another jb thought

walleyedave

New member
if the jb is too thin and trebley and mid rangy,,,than what is a nice warm sounding duncan that is versatile??? thanks in advance!!!
 
Re: another jb thought

Answer: an A2 JB, or a C8 (get some warm magnets and you'll get what you want). BTW, the JB's not really heavy on mids; its got loads of 'upper' mids, which to my ears is just plain bright.
 
Re: another jb thought

Try the JB with an open mind first, bro. It's a good pickup. It's just very picky.

Dave Mustaine used the JB for years, it's not a pickup for bluegrass or something.
 
Re: another jb thought

Try the JB with an open mind first, bro. It's a good pickup. It's just very picky.

Dave Mustaine used the JB for years, it's not a pickup for bluegrass or something.
I could see it working well for bluegrass, actually. Upper middy and bright guitar sounds are pretty common there.
 
Re: another jb thought

It's very user-friendly; it's just really selective about who it wants to use it.
 
Re: another jb thought

Oops, sorry.

I have nothing to contribute to this thread. I was just checking for text in large fonts and garish colours. :D
 
Re: another jb thought

JB8 is more output and bass but depends on your amp if the loudness factor will sound good or bad.
 
Re: another jb thought

It all gets very confusing. I have a JB in a very old SG Junior and it sounds great. Many on this forum have said that the favoured p/u in the SG bridge position is the C5. Many have described the C5 as being very similar to the Gibson 498T which I've found yet others describe as being a bit like the JB. What do we make of this ?

Others describe the JB as being kind of woofy in the low end but I think it depends how much gain you're using. I don't go much beyond late 70's gain levels and it's perfect for this. I did some recording recently and I can honestly say that the low end of the JB with Paul Kossoff'ish gain levels (and a little more) is crystal clear. I think it loses this quality if you pile on a lot of gain.

Take into account that the JB was developed when amps had far less gain than they do now. When people were trying to push their lower gain Marshalls a bit harder the JB was just the ticket. It's described as the 'original hot-rod humbucker' and that's exactly what it is.
 
Re: another jb thought

It all gets very confusing. I have a JB in a very old SG Junior and it sounds great. Many on this forum have said that the favoured p/u in the SG bridge position is the C5. Many have described the C5 as being very similar to the Gibson 498T which I've found yet others describe as being a bit like the JB. What do we make of this?

Part of it is that the JB's wind & wire gauge make it more volatile & unpredictable in various woods. Never know what you're going to get with it. Being an early high output PU, it was introduced when anything 'hot' was a novelty; now we've got more choices & are more particular. Not as many players are quite as thrilled with it. I don't think it's stood the test of time as well as PAF's.
 
Re: another jb thought

^^ Another part is that electric guitars all basically sound the same at the end of the day and while we strive to come up with easy formulas for good tones in guitars on this forum, all we can honestly do is share our opinions and experiences and give recommendations based on that.

The fact that every guitar sounds different because every piece of wood is different can lead to all kinds of similarities between one PICKUP to the next...but there are no 100% surefire formulas because what works in one guitar won't necessarily be perfect for every other guitar, even guitars made of the same batch of wood in the same factory on the same day.

They'll all still sound like electric guitars, though. The subtle nuances and details are not as apparent to the majority of music listeners as they are to the dedicated player.
 
Re: another jb thought

JB in alder or ash = awesome

JB in guitars made of things other than alder or ash = death
 
Re: another jb thought

JB in alder or ash = awesome

JB in guitars made of things other than alder or ash = death

Slight modification... The JB sounds quite nice in a Schechter or a PRS SE, both of which are thin-bodied mahogany. Well, nato, actually. Too bright for my tastes, perhaps, but that's a different matter entirely.
 
Re: another jb thought

I dunno
sounds good in my Basswood Ibanez
but is finicky about the pickup height , has to be just right

EDIT
and I mean just over 1/8 inch from the strings
 
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