JB is driving me NUTS!

Re: JB is driving me NUTS!

Little Pigbacon said:
Does anyone else here suspect that, if a different model Duncan were the most ubiquitous OEM-channel "name brand" bridge pickup on Earth, we'd be seeing constant complaints about it instead?
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Not really. I really wish JB's were consistently as good in mahogany as some of you say they are. Since you only joined 2 years ago, you've missed a lot. This is the 'You guys hate it because it's so good' theory, which is completely bankrupt of merit. Yes, we hate PU's that sound good, why else we would be here, except to make our guitars sound worse? Got another theory?
 
Re: JB is driving me NUTS!

Isn't JB + mahogany = Whitesnake more or less? Sykes etc...It's not the fattest tone I can think of but I really like it.
 
Re: JB is driving me NUTS!

darthphineas;3703211Also said:
Thank you. JB's are specialized: for certain guitars, woods, and genres. They do the intended purpose very well. Some guys get carried away and think they do everything equally as good, and that's where the disagreements begin. They are not a universal PU, no PU is. For what the OP wants, JB's are not a good choice. It's not what they were designed for. There are better PU's for that. A quirky 16K PU is not going to give the sound of an 8.4K PAF.
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Re: JB is driving me NUTS!

Guys, I don't really see a point in changing pots on JB...it's still gonna sound like JB and I still won't like it, never did, too hot and can't get what I want from it. I can live with '59 for now but it's gonna get replaced eventually. When you get a guitar that is expensive as that ESP naturally you will try to get maximum out of it before thinking of some upgrades. But after numerous failures trying to make that JB sound pleasing to my ears I just won't bother with it anymore. Why did ESP decided to go with that stupid combo is beyond me since that guitar is supposed to be something like Les Paul Custom and they have vintage output pickups.

@orpheo
From your description and after hearing as many clips as possible Seth Lover neck + APH-2 Slash bridge sounds like a winning combo and will get me where I want to be.
 
Re: JB is driving me NUTS!

jimlp said:
I am considering putting an Antiqiuity JB in a Charvel Model 2 which is made of Basswood, how does the JB fare in Basswood? Sorry to hijack the thread.
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Fine, imo. The lows are rather loose, but the highs aren't annoying.
 
Re: JB is driving me NUTS!

Noisembryo said:
Guys, I don't really see a point in changing pots on JB...it's still gonna sound like JB and I still won't like it, never did, too hot and can't get what I want from it. I can live with '59 for now but it's gonna get replaced eventually. When you get a guitar that is expensive as that ESP naturally you will try to get maximum out of it before thinking of some upgrades. But after numerous failures trying to make that JB sound pleasing to my ears I just won't bother with it anymore. Why did ESP decided to go with that stupid combo is beyond me since that guitar is supposed to be something like Les Paul Custom and they have vintage output pickups.





@orpheo


From your description and after hearing as many clips as possible Seth Lover neck + APH-2 Slash bridge sounds like a winning combo and will get me where I want to be.
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ESP aligns with metal, imo. No difference from Ibanez's constant usage of the Tone Zone/Air Norton combo even in a Destroyer.



And to one of the guys above, I don't think Sykes used a JB at all. Sources that state he used a DirtyFinger may be wrong, but I'm definitely sure he did not use a JB. Vandenberg's sig during '87 had actives, and his Peaveys had their own PUs. Viv used the Fullshred. Vai probably used the PAF Pro.
 
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Re: JB is driving me NUTS!

Noisembryo said:
Why did ESP decided to go with that stupid combo is beyond me since that guitar is supposed to be something like Les Paul Custom and they have vintage output pickups.

@orpheo
From your description and after hearing as many clips as possible Seth Lover neck + APH-2 Slash bridge sounds like a winning combo and will get me where I want to be.
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I haven't seen the marketing verbiage, but a JB/'59N is nothing like what Gibson puts in their LPC's.

Yes, Orpheo's suggestion is very good.
 
Re: JB is driving me NUTS!

blueman335 said:
Not really. I really wish JB's were consistently as good in mahogany as some of you say they are. Since you only joined 2 years ago, you've missed a lot. This is the 'You guys hate it because it's so good' theory, which is completely bankrupt of merit. Yes, we hate PU's that sound good, why else we would be here, except to make our guitars sound worse? Got another theory?
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This is a theory that you're trying to put in my mouth, and it's absolutely not what I'm saying. I'm saying that I think a lot of players hate the JB because it doesn't do what they want, for they kinds of music they play, in their guitars. And if you play blues, classic rock, or modern metal, why would you expect it to?

What I'm saying is this: Name one other pickup that you could put in the bridge of so many off-the-shelf new guitars, and not have legions of people telling you that it's not the sound they want. Then pick a different one. You'd spend most of your time shifting the dissatisfaction around to different players. The JB isn't a be-all universal pickup, and treating it like it is, is setting it up for an undue share of failure.

Also, I've been on this forum since about 2008.
 
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Re: JB is driving me NUTS!

Little Pigbacon said:
This is a theory that you're trying to put in my mouth, and it's absolutely not what I'm saying. I'm saying that I think a lot of players hate the JB because it doesn't do what they want, for they kinds of music they play, in their guitars. And if you play blues, classic rock, or modern metal, why would you expect it to?
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Okay, we agree then. I think the problem is the marketing of JB's. It's promotion leads many players to think it's right for their guitar and genre, all-across-the-spectrum, which it isn't. It's not particularly versatile. The terms: 'Seymour's favorite' and Hot Rodded Combo' have induced many players to buy them, and inevitably, it's the wrong fit for some of them. For the guys who have a JB that's worked great, they think it's the solution to most of the world's problems; to the guys who've had it fail, they're left scratching their heads.
 
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Re: JB is driving me NUTS!

blueman335 said:
Okay, we agree then. I think the problem is the marketing of JB's. It's promotion leads many players to think it's right for their guitar and genre, all-across-the-spectrum, which it isn't. It's not particularly versatile. The terms: 'Seymour's favorite' and Hot Rodded Combo' have induced many players to buy them, and inevitably, it's the wrong fit for some of them. For the guys who have a JB that's worked great, they think it's the solution to most of the world's problems; to the guys who've had it fail, they're let scratching their heads.
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That makes a lot of sense to me. Others here have likened it to tires on a new car. They have to put something on it, and it should be something that's at least serviceable for most people buying it, enough to make the thing usable. Perhaps the tires that come with your car aren't your first choice, but for most drivers, on average, they're a better choice than racing slicks or snow tires. With pickups, maybe it's exactly the sound a particular player wants. When it isn't, at least he doesn't have an unpotted A2 PAF or an Invader in there. Lots of players are going to prefer one of those over a JB, but at least this way nobody has to reach from one extreme to another. I always figure a JB will let me figure out if I like a guitar enough to buy it, instead of wishing it had different pickups just so I could get my bearings with it.

You could do this middle-road concept with any number of pickups. Nothing's ever going to make everyone happy all the time. By the way, I tried a Seth in mahogany for Meshuggah, and it sucked. (Just kidding. I'm not one of those guys who uses a toaster to make ice cream.)
 
Re: JB is driving me NUTS!

Archer250 said:
ESP aligns with metal, imo. No difference from Ibanez's constant usage of the Tone Zone/Air Norton combo even in a Destroyer.



And to one of the guys above, I don't think Sykes used a JB at all. Sources that state he used a DirtyFinger may be wrong, but I'm definitely sure he did not use a JB. Vandenberg's sig during '87 had actives, and his Peaveys had their own PUs. Viv used the Fullshred. Vai probably used the PAF Pro.
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Cool, I remember someone here said something like this many years back and I thought it's true cause the JB in my brother's mahogany guitar sounded very close to that sound.
 
Re: JB is driving me NUTS!

Noisembryo said:
I've had it with JB...I really gave this thing a shot but no matter what I do, whatever amp setting I use, vol/tone combination it sounds like crap. The sound is to bright, compressed and borderline shrill. Trying to play open chords results in total shrill, you can't hear anything that is been played. Power chords sound way to compressed, it's like choking someone with a pillow while he screams his ass off. All this while having barely any gain on and by barely I mean it was set to 2 (using brit hi model, with eq on 5, master cranked). I even put my tone knob on 3 which tamed it a little bit but it was still a mess.
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This is comedy right?
 
Re: JB is driving me NUTS!

I'm in a hurry, so someone may have already mentioned this. Try 2 things before ditching the JB. Try it with an A2 magnet. JBA2 works much better with mahogany that the original. Also, try it with a 300k volume pot. I wouldn't go as low as 250k because I think it muffles it too much.
 
Re: JB is driving me NUTS!

I just reread the OP. If you want to switch I would suggest you get a Pearly Gates set or the Slash A2P set.
 
Re: JB is driving me NUTS!

blueman335 said:
Not really. I really wish JB's were consistently as good in mahogany as some of you say they are.
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Thing is they are... Just you and you in particular latch like a pitbull onto any negativity and feel the need to spread it. Your personal expierence iwth the JB is actually little to none but you somehow feel the need to speak for the group of people who dont like it. Conversely those that do like it even if they are well known signed players you immediately dismiss. Its a curious scenario that plays itself over and over again around here.

If you ask me from the OP's description I think he would hate the JB if it was in Mahogany, basswood, alder, bubble gum, or Mario Balotell's jock strap.
 
Re: JB is driving me NUTS!

jimlp said:
I am considering putting an Antiqiuity JB in a Charvel Model 2 which is made of Basswood, how does the JB fare in Basswood? Sorry to hijack the thread.
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I had an 80s JBJ in a basswood Charvel Predator for a long time when it was dropped a step to D tuning. Used it for 80s/90s stuff like Crüe and Slaughter. Worked great.


Sent from my armored space station via iPad using Tapatalk
 
Re: JB is driving me NUTS!

darthphineas said:
I had an 80s JBJ in a basswood Charvel Predator for a long time when it was dropped a step to D tuning. Used it for 80s/90s stuff like Crüe and Slaughter. Worked great.


Sent from my armored space station via iPad using Tapatalk
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Charvels and JB's go together like strippers and G-strings.
 
Re: JB is driving me NUTS!

Edgecrusher said:
Thing is they are... Just you and you in particular latch like a pitbull onto any negativity and feel the need to spread it. Your personal expierence iwth the JB is actually little to none but you somehow feel the need to speak for the group of people who dont like it. Conversely those that do like it even if they are well known signed players you immediately dismiss. Its a curious scenario that plays itself over and over again around here.
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You've got your mind made up, huh? I've repeatedly said that JB's are very good for some things, and have NEVER dismissed the 'well known players' that like them. And the 'negativity' is because it's not a bridge PU that's going to please everyone. There's been many posts about them over the years from unhappy users, and I often quote some of the funnier stuff they've said. I don't know if that's 'speaking for the group' of them, but you seem to have 'somehow' appointed yourself as one of the JB spokesmen.
 
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