JB is about as perfect as it gets. I will wrestle you for it.

O

Oldmiserablebastard

New member
Ok I have been messing with an R9 Les Paul trying to find the right pickup. I wanted a vintage output, as I think there is enough gain on tap in modern amplifiers, and modellers to do justice to any pickup. I tried several Bare Knuckle pickups, such as the VHII and the Abraxas, and changed magnets but something just never seemed right in the midrange. And the neck pickups also had almost no treble response at all, which made the tone pot kind of useless. Lo and behold I put a JB and Jazz in the guitar and it comes to life. Perhaps it is a midrange sound that is etched in my brain from somewhere but when it's right, it's right. The thing that is worth the price of admission alone is how it cleans up when you roll the volume down, at least it does on through my 50s wiring. Whoever says the JB doesn't work in a Les Paul should be questioned. Rolling the tone and volume back to about 6 or 7 gives me that PAF feel and sound. Yes there is a reason this pickup is probably the most popular pickup of all time. It just does everything right. Now I just need to decide whether to leave it uncovered.
 
I'm quite enjoying the JB in my Les Paul currently. It's got an organic warmth to it that I really dig. Is it going to handle fast metal riffing like some of my other guitars? Probably not as well, but I don't need the Les Paul for that. For heavy rock, it's great. I have also been surprised by the responsiveness of the volume and tone knobs.
 
Every guitar is different. JB works great in some. There are plenty of Les Pauls on the darker and muddier side that probably wouldn't benefit from what a JB offers. Always depends on the player and the rig. I loved the one in my LP Classic but I wound up wanting something a bit more defined and crunchy.
 
Well, it doesn't work for me, but I can't deny the universal appeal of a pickup that works for so many people. And it seems to work in a multitude of guitar models. The only similar thing with people who love the JB is that they generally play with at least some gain.
 
I don't think I'll ever be the right person to discuss a pickup's versatility, but I do like the Metal tone that I get from the JB.

It's not the most articulate. It's not the tightest. It's not the hottest. It's not the most aggresive. It's not the most balanced. But it kinda does its thing like no other pickup does. I love it, personally. It fits my playing style so well. But I can see why it doesn't work for so many people.

And yeah, I agree with Mincer. The JB kinda shines with gain. But then again, most bridge humbuckers do. :p
 
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Every time I pick up one of my 2 guitars with JB in the bridge after first few riffs I go "oh yeah, that's the sound!". If the bridge pickup options were limited I'd be very happy with only Duncan JB, Custom (both take magnet swaps very well) and the Black Winter. Possibly the Dimarzio SuperD, but the Custom with some EQ-ing sounds fairly close.
 
Welcome to the forum.

Good tone is where you find it, and you appear to have found it! As for the output, I find the JB to be pretty flexible for a hotter pickup. It never feels super hot to me like a Distortion or a Custom. As for the amp gain, just turn it down a touch and let the pickup do some of the work.

Regarding JB/Les Pauls - A Tale of two JB's: I have two Dean Cadillacs. I actually have six, but two in particular. They are both solid bursts, not see through. Otherwise, the same guitar. One is a pink burst, the other a silver burst. So these were solid mahogany guitars without maple tops. The Silver one came with a JB in it. I could-not-stand the ice pick upper mids/highs from it. I swapped the mag to an A8 and it was great, like a cross between a Super Distortion and a Duncan Distortion. As for the Pink one, I tried a JB after removing the EMG's in it. I play in a hair metal tribute, so one has to give the JB a try. In that guitar it sounds fantastic! Side note - I got a ton of tone compliments playing out one night with the SIlverburst JB, even though I was not a fan. Of course, it could have been the Spawn amp also. I eventually went on to change the JB8 to Duncan Distortions.

So personal experience with the hit/miss factor. But when you win, you win. Congrats!
 
Seashore said:
Every guitar is different. JB works great in some. There are plenty of Les Pauls on the darker and muddier side that probably wouldn't benefit from what a JB offers. Always depends on the player and the rig. I loved the one in my LP Classic but I wound up wanting something a bit more defined and crunchy.
Click to expand...

Hmmmm. I would think a darker, muddier guitar would definitely benefit from a focussed pickup like a JB. YMMV
 
alwayssearching said:
I think the JB does have bite and quite pronounced mids. Perhaps we are hearing two different things.
Click to expand...

Pronounced isn't the same thing as clear, but yes, it sounds like we're hearing different things, which makes sense. Different rigs, different hands, different ears, probably different styles. I'd use a JB for getting some specific tones but it doesn't really work for me as an all-rounder.
 
I don't think the JB has all that much going on in the high-end, personally. Especially if you start comparing it to the Custom, Distortion, '59B, or the majority of the whole Duncan HB roster, really. It does have focused and cutting upper mids, but the actual high-end is actually somewhat rolled off comparatively.

I personally have no idea how people make it work with 250K volume and tone pots. I suppose some people like their JB's to have a very soft muffled attack.
 
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The thing that makes the JB most unique is that the upper mids often get interpreted as treble. Sometimes it's not even the instrument itself, but some people describe those high mids as treble.

I agree that it's not particularly bright, but for many contexts it might as well be with how pointy those upper mids are.
 
The other thing about the JB is that it's chunkier in the low mids than what people give it credit for. It's certainly no Invader or Tone Zone, and the low-end is not really deep, but it's got some chunk in the low mids for sure. I feel that's why people call it "loose". Rather than loose, I'd call it "stuffy", personally, because the very low end is actually kinda rolled off as well.

That is my biggest struggle with the JB. But I've found ways around it.



I don't often see it discussed, but I've found the JB a good "gateway" pickup for people who like actives and want to get into passives. I feel it's got an almost EMG 57 or 85 kinda vibe with some 81-ish high mids thrown in there, and the EQ is very mid-focused *for a passive*. However, its bandwidth is not as narrow as an EMG or Fishman Modern, so it's kind of a good middle ground that's definitely "passive-feeling", but it's not as broad and open as a Custom, for example. So it's no entirely alien either.
 
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Rex_Rocker said:
I don't think the JB has all that much going on in the high-end, personally. Especially if you start comparing it to the Custom, Distortion, '59B, or the majority of the whole Duncan HB roster, really. It does have focused and cutting upper mids, but the actual high-end is actually somewhat rolled off comparatively.

I personally have no idea how people make it work with 250K volume and tone pots. I suppose some people like their JB's to have a very soft muffled attack.
Click to expand...

It’s not about the attack for me. I use 250K volume pots to tame some of the upper mid harshness that I hear from my JB. Then I use 500K tone pots to maintain the overall brightness. It works for me.
 
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Supernautilus said:
It’s not about the attack for me. I use 250K volume pots to tame some of the upper mid harshness that I hear from my JB. Then I use 500K tone pots to maintain the overall brightness. It works for me.
Click to expand...
Yeah, each to his own. I'm not saying you're wrong, but the high mids are kinda what make the JB so great for me. The problem for me with going lower in pot value is you don't only take out the high mid spike, but the treble that there is as well, which is not a lot to begin with, IMO.

I run mine without tone pots and either 500K or 1M pots, but then again, we all hear things differently. I think the JB was originally meant to go with 250 pots, no? So maybe it's me who's wrong, LOL.
 
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I ALWAYS had the guitar volume knob at 10 for years and years. Rolling the volume down with other pickups kind of took away some qualities. It also didn't drive the amp when rolling down. After using the JB for a few years I realized that it's so powerful that it can be rolled down a lot without giving up tone. It can be tamed and sound exceptional. The JB with 8.5 to 10 guitar volume drives the amp with gain like when Spinal Tap turn their Marshalls to 11.

For gigging people with non-master volume, single channel amps (no pedals) it is the pickup.

Don't get me started on pedals and effects.
 
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