Adventures in Stratland: The Search for the One 'Bucker (a novel)

[Nacho8807]

Re: Adventures in Stratland: The Search for the One 'Bucker (a novel)

So to bump my own old thread, I reluctantly took the Distortion out and put it back into the LP. I put the EVH Frankenstein back into the Strat, and immediately knew I had to get a JB to replace it. So I ordered one today. I think it will be a perfect fit, because I would have changed a couple things about the SH6, and the SH4 should be just right. I'd like a slight drop in output. Not too much, just a little less compression and saturation, and more dynamics. The bass is perhaps too tight as well. I'd like a little softer, saggier response from the low end. But I love the rest of the EQ curve. The mids and highs are just what I want, so I hope the JB isn't too big a departure there. I'm going to update with my thoughts again when I get it in there. I cant wait!

 

[LLL]

Re: Adventures in Stratland: The Search for the One 'Bucker (a novel)

My 3 favorite humbuckers for a superstrat:

- SD Seth Lover
- SD SH-5 Custom
- BKP VHII

Of the three, the Custom has the most mids.

 

[Nacho8807]

Re: Adventures in Stratland: The Search for the One 'Bucker (a novel)

My 3 favorite humbuckers for a superstrat:

- SD Seth Lover
- SD SH-5 Custom
- BKP VHII

Of the three, the Custom has the most mids.

I really considered the Custom for its low end chunk and big mids. But all I can think of is Jake E Lee and Jerry Cantrell and I know I have to go with the JB.

 

[hamerfan]

Re: Adventures in Stratland: The Search for the One 'Bucker (a novel)

My take on the superstrat is that after a long time of swapping pickups i ended with a JB. (The Distortion was too much for me). Now again swapping started but with mags in the JB. The full charged A5 in it is not the best choice. A rough cast A5 and a A2 was nice, but the A8 and a thin ceramic (not the huge on of the distortion) made my day. Hope that helps.
PS consider a push pot for parallel wiring, that brings back a bit of traditional strat goodness.

 

[Mr. B]

Re: Adventures in Stratland: The Search for the One 'Bucker (a novel)

I spent years looking for the same HSS "holy grail". I gave up and used an SSL-5 single coil in the bridge for years, but found I didn't play the guitar as much because it didn't have a humbucker. I began searching again a couple of years ago and ended up using something I almost didn't try because I didn't think it would sound good with 250K pots; the Duncan CustomCustom. I actually run it and the Fender Fat 50 Singles with a 300K volume and 250K tones, with no tone connected to the neck (this is important, because having one hooked to it muffles it) and tones connected to bridge and middle. I have a push/pull on the bridge tone pot so I can split the Custom/Custom, and it sound fantastic split by itself, and in combo with the middle. I also push the D and G poles down a little and the B pole up a hair on the fat 50's to cure stratitis.

I can see where the Perpetual burn might sound good with classic singles too, but I wonder how it sounds split..

 

[saladin]

Re: Adventures in Stratland: The Search for the One 'Bucker (a novel)

The Custom wins for me...I've tried most everything else from Duncan.

 

[Nacho8807]

Re: Adventures in Stratland: The Search for the One 'Bucker (a novel)

It came. So did I.

 

[guitar74]

Re: Adventures in Stratland: The Search for the One 'Bucker (a novel)

The JB in a strat w/ a 250k pot. I use it and the PG in my strats and more the PG. I have never noticed the nasal quality, but I AM deaf in one ear. I like the clean of both.

The Perpetual Burn is another GREAT choice. I just heard it in a friend's guitar a week ago and might be making the switch, as this pickup is AWESOME!!!!

 

[Nacho8807]

Re: Adventures in Stratland: The Search for the One 'Bucker (a novel)

So my initial impression of the JB wasn't what I expected. I'm trying to reserve judgement until I get more playing time tonight, as my ears may have been a bit fatigued, and I couldn't play my amp at a decent volume since my daughter was already in bed. Here's hoping it grows on me a little.

 

[Nacho8807]

Re: Adventures in Stratland: The Search for the One 'Bucker (a novel)

So I don't think the JB is for me.

I have become as familiar as one can with it over the course of a week. I have put it through its paces with different amps, height and polepiece adjustments, endless knob tweaking, and I can say that it's just not what I'm looking for. I considered keeping it and trying different magnets, but seeing as it is brand new, I'd rather exchange it for something else entirely.

That's not to say it's a bad pickup by any means. It definitely has the goods. From the moment I hit the first chord I recognized the sound from tons of songs, and countless demos I had watched of it. There are traits of the JB which I had never noticed before that I will not be able to un-hear.

The first being the attack. It's both rough, and airy at the same time. There's a certain way every note starts off, and it has such a unique sound that I can now pick out a JB where I couldn't before. It's hard to accurately describe, but you know it when you hear it. Another thing I noticed was the "grainy" quality to the JB's tone. Where my other pickups seemed to be a lot smoother and clearer when heavily distorted, the JB seemed to have this fuzziness around every note and chord. It's kind of cool, and not necessarily a bad thing, but it's not the kind of sound I'm going for. The clarity also suffered a bit from this, and the growly midrange, that sort of overtook the other frequencies. I think the combination of these two things is where the JB gets a bad rap for having a "flubby" or loose low end. I didn't find this to be the case, though the lowest I was tuned was C#. It was certainly a softer bass response, but still chunky and authoritative. I also never heard the harsh high end that some people have mentioned; in fact this is the only pickup I have used that I had to boost the treble on my DSL to my liking. I did hear the sweet, singing lead tones that Seymour Duncan advertised. The attack I mentioned earlier makes notes bloom into this really cool kind of feedback that I couldn't get enough of. Sometimes it even sounded like a neck humbucker with it's softer attack, and rounded high end. I've never heard the JB described this way before so that was a shock. It excelled most for me under moderate gain. Dialing in a classic rock or metal tone was very satisfying. The midrange growl was really cool, and I had a lot of fun jamming on Megadeth, Ozzy, and Alice In Chains tones for a while. Another high point is the way it sounds though a clean amp, pushed with a tubescreamer and a touch of delay. It's a really addicting sound that showcases the midrange and sweet high end. I was not as pleased with the clean sound. The grainy quality made it harder to dial in a clean tone I liked, even compared to the Distortion.

All in all I thik the JB is a great pickup, but it's not at all what i thought it would be. I can definitely see many styles that it would be perfect for, but mine isn't one of them. So I think the next stop is a Custom. I know I like the Distortion already, so I can always fall back on that.

Hopefully this helps someone, and I'm not typing for nothing lol. Happy playing all!

 

[Johtosotku]

Re: Adventures in Stratland: The Search for the One 'Bucker (a novel)

An interesting read, nice to read some thorough opinions.

I'm about to put a JB in my strat this week. I'll probably go with a 250k pot. I had the pickup in a Jackson superstrat for years some years ago, and I liked it there. Hopefully it will deliver in the strat. Having tones like Mastodon and Cantrell isn't far from what I'm looking for, so it could be interesting to compare the experiences.

 

[Nacho8807]

Re: Adventures in Stratland: The Search for the One 'Bucker (a novel)

Best of luck to you. It's a really cool pickup and I think you'll like it. I don't know how closely it does Mastodon, but it nails AIC. I just think I'm confusing tones I admire, and tones I want for myself.

 

[Nacho8807]

Re: Adventures in Stratland: The Search for the One 'Bucker (a novel)

So I'm putting an Alt 8 into the Strat tonight. Should be a pretty cool result based on what I've heard and read. Here goes nothing!

 

[Johtosotku]

Re: Adventures in Stratland: The Search for the One 'Bucker (a novel)

Hope it gets you closer to what you wish for. Closer may be all there is, as in we'll never really get there.

I now have my JB in my strat. It sounds good. Just about what I expected it to sound like. I'm happy. Let's see how many years it stays in this time.

 

[Nacho8807]

Re: Adventures in Stratland: The Search for the One 'Bucker (a novel)

Wow.

So this thing is something else. I really like it. It's pretty much everything I wanted and more. Couldn't be more stoked. I might do separate review thread cause I want to go pretty in-depth, and I am going to record some clips. But for now I'm going to go back to playing my guitar.

 

[Kac]

Re: Adventures in Stratland: The Search for the One 'Bucker (a novel)

Yes. Finally! haha

This thread has lead me to search eBay for a single humbucker pickguard. Sucks I just got rid of the JB I had sitting around.

 

[Nacho8807]

Re: Adventures in Stratland: The Search for the One 'Bucker (a novel)

Ok, I figured I'd just post it here. I'm really happy with my choice, and I think it might actually stay. Disclaimer: the clips were recorded on the fly, with my phone's voice recorder app so apologies for the lack of talent and quality.

First off, the high gain tones are awesome. Everything I wanted and more. It feels nearly as hot as the Duncan Distortion, with all the pinch harmonic ability, with a little less compression and more punch. Overall the SH-15 seems like a very good alternative (go figure) to the SH-6, and much closer in character to it than the JB. The low end is chunky and mean sounding, with just the right mix of tightness and body. I almost regret getting rid of my Triple Recto, because I'm sure chugging through that thing would sound absolutely ferocious. The mids are full and balanced, with no push towards the low or high side to my ears. It lacks a bit of the clarity I liked about the DD, and even the "Burstbucker 8" I had been using, but not enough to be a deal-breaker. The high end is perfect. It reminds me a lot of the EVH or JB's sweet, singing treble, but with more cut. It's a very articulate and responsive pickup, and leads are a joy to play. Through the clean channel, you get a dark, bold voice with good dynamics for its output level. It does break up easier than some other pickups, but it stays very clear.

The rhythm clip is through the Ultra Gain channel on OD1, with an MXR Zakk Wylde OD in front as a clean boost. The lead tone adds a TS808 as a solo boost and a Carbon Copy delay. Clean and pushed are the Classic Gain channel, with pushed using the same solo boost and a longer delay setting.