First off, thanks to blueman335 for the tip. I have a Hamer Standard (Explorer) that I recently put the the stock bridge pickup, a JB, back into. In all of my other 'bucker guitars I use unpotted, PAF style pickups. The stock JB was quite a surprise. I liked the output and the attitude and was having a lot of fun using it. After reading blueman335's suggestion of swapping out the stock A5 with an A2, I decided to give it a shock. I used an A2 out of a old pickup that had been sitting in my parts box for 11 years.
The result was amazing, completely transforming the voice of the JB. The output and high end seemed to be tamed yet it still retained most of the attitude in the mids that I was liking. But what I really like is the amount of clarity and detail in chord voicings when using cranked amp settings. (My main crunch amps are a '72 Ampeg V2 and a '63 Bassman). Basically what I am hearing is a really great 'hot' PAF wind. Very nice! The JB2 blends very well with the stock Seth I'm using in the neck position.
Finally, a word about the potting on the JB. As I stated, I prefer unpotted humbuckers, and while I completely understand why Seymour and other manufacturers do it, to my ears I much prefer what I hear from unpotted 'buckers. When I pulled the cover from the stock JB, what I saw completely blew me away. The entire pickup was encapsulated in a thick cube of wax. I think I saw a similar picture here on the forum, but this was potting taken to a level that I have personally never seen.
Well I removed as much wax as I could using a soldering gun and a small knife and I am now using the pickup uncovered. Incidentally, I experience no squealing from this or any other non potted 'bucker I use and I regularly play at fairly substantial volumes.
Thank again blueman335 for the tip. I am diggin' the JB2.
The result was amazing, completely transforming the voice of the JB. The output and high end seemed to be tamed yet it still retained most of the attitude in the mids that I was liking. But what I really like is the amount of clarity and detail in chord voicings when using cranked amp settings. (My main crunch amps are a '72 Ampeg V2 and a '63 Bassman). Basically what I am hearing is a really great 'hot' PAF wind. Very nice! The JB2 blends very well with the stock Seth I'm using in the neck position.
Finally, a word about the potting on the JB. As I stated, I prefer unpotted humbuckers, and while I completely understand why Seymour and other manufacturers do it, to my ears I much prefer what I hear from unpotted 'buckers. When I pulled the cover from the stock JB, what I saw completely blew me away. The entire pickup was encapsulated in a thick cube of wax. I think I saw a similar picture here on the forum, but this was potting taken to a level that I have personally never seen.
Well I removed as much wax as I could using a soldering gun and a small knife and I am now using the pickup uncovered. Incidentally, I experience no squealing from this or any other non potted 'bucker I use and I regularly play at fairly substantial volumes.
Thank again blueman335 for the tip. I am diggin' the JB2.
