Are all JB's virtually unusable?

[keithm]

I recently bought a new set of Seymour Duncans (in a single box set), a JB and a Jazz. I fitted them to a good quality SG clone and at low volumes all seemed well, although I found the jazz in the neck a bit too bright.

However it all went wrong when I tried to gig with the guitar.

The neck pickup was fine with a bit of treble rolled off but the JB howled its head off with medium gain and volume - it was unusable.

I took it back to the shop still installed so we could compare it to other guitars fitted with a JB and indeed mine seemed more microphonic, picked up more handling noise and howled at gain where the other wouldn't - so the pickup was removed and sent for checking (in the UK).

The came back from Seymour Duncan with a clean bill of health, which surprised me as I found it unusable. So: I tried stiffer mounting springs, rubber tubing (like you would in a Fender) packing the undrside of the pickup and putting it in a different guitar and it was still useless.

So I emailed Seymour Duncan and never got a reply - not what I expected.

I couldn't even put the pickups on Ebay as if someone else had the same issue the pickup would bounce back on me.

In the end I had to sell them back to the shop at over a 50% loss as I was out of options and that really p'd me off.

I doubt I'll ever buy Semour Duncan again but have other people had problems with the JB? Looking through this forum and online it would appear they have so I'm really not sure what Seymour Duncan are playing at if the pickup is so variable it can be useless.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Are all JB's virtually unusable?

Lot's of players, big and small, have used JB's with good results. The feedback you had isn't the norm for JB's or any Duncan PU.

You would have been better off with an A2P set; I think you'd like the neck and bridge better in your SG.

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Are all JB's virtually unusable?

The JB is the best selling Seymour Duncan pickup...they've sold tons of them so one can not say they are all unusable–that is like saying all Ford F-150s are unusable off of your one experience (best selling truck out there.)

That being said, is the JB ususable for YOU personally...doesn't appear to be for you personally. The JB is a really hot pickup that gets soaring lead tones and incredible harmonics...but it is pretty high output.

I would try giving Seymour Duncan another try–maybe call and leaving a message.

 

[Archer250]

Re: Are all JB's virtually unusable?

Never had a problem. Mine is quiet and only howls when I want it to.

 

[B2D]

Re: Are all JB's virtually unusable?

I doubt I'll ever buy Semour Duncan again but have other people had problems with the JB? Looking through this forum and online it would appear they have so I'm really not sure what Seymour Duncan are playing at if the pickup is so variable it can be useless.

Ohhhh boy...


The JB might be SD's best selling pickup and I doubt that'd be the case if even 10% of people had the kind of problems you're describing.

The community here are a bit more tone conscious than most and the JB is a topic of a lot of dicussion here because of some unique properties that it exhibits, and the fact of the matter is that the core tone appeals to a wide variety of people and players, and the desire to tweak and customize is strong with that pickup. I've done it myself.

I'm going to say that if the pickup came back from Duncan with no problems found, the problem likely exists within your guitar, or at least elsewhere in your rig.

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Are all JB's virtually unusable?

I'm going to say that if the pickup came back from Duncan with no problems found, the problem likely exists within your guitar, or at least elsewhere in your rig.

Excellent point!

@Keithm, have you tried other JB equipped guitars through your rig?

 

[orangecountycarl]

Re: Are all JB's virtually unusable?

My recent post shows it to be the PERFECT pickup in my HSS Stratocaster...with all 250K pots.
It's finicky, but shines in the right scenario.

 

[dystrust]

Re: Are all JB's virtually unusable?

I've used a ton of Duncan pups over the last 15 years and I've never had one feedback when I didn't want it to. The OP didn't describe this gig, but was it a case of playing too loud or with too much gain in too small of a room? That's the only situation I can think of where wax potting probably wouldn't make much of a difference.

 

[BriGuy1968]

Re: Are all JB's virtually unusable?

Love the JB in my HSH mahogany Westone (my avatar). I know some guys aren't crazy about them, but I've never heard of anyone having the problems you're describing. I'm going to echo other opinions in this thread and say that you either got a defective/damaged pickup or that the issue lies in your guitar/rig.


[emoji450]Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk [emoji441]

 

[uOpt]

Re: Are all JB's virtually unusable?

I think the OP is talking about feedback.

 

[austin]

Re: Are all JB's virtually unusable?

I'm going to have to go with user error on this one.
-
Austin

 

[ItsaBass]

Are all JB's virtually unusable?

You say it "came back from Seymour Duncan," but you also say "in the UK." TMK, Seymour Duncan proper is only in California, U.S.A. Do you mean to say that it went back to the factory, where bona-fide Duncan employees gave it a clean bill of health? If not, then I'm not surprised at all to hear that some random repair guy said it was fine when it, in fact, was not.

You said you had to sell them back to the shop at a loss. But you didn't HAVE to do that. You OPTED to give up and let a shop rip you off, rather than sticking up for yourself by persistently going through the proper channels to resolve your problem.

What you need to do now is call Duncan up, and have the company deal with the shop. What should happen if all was fair on paper is that you should get a new pickup for half what you paid for the other one, and Duncan should get the defective pickup back. If I was Duncan, I'd just send you a new JB, and then hit the dealer for the money in their next invoice.

It's too bad they ignored your e-mails. Unfortunately, they do that a lot. But you really should have tried harder before you decided to cut your losses.

 

[Johnny the Kid]

Re: Are all JB's virtually unusable?

The JB is a pretty hot pup, so if you're pushing lot of gain, you may experience some feedback. Did you ever try rolling it back or do you have a noise gate? High output pickups can usually be tames by a gate of some kind. Very rarely does my Distortion (same output level as a JB) feedback on me, unless I want it to. And I use semi-hollow guitars, which are very good for feedback.

 

[richard parker]

Re: Are all JB's virtually unusable?

I recently bought a new set of Seymour Duncans (in a single box set), a JB and a Jazz. I fitted them to a good quality SG clone and at low volumes all seemed well, although I found the jazz in the neck a bit too bright.

The neck pickup was fine with a bit of treble rolled off but the JB howled its head off with medium gain and volume - it was unusable.

I took it back to the shop still installed so we could compare it to other guitars fitted with a JB and indeed mine seemed more microphonic, picked up more handling noise and howled at gain where the other wouldn't - so the pickup was removed and sent for checking (in the UK).'


If this was the way all JBs behaved they would not be the world's best selling pup. If it was obvious in the shop that it was different to other JBs they should have replaced it WITHOUT QUESTION. There is no way you should have lost 50% of your cash. You have been royally ripped off. Go back and stand up to them like a man and DEMAND a full refund.

I've had a JB in an SG forever without a single problem.

 

[LtKojak]

Re: Are all JB's virtually unusable?

What you need to do now is call Duncan up, and have the company deal with the shop. What should happen if all was fair on paper is that you should get a new pickup for half what you paid for the other one, and Duncan should get the defective pickup back. If I was Duncan, I'd just send you a new JB, and then hit the dealer for the money in their next invoice.

This piece of advice is wrong on all possible levels:

The guy's in the UK, so the burden of dealing with these kind of things lies on the vendor.

The vendor gets their merchandise from the UK distributor, which has no legal power of intervention in any level.

The distributor gets their merchandise from California, which has no power of intervention whatsoever.

Due to this system, in the EU the final user is basically on his/her own after the transaction is completed, as most Small Claims Courts has a minimum of € 500,00 to begin with.

You just made this guy waste his time and his money calling Santa Barbara, with a time difference of at least eight hours.

To the OP: you've been ripped-off by the shop. The European Consumer Law says that if within 7 days, you can just return the ware and get a full-refund no questions asked.

The Duncan Co. has absolutely nothing to do with this matter. I'd look at the guy that installed the p'ups as the main suspect.

HTH,

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Are all JB's virtually unusable?

This piece of advice is wrong on all possible levels:

The guy's in the UK, so the burden of dealing with these kind of things lies on the vendor.

The vendor gets their merchandise from the UK distributor, which has no legal power of intervention in any level.

The distributor gets their merchandise from California, which has no power of intervention whatsoever.

Due to this system, in the EU the final user is basically on his/her own after the transaction is completed, as most Small Claims Courts has a minimum of € 500,00 to begin with.

You just made this guy waste his time and his money calling Santa Barbara, with a time difference of at least eight hours.

To the OP: you've been ripped-off by the shop. The European Consumer Law says that if within 7 days, you can just return the ware and get a full-refund no questions asked.

The Duncan Co. has absolutely nothing to do with this matter. I'd look at the guy that installed the p'ups as the main suspect.

HTH,

Seeing as you live in Italy I will say you know more about EU law than I do. I still think getting ahold of Seymour Duncan USA is not a worthless endeavor as they have standards and policies in place as well. But, I did not know that about EU Consumer Law, so I will defer to you

 

[Snake Aces]

Re: Are all JB's virtually unusable?

Is this thread a joke? The JB is legend! It has been featured on more records than almost any other pickup in the past 35 years or so.

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Are all JB's virtually unusable?

Is this thread a joke? The JB is legend! It has been featured on more records than almost any other pickup in the past 35 years or so.

Ha! Well, the OP only has 1 post so maybe he is a troll from another pickup company trying tospread false rumors...lol :stooges:

The JB is a legend and would not have the volume of sales if all of them were "unusable"

 

[Scott Olson]

Re: Are all JB's virtually unusable?

I recently bought a new set of Seymour Duncans (in a single box set), a JB and a Jazz. I fitted them to a good quality SG clone and at low volumes all seemed well, although I found the jazz in the neck a bit too bright.

However it all went wrong when I tried to gig with the guitar.

The neck pickup was fine with a bit of treble rolled off but the JB howled its head off with medium gain and volume - it was unusable.

I took it back to the shop still installed so we could compare it to other guitars fitted with a JB and indeed mine seemed more microphonic, picked up more handling noise and howled at gain where the other wouldn't - so the pickup was removed and sent for checking (in the UK).

The came back from Seymour Duncan with a clean bill of health, which surprised me as I found it unusable. So: I tried stiffer mounting springs, rubber tubing (like you would in a Fender) packing the undrside of the pickup and putting it in a different guitar and it was still useless.

So I emailed Seymour Duncan and never got a reply - not what I expected.

I couldn't even put the pickups on Ebay as if someone else had the same issue the pickup would bounce back on me.

In the end I had to sell them back to the shop at over a 50% loss as I was out of options and that really p'd me off.

I doubt I'll ever buy Semour Duncan again but have other people had problems with the JB? Looking through this forum and online it would appear they have so I'm really not sure what Seymour Duncan are playing at if the pickup is so variable it can be useless.

Hey Keith, did you ask the shop for another JB? It wouldn't be sent back to SD just to check it, more likely the store would replace it and the distributor would replace that. Sorry you had a bad experience with this, I'll talk with our customer service team and try and find your message to see why you didn't get a fast response with a solution (like contacting Rosetti).
Phone: +44 (0)1376 550033
Fax: +44 (0)1376 550042
Email: sales@rosetti.co.uk

 

[uOpt]

Re: Are all JB's virtually unusable?

Can you be more specific what "howled" is supposed to mean?