Can a JB beat a Pearly Gates?

3

357mag

New member
I'm currently running a Pearly Gates in the bridge of my Les Paul and I'm getting pretty good results. I still have a JB sitting here which I haven't tried yet. Now when I was playing Strats I had an American Special and I installed a JB in that and the sound was awesome. I'm wondering if a JB can beat out a Pearly Gates?

I like the crispness of the Pearly Gates plus the fact that the treble strings sound smooth and the bass strings don't sound spongy like the Alnico II Pro. According to the tone chart the JB has a tad less treble and a tiny bit more midrange. Just wondering if the JB may give the illusion of a slightly thicker sound.
 
Re: Can a JB beat a Pearly Gates?

They are very different sounding pickups. The PG lends itself the grittier 70's era rock and blues tones. The JB has a softer trebly tone more associated with a smoother, high gain 80's rock tone, so which one you like better probably depends on what genres you typically favor. I'm a Pearly Gates guy myself.
 
Re: Can a JB beat a Pearly Gates?

357mag said:
I'm wondering if a JB can beat out a Pearly Gates?
Click to expand...

You mean like in arm wrestling?

To my ears, JB's are bright and midscooped. Fairly thin PU. In warm woods like mahogany, it can sometimes get squirrelly and get even brighter ('ice pick spike' and develop a 'flabby' low end). Some people say thay have a lot of 'upper mids.' To me, upper mids = treble. For a JB to give a thicker sound, it has to go up against a pretty thin PU.
 
Re: Can a JB beat a Pearly Gates?

To me, JBs have just about as much mids as the Tone Zone... the JB is a lot brighter and thinner, however.
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Re: Can a JB beat a Pearly Gates?

I love the JB. That supposed "ice pick" is what lets it cut through a band mix so very well.
 
Re: Can a JB beat a Pearly Gates?

I say try it for yourself because depending on the guitar the JB can sound very different as you can read if you search the forum and read peoples responses to the JB.
 
Re: Can a JB beat a Pearly Gates?

I never thought the JB was right for a Les Paul. As a matter of fact, I have never found a mahogany body of any type that the standard JB meshed well with for me. It really shines in 25.5" scale alder-bodied superstrats with a 300k pot. What do you not like about the PG, and have you tried the Whole Lotta Humbucker?
 
Re: Can a JB beat a Pearly Gates?

I love the Pearly Gates. I'm just simply experimenting. I stuck the JB in there now. My first impression is strength and muscularity. Those are the first two words that came into my head when I started playing.
 
Re: Can a JB beat a Pearly Gates?

The JB has much less treble and much more bottom end than a PG, and it will also hit your amp harder, causing even more mush. It will give you a thicker and muddier sound than a PG. It's like a big, honking mule kick sound. I find it to be less versatile than the PG, and to be much harder to match a neck pickup to.
 
Re: Can a JB beat a Pearly Gates?

All I can suggest is to try it; you've already seen differences in opinion here before searching the forum. longcat has one in her Les Paul with a Jazz & 500K pots wired 50s style. We like to dial in a pretty old school midrangey sound, and we both like how powerful it is while still retaining the ability to cut through the mix.
 
Re: Can a JB beat a Pearly Gates?

Rockstar216 said:
I say try it for yourself because depending on the guitar the JB can sound very different as you can read if you search the forum and read peoples responses to the JB.
Click to expand...

For sure , I've got the JB in a ash rosewood neck super strat and it sounds fat with tight low end , not a typical JB description but that's how it reacts in that guitar
 
Re: Can a JB beat a Pearly Gates?

Demanic said:
I love the JB. That supposed "ice pick" is what lets it cut through a band mix so very well.
Click to expand...

That guys who experience the JB 'ice pick' in their guitars aren't thrilled about it, in a band or alone. It's a quirk that develops in some woods.
 
Re: Can a JB beat a Pearly Gates?

In my Les Paul the JB sounds very strong and thick. Very muscular. It sounds darker than the Pearly Gates. The Pearly Gates has more bite and sizzle with sweetness at the same time. The JB doesn't have the same bite and sizzle but it has more thickness. There is no ice-pick at all and there is no exaggerated high-mid either. Definitely works good at least in my particular guitar.

Not sure which one I will eventually settle on. Hard to decide cuz they're both great.
 
Re: Can a JB beat a Pearly Gates?

I hear people have terrible results with JBs in mahogany, but I have one in my Koa (Mahogany's slightly brighter Hawaiian cousin) Warmoth and it sounds amazing. I had the Pearly Gates in an Alder Kramer Voyager and it sounded great, but the JB is more of the all-around "ROCK" tone. Agree they're both great.
 
Re: Can a JB beat a Pearly Gates?

JB in les paul:
guitarist doesn't like it, sound guy doesn't like it,
rest of band and audience does.

9/10 drummers prefer JBs in their guitarists' les pauls. that's a medically proven fact.
 
Re: Can a JB beat a Pearly Gates?

jhale667 said:
I hear people have terrible results with JBs in mahogany.
Click to expand...

Sometimes. JB's are at their worst in some mahogany guitars, but in other mahogany guitars they'll sound great. It's how the PU reacts to the individual piece of wood. JB's have thin wire and narrow coils, & combined with the wind and A5 magnets, it's a quirky PU.
 
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Re: Can a JB beat a Pearly Gates?

dr. ad said:
JB in les paul:
guitarist doesn't like it, sound guy doesn't like it,
rest of band and audience does.

9/10 drummers prefer JBs in their guitarists' les pauls. that's a medically proven fact.
Click to expand...

Not quite. There are some LP's (and other mahogany guitars) that JB's trruly sound 'atrocious' in (quote from a member). No one's going to like that sound, no matter where they're sitting or what they're doing. We've had all kinds of testimonials about JB's, and some guys who love them in Strats, have found them to be 'horrid' in mahogany. Warm woods are hit-or-miss with them.
 
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Re: Can a JB beat a Pearly Gates?

Letus said:
Someone made a JB work in an SG recently with 500k pots. Here's the link to the thread: https://forum.seymourduncan.com/showthread.php?276990-Gibson-SG-Faded-Mahogany-Put-A-JB-Back-In-Bridge-This-Time-With-A-500K-Pot-SUCCESS! Also, Adam Jones makes the JB sound pretty decent in an LP.
Click to expand...

Again, this has a lot to do with the entire rig, the piece of wood itself and the skill of the guitarist. Marty Friedman's mahogany-bodied guitars sound ****ing heavenly with JBJs.
 
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