Anything like a non-symertical JB out there?

zionstrat

Well-known member
I expect this goes into the esoteric to the point of ridiculous, but wondering if anything like the following humbucker exists, or even makes sense?

I love my bridge JB for 2 reasons-
1. It splits very well with my middle pup for quack
2. It provides a great, but bright, extremely tight classic rock humbucker sound

But more often than not, I catch my self rolling off the tone pot when in full humbucker because it really is bright in my guitar-

So here is the weird idea- Keep the south coil as is for the strat sound, but overwide the 2nd coil for more mids-

Would this darken the humbucker configuration, but keep some of the tight bass becuase the south coil didn't change? Would it create any strangeness because the coils are no longer the same?

MAy be a stupid question or somethign like it may already exist, but the switch to a A2 thread made me think about other ways to get a warmer sound, but keep the "crispness"
 
Re: Anything like a non-symertical JB out there?

unbalanced coils tend to be "crisper", if you overwound one coil it might do what you are looking for but ive never tried a jb with a hotter coil. might work though
 
Re: Anything like a non-symertical JB out there?

Wild- And I'm surprised- I had imagine that instead of crispier, it might get 'phasier' becuase the coils would now have less harmonic contetnt in common and I was affraid this might destroy the tightness (especially in the bass) that I have come to love-
 
Re: Anything like a non-symertical JB out there?

What pot value are you using with your JB? It was pretty much designed with 250k controls in mind, so if you're using 500k that might make it a bit brighter.
 
Re: Anything like a non-symertical JB out there?

FretFire said:
What pot value are you using with your JB? It was pretty much designed with 250k controls in mind, so if you're using 500k that might make it a bit brighter.
+1, that sounds like that(^^^) is your problem/situation.
 
Re: Anything like a non-symertical JB out there?

what you want is a JB/custom hybrid
one coil JB and the other a custom coil
you will wind up with the 8.4K JB coil(screw or stud)
and the 7.1K custom coil( screw or stud)
this pup can use a II,V, or ceramic magnet depending on your taste and needs :)
 
Re: Anything like a non-symertical JB out there?

"What pot value are you using with your JB? It was pretty much designed with 250k controls in mind, so if you're using 500k that might make it a bit brighter."

Don't think that's it as I just added a 250 pushpull- It's a bright resonate maple body and I wasn't all that surprised- I think the A5 is keeping bass in the mix and the attack is great so I'm overall very happy, but otherwise would have gone A2 for more warmth.

Sounds like WLester's done this before- Thanks for the suggestion- Considering that no ones calling this a crazy idea, I think I just might give it a try-
 
Re: Anything like a non-symertical JB out there?

You might also just try swapping the A5 mag for an A2, I've heard that's a killer pickup!
 
Re: Anything like a non-symertical JB out there?

Yeah, the JB magnet swap thread got me thinking about warming up the sound- but I really like the single coil sound and i'm concerned that I might loose some of the tight base if I went to an a2- but considering that both of these appraches have positives I would really love to try them both-
thx for the input!
 
Re: Anything like a non-symertical JB out there?

zionstrat said:
Wild- And I'm surprised- I had imagine that instead of crispier, it might get 'phasier' becuase the coils would now have less harmonic contetnt in common and I was affraid this might destroy the tightness (especially in the bass) that I have come to love-
Matched coils have a tendency to cancel out certain frequencies, usually in the high end. This is why single coils have more "sparkle" than humbuckers, and buckers are known for more mids. The singles don't cancel out any high frequencies and thus there's more high end. The buckers cancel out some highs which the ear perceives as more mids.

I think a A2 JB's what you're looking for. If you don't like it you can always swap the mag back. As for the JB/Custom hybrid, I've never tried it, but it seems like that might work too. Just make sure to keep the JB coil for splitting ;).
 
Re: Anything like a non-symertical JB out there?

We all say it once a week or so, but this is such a great forum! Thanks for the input guys- Thinking about both directions and wouldn't have considered eiither if it wasn't for your input-
Happy holiday to those in the US!
 
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