I've got a JB in one of my Gibsons and a Distortion that's been in a few guitars. 7-string models. Both good, both very close to being ideal, but I wish they had a little more of an open dynamic feel and more harmonic complexity. Most of my favorite pickups have some offset between the coils, and I have an uneducated hunch that that's part of what makes them feel more open and responsive to me. Would it be worth taking these apart to create two JB/Distortion hybrids, keeping in mind that the differences I'm looking for are pretty subtle? Has anybody done this? Or is this just a fool's errand, not giving me the results I'd want, not worth ruining two good pickups over?
A dumb question - JB/Distortion hybrid?
- Thread starter Seashore
- Start date
Aceman
I am your doctor of love!
I suspect not. At the end of the day, you are going to use a JB mag or a Disruption mag (A5/Ceramic) That will pretty much impact the flavor of whatever pickup that mag is from.
The coils are not that different (but not the same).
I suggest the custom shop.
The coils are not that different (but not the same).
I suggest the custom shop.
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beaubrummels
Well-known member
Some information and a couple other options:
https://forum.seymourduncan.com/forum/the-pickup-lounge/40284-custom-distortion-hybrid-review
https://forum.seymourduncan.com/foru...id#post1711528
https://forum.seymourduncan.com/foru...60#post4881760
https://forum.seymourduncan.com/foru...d-with-jb-coil
https://forum.seymourduncan.com/forum/the-pickup-lounge/40284-custom-distortion-hybrid-review
https://forum.seymourduncan.com/foru...id#post1711528
https://forum.seymourduncan.com/foru...60#post4881760
https://forum.seymourduncan.com/foru...d-with-jb-coil
I prefer the JB/Superdistortion hybrid I've got.
Cool, what's it like? How would you describe it compared to the two parent pickups? And which coils are which?
Awesome... I'm assuming, since you kept the SD screw coil, you kept the Dimarzio baseplate?
GuitarStv
Sock Market Trader
I didn't make the pickup myself, got it in a guitar from Orpheo . . . just looking at it it has a brass baseplate, which I'm guessing would make it the Dimarzio?
Well, I made a JB hybrid for my Gibson, and I love the result. I wound up keeping the screw coil and baseplate from the JB and using the slug coil, single thickness ceramic magnet, and shorter filister screws from a BKP Brute Force neck pickup. Those spec at 13.4k, so a bit lower than a JB coil but not light years apart.
Tonally it reminds me a bit of the "Seymourizer" but with a more open/complex high end. The "sweet spot" is wider. Attack and compression are exactly what I was looking for (more and less, respectively) - there's something about my favorite BKPs that makes it easier to get more saturation without having to fight for note definition, and this is doing that. It still has some of the JB sizzle that I love, but also more crunch. I was worried about having a sort of bland, overstated midrange because of the sound of the Brute Force pickups, but these particular coils complement each other well. Sounds great with the amp set flat, no weird humps or spikes to correct for.
Fans of deep clean sounds won't like this coil combo. It has that zingy gritty ceramic bridge pickup clean sound. Middle position with the Jazz Neck, though, that gives me a really cool, scooped, hi-fi clean that I could probably find a lot of spots for. Hot lead sounds on the bridge are not as smooth as the stock JB but still sing well enough, not too jangly.
I had to use electrical tape on the coil-to-lead connections and the bulk of the tape kept me from getting it tucked back in as nicely as I would have liked. The bobbins are also very slightly different heights and I wasn't able to fit a spacer, so the top of the slug coil is tilted ever so slightly out of level with the screw coil. I hope the tape doesn't pose a problem for long term durability. I can take it apart and redo it if needed, I guess.
I'll try and do some clips if anyone is interested. I just had the most fun playing this guitar after I finished up. All in all I couldn't be happier. It's finally not fighting me.
____
I did record a couple riffs with the stock JB, and also the Distortion and the Rebel Yell in their respective guitars, and they sounded so very similar on the recording... and that made me think about the "pickups don't matter" video, the fact that amp and mic and placement and recording preamp are all the same, and that I was playing bland "pickup demo" riffs, when what really sets these pickups apart is how they respond when I'm actually playing the stuff I play, which is more complicated. Wish I had done more recording here before the surgery. Dumb blah riffs hide more than they reveal. But it also made me think about subtleties of feel, and how I know the sound I'm looking for, but some setups make me work harder to get there. Not surprising that it could sound pretty similar in a recording, but my playing will be more or less relaxed depending on how much work I have to do, which is not entirely conscious. With this pickup swap, I kept the same strings on the guitar, but when I was playing I felt like I'd gone a gauge or two lighter.
I've also been playing a Gibson with a Bare Knuckle bridge pickup through this one amp for about 16 years now, so that's very much what I'm used to. Hard ymmv caveat.
Tonally it reminds me a bit of the "Seymourizer" but with a more open/complex high end. The "sweet spot" is wider. Attack and compression are exactly what I was looking for (more and less, respectively) - there's something about my favorite BKPs that makes it easier to get more saturation without having to fight for note definition, and this is doing that. It still has some of the JB sizzle that I love, but also more crunch. I was worried about having a sort of bland, overstated midrange because of the sound of the Brute Force pickups, but these particular coils complement each other well. Sounds great with the amp set flat, no weird humps or spikes to correct for.
Fans of deep clean sounds won't like this coil combo. It has that zingy gritty ceramic bridge pickup clean sound. Middle position with the Jazz Neck, though, that gives me a really cool, scooped, hi-fi clean that I could probably find a lot of spots for. Hot lead sounds on the bridge are not as smooth as the stock JB but still sing well enough, not too jangly.
I had to use electrical tape on the coil-to-lead connections and the bulk of the tape kept me from getting it tucked back in as nicely as I would have liked. The bobbins are also very slightly different heights and I wasn't able to fit a spacer, so the top of the slug coil is tilted ever so slightly out of level with the screw coil. I hope the tape doesn't pose a problem for long term durability. I can take it apart and redo it if needed, I guess.
I'll try and do some clips if anyone is interested. I just had the most fun playing this guitar after I finished up. All in all I couldn't be happier. It's finally not fighting me.
____
I did record a couple riffs with the stock JB, and also the Distortion and the Rebel Yell in their respective guitars, and they sounded so very similar on the recording... and that made me think about the "pickups don't matter" video, the fact that amp and mic and placement and recording preamp are all the same, and that I was playing bland "pickup demo" riffs, when what really sets these pickups apart is how they respond when I'm actually playing the stuff I play, which is more complicated. Wish I had done more recording here before the surgery. Dumb blah riffs hide more than they reveal. But it also made me think about subtleties of feel, and how I know the sound I'm looking for, but some setups make me work harder to get there. Not surprising that it could sound pretty similar in a recording, but my playing will be more or less relaxed depending on how much work I have to do, which is not entirely conscious. With this pickup swap, I kept the same strings on the guitar, but when I was playing I felt like I'd gone a gauge or two lighter.
I've also been playing a Gibson with a Bare Knuckle bridge pickup through this one amp for about 16 years now, so that's very much what I'm used to. Hard ymmv caveat.
Very cool. I think this Brute Force neck model would be in the same neighborhood. What coils and magnet did you use for that? Or did you put both hybrids together?
I read through every post of yours that I could find on here about hybrids when I was trying to figure out what to do with this one. So much good info. Thank you for all the cool stuff you've posted about them over the years. It was very helpful to me.
Pegasus was my other Duncan option for this one aside from the Distortion bridge. I would still like to try it. But the 7-string Pegasus and Distortion I have are both in use in the same guitar and I didn't want to screw it up. I suppose with the ceramic magnet and screws, this hybrid has more parts from the BKP than the JB, but similarly to you I can still hear the JB character coming through. Love it.
Rex_Rocker
Well-known member
While it's certainly not the same pickup, I've always found the Distortion and JB are more similar than different.
I'd stick a standard-sized ceramic into either a JB or a Distortion and just be done with it if I wanted an in-between sound.
I'd stick a standard-sized ceramic into either a JB or a Distortion and just be done with it if I wanted an in-between sound.
That would miss the point of making the hybrid for me, which was to hear/feel the coil mismatch. It worked out great in this case. I need baseplates to make the other half - JB slug coil and magnet on the Brute Force - but I bet that'll be cool as well. I don't really need the output I would get from a JB/Distortion, and hearing the articulation of this one I think that might be a step back from what I want, but I'd still like to hear it and maybe I'll make one down the road a bit.
Rex_Rocker
Well-known member
Personally, IF and that's kind of a big IF there is a coil mismatch, it's certainly not going to be worth the trouble *for me*. If you want the *slight* coil mismatch effect, I'd recommend looking into a JB/500T or JB/Tone Zone, or a JB/Aldrich, or other sort of pickup where the coil mismatch not huge, but it is more evident rather than being a small difference that might actually come across as a defect.
That's my reasoning, personally. I'm an artist/designer, so that's the kind of ethos I usually follow when doing stuff like that. If I make a quadrilateral, for example, where one of the sides is just *slightly* off, it comes off more like an error than an intentional design choice.
That's my reasoning, personally. I'm an artist/designer, so that's the kind of ethos I usually follow when doing stuff like that. If I make a quadrilateral, for example, where one of the sides is just *slightly* off, it comes off more like an error than an intentional design choice.
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Wanting the mismatch to be a bit more apparent was part of why I took apart this 13.4k neck pickup for the other coil, but while I understand your point about aesthetics I don't think that has bearing on the sound. Maybe the sound of the two coils would be too close to notice a meaningful difference, maybe there would be something weird and bad-sounding, or maybe it would turn out like I hoped, which was something very close to a JB or a Distortion but with a slightly more complex and open high end. I'd really have to try it in one of my guitars through my amp and hear it for myself.
I don't have anything like the electronics knowledge of some of the folks here so I don't know how to explain what I like in less subjective terms, but reading through stuff about pickup mods and hybrids was what initially drew me to the forum. I like tinkering. I also like replacing bridges for that last 2% of tone... I know you get it. I'm super pleased with this particular result. If I had ordered something from the Custom Shop or a booteek winder and it sounded and responded this way, I'd be happy. But I also don't have $200+ to drop on a pickup now so I'm extra happy.
Rex_Rocker
Well-known member
You got me there.
I guess if you like actually makign the hybrids, it would be worth it.I honestly DREAD anything that has to do with using a soldering iron, even considering how much I like trying out different pickups.
If at some point you decide you want to try another JB soundalike but with slightly more airiness and clarity, give the Fishman Fluence Classics a try. Fantastic pickups, and that's coming from a person who loves the JB already.
