For 20 years I thought I didn't like JB's....

G

GuitarG

New member
..then I installed one yesterday and it sounds great.
For the last couple of decades I've been pretty snobby about my humbuckers, using nothing but non-potted, low output units. I have Tim White's Timbuckers in my main bucker guitars and use Seth Lovers and Ant's in a couple of others. I bought a Hamer Explorer last year with a '59 Neck and a JB in the bridge. I played the guitar for about 10 minutes and pulled the pickups and put a Seth in the neck and one of my Timbuckers in the bridge. It sounded great and I've been using it on most of my gigs. Yesterday I was swapping some pickups around and on a whim decided to put the JB back in the bridge position of the guitar. And to my surprise it sounded really, really good. It is a great match for that guitar. I plugged into my '72 Ampeg V2 and dialed in an outstanding full frequency, meaty rock tone. The JB really hits the front end of the amp nicely (amp vol at 11:00-Noon) with a tight low end, present highs and a great midrange kick with attitude. It balanced very well with the Seth in the neck with plenty of usable tones in the center switch position blending the volume controls.
While it is not the greatest sounding pickup turned up full with a clean amp tone, it cleaned up very nicely when dropping the guitar volume with the amp cranked up a bit.
So the moral to the story is, you're never too old to learn a thing or two about refining your tone. Keep an open mind and you might be surprised with what works for you.
 
Re: For 20 years I thought I didn't like JB's....

I am fussy about humbuckers too but I have had a JB since 1987 and I have never had any issues with it at all. I do prefer lower output models (and the Seth Lover is a great one!) but I have and have had a few high output models that definitely have their niche.
 
Re: For 20 years I thought I didn't like JB's....

i think the JB's cleans are definitely an aquired taste and you definitely have to apply them to the right context. for ex., most of the sublime self title is the JB in a super strat, and about half of that album is probably done clean on the bridge.
 
Re: For 20 years I thought I didn't like JB's....

I spent about 20 years thinking the JB wasn't really to my taste either, until I got a few of these Charvel Pro Mods, and loved the sound. I took a few of my other guitars and dropped the tone control and the JB fits me very well with just a sinlge volume control.
 
Re: For 20 years I thought I didn't like JB's....

The JB has gotten another chance with many of us here, with an A8 or A2 magnet. My JB2 sounds wonderful.
 
Re: For 20 years I thought I didn't like JB's....

I actually liked the JB in my Les Paul type guitars and HATED it in my Charvel Pro Mod. It just sounded thin and hollow. Although this could be the floyd equipped guitar, and I am going to be installing a big brass block and tremlo-no which should help the guitar sound thicker. Still, I yanked the JB from my Charvel and put in Blackouts. I also pulled it from my LP type guitars in lieu of the Custom series. While I liked it in my LP type guitars, it's overall tone was not for me as I tend to gravitate towars a more PAFish type of tone for those guitars. I do think its a cool pick up for the right guitar and the right purposes. It's lead tone is very hard to beat.
 
Re: For 20 years I thought I didn't like JB's....

I like the JB a lot for playing heavy metal type guitar solos. None are better I think!
 
Re: For 20 years I thought I didn't like JB's....

My JB went from guitar to guitar with me saying, "this sucks". I finally stuck it in an ancient Harmony Stratotone semihollow that I have set up really high for slide work, and wow, what a sweet match! Keep trying, people, keep trying.
 
Re: For 20 years I thought I didn't like JB's....

The JB is one of my favorite pickups, it's bliss in the bridge of a strat!

As for the cleans, I think it just has too much midrange to produce a really good clean tone, but split it has an awesome split sound.
 
Re: For 20 years I thought I didn't like JB's....

Hey! Welcome to the forum!
Yeah, the JB is a great pickup! In the wrong guitar, it can be less than stellar, ( this applies to any pickup) but the Jb seems to get alot of online flack for it. But, In the right guitar... Ive never considered changing the JB out of my Kramer Pacer and when I had my LTD EC400, the JB roared like thunder there as well.
 
Re: For 20 years I thought I didn't like JB's....

BloodRose said:
Hey! Welcome to the forum!
Yeah, the JB is a great pickup! In the wrong guitar, it can be less than stellar, ( this applies to any pickup) but the Jb seems to get alot of online flack for it. But, In the right guitar... Ive never considered changing the JB out of my Kramer Pacer and when I had my LTD EC400, the JB roared like thunder there as well.
Click to expand...
Yes, I agree, the JB works really well with this guitar. It is not a pickup I would choose, say for my old 335, but in the Hamer it is a great fit. All of my amps are non master volume tube amps and the JB hits the front end of them in a really good way. And it is an Explorer after all, so I have a tendency to go for a cranked tone when using that guitar. :)
DesertRat, I'd love to hear a clip of your Stratotone. I'm a slide guy as well and have a number of offbeat guitars set up for different open tunings. I've got a Supro Sahara with the original pickup that is dangerous in open G.
 
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