CC vs. JB

[Reckless Abandon]

1. Compare tone, highs, lows, mids, clarity. With 500K pots

2. How does a JB and 250K pots compare to a CC with 500K pots

My guitar is a Mahogany Jackson copy with Floyd

[Mojoe01]

Re: CC vs. JB

Wow...its like you wrote this for me. I am currently thinking about trying a custom custom in my tele in place of my JB, and its wired with 250K pots. I'm very interested in people's comments on this!

[Reckless Abandon]

Re: CC vs. JB

anybody?

[Wattage]

Re: CC vs. JB

Well I have had both in the same single pup Strat. I love the CC one of my fav pups so it easily won out over the JB for me but I'll try and give it a breakdown for you.

The JB has a hard edge and is good for AC/DC type sounds, it cuts real well and is pretty well balanced with an emphasis on the highs, it is a very tightly focused pickup and it cuts well. I've tried it with an A2 mag as well and it retains a lot of the same qualities but with an emphasis on high mids.

The CC also has a fairly tight focus (though nowhere's near a s tight as the JB) but is defintely biased towards mids. It has much smoother highs and a little less bottom end than the JB. The CC has enough edge to crunch real well and it defintely cuts due to the rich mids. I don't know how to describe my favorite trait of the CC exactly so for lack of a better definition I'll say it "seethes" when pushed hard. It is like it comes to life a bit and reacts with the sound coming out of the amp not quite into feedback but almost, very easy to control yet very subtle. The only other pup I've been able to push into that space the same way is the A2P but that doesn't have the same output and takes a little more work to get there. The CC isn't as clear as a JB but it isn't something that concerns me.

[Reckless Abandon]

Re: CC vs. JB

My amp is the JCM 800 below. So I get more than enough brightness. How much of a loss in clearity would it be?

thanks

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: CC vs. JB

K, let me see if I can say this intelligently! I'm not a pickup guru, and constantly get flamed for saying silly sh*t! But, in MY JCM 800, here's what we have:

The other guitar player in my band has a guitar w/a CC in the bridge and neck. I have one guitar with a JB and another with a Screamin' Demon in the bridge (most of my guitars are old-fangled and only have 1 pickup ). Sorry, all 3 guitars have different wood bodies, so you have to take that into account. These are the only comarisons I can make, based off of playing all 3 guitars in the same amp:

> JB
The warmest of the bunch. Very tight bottom end.

> CC
Very well balanced, but a bit too tight/focused/bright for my taste. Sounds like the sonic equivalent of a old librarian compared to the other pickups.

>SD
Not asked for, but IMO, the best of all 3. Harmonically rich, with just enough brightness to cut thru the mix and wail.

[Wattage]

Re: CC vs. JB

An Old Librarian!?! That's kind of funny.

Someone else yesterday said that they had a CC that was too bright, are you sure it is a CC and not a Custom? I have the CC in 2 guitars and while I don't lack high end in either of them it is far from a bright pickup but hey everyone has different setups and different ears.

My best description of a CC when being driven is Michael Schenker juiced up a bit.

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: CC vs. JB

Yep, I'm 100% certain that it's a CC, and not a Custom. I also understand that I seem to be the only person that's had this experience! I'm not a golden ears, by any means, but I do know the differences between basic audio terms such as forward, bright, muddy, rolled off, etc. [shrug shoulders] ... I dunno, just my 2 cents!

[Reckless Abandon]

Re: CC vs. JB

Twilight, The JB is warmer? The reason I am asking about a change is my ears hurt from the JB sometimes. I love the 80's tone but need a bit more warmth. I have my treble at 4 my presence on 0 and my mids on 10. My pots are 250K with the JB, and I still need something. The Jb almost sound a little muffled with the 250K pot so I do not know what to do.

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: CC vs. JB

The JB in my Rock Legend is the picture of warmth, even with 500k pots. The body of that guitar is alder. What's the wood of the guitar your JB is in? It sure looks like you wouldn't have a bright sound at all, but maybe something else is contributing to that harshness? Have you tried something simple, like a new cable between your head and cab, or from your guitar? I have a bunch of custom made cables, but I found the cable I like the best from my head to cabs is a Whirlwind 12 guage speaker cable. Very, very thick, yet flexible.

You can hear my JB on the rhythm guitar tracks on the the songs posted on my web site, www.twilght-odyssey.com.

[Reckless Abandon]

Re: CC vs. JB

The guitar is Mahogany. It is weird with my amp. It has always been so bright. The JB is thick and does have a lot of warmth but my hears hurt from the treble. I hate to turn the treble down more since I am afraid it will muddy my sound. Hope I make sense.

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: CC vs. JB

What you're hearing might be the way the MIDS are reacting with the rest of your setup, too. You have the mids pushed way out there! I prefer my EQ pretty much in the middle position ...

[Reckless Abandon]

Re: CC vs. JB

I will mess with it. Does the CC have a bit of that raw sound the JB has?

[Reckless Abandon]

Re: CC vs. JB

Want to hear some more.

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: CC vs. JB

What speakers do you have??
That can be some of the reasons you have some trouble.