectly in the mid position.

[pskorz]

Re: Neck Pickup Match For JB In Bridge?

I've had a JB/59 combo, and don't remember a bad volume disparity. I have a Jackson Kelly with a Duncan Distortion bridge/Jazz neck and same thing, no discernible volume difference. And on the Kelly, the Jazz neck is even a tad lower in distance than the bridge pickup.

[Nagisa]

Re: Neck Pickup Match For JB In Bridge?

I am a fan of hot bridge/classic neck pickups and I have never had problems pairing Pearly Gates and Customs, for example. Also have a T-TOp with a Duncan Distortion. Matches fine.

Just a matter of quality time with a screwdriver and you're ears...

Funny you mention this - I have a PGn and Custom in my LP. I kind of view it as 2 half guitars (one for good cleans and jazz tones, one for rock) but I cannot get them to sound good together. The PGn is just way too polite for me, whatever I do. I have to admit I generally play guitars with high output pickups so something like a PGn is a bit unusual for me.

[Rex_Rocker]

Re: Neck Pickup Match For JB In Bridge?

I don't like the JB/Jazz combo because of that exact reason. It seems like a common Duncan approach to pickups to use a low-output 7K-ish pickup with a high output monster. I don't like that approach.

[Liko]

Re: Neck Pickup Match For JB In Bridge?

I have a Jazz/JB combo in my Epi Studio. I don't have much of a volume disparity, but the tones are ridiculously different, which makes the mids on the JB jump out in the middle position, which is why that position won't mix for me.

My fix was a series-parallel switch on the JB using a push-pull pot. Pull the pot, and the JB backs off from "F*** YOU AND EVERYONE WHO LOOKS LIKE YOU" to "if you don't mind terribly, good sir, I've come to rock your world". Still totally gain-ready, but more PAF-voiced, so it blends really well with the Jazz in middle position, and if you want to switch from Banner back to Hulk, it's just a bop on the bridge tone away (making it a good option for a "solo switch"). Not the absolute cheapest solution, but cheaper than another $100 pickup.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[Mincer]

Re: Neck Pickup Match For JB In Bridge?

I generally like bridge pickups a little hotter, but never the difference between a JB and Jazz. That always seemed extreme to me, or I didn't play music that that kind of difference was needed.