Custom vs. Distortion vs. JB

[Butch Snyder]

Hi everyone, I have a new guitar that I am really enjoying. It's a Schecter Nick Johnston Traditional HSS 10th Anniversary model. Basically, a Strat with an alder body, wenge neck, ebony fretboard, and 22 frets. The pickups are Nick Johnston's USA pickups that he has in his custom shop guitars. They sound great and I can't complain about them. You know how these things go. It's why we are all here. We're always tinkering and wondering, "what if I installed ........... in the bridge position?"

So, I have used the Custom, JB, and Distortion models in the past, but not recently because I was playing Telecasters almost exclusively. Those who have experience with those three pickups with a guitar close to what mine is, please give me your thoughts. Thanks.

 

[orpheo]

Depends on what you want. The JB is the most classic option, and I enjoy that pickup quite a bit. The Distortion is too hairy, fizzy , for my taste, and the Custom is too fat. So I'll never gravitate towards those. Get the one you enjoyed the most.

 

[weepingminotaur]

JB would be a classic, safe choice. Custom might work in that guitar. I've never actually tried the Distortion so I can't speak to that one. But there could be many other bridge pup options depending on the genre of music you want to play and the tones you're looking to get out of the guitar.

 

[Mincer]

It is hard to give advice to change if nothing is wrong.

 

[Butch Snyder]

Yeah, the thing is there really is nothing to fix. I'm just curious as to what the difference would be. I'm owned many Duncan pickups over the years, including the ones I was asking about. It's more of a curiosity than anything. So, when people say, "it depends on what you want", that's not what I'm looking for. What I'm looking for is peoples' thoughts about those pickup models.

 

[Mincer]

The Custom 5 is a fantastic pickup with a wide hole in the midrange. It works for many kinds of guitars.

 

[misterwhizzy]

I put a PATB-1 in the bridge of my HSS Strat, and its versatility is amazing. If you’ve never tried a parallel axis pickup, you have to give it a shot.

 

[Masta' C]

Custom is arguably the most balanced of the 3, clear sounding, moderately tight, nice harmonics. Medium-high output, but controllable.

JB is punchy with full sounding harmonics and a liquid lead tone, has a touch of that Alnico scoop and bloom, and a distinct upper-mids emphasis.

Distortion is an overall brighter, tighter, and more direct/modern feeling JB for the most part.

I saw the PATB-1 mentioned above and that's a truly great pickup which kind of sits between the JB and the Custom 5, but still with its own thing going on due to the Parallel Axis design.

 

[fretburner]

Hi everyone, I have a new guitar that I am really enjoying. It's a Schecter Nick Johnston Traditional HSS 10th Anniversary model. Basically, a Strat with an alder body, wenge neck, ebony fretboard, and 22 frets. The pickups are Nick Johnston's USA pickups that he has in his custom shop guitars. They sound great and I can't complain about them. You know how these things go. It's why we are all here. We're always tinkering and wondering, "what if I installed ........... in the bridge position?"

So, I have used the Custom, JB, and Distortion models in the past, but not recently because I was playing Telecasters almost exclusively. Those who have experience with those three pickups with a guitar close to what mine is, please give me your thoughts. Thanks.

To me, the JB is the perfect bridge pickup for an alder-bodied strat. Good low end (ask Megadave), sizzling highs, and the perfect midrange. The strats I've used it with had 250k pots, so I never experienced the chief complaint of many users here -- the irritating upper mid "spike".

Also, I don't think there's a better pickup in the bridge for solos.

...This coming from big fan of the custom series pickups - with the "regular" Custom as my fave bridge pup of all time! (The 59/custom hybrid a close second -- whoever thought of this in this forum is just brilliant!). I like my bridge pickups bright, punchy, and "balanced" in the sense that I do not lose lows and mids to achieve that "presence"

 

[alex1fly]

I revamped my guitarsenal over the past year including trying each of the listed pickups in several guitars. The Custom is the one that's stayed in. I like its voicing the best, and I'm confident with the mag swaps. I need pickups that let me sound like me. For better or for worse, the Custom just seems to that the best of those pickups mentioned. The two guitars I've got them in, I did mag swaps to find the right voicing for the guitar (alnico 8 for thick Gibson-ey mids in a knockoff flying v, ceramic for scooped sizzle in a PRS), and now I can go from poppy fingerstyle to bluesy wanderings to virtuosic nonsense with ease.

The Distortion and JB have also been in several guitars, with several mag swaps, and they sounded GOOD but I feel like they both still sounded like themselves... and they sounded like someone else playing the guitar. I can see how they would be absolutely perfect for people wanting that kind of hotrodded sound because it was instant recognizability. JB, hair metal and 90s radio rock ala Third Eye Blind. Duncan Distortion, Deftones. The Custom on the other hand doesn't sound like a hotrodded humbucker. And magnet swaps changed the sound significantly. Magnet swaps in the JB (ceramic, A5, A2) didn't do a lot to alter the stock sound.

I feel like I was able to relatively quickly get the Custom to sound like a guitar, and to forget that I'm tweaking components. Versus the Distortion and JB, I was never unaware that I was messing with parts. If that makes any sense. I love swapping pickups, but I want the experiments to eventually lead to "I'm making music more easily than before". The Custom (and mag swaps) got me there very quickly on two guitars. And I'd probably have a Custom in the third guitar I tried it in, sounded great in there too, except I'm enjoying the Fred that's in there and I want to give it a fair shake.

 

[JamesPaul]

In the 80's I had a Custom in an alder body, HSH, Strat-ish guitar. I had a JB and then later a Distortion in the same alder body, HSS, Strat. There is truly not a lot I can add what is already written.

If I played in an exclusive 80's band, I would have the JB in there. If a George Lynch band, I would have the Distortion in there. I too love the Custom for its versatility. I thought for maximum versatility I would have the Custom in there, but I have recently acquired a PATB-1 set for my alder body, Strat-ish, Lead III. Primarily based on research here on the forum yielding evidence that the PATB-1 is one of the more versatile options.

It truly does depend on what you want.

 

[Mincer]

To me, the JB is the perfect bridge pickup for an alder-bodied strat. Good low end (ask Megadave), sizzling highs, and the perfect midrange. The strats I've used it with had 250k pots, so I never experienced the chief complaint of many users here -- the irritating upper mid "spike".

Also, I don't think there's a better pickup in the bridge for solos.

...This coming from big fan of the custom series pickups - with the "regular" Custom as my fave bridge pup of all time! (The 59/custom hybrid a close second -- whoever thought of this in this forum is just brilliant!). I like my bridge pickups bright, punchy, and "balanced" in the sense that I do not lose lows and mids to achieve that "presence"

See, to me, the JB is everything I hate about bridge pickups. But hey, I realize I am in the minority (no surprise). The CC and Hybrid are my favorite bridge pickups.

 

[Masta' C]

Mincer, have you tried an A2 in a JB, by chance?

 

[Mincer]

Mincer, have you tried an A2 in a JB, by chance?

I have! But honestly, it didn't knock enough of the 'JB-ness' out of the sound for me.

 

[Coma]

To me, the JB is the perfect bridge pickup for an alder-bodied strat. Good low end (ask Megadave), sizzling highs, and the perfect midrange. The strats I've used it with had 250k pots, so I never experienced the chief complaint of many users here -- the irritating upper mid "spike".

Also, I don't think there's a better pickup in the bridge for solos.

That's it right here, pretty much spot on. I have a Jackson Dinky (alder body, maple neck, Floyd Rose) with 500k pots, and I've never noticed any spike in it either. I always avoided the JB like the plague, partially because of the aforementioned reputation, but also because it was what most everyone seemed to be playing. Being told that the JB stands for "jazz/blues" or "Jeff Beck" certainly didn't help either.

Then I was gifted that Dinky and lo and behold, it sounds absolutely perfect for metal.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I had all three on my Road Worn Strat before I traded it away.

Out of the three, I like the JB the best, but I generally like it better on all guitars. It has a nice upper midrange emphasis that sits well with other stuff playing. It's chunky in the low mids, but the bottom end doesn't extend as deep as the other two. I wouldn't say it's loose because it's not bassy, but it is kinda squishy feeling because of the low mids and the soft-ish attack. The high-end is not particularly extended, but it doesn't feel dark because of the high mids. The mids are also voiced well for me, as it's cutting in the high mids, chunky in the low mids, but not vocal or nasal like many DiMarzios can be.

The Distortion is what you would expect if you took the JB recipee and dropped a little extra 80's Metal dust on it. It's has more output, but a high mid emphasis as well, but the actual top end is more extended and aggressive. The bottom-end is deeper because it shifts the low mids of the JB down. Although I wouldn't call it a bassy pickup, I do feel it is deeper-sounding than the JB. It does feel more immediate.

The Custom I just couldn't gel with, but I'll try to be as positive about it as I can. It also has some aggressive high mids, although I wouldn't say that's the focus of the pickup. It has extended highs similar to the Distortion, and the actual core mids are kinda scooped. The standout thing for me about the Custom is the bototm-end is super deep and rumbly. It's weighty for sure.

Now on to the subjective, I do feel the Custom is a tad too fat for me. People often find the JB "loose", but I've personally never felt it's "loose" so much as it is "squishy" and the attack isn't as immediate. Well, for me, the Custom was way fatter, and way more problematic in the lows. I love the high-end of the Custom. It comes off more as "detailed" rather than "aggressive" like the Distortion, although it does have a hint of aggression. However, that bottom-end just doesn't gel with me. On the other hand, I kinda get along with the JB better, but honestly, JB and Distortion are varying degrees of awesome and I might prefer one or the other under certain circumstances, but I know I can make both work most of the time.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Also, as far as outoput, I'd say the Distortion is by far the hottest. But then out of the other two, the Custom is actuall a tad hotter than the JB. Not going by "perceived output" or "feel" here. I recorded DI's with all three, and the Custom peaks higher than the JB.

 

[fretburner]

See, to me, the JB is everything I hate about bridge pickups. But hey, I realize I am in the minority (no surprise). The CC and Hybrid are my favorite bridge pickups.

I like the CC in strats too, but it can get pretty dark real quick. 59/C Hybrid, as I mentioned, is my 2nd fave bridge pup. I don't like the JB in Les Pauls. But again, for Alder-bodied strats, they're the best there is.

 

[fretburner]

That's it right here, pretty much spot on. I have a Jackson Dinky (alder body, maple neck, Floyd Rose) with 500k pots, and I've never noticed any spike in it either. I always avoided the JB like the plague, partially because of the aforementioned reputation, but also because it was what most everyone seemed to be playing. Being told that the JB stands for "jazz/blues" or "Jeff Beck" certainly didn't help either.

Then I was gifted that Dinky and lo and behold, it sounds absolutely perfect for metal.

The "upper mid range spike" turned me off in the beginning as well. I just took a chance at a cheap JB Jr in the used market and dropped it into my Am Std strat and I was blown away! I had to get the real, full sized JB. I play mostly metal and hard rock and love 80s glam rock, and it made perfect sense to those guys.

"Not having enough low end"? All B.S.. Unless you want to compete with your bassist. I don't need to go heavier than the intro to "symphony of destruction"

"Upper mid range spike"? Never heard it in my guitars. Later on I got a Washburn MG90 with JB stock (wound by MJ) and 500k pots, and it sounded great! Must be the mahogany to "tame" the "spike" a little, if it was there at all.

And again, for soloing - single notes on the bridge pup - unbeatable. While the Duncan Custom might be my fave bridge pup, it simply doesn't "sing" as well as the JB. It all makes sense for the 80s guys who play solos using the bridge pup like 80-90% of the time!

 

[fretburner]

Also, as far as outoput, I'd say the Distortion is by far the hottest. But then out of the other two, the Custom is actuall a tad hotter than the JB. Not going by "perceived output" or "feel" here. I recorded DI's with all three, and the Custom peaks higher than the JB.

The distortion is definitely the hottest of the 3. They're all bright pickups, which is what I like for the bridge position. What differentiates the distortion from the Custom and JB to me is that it has a lot of "bite" to it, like if you pick hard, you really hear it.