A JB with more transparency please

[greengriff]

Re: A JB with more transparency please

greengriff - swap the flat-head screws for hex-heads, back off the gain a little and concentrate on your picking technique. if you want to keep that sweet lead tone you're enjoying, this is the only way.

you could also consider an airzone, but it's sonic boredom in an LP (if that's what you happen to be playing)

the C5 and the JB are worlds apart; they don't sound anything alike, aside form being non-PAF-type A5 SD humbuckers. a full shred would give you the attack you want, but a pickup as overwound as any custom will never produce any sound that could be described as transparency. they'll chug all day but they won't 'sing'. you lose the 'sing' with a ceramic mag, the DD also doesn't sound much tighter than the JB.

i'm sure you'll go with the popular vote and try a C5, of course.

I won't try a C5, for reasons mentioned above. I am interested in trying the flat head to hex head mod though. Where can I source hex head screws of the right type?

 

[dr. ad]

Re: A JB with more transparency please

i don't recall the thread size... do you happen to have a demon or full shred handy?
there are guys here who know the sizes, or you should be able find them in a search.
the screws must be ferrous

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: A JB with more transparency please

No one else seems to have mentioned it so I'll go on and state the obvious.

A guitar is a midrange voiced instrument. The JB is a high mid focused pup, and if you reduce the mids you are going to lose the singy quality that you are saying you like.

I'm with the poster who suggested trying hex head screws to tighter the bass. If you'd rather keep the look you can trim the screws on the bottom side to "tighten" up the bass.

Luke

 

[Dave Z]

Re: A JB with more transparency please

A thicknecked acoustically dark strat would sound real nice with the PATB3 (Blues S) or a Dimarzio Fred. These are a bit hotter than PAF but not as overwound as the JB or customs, so if you are looking for a little more open sound, well there you go. (Frankly I found the C5 a bit dark played clean & did not like it.) Both have tighter stronger bass than the JB, sound a bit more stratlike, and both will sing. FWIW I've tried all those and the Custom5/CC in the same guitars, using a 2x10 Fender blackface voiced amp. I think the JB is great & I use one now in my superstrat. The Fred is similar with a more open sound -- sounds very sweet clean -- but there is a midrange tweak that makes it great with overdrive.

The PATB3 is another great one and the closest SD has to the holy grail IMHO of a slightly overwound PAF - but it is larger and may not fit in your existing pickup rings, and I had issues with high pitched edginess with it.

 

[SFW]

Re: A JB with more transparency please

Full Shred?

 

[SrDeMaFp]

Re: A JB with more transparency please

I simply replaced the screws under the E,A,D strings with hex poles and that helped tighten things up for chugging rhythms. For an ultra cheap mod, it certainly helped. Will it do enough for you? Who knows. Doesn't hurt to try.

Where would you find/what size for replacing the poles?

 

[elelpe]

Re: A JB with more transparency please

Maybe Jazz neck is what you're looking for ... well match with single coil, transparent and less mid than JB.

 

[JohnnyGuitarCA]

Re: A JB with more transparency please

Try a PAF PRO. I'll bet it nails the tones you want.

 

[Bravohalo]

Re: A JB with more transparency please

How can you not try a 500k pot first? It is by far the cheapest, easiest, and most reversible solution. A 250k is like having a tone cap hardwired in; increased transparency with the least change otherwise is exactly what you will get from swapping it out. Putting that treble back will probably lower the percieved mids as well. After that try a DD. As has been mentioned, i'ts basically JB coils over a ceramic magnet. Having played both JB's and DD's in several guitars with different woods, I find the difference between the two is exactly what you say you want: more cutting treble, slightly less high mid, and tighter bass. I have built several guitars and modded dozens of others. DO NOT try changing screws or magnets until less invasive methods have been exhausted. Looking at the wreckage of what was once your favorite pickup is no fun. No fun at all.

 

[uOpt]

Re: A JB with more transparency please

Just changing the volume pot and nothing else (same tone circuit) doesn't make much of a difference.

You can also just attach another 500 Kohm resistor with a couple crocodile clips.