Can a JB too close to the strings become darker?

davidrf

davidrf

New member
Hi there, I just bought a used Schecter C1 Classic with JB/Jazz. I noticed the JB was not as "open" as it should be and I noticed the pickup was very close to the strings too. I lowered it a bit and it seems TO ME that it is now less dark and more pleasing. The point is, losing high-end was not a problem I was aware of when a pickup is too close to the strings... Is that possible or am I imagining things?

Thanks
 
I’ve never found a JB to be open sounding. It’s a dark pickup when run clean. It’s got an upper mid peak which makes people think it’s bright, but that’s not treble. I don’t like JBs for that reason.

Also it depends on the guitar. I’ve swapped pickups that sounding great in one guitar to another, and they didn’t sound good in that other guitar. It’s not just the pickup you’re hearing.


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depends...if you mean less "airy" yeah...getting it up will lose it's air and will become more compressed...
but it will not make it darker...
a 250K pot will...
 
davidrf said:
Thanks but you didn't remotely answer my question :D
Click to expand...

The sensitivity of a pickup drops off with the square of the distance. Lowering the pickup makes it less sensitive to the strings. It usually gets thinner sounding.

You’ve never adjusted pickups before?

Closer isn’t darker. That’s the normal sound of the pickup.


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In my experience, the closer you get to the strings, the more bass response you have. Maybe that is what you describe as "darker". Many people don't like the bass response of the JB, you might be one of them, thus less bass makes it sound more pleasing to you. ;)
 
IMO it's not "too close" unless it's creating a grind or warbling tone when playing single notes.
Check at the highest fret (22nd or 24th) on each string individually and make sure the notes are clear and concise.
If there is no warbling or odd grinding sound then raise it some more until there is, then back it off just enough to eliminate the bad stuff.
 
To me, when close to the strings they sound fuller but not really darker. And a little louder, of course.
With a pickup like the JB that will affect how compressed it seems.

IME just about any pickup sounds a bit more airy when lowered it a bit.
Normally that isn't my first consideration when adjusting height, though - most have a discernable sweet spot.

This might be less true for overwound pickups. Not sure.
Mine are mostly vintage to vintage-plus output; a JB really is at the uppermost edge of my comfort level.
I have one Distortion set with double thick A8 mags but that guitar's an outlier, not in regular rotation.
 
You can definitely get a JB too close to the strings and it will be more compressed, if that's what you mean by dark. From what I've observed, people tend to raise pickups too close to the strings to get more perceived output. This was necessary forty years ago, but these days most amps and pedals can get plenty distorted on their own.
Backing the pickups off the strings a bit can hit the sweet spot of definition as well as volume.

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eclecticsynergy said:
To me, when close to the strings they sound fuller but not really darker. And a little louder, of course.
With a pickup like the JB that will affect how compressed it seems.

IME just about any pickup sounds a bit more airy when lowered it a bit.
Normally that isn't my first consideration when adjusting height, though - most have a discernable sweet spot.

This might be less true for overwound pickups. Not sure.
Mine are mostly vintage to vintage-plus output; a JB really is at the uppermost edge of my comfort level.
I have one Distortion set with double thick A8 mags but that guitar's an outlier, not in regular rotation.
Click to expand...

Where do you get double thickness alnicos?
 
Aceman said:
IN GENERAL - TOO CLOSE IS ALMOST ALWAYS A BAD THING. OR AT LEAST NOT GOOD.
Click to expand...

I agree. As you slowly get close to the strings..there is a point where you certainly hear the strings sound worse. That's when I back it off.
 
Frogman said:
Where do you get double thickness alnicos?
Click to expand...

Regular alnico 2, 3, 4, 5 & 8 are available in double thickness from Cermag UK.
(They call them double width but actually they're standard metric length & width, just deeper.)

Forum member @Clint55 has made more exotic combinations, layering two together and then charging them.
Last Winter he made me double A3 & double UA5, plus hybrids of A5/UA5, A6/UA5, and A2/UA5.
 
Demanic said:
You can definitely get a JB too close to the strings and it will be more compressed, if that's what you mean by dark. From what I've observed, people tend to raise pickups too close to the strings to get more perceived output. This was necessary forty years ago, but these days most amps and pedals can get plenty distorted on their own.
Backing the pickups off the strings a bit can hit the sweet spot of definition as well as volume.

Sent from my SM-A115A using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Several weeks ago I traded a guitar for an EC-1000 Amber made in Indonesia. I have an EC-1000 I got about 10 years ago that was made in Korea and I LOVE still to this day so I wanted another. This one has the JB/59 pickup combo. At first I was having some issues with the toggle switch and push/pull tone pot and was like “I guess the Indonesian ones are crap.” My guitar tech told me spray everything down with contact cleaner and see if it resolves the issues. I did and now everything works PERFECTLY. And I freakin love the tone out of this thing. So I read in another thread about dialing in the sweet spot by adjusting the height screws a half a turn at a time. Man am I thankful for that advice. I actually dropped the bridge pickup down a little bit and raised the neck pickup and now this thing just sounds killer.

When I was having issues I immediately was going to gut the guitar and have him put in all new electronics but now I’m not touching it!


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