A2 in a JB what changes?

[Rex_Rocker]

I like the JB close the strings, personally. And with higher value pots. And I do like current production JB's.

I suppose I like my icepick, LOL.

 

[ehdwuld]

Yes and the JB is touchy to get perfect too IME
But allways middy.

It is very particular in where it sits under the strings

 

[Jeff_H]

I never got along with the standard JB. Then I stumbled upon an 80’s JBJ and it had so much more of that 80’s Dokken, Ratt, etc sound of all those 80’s bands. After that, I payed a bit of silly money for a “The JB Model” version, and the sound changed again. Not a major change, but noticeable. It was more open and vocal, less compressed and smoother, with no ice pic sound.

Neither one is necessarily “better” than the other, it just depends upon what sound you are looking for. If I was playing 80’s rock, I would use the JBJ. The “The JB Model” sounds more like late 70’s early 80’s Stadium Rock, but pushed just a bit. I don’t know if it’s the age of the pickup components or the wind, or both….but I like it the best for overall jamming and just playing straight out rock.

 

[marcello252]

While we are magnet swapping JBs. Im thinking on sticking a rough UOA5 in a JB in a strat. Anyone tried that befor?
Smooth out the clunky mid spike a bit?

Me, it's still a JB with a slightly (slightly) rounded highs , nice but not night and day

 

[marcello252]

I know people use 250K pots too to tame that. I've never had an issue even with 500K pots, and even 1M in my old EC-400VF. I do think it's dependant on what you want/like. I'm used to that rasp and aggression in pickups like the 500T or the Black Winter, so even modern-day standard JB's have never been problematic in that regard to me.

I always used 250K , in my opinion a 500K with the JB just doesn't fit, I'd bet the original guitar for which the first JB was wounded had a 250K vol

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I always used 250K , in my opinion a 500K with the JB just doesn't fit, I'd bet the original guitar for which the first JB was wounded had a 250K vol

I use a 500K volume pot with a 1M resistor in parallel, no tone. I suppose the load is like 300-something K, which I suppose is even more wide open than having a 500K volume/tone setup.

I think it's application dependant. I don't think the original Telegib the JB was in was designed with Death Metal and C tuning in mind. And I also think it's up to what other pickups you're used to, and what your taste is. I'm used to grindy, cutting, raspy, ceramic firebreathers, so I've never found a JB to be anything but smooth, really.

I also think the JB may have a pretty focused upper midrange that people try smooth out by using lower value pots. I can see how it can be a bit much at times, hence why I use a resitor to load it down a tad. But to me, loading it down too much also gets rid of any sense of actual high-end fast, which I find the JB doesn't have much of to begin with. At least not compared to the majority of the Duncan lineup. And it also brings out a bit too much of the lower mid stuffiness that I find can be a problem with the JB sometimes for my application.

But everyone has a different taste and a different approach, and I think that speaks to the versatility the JB has, even if people can often claim it's a one trick pony.

 

[jeremy]

for heavier stuff, i like the jb with a 500k volume. for the blues rock i play, im currently running 250k volume and 500k tone