I love the JB for riffing but hate I it for leads

[Eclipsed]

I have an ESP EC-400vf that came stock with a JB in the bridge and 59 in the neck.
As the title says - I love the JB for chords and riffs but can't stand it for leads. It gets really ice picky and kills my ears when I play with in ears.

I play a mix of styles ranging from Worship, Blues, Rock and Metal.
What pick up would give me the rhythm sound of a JB but not be so sharp when I play leads?

 

[Seashore]

Huh. I'm the opposite, the JB doesn't have all the attack and crunch I want for riffs but I love what happens for leads with some OD and delay. I haven't heard another pickup that responds in exactly the same way for rhythm stuff, and it's an iconic tone. I would tweak settings for your lead sound - shave off some high end, boost/od/compress a little, add some delay or reverb. It's way easier to smooth out a lead tone than it is to get the right rhythm/riff sound out of a pickup that isn't quite what you need.

 

[Clint 55]

You could try an A2 magnet. It really rounds out the JB.

 

[Chistopher]

Do you use your tone control? If not have you experimented with smaller cap values (0.010 uF would be a good starting place) so that you can turn down the brightness of your pickups without losing mids?

It would fix your problem for cheap and you would get a usable tone control as a bonus

 

[beaubrummels]

Maybe a Whole Lotta Humbucker bridge? It would match the 59 and round out any spikes in the sound. It's lower power than the JB, however.

Other smoother JB alternates might be the RTM or Perpetual Burn maybe.

 

[Securb]

I would suggest an EQ, actually, every guitarist should have an EQ. You can dial out the harshness on the leads, give a little boost to your leads as well, and push your amp a bit.

 

[Eclipsed]

Huh. I'm the opposite, the JB doesn't have all the attack and crunch I want for riffs but I love what happens for leads with some OD and delay. I haven't heard another pickup that responds in exactly the same way for rhythm stuff, and it's an iconic tone. I would tweak settings for your lead sound - shave off some high end, boost/od/compress a little, add some delay or reverb. It's way easier to smooth out a lead tone than it is to get the right rhythm/riff sound out of a pickup that isn't quite what you need.

I did try and tweak my settings, I have to try some more though.

You could try an A2 magnet. It really rounds out the JB.

I thought about a magnet swap but I would be worried about making it too muddy and losing what I like for playing rhythm.

Do you use your tone control? If not have you experimented with smaller cap values (0.010 uF would be a good starting place) so that you can turn down the brightness of your pickups without losing mids?

It would fix your problem for cheap and you would get a usable tone control as a bonus

I tried rolling the tone knob off and wasn't super happy with it. I didn't think about using a different cap and maybe the combo of the smaller cap and a tweak in setting would do the trick.

 

[Top-L]

This sounds lime a job for the Tone Zone.

You can get used ones for 40 bucks on ebay.

 

[Mincer]

I don't like the JB for anything, but that's why they make different pickups. You could always do your soloing on the 59.

 

[marcello252]

Huh. I'm the opposite

+1

JB is the perfect pickup to extract you from the band mix floor, it's good to my ears for lead

BTW I think the optimal match for a JB is a 250K Vol pot, it tames down the high mid spikes just enough, for tele and strat it's quite effective

 

[Juanhanglo]

I have an ESP EC-400vf that came stock with a JB in the bridge and 59 in the neck.
As the title says - I love the JB for chords and riffs but can't stand it for leads. It gets really ice picky and kills my ears when I play with in ears.

I play a mix of styles ranging from Worship, Blues, Rock and Metal.
What pick up would give me the rhythm sound of a JB but not be so sharp when I play leads?

I think you meant an ec401vf? I have an ec401v with the dimarzio 36ths. Those are killer pickups!

I have no advice to offer, but i can say that the 401v's are very much les paul "killers".

 

[GuitarDoc]

Some good suggestions given to get rid of the high spike. A smaller cap and turn down the tone pot for leads, a 250k pot, an EQ.

Or you could put the 59 in the bridge and the JB in the neck adjusting their heights so they balance. Then play your leads on the 59.

If I were to start this thread I would title it..."I love the JB for sitting in my parts drawer but I hate it for anything else".

 

[Eclipsed]

I think you meant an ec401vf? I have an ec401v with the dimarzio 36ths. Those are killer pickups!

I have no advice to offer, but i can say that the 401v's are very much les paul "killers".

The ec401vf came out in 2009. The 400vf I have is from 2008, and I think they meade the 400vf from 06-08, or 07-08.

I wondered if the 36ths were a better suite for it over the JB/59.

And I totally agree about them being les paul killers

 

[McD]

You can always roll back the tone knob a hair when you're soloing unless you're like me and never touch those things, haha!

 

[Eclipsed]

You can always roll back the tone knob a hair when you're soloing unless you're like me and never touch those things, haha!

I normally don't either. I tried that initially but it didn't do what I was looking for

 

[Clint 55]

I normally don't either. I tried that initially but it didn't do what I was looking for

They make different value tone caps you know. The standard value cap for hums is 22nf which is still quite bassy. You can change the cap to a lower value to retain more of the sound of the pickup when you turn down the tone. 15, 10, and 6 range caps retain mids. 3 and 2 range cut only highs. 1 cuts only the very top.

 

[Mr. B]

My suggestion would be a Dimarzio Air Zone. The Tone Zone might still give you too much of that mid hump, although it is shifted toward lower mids.

 

[Top-L]

I don't know what amp the OP is using, but an ez solution to this is a Boss SD-1 boost pedal. When it is boosted for solos, use the tone knob to take out some of the treble and fatten it up.

An SD-1 costs less than a new pickup.

 

[Seashore]

I don't know what amp the OP is using, but an ez solution to this is a Boss SD-1 boost pedal. When it is boosted for solos, use the tone knob to take out some of the treble and fatten it up.

An SD-1 costs less than a new pickup.

This or any good OD or distortion pedal. And it also really is amp dependent. I probably like the JB because my amp takes well to being spanked with a high mid spike.

 

[Eclipsed]

I should've added in my initial post: live I'm using a Strymon Iridium on the fender setting with the 1x12 cab ir, with a Timmy 15th anniversary with the treble cut at 3 o'clock, and a J Rockett Touch with the tone at 9 o'clock.

Also, I bought this guitar used and it came with a JB that was broken so I bought a new JB and I'd like to take advantage of the SD 21 day exchange.

I dont mind spending $10 on a new pot and cap, but I don't want to spend $50-$100 on a new pickup or OD pedal when I can just swap it with SD.