Duncan JB i love it but i hate it

[zionstrat]

Re: Duncan JB i love it but i hate it

For me, JB is one of the best 2nd position quacks on a strat... Very good at 80s crunch and powerful leads as mentioned....

Sucks for cleans and PAF light crunch so it fits in some builds and not in others.

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[Clint 55]

Re: Duncan JB i love it but i hate it

Right on, thank you! Axerus has a ton of cool stuff! I have 3 rough alnico 4's I wonder how that would end up, you know instead of polished...

Welcome!

 

[AZ Picker]

Re: Duncan JB i love it but i hate it

You need a Perpetual Burn, everything you love about the JBs full on sound with distortion, and in my opinion, it out performs the JB at everything else, better cleans, better crunch tones, and better at cleaning up with the volume control.

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Duncan JB i love it but i hate it

The JB is finnicky in stock form. It gets friendly with an A2 magnet. It gets tasty with an A2 magnet and dual screw coils.

 

[Diego]

Re: Duncan JB i love it but i hate it

Love it in the bridge of Strats, pretty much hate it everywhere else. I guess the scoopy nature of a Strat de-honks it and sorts the EQ out a bit.

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: Duncan JB i love it but i hate it

Just had a JB moment- JB in my Soloist, using my BBE 427 into a Silverface Champ & 1x12" ...

With the volume on ten and 500k tone on 5 , I actually got a pretty good, tight modern metal tone. That obnoxious pinch harmonic thing disappeared when I rolled the tone back. Rolling back the volume gave a decent crunch... Not perfect but useable. Usually I ***** about the guitar having an annoying quick treble decay, but for some reason the settings I picked tonight made that disappear and the sustain of the note seemed stronger. I still don't like it clean... But you can use it.

 

[stupendous silly]

Re: Duncan JB i love it but i hate it

I was listening to Megadeth oldies recently - mainly to help with workouts but I like them too- and I was happily JB bashing, not sure what guitar Marty Friedman was playing as I am not a fan, but I am pretty sure it was the good old JB. Recently realized what is always told: it is great in some conditions for some things, like Alder strats, 80s shred. But I still wouln't like the Megadeth solo sound I was hearing - and the ryhthm was flubby and muddy too I believe. It may have been a mahogany guitar, it was a dark and dull sound.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Duncan JB i love it but i hate it

There are two types of players:

People who play in a situation in which they need to cut through, this group is mostly lead guys.

People that don't need to cut through, mostly rythmn and headroom players.

The first group I find most often loves JBs, the second group I find hates them.

Somewhat oversimplified. I'm a lead player and like to cut thru with a good dose of mids, as there's usually some space there in a band. I, however, don't care for JB's. I think the genres played has a big impact on one's opinion of JB's.

 

[Diego]

Re: Duncan JB i love it but i hate it

Somewhat oversimplified. I'm a lead player and like to cut thru with a good dose of mids, as there's usually some space there in a band. I, however, don't care for JB's. I think the genres played has a big impact on one's opinion of JB's.

Yeah. If all I did was playing 80s butt rock riffs and screaming leads, I'd still use mine.

But it doesn't have the best string separation for overdriven chords or the high-end cut of a Custom or a Screamin' Demon, so its voicing is a bit too tame for me.

The JB was my first aftermarket pickup though, and I'll always keep one around. But my tastes have changed and I like my tones a bit more dry, tight and dynamic.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Re: Duncan JB i love it but i hate it

I like it.

I don't get the complaints about its clean tone, though. Yeah, it's a hot bridge humbucker, it kinda blows when clean. But then again, which humbucker in the bridge doesn't?

Vintage output, high-output; open-sounding, mid-focused; passive, active; all the bridge humbuckers I've tried sound brash and/or nasal clean compared to the neck or middle positions.

JMO.

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: Duncan JB i love it but i hate it

^True, I don't think any PAF-format humbucker really has an ideal clean tone. At the same time, others do it a lot better; even the Duncan Distortion.

The issue with the JB is the frequency response seems so lumpy and uneven; by the time you've turned the volume/gain down to stop the midrange from barking/distorting you've killed the treble and bass, unless you resort to other EQ tricks and compromises that might wind up affecting something else. It's an all-out pickup and there's a time and place for that.

 

[Ben1962]

Re: Duncan JB i love it but i hate it

I was listening to Megadeth oldies recently - mainly to help with workouts but I like them too- and I was happily JB bashing, not sure what guitar Marty Friedman was playing as I am not a fan, but I am pretty sure it was the good old JB. Recently realized what is always told: it is great in some conditions for some things, like Alder strats, 80s shred. But I still wouln't like the Megadeth solo sound I was hearing - and the ryhthm was flubby and muddy too I believe. It may have been a mahogany guitar, it was a dark and dull sound.

Not a fan of Marty? HERESY!!

 

[n1kk]

Re: Duncan JB i love it but i hate it

I think, I'm on the "like" side. SH-4 sits really cool on my Epiphone Les Paul so that I cannot imagine a better pickup for its bridge position.
Also I find it cool on my Stratocaster.
And where TB-4 was not really great is Charvel 375 Deluxe with the maple fingerboard. Very harsh sound with much of treble, didn't like it. Swapped it for Jackson J90C, but still not sure, because something with more bottoms needed for such a bright guitar. I had thought about Invader for the bridge, but it's very aggressive for my preferences, I suppose...

 

[cpk313]

Re: Duncan JB i love it but i hate it

Really didn't like it in my ASAT deluxe, tried it with 250k and 500k pots, swapped mags, just never liked it or a 59n. Ended up with a Jazz in the neck and a 59 in the bridge, stock mags., 500k linear v. pot, 500k taper tone. Volume pot is a push/push and is a full coil-split, tone is also a push/push but partial coil split with 2.2k resistors. For me that setup is way, way better. So many different and usable tones, much more versatile.

 

[Guitar Rod]

Re: Duncan JB i love it but i hate it

I bought a guitar with a JB/59 in it. Plan was to immediately replace the pickups with PAF style pickups. That was a year ago. The JB really suit this guitar, and do a killer late 70s/80s rock tone. Still think about replacing them, but why mess with a good thing.

 

[STLMTLHD79]

Re: Duncan JB i love it but i hate it

I was listening to Megadeth oldies recently - mainly to help with workouts but I like them too- and I was happily JB bashing, not sure what guitar Marty Friedman was playing as I am not a fan, but I am pretty sure it was the good old JB. Recently realized what is always told: it is great in some conditions for some things, like Alder strats, 80s shred. But I still wouln't like the Megadeth solo sound I was hearing - and the ryhthm was flubby and muddy too I believe. It may have been a mahogany guitar, it was a dark and dull sound.

Well, I dont know what era of Megadeth you were listening to but go back and take a listen to "Rust in Peace". On that album, Mustaine used his black jackson King V with a JB and Friedman used a single pickup Jackson Kelly with a JB (both used fixed kahler bridges). Marty Friedman's lead tone on that album is absolutely insane. It sounds like the amp is about to explode, on the verge of going out of control with feedback. could be the best record JB tone.

 

[Lux84]

Re: Duncan JB i love it but i hate it

I got JB in my MIJ Jackson DK2S now for about a year. At first i thought it has too low output compared to EMG 81. But for recording it was actually always very good sound, it cutted through mix like a knife. Few weeks ago i found out the action of the pickup was too low.. So i tried and raised it up for about 3 mm. I am starting to notice the increase of the output, and everything sounds better now. I am loving that JB but i am not sure if previous owner of the guitar didn't changed the volume pot from 500 to 250k. Anyway, since i raised the action of pickup the sound is more suitable. I even like JB more than 81 now..

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Re: Duncan JB i love it but i hate it

I always thought the JB's output wasn't that far below the 81's. Perhaps it has a bit less, but not by much.