Custom Shop Antiquity JB/35th Av JB

HyBr1d

HyBr1d

New member
I was wondering if anyone out there had tried something like this before? I'm having the SD Custom Shop make a trembucker with a rough cut A5, like the 35th Anniversary JB, and also degaussing the magnet like the Antiquity JB. Any ideas/thoughts on how this may sound? I will be putting it into a G&L Jerry Cantrell Tribute Rampage. I know that the JB is the pickup
that he uses, and I wanted to have something a little bit special/extra :) Itll be a while until the pickup is made/arrives, figured I'd see if anyone had any thoughts :)

Thanks in advance!

I'll also have a Pegasus/Saturday Night Special combo going in a LP Elegant coming soon!
 
Re: Custom Shop Antiquity JB/35th Av JB

Have a few JBs that MJ made for me in the CS. Then a number of JBJs from back in the day. And also an Antiquity JB.

The CS ones has RCA5s. I think I asked for butyrate on at least one of them.

Differences are subtle.
 
Re: Custom Shop Antiquity JB/35th Av JB

Thank you for the response, darthphineas! Definitely makes me feel better about the purchase knowing that others have done similar pickups... Subtle is good, as I wasn't looking for a big sonic departure from the JB...I was thinking that a RCA5 could add a little extra dimension to the JB. Also thought that degaussing the mag would tame the highs a little bit, since the Rampage's body and neck are both maple...Definitely a bit bright as a start! Thanks again! I hope to learn a lot from the forums!
 
Re: Custom Shop Antiquity JB/35th Av JB

The JB was meant to have RCA5 magnets, in my opinion. Very subtle difference compared to the modern polished mags, but a difference nonetheless.

Degaussing the magnet will soften the response and open up the sound a bit more...very similar to getting your hands on a real old school JB...more depth and character all around.

Like Darth, I'm a HUGE fan of Custom Shop pickups, even their slightly tweaked versions of regular production models, like the JB.

You can trust MJ to put together a finely tuned pickup that'll blow your socks off!
 
Re: Custom Shop Antiquity JB/35th Av JB

I once saw a comment somewhere that went something like, "After using the Antiquity JB, the regular JB sounds like it's broken."

Can't remember where I read it.
 
Re: Custom Shop Antiquity JB/35th Av JB

Thank you, masta'c, definitely some great information! I'm still kinda new to all the different types of magnets and the variations like rough cast, so it's good to know that(I think) I'm on the right track with how I want this new pickup! I know that some will consider me a bit crazy, since there's really nothing wrong with the bridge pickup that came with the Tribute Rampage, but Cantrell played a JB for years, so I figured I'd go for a JB and make it a little special...

Now that I think of it, I think I had a JB in the bridge of a Jackson SL3 soloist years ago...I think they came with the JB bridge and Hot Rails for the neck and middle from the factory? That was the first guitar I ever had modded, had it coil tapped with a mid boost switch! From what I remember of it, it sounded pretty cool! Unfortunately it got stolen, it's definitely one that I wish I still had :/

And I didn't catch it earlier, darthphineas, but what is a JBJ? Thinking a JB/Jazz set, but figured I'd ask if that was a completely different pickup!
 
Re: Custom Shop Antiquity JB/35th Av JB

HyBr1d said:
And I didn't catch it earlier, darthphineas, but what is a JBJ? Thinking a JB/Jazz set, but figured I'd ask if that was a completely different pickup!
Click to expand...

Back when the production floor models had stickers on them that indicated the winder's name, the JBJ was a JB made by MJ. JBLs were also great, but the JBJs seemed to get the attention since MJ went on to custom shop.
 
Re: Custom Shop Antiquity JB/35th Av JB

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It's been a while, but I finally got the pickup installed in the Rampage! I'm not great at describing the tone, all I can say is that it's a great fit for the guitar. Sounds great with distortion, although the cleans are quite distorted...But hey, other guitars can be used for that! I would say to anyone who is curious about Custom Shop SD pickups to give them a try!(provided you have the $ to spare) Including the type of guitar wood and a description of the kind of tone you're looking for allows MJ to wind her magic into exactly what you're looking for!
 
Re: Custom Shop Antiquity JB/35th Av JB

So basically you have yourself a... 35th Anniversary Antiquity JB? XD

How does it compare to the standard JB?
 
Re: Custom Shop Antiquity JB/35th Av JB

Haha, I'm not exactly sure...I think it would be best to say it's like an unaged Antiquity with the 35th Anniversary magnet, but degaussed... I haven't had a JB in this guitar before, so it's kinda tough for me to compare to a stock JB. I had a JB in a Jackson SL3, but that was like 15-16 years ago. But from what I can remember, I think that this new one is much more clear. I can really hear all the notes in chords even with a ton of gain. The low end isn't flubby and the high end isn't harsh. Definitely enough treble, but it's not "ice-picky." All in all I'm very happy with the pickup :) For this particular guitar, I know it's overkill and I should have just gotten a stock JB, but I wanted it to be a bit different! I had a Custom neck pickup made for a mahogany top LP Custom, a cross between a 78 Model bridge and Jazz neck. For that guitar, spending 160 on something totally different was well worth it!
 
Re: Custom Shop Antiquity JB/35th Av JB

I actually had a very similar pickup made by MJ in the custom shop as well. Basically a 35th anniversary JB trembucker spaced with roughcast A5 mag. The box says its wound to like 18K or some crazy **** like that. I sure hope its not "too hot" for my tastes. I even requested MJ to sign the baseplate and she did. Pretty damn cool. The pickup is going into my 2003 Highway 1 Strat as we speak.
 
Re: Custom Shop Antiquity JB/35th Av JB

STLMTLHD79 said:
I actually had a very similar pickup made by MJ in the custom shop as well. Basically a 35th anniversary JB trembucker spaced with roughcast A5 mag. The box says its wound to like 18K or some crazy **** like that. I sure hope its not "too hot" for my tastes.
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I believe that is because it's not wound to 18k, it's wound to the number of turns a JB uses, and it's a Trembucker which has bigger bobbins, so more wire on the bobbins, so reads with higher resistance, but that is not directly correlated to output level. It just means it's bigger and has more wire on there.
 
Re: Custom Shop Antiquity JB/35th Av JB

I love different takes on stock pickups as well as out-of-the-blue creations. I am happy that it was a success! My last Custom Shop pickup was a 59/Custon Hybrid with rw/rp, a RC magnet, double screws and rw/rp.
 
Re: Custom Shop Antiquity JB/35th Av JB

STLMTLHD79- Sounds like you'll have a winner on your axe! I'm not sure exactly what the differences would be, but mine is shown to be wound to 17.1k. It's also trembucker spaced, I'm trying to figure out what could cause the pickup to be almost a full 1k under yours? Either way, I think that it may be more of the "description" that you give to MJ about what you want it to sound like that determines, well, what it'll sound like! So fret not, you'll be blown away by your Custom JB!

And thanks, Mincer, it definitely was a success and I'm very happy! I'm sure your RW/RP 59/Custom is killer, I've read/heard great things about that pickup! What kind of guitar did you put that pickup in? I almost went with one of those, but was hesitant to put it into my Les Paul's and stayed with some more "vintage" offerings...Went with a Whole Lotta Humbucker in the bridge of the Custom and a CS Pearly Gates set for the Elegant.(8.7k bridge and 7.6k neck, so a lil different that the stock PG.) By any way, would you or anyone know if Custom Shop Pearly Gates pickups are the same as the new High Voltage set from the Custom Shop? The readings seem to be the same, but I know there's more to pickup design than what the final product's resistance end up being...

I also had a 78/Jazz hybrid made by MJ and put that in the neck of the Custom, that is an interesting pickup! It's rude and punchy, doesn't muddy up under lots of gain, yet also sounds great with a lower to medium gain drive and great with fuzz! I'm always kind of tinkering with tone, so I may someday try it with a rc A5, or possibly a UOA5... Any thoughts on how that may sound or if I should maybe try A3/A4 instead? There's really nothing at all wrong with it, I just thought of how it may sound with a little more treble!

Anyways, thanks for the discussion! I would say to anyone who's on the fence about having a Custom Shop pickup made for them to definitely take a chance! MJ is awesome at what she does, so the finished product will end up blowing you away!
 
Re: Custom Shop Antiquity JB/35th Av JB

HyBr1d said:
And thanks, Mincer, it definitely was a success and I'm very happy! I'm sure your RW/RP 59/Custom is killer, I've read/heard great things about that pickup! What kind of guitar did you put that pickup in? I almost went with one of those, but was hesitant to put it into my Les Paul's and stayed with some more "vintage" offerings...Went with a Whole Lotta Humbucker in the bridge of the Custom and a CS Pearly Gates set for the Elegant.(8.7k bridge and 7.6k neck, so a lil different that the stock PG.) By any way, would you or anyone know if Custom Shop Pearly Gates pickups are the same as the new High Voltage set from the Custom Shop? The readings seem to be the same, but I know there's more to pickup design than what the final product's resistance end up being...
Click to expand...

Mine went in my Steinberger I am holding up. I also have a non-rwrp one in my Warmoth Strat. You can read about that one here.
 
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