Back in the Duncan Camp again

[Archer250]

It's so funny.

My first Duncan was a JB. That was a bit more than 10 years ago. Over the years, I've used several JB clones from a few winders, and while I've tried some other Duncan offerings, none of them really stuck and I kept trying other manufacturers' stuff

This past year, I went back to a JB again and holy hell. THAT sound that I've been hearing is just right there. And that started something.

Every time I've been struggling to get a tone or wanted to try something, I usually just default to Duncans, and every time I wanted to try alternatives, I just grab assorted clones of clearly something in the SD lineup. And those clones don't always sound "better". Most of the time, it's either equal or worse.

So I came to the realization that I'm just better off getting whatever Duncan offering in the lineup scratches my itch. In other words, I've just ordered another JB, and might want some single coil recs soon :laugh2:

 

[Aceman]

You know, my opinion is that between Duncan and DiMarzio, they have whatever you want or need.

The rest is just little tweaks here and there, that to me, are really insignificant.

Don't get me wrong - chase whatever tone you want. But very little reason to get out of either of these schools of winding unless you want/need something really esoteric just because.

 

[Archer250]

You know, my opinion is that between Duncan and DiMarzio, they have whatever you want or need.

The rest is just little tweaks here and there, that to me, are really insignificant.

Don't get me wrong - chase whatever tone you want. But very little reason to get out of either of these schools of winding unless you want/need something really esoteric just because.

I've been trying to like DiMarzios and in every single case I only like them if they're either of the two

1. A Super Distortion
2. Housed in an Ibanez guitar

Case in point, the JB (and a custom neck pickup) is going to replace a Tone Zone + Air Classic pair that I've been trying out.

I guess for humbuckers, it's either Duncans or Gibson for me lol

 

[Lucius Paisley]

The first SD I ever encountered was a Cool Rail in some strat copy I'd picked up from wherever, a pawn shop, maybe?

20-something years later...



They're not SD and they're not Cool Rails, but the memory of how great they looked was still in my head when needing single-coil-sized humbuckers.

I haven't played any other guitar since I've had these.

 

[jeremy]

i rocked my jb loaded tele today, sounded great! it does what it does like nothing else

 

[Mincer]

Most people forget how long Seymour has been at this. At some point, he designed many pickups others are now copying.

 

[Archer250]

The JB is in (no neck pickup until Feb or so), and it's perfect.

​​​​​Neck pickup will come with an extra RCA5 that I can put into the JB to try out

 

[Rex_Rocker]

The first pickup I ever swapped in was a DiMarzio Super Distortion. For a while, I thought it was the best thing ever, but I had nothing to compare it to, really

I then read that all my heroes were playing EMG's. So I got my Zakk Wylde set and for years I was "actives or die". I tried most of the classic EMG catalog from back then, honestly.

But then, I got the itch to try something else. I really wanted a JB, but the store only had a Distortion. So I got the Distortion, and damn. What a pickup! But it didn't scratch my itch for trying a JB. At the time, I didn't know the JB and the Distortion were so closely related, so I just got a separate JB. Even if I did know, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been satisfied unless I tried and actual JB fresh out of the box.

Ever since then, the JB is one of the pickups that I feel I'm at home with. There's a few. But the JB I know I can get something I like from if I just tweak a little.

My favorite iteration of the JB right now is the Antiquity JB, but maybe that has to do with the guitar it's in. The plain old production JB I still love, though.

 

[AdrianSD]

The Custom with double ceramic has that Dimarzio hi-fi feel going and the Custom 8 is an even better variation. Between these, JB, Distortion and Black Winter I have it all covered in the bridge position.

 

[Archer250]

Update

I actually got the chance to get a JBJ for a reasonable amount, so I'll be trying that too

 

[Chistopher]

If you can try a Super D, JB, SSL-1, 59n, and a 36 Anni neck, and still can't find a sound you like, the problem is not the pickups.

 

[Archer250]

If you can try a Super D, JB, SSL-1, 59n, and a 36 Anni neck, and still can't find a sound you like, the problem is not the pickups.

Pretty much, yeah

Funny how those are early aftermarket pickups too

Well the Anni isn't, but it's just an airbucker version of the earlier DP103, which is old

 

[weepingminotaur]

Yeah, I'm more or less a Duncan guy too. No shade on anyone who goes elsewhere, but at the end of the day, I can usually find what I want from the SD catalog.

 

[Masta' C]

The JB is like the girl next door that you dated toward the end of high school.

You got along great and you really enjoyed being around her, but you couldn't keep from thinking:

"It's a big world and there are plenty of other fish in the sea...I don't want to miss out on something better!".

So, you dump her and date around for a few years.

Some of the girls are hotter, but you tend to find them a bit crazy and unrefined.

Some of the girls are a bit less hot. They seem plenty interesting at first, but after a while, daily life feels stale and unexciting.

A few more years pass, you mature a bit, and one day you realize that the JB was the right girl for you all along!

 

[Archer250]

The JB is like the girl next door that you dated toward the end of high school.

You got along great and you really enjoyed being around her, but you couldn't keep from thinking:

"It's a big world and there are plenty of other fish in the sea...I don't want to miss out on something better!".

So, you dump her and date around for a few years.

Some of the girls are hotter, but you tend to find them a bit crazy and unrefined.

Some of the girls are a bit less hot. They seem plenty interesting at first, but after a while, daily life feels stale and unexciting.

A few more years pass, you mature a bit, and one day you realize that the JB was the right girl for you all along!

Well the JBJ arrives today, so I'm going to try it out too, just for a completionist's sake

Regardless I think I'll keep it anyways because it's a cool old piece of hardware.

 

[Archer250]

Gold plated baseplate and pole pieces

 

[AdrianSD]

The JB is like the girl next door that you dated toward the end of high school.

You got along great and you really enjoyed being around her, but you couldn't keep from thinking:

"It's a big world and there are plenty of other fish in the sea...I don't want to miss out on something better!".

So, you dump her and date around for a few years.

Some of the girls are hotter, but you tend to find them a bit crazy and unrefined.

Some of the girls are a bit less hot. They seem plenty interesting at first, but after a while, daily life feels stale and unexciting.

A few more years pass, you mature a bit, and one day you realize that the JB was the right girl for you all along!

Exactly! Then, putting an A8 in the JB is like that hot girl you met many moons ago, now a gorgeous experimented woman with class and style (this NYE my beautiful wife and I have celebrated 30 years since we first met, so I might be biased, but I know I love the JB8 almost as much as I love her )

 

[Masta' C]

Exactly! Then, putting an A8 in the JB is like that hot girl you met many moons ago, now a gorgeous experimented woman with class and style (this NYE my beautiful wife and I have celebrated 30 years since we first met, so I might be biased, but I know I love the JB8 almost as much as I love her )

Alnico 8 in the JB is the equivalent of breast implants after 2 kids and 20 years of marriage...not entirely necessary, but a welcome addition!

After all, it's almost always better (and less expensive) to update what you already have than to upgrade to an entirely different model, LOL!

:laughing:

 

[AdrianSD]

Alnico 8 in the JB is the equivalent of breast implants after 2 kids and 20 years of marriage...not entirely necessary, but a welcome addition!

After all, it's almost always better (and less expensive) to update what you already have than to upgrade to an entirely different model, LOL!

:laughing:

And then you realize you like it better without the implants, so you go back to original