hanumanlangur
New member
I set up a guitar with a 59/DD combination, and compared it to my preferred guitar, which has a Jazz/JB set, for quite awhile yesterday. I'm planning on scaling back to one guitar, and I wanted to determine my set for it. The pickups are in similar mahogany body, maple neck Strat-type guitars with 500k pots and 0.022uf caps. The JB has Artie's de-mud mod on it, to dial out some of the lowest bass that makes it sound loose.
59 vs Jazz:
The Jazz has a brighter and slightly smoother response. It doesn't have a lot of personality, but it does have a very sweet sound that reminded me of sugar cookies (not sure exactly why). The 59 has fatter, warmer tone and responds more to the pick, but it isn't quite as clear in the lower-mids and bass (still clear, just not quite as much as the Jazz). I liked the 59 more for its warmth and sensitivity.
DD vs JB:
The Distortion has a lower-mid bump, and is actually not all that bright. Its most distinguishing characteristic is its big, punching tone, and clarity throughout the entire frequency spectrum. It has tons of output, so I didn't need to turn up the gain very far. Its cleans are actually pretty nice, but a bit punchy and compressed (although not as staccato as a Full Shred), and the pickup does not seem to warm up with the tone knob. It works very nicely for leads and soloing, but for distorted rhythm I actually found it a bit too punchy and defined. I felt like I was hearing the punch from the pick hitting the strings more than I was hearing the notes. I tried pulling some Metallica tones from it, but the lower-mid thing kept it a bit dark.
In contrast, the JB has an upper-mid bump and less output. It is not quite as clear on the lower end of the frequency spectrum, but still has quite a bit after the mod. The cleans are less compressed and punchy than those of the DD, but the upper-mid bump keeps them from being sparkly clean like a PAF type pickup. The JB is much less punchy, and has a more musical quality. This translates nicely into its lead tones, which have a "singing" effect and are quite smooth and clear. It responds well to the tone knob, and can get convincing smoother and warmer tones. For distorted rhythm, I found that it was not quite as tight and defined as the DD, but still rather tight, and quite a bit brighter. A power chord from this pickup reminds me of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest tones, even though I know they didn't use JB's for their classic material.
I played DD's before this, but never owned one, so I wasn't that familiar with it. I was a bit disappointed by its quirks, as I found it a bit too punchy and dark to be musical in the way I like. The JB held up surprisingly well for distorted rhythm in comparison, and didn't come off as being very loose sounding at all (with the mod). Overall, the JB is still my favorite bridge pickup under distortion. I found that I prefer the 59 to the Jazz, though. To me, it sounds the way a neck humbucker should -- clear, but fat, warm, and sensitive to the pick.
So I will do some swapping, and put the 59 and JB in the guitar I plan on keeping. Funny that the Duncans I end up liking are some of the most common ones that have been around since the beginning.
Note: I wasn't able to directly compare the DD to an A8 JB, but I think that the A8 JB sounds better. It's more balanced, cleaner, warmer, and defined but without being over-the-top. It's clear in the way that a Jazz bridge is clear (by being clean), not in the way that a Full Shred is clear (by being punchy).
59 vs Jazz:
The Jazz has a brighter and slightly smoother response. It doesn't have a lot of personality, but it does have a very sweet sound that reminded me of sugar cookies (not sure exactly why). The 59 has fatter, warmer tone and responds more to the pick, but it isn't quite as clear in the lower-mids and bass (still clear, just not quite as much as the Jazz). I liked the 59 more for its warmth and sensitivity.
DD vs JB:
The Distortion has a lower-mid bump, and is actually not all that bright. Its most distinguishing characteristic is its big, punching tone, and clarity throughout the entire frequency spectrum. It has tons of output, so I didn't need to turn up the gain very far. Its cleans are actually pretty nice, but a bit punchy and compressed (although not as staccato as a Full Shred), and the pickup does not seem to warm up with the tone knob. It works very nicely for leads and soloing, but for distorted rhythm I actually found it a bit too punchy and defined. I felt like I was hearing the punch from the pick hitting the strings more than I was hearing the notes. I tried pulling some Metallica tones from it, but the lower-mid thing kept it a bit dark.
In contrast, the JB has an upper-mid bump and less output. It is not quite as clear on the lower end of the frequency spectrum, but still has quite a bit after the mod. The cleans are less compressed and punchy than those of the DD, but the upper-mid bump keeps them from being sparkly clean like a PAF type pickup. The JB is much less punchy, and has a more musical quality. This translates nicely into its lead tones, which have a "singing" effect and are quite smooth and clear. It responds well to the tone knob, and can get convincing smoother and warmer tones. For distorted rhythm, I found that it was not quite as tight and defined as the DD, but still rather tight, and quite a bit brighter. A power chord from this pickup reminds me of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest tones, even though I know they didn't use JB's for their classic material.
I played DD's before this, but never owned one, so I wasn't that familiar with it. I was a bit disappointed by its quirks, as I found it a bit too punchy and dark to be musical in the way I like. The JB held up surprisingly well for distorted rhythm in comparison, and didn't come off as being very loose sounding at all (with the mod). Overall, the JB is still my favorite bridge pickup under distortion. I found that I prefer the 59 to the Jazz, though. To me, it sounds the way a neck humbucker should -- clear, but fat, warm, and sensitive to the pick.
So I will do some swapping, and put the 59 and JB in the guitar I plan on keeping. Funny that the Duncans I end up liking are some of the most common ones that have been around since the beginning.
Note: I wasn't able to directly compare the DD to an A8 JB, but I think that the A8 JB sounds better. It's more balanced, cleaner, warmer, and defined but without being over-the-top. It's clear in the way that a Jazz bridge is clear (by being clean), not in the way that a Full Shred is clear (by being punchy).
