Andy Timmons uses a JB?

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nightwing122087

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngAE4ikF1Ng

I just recently discovered Andy Timmons and I really dig his style and tone, but I always thought that he used his own custom DiMarzio in the bridge, in fact I don't recall ever reading about him using Duncans. However, in this video he says himself that its a JB.

Did he use Duncans in the past or something?
 
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Re: Andy Timmons uses a JB?

Yes. He did use the Dimarzio Double Whammy pickups while in Danger Danger, then the JB and then/now the custom AT-1. It's quite clear to me that the album Cockroach (and anything afterward with DD) was recorded with a Duncan JB, it sure sounds like it!
 
Re: Andy Timmons uses a JB?

Andy had his JB tweaked though. So it didn't sound like any JB that you can buy. The JB died on him after so many years of being punished. The AT1 from Dimarzio is already wound to sound like it. I have the AT1 and it is oozing with Andy's lead tone. I bought a JB before to try and get Andy's tone and it sounded nothing like his. I even played it at his masterclass. He played through the same amp I played through and his was very thick. Mine was sharp and sounded a lot like a Tele. I'm for certain that I had it installed correctly. Probably just a defect. But it was pretty good nonetheless. I got some hot clean tones out of it.
Oh and one of the Ibanez guitars Andy had for the Olivia Newton John and Ibanez anniversary shows had Tom Anderson pickups in it. Very cool guitar.
 
Re: Andy Timmons uses a JB?

You got me interested about the AT-1.
Please tell me, how hot is the AT-1 compared to the JB?
I fear the AT-1 is/feels somewhat weaker than the JB.

mtranmusic said:
Andy had his JB tweaked though. So it didn't sound like any JB that you can buy. The JB died on him after so many years of being punished. The AT1 from Dimarzio is already wound to sound like it. I have the AT1 and it is oozing with Andy's lead tone. I bought a JB before to try and get Andy's tone and it sounded nothing like his. I even played it at his masterclass. He played through the same amp I played through and his was very thick. Mine was sharp and sounded a lot like a Tele. I'm for certain that I had it installed correctly. Probably just a defect. But it was pretty good nonetheless. I got some hot clean tones out of it.
Oh and one of the Ibanez guitars Andy had for the Olivia Newton John and Ibanez anniversary shows had Tom Anderson pickups in it. Very cool guitar.
Click to expand...
 
Re: Andy Timmons uses a JB?

I've been using the AT-1 for a while but I just removed it... too warm for me.

It is like a JB used with a 250K pot or maybe even a little warmer again.

My understanding is that his Cruisers only work with a 500K pot but he didn't like the tone of a JB that way.

The AT is kind of a 250K voiced JB, designed to work with 500k pots... which leads to my other thread, why didn't Duncan do that for him and gain his endorsement ? ?
 
Re: Andy Timmons uses a JB?

Would you say the AT-1 is warmer than a Tone-Zone?
About your question : I believe it's because Timmons is an Ibanez endorser.

wolf5150 said:
I've been using the AT-1 for a while but I just removed it... too warm for me.

It is like a JB used with a 250K pot or maybe even a little warmer again.

My understanding is that his Cruisers only work with a 500K pot but he didn't like the tone of a JB that way.

The AT is kind of a 250K voiced JB, designed to work with 500k pots... which leads to my other thread, why didn't Duncan do that for him and gain his endorsement ? ?
Click to expand...
 
Re: Andy Timmons uses a JB?

I disagree with the tone description on the Dimarzio site, i'd give it
bass 6
Mid 6
Treb 7

I've never tried a Tone Zone, the AT-1 was my 1st and last Dimarzio.

My guitar now has a WCR bridge, Duncan 5/2 mid and Kinman neck... all with 250K pots.

Perfect combo in this guitar... for my needs. :friday:
 
Re: Andy Timmons uses a JB?

The AT1 has definitely a different tone. It is actually much hotter than the JB (without any tweaking). It sounds fuller than the JB as well. I'm not sure how to describe it because I only play it like how Andy does. It doesn't have as much Clarity the JB has when clean. But Andy doesn't use his bridge pickup clean very often. I've tried both the JB and AT1 with 250k and 500k pots. The AT1 sounds better for the Timmons style. Andy switches between his neck and bridge pickup a LOT without switching amp channels or pedals. He uses a treble bleed on his neck and middle pickups. So in order to get a regular JB to sound close to Andy's tone you would need to take off a lot of treble and add a lot of mids and bass. Even then the treble bleed will not prevent it from sounding muddy with the same effects. I tried the Breed from Dimarzio and that would be better for the Timmons style in my opinion. But that was after I bought the AT1 so I didn't make the switch. There is no good way for me to describe it other than to say to watch Andy's latest videos. His Dallas guitar show performance had it installed. His latest Dimarzio videos had it. That's all I can say.
 
Re: Andy Timmons uses a JB?

From my experienced from the AT-1 was is that it's definitely very similar to the JB. I agree with wolf5150 that the eq from the Dimarzio site for the AT-1 is not correct to my ears the mid is more around 5. It's just as hot and loud as the JB. The AT-1 has better clarity and articulation , the bass is a bit looser sounding. It seems that the low mids in the AT-1 is less than the JB also and it doesn't have the highend fizz which can be good depending what you like. When I took it out to my drummers house to jam and decided to do a video recording it sounded great during play back. I was very surprised. When I play my guitar at home and jam sessions it sounded pretty **** good but I'm use to the low mid mojo of the JB. I'm kinda use to the sound as well. The AT-1 is definitely a very nice pickup but it wasn't for me because I want that low mid JB tone, unfortunately the JB can be a bit muddied comparing to it's clones. I currently have a Motor city pickup "Afwayu" which is a JB clone and almost similar in every way except that it has better clarity. It does have slightly less low mid than the JB but it's probably the closest to it for cleans and distortion without the mud.
 
Re: Andy Timmons uses a JB?

the dimarzio AT-1 has about the same DC resistance as the JB, which would suggest that it has about the same amount of 44AWG wire on the coils, but in my experience dimarzio and duncan coils can be the similar on paper and still sound very different.

the AT-1's also a virtual vintage airbucker.

a blind test between a JB with longer screws and nylon airbucker spacers, and an AT-1 would be most interesting...
 
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