I don't know why the JB gets such a bad rap here.....

Re: I don't know why the JB gets such a bad rap here.....

To my ears, no JB is alike-as Rid might know of me-Kramers Galore in my place-and most all come with JB's. Maple board or Rosewood. Big difference, vintage or modern JB-big difference. I feel the JB's magnet over time had strong influence on how it sounds-not so much bad as differnent/vintage sounding.
I have a hard time naming woods in my guitars but here

E-12504.jpg


or here:

F-0147.jpg



Same axe-no comparison in tone. The blue one is all mids/body-think DD , lead tone is kinda bluesy but to thin to cut through the mix , the red one: glassy, superb tone, up in your face -very distinctive sound.

So how's that? All I can say-try the JB-they can suck but they are the best also when you get the right one.

Remy
 
Re: I don't know why the JB gets such a bad rap here.....

Using 250K pots, if you love to see JB to sound smooth, try it with .022 cap, but with enough presence try it with .020. I have tried them both but my ears kinda prefer it with .02. But whenever I hear some of my favorite music, i got a hint that I should use .022. This seems doesn't make sense, but James Tyler has been using JB in his highly rated guitars used by best studio musicians.
 
Last edited:
Re: I don't know why the JB gets such a bad rap here.....

I don't know why it gets a bad rap either, but recently I haven't noticed much of that sentiment. It's not for every guitar, but it works great. I have it in my ESP, and while it is a bit of a "wad of tone", it is an excellent lead pickup, with plenty of punch.
 
Re: I don't know why the JB gets such a bad rap here.....

my gibson explorer with a JB is my best sounding guitar. i guess everybody just hears stuff differently
 
Re: I don't know why the JB gets such a bad rap here.....

People hear stuff differently, people play differently, people have different amps and rigs, people have different guitars. In the right setup, the JB is wonderful but, IMO it is not a pickup that sounds good or even OK in every kind of setup for every player. It "can" be a great choice but, it isnt always a safe choice for the reasons I have mentioned. I have had it in numerous guitars (10+) and I have only liked it in 1 of them. In that 1 guitar, it was butter!!! It seems like, when people try it, they LOVE it or hate it, there isnt much grey area at all with this pickup. Like I said, 9 guitars it SUCKED badly, 1 guitar it was one of the best sounds I have heard. I personally think pickups like the Custom and the 59 are more versatile in the sense that they sound good or at least OK with almost all rigs and players. I call them bench mark pickups. The JB can be a crap shoot.
 
Re: I don't know why the JB gets such a bad rap here.....

if you don't like what you hear- Duncan has many others to choose from...
 
Re: I don't know why the JB gets such a bad rap here.....

I always tried to avoid the JB because i've only played them in Jackson and Charvel guitars. Now that I have tried one in my Gibson Explorer, I couldn't be happier and satisfied with my tone. When the tech said "Try the JB on this guitar, you will love it", I was scared but gave it a last chance and it sounds perfect. But who knows the future? We are never satisfied with our rig.
 
Re: I don't know why the JB gets such a bad rap here.....

I had a JB in a Robin that sounded awesome, I have them in my Hamers and they are good, but seem to be a little loose on the bottom. The Tone Zone is the same kind of pickup to me. I had one guitar that it sounded great in, but in some others it was muddy.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top