I'm starting to understand the JB phenomenon

[CarlosG]

Hi!
A few years ago, when I changing humbuckers, I came across JB.
My first reaction was, wow this is it.
It worked great on overdrive, was fat with thin 9-42 strings which I like.
Over time I wanted something different, something with more dynamics.
I've come a long way, with pickups that either didn't sound right to me, or only sounded good in one specific tone, but has better dynamic.
After a few years I decided to put JB back in. Already after the first hits of distortion, it sounds more powerful than all the others.
But I still noticed a problem with the dynamics.
Before I put JB i start liked treble blees. It turned out I could get dynamics by turning the volume down a bit and a full compressed sound at full volume on the overdrive that simply sounds better than anything else, especially 80s hair metal. I usually use a 250k pot with 330pf with no load 500k tone pot.
(This provides a better treble response when using the knob instead of a 500k vol 500k tone pot and sounds the same on full volume)
So I started using volume pot with JB and wow that's it. Turning down volume with the treble bleed, turns out the JB starts to gain dynamics and still sound fat, not like other humbuckers that start to sound thin.

Another thing that surprised me is that the JB almost always sounds good. No matter how I set the amp, it almost always sounds good. With a simple EQ on the amp I can get close to most sounds. With other pickups I didn't have that much opportunity, as I mentioned they sounded good in certain sounds.
In a sense, after many experiences I have come full circle and returned to where I started with JB.
​I guess the only thing I still want to try is the Dimarzio AT-1, from what I know it's based on the JB that Andy Timmons used before.
It's amazing how versatile JB is with the right guitar.

I'm also not sure what neck pickup I should use. I'd like something that's also universal and will help me get close to most sounds with just a simple amp correction like JB.
In my experience the SH-2 sounds great clean, the SH-1 has a great creamy sound on overdrive (like Kee Marcello in Europe). But I guess the SH-2 will be more universal, right?
I was also thinking about single stacked. I saw on the internet what the stk-s7 sounded like and I really liked it.
But I'm not sure if it won't be too weak with JB, if it will be universal and if twisting the tones will allow you to get a humbucker sound.
The advantage of humbuckers is that by using the right resistors with partial split I can get a really decent single coil sound.
​​

 

[Artie]

It's hard to beat the Jazz (SH-2) with the JB. (Seymour's favorite combo.) The A2 Pro is good also. Nice clean and sweet tone.

 

[Mincer]

It is many years, and I don't understand it. But hey, most people don't understand me, either.

 

[Gstring]

Thanks for posting that. The JB is a great pup with OD and, in my humble view, it and similar pups such as the Duncan Designed 102 bridge and Iron Gear Dirty Torque, can also have a nice almost Vintage PAF ish sound when played clean : If you can put it in parallel with a push-pull. .

 

[ICTGoober]

For a long time the JB was the best selling pickup in history. Don't know if it's still true, but you must admit that Seymour pretty much built a perfect pickup when he built the JB.

 

[Artie]

It's amazing how versatile JB is with the right guitar.

I think this is important. I've moved mine around to several different guitars. Loved it in some . . . hated it in others. Unfortunately, I didn't take notes.

It's last landing spot was paired with a Jazz, in my basswood Peavey Tele. Maybe the soft basswood made it work.

 

[CarlosG]

It is many years, and I don't understand it. But hey, most people don't understand me, either.

So what is your favourite?

 

[esandes]

The JB is a wild horse that needs to be understood before it is tamed. Can it even be tamed? The answer is no.

I always had my guitar volume knob (and tone knobs) at 10. It was just the best tone and output. Dialing those knobs back ruined the sound in a bad way.

The JB is the only pickup that I could dial back and not sacrifice sound/tone. It took me years of owning a JB that I realized the 8+ guitar volume of a JB drove my amps more than anything else. If you have a non master volume amp especially a single channel, this pickup is a must.

 

[beaubrummels]

FWIW my 1970's Seymour-wound JB has dynamics, top end, and cleans up with the volume, no mods needed to the guitar. My recent production model JB doesn't clean up, sounds darker, almost no top end to it and can be a little congested in certain guitars, though it's a great all-around rock pickup. That experience leads me to go to the Custom Shop make me one to the 1970's specs if I ever need a second JB.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I have absolutely no problem with the JB's dynamics, personally. But then again, it's not like I every try to get a soulful blues tone out of a JB. Like ever. But I still can get it to sound smooth and tame by picking hard or tight and aggressive by picking hard. No problem.

My one gripe with the JB that I've kinda learned how to get around is it's a bit fatter in the low mids than people give it credit for. But using the right boost really helps tame that lower mid stuffiness while keeping the focus in the high mids it's known for.

That experience leads me to go to the Custom Shop make me one to the 1970's specs if I ever need a second JB.

They claim that's kind of what the Antiquity JB is, don't they?

 

[Mincer]

So what is your favourite?

The neck Alnico Pro II. In the bridge, either a Custom Custom or a 59/Custom Hybrid.

 

[beaubrummels]

They claim that's kind of what the Antiquity JB is, don't they?

No, the Antiquity is aged, meaning with the magnet degaussed. But a non-aged Antiquity, or a copy of the 35th Anniversary model would be the ticket.

 

[CarlosG]

Someday I might be able to buy AH-1. I wrote to Duncan support some time ago and if I remember correctly it's two screw coils JB. I saw a demo on the internet it sounds even more 80s than jb. Harmonics are screaming.

 

[CarlosG]

The neck Alnico Pro II. In the bridge, either a Custom Custom or a 59/Custom Hybrid.

Thanks for answer. For me Custom Custom has to spongy bass responce and sound dull a little.
I've never used Custom/59, I've heard great things, although it sounds a bit thin on demos online. I'll have to try it sometime.
a2 pro is interesting, mainly because of Appetite For Destruction. I wonder how it would sound in a stratocaster. I love the buttery sound of Slash and Kee Marcello's solos (out this world album) and the 59 sounds great in a strat. Does anyone have a demo of how the a2pro behaves in a strat?

 

[orpheo]

The JB in its standard, 2024 form, is amazing. It is not really hot but has just enough power to give me that oompf when I need but not so much that it cleans up poorly. I love the sparkle, the chime, I love how fluid it feels and in the right guitars, rhythms are great too.

Combined with a Jazz (Jazz > a2pro > 59), it's great. I have to admit that I love that combination so much that I haven't bothered trying the newer releases by SD, at all.

 

[Ascension]

I think this is important. I've moved mine around to several different guitars. Loved it in some . . . hated it in others. Unfortunately, I didn't take notes.

It's last landing spot was paired with a Jazz, in my basswood Peavey Tele. Maybe the soft basswood made it work.

You hit something here. My experience is the JB is one of the most fickle pickups I have ever used. Can be pure magic in one guitar and a tonal train wreck in another. They seem to work best in my experience in a super strat with a bolt on neck. They don't seem to work well in a neck through guitar, at least not for me. In the right guitar however the JB can be brilliant, trick is using it in the right guitar.

 

[Seashore]

I don't think you can generalize about construction, it's down to the individual guitar. I really liked the JB in my LP Classic. That particular guitar is on the snappy and clear side of the LP spectrum and the overall tone of the JB suited it really well. I wound up having the same complaints about it that Beau mentioned with his modern production JB though - not enough dynamics or top end detail, a little dark, congested mids.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

No, the Antiquity is aged, meaning with the magnet degaussed. But a non-aged Antiquity, or a copy of the 35th Anniversary model would be the ticket.

My bad.

That being said, though... my Antiquity sounds like a JB. Not miles off from a production model, honestly. I wrote an email to the CS about it, and they told me the magnet is only slightly degaussed.

 

[IMENATOR]

You hit something here. My experience is the JB is one of the most fickle pickups I have ever used. Can be pure magic in one guitar and a tonal train wreck in another. They seem to work best in my experience in a super strat with a bolt on neck. They don't seem to work well in a neck through guitar, at least not for me. In the right guitar however the JB can be brilliant, trick is using it in the right guitar.

I have tried it very same JB pickup in a 2008 MIM Standard Strat and a 2014 Charvel SoCal and sounded great in both. I wish it had less low end, that would make it perfect for me. Currently using it in HSH configuration with SSL-6 and Alnico ii Pro neck, the A2P has extra mids and reduced treble that suites better for the JB, at least for my taste.

 

[Securb]

I really liked the JB in my LP Classic. .

That is the only JB I have ever played and you know I am in love with that guitar. It just sounds perfect.