JB Jr vs Lil'59 vs Tone Zone S - advice needed!

[implant]

Hi folks,

this is my first post here, so I'd like to say hi to everybody and ask for a little help. I have a
Squier Standard Strat made in Indonesia, agathis (or alder, not sure) body, maple neck with rw board.
Now, it is a decent guitar with surprisingly nice tone but I'd like to load it with a hotter bridge pickup
for my rhythm works...so, after reading a lot of posts here and on other boards and listening to some
audio clips, I've narrowed my search to JB Jr, LIL' 59 and Tone Zone S.

I'll be mostly playing rhythm guitar with few occasional solos here and there and I'd like to cover as
much rhythm tones as possible - dirty garage rock (Jet, The Stooges), classic rock stuff (Black
Crowes, AC/DC) and metal stuff (Zakk W., Motorhead, Rob Zombie). What I'm not interested is
super-compressed modern technical metal and 80's hair and shred...basicaly, I'm looking for a versatile
pup to cover crunch to high-gain rhythm stuff but I'd like it to always have the rock vibe and warmth.

I know it's not possible to cover EVERYTHING in a single pickup really and I plan to buy a Gibson LP in the
future, but for now, what do you guys think - what would be my best bet out of this three? Thanks in advance,

I.

 

[CTN]

Probably the tone zone or the JB Jr. The tone zone will likely be a good bit warmer/meatier and smoother than the JB jr, but the JB Jr will likely have more treble and upper mid presence. Kinda depends on what your guitar sounds like and what your amp is capable of as well as what you want to hear in terms of tone, but either of those pickups will quite easily be able to cover all that musical ground.

The little 59 might be a bit too tame.

 

[implant]

Re: JB Jr vs Lil'59 vs Tone Zone S - advice needed!

Probably the tone zone or the JB Jr. The tone zone will likely be a good bit warmer/meatier and smoother than the JB jr, but the JB Jr will likely have more treble and upper mid presence. Kinda depends on what your guitar sounds like and what your amp is capable of as well as what you want to hear in terms of tone, but either of those pickups will quite easily be able to cover all that musical ground.

The little 59 might be a bit too tame.

Thanks, CTN! Guitar is fairly bright, I guess Tone Zone would fit better? Also, what do you think about DM Chopper? I liked what I heard on DM site and Youtube.

 

[CTN]

Re: JB Jr vs Lil'59 vs Tone Zone S - advice needed!

Depends... I believe there are two general philosophies when selecting pickups based on knowing what your guitar sounds like: either you accentuate its qualities or you fight against them to balance things out. If you want a bright, crisper sound, go with the JB Jr. If you want something more balanced, the tone zone. Again it also depends on your amp and what you want to hear.

Unfortunately I don't have any experience with the Chopper so I can't really give you any advice in that regard.

 

[implant]

Re: JB Jr vs Lil'59 vs Tone Zone S - advice needed!

Depends... I believe there are two general philosophies when selecting pickups based on knowing what your guitar sounds like: either you accentuate its qualities or you fight against them to balance things out. If you want a bright, crisper sound, go with the JB Jr. If you want something more balanced, the tone zone. Again it also depends on your amp and what you want to hear.

Unfortunately I don't have any experience with the Chopper so I can't really give you any advice in that regard.

Well, in this case, it would be more of balancing the tone. As I mentioned, I find the guitar overly bright, especialy when using JCM800 (or its' emulations).
I think that it would benefit from a ballsier, darker pickup.
Funny enough, I always associated DiMarzios with "modern bright" and SDs with "woody dark" - there's so much to learn every day . Thanks again, man!

 

[9unslin9er]

Re: JB Jr vs Lil'59 vs Tone Zone S - advice needed!

I have experience with MANY of DiMarzio's single coil-sized humbuckers.

I think if you're modifying the bridge pickup only, you should stick with the Pro Track or Chopper, the Pro Track being the warmer of the two, as well as more vintage sounding. I think the Pro Track could fool some people into believing your Strat is a Les Paul in the bridge.

A lot of people use those pickups in the neck with a high output full-sized humbucker bridge.

A JB Jr. or Tone Zone S would overpower your stock middle and neck single coils.

*remember you might need to rewire and replace the pot for your bridge humbucker. The Pro Track and Chopper aren't bright pickups. Using a 250k pot with them is not advised.

 

[implant]

Re: JB Jr vs Lil'59 vs Tone Zone S - advice needed!

I have experience with MANY of DiMarzio's single coil-sized humbuckers.

I think if you're modifying the bridge pickup only, you should stick with the Pro Track or Chopper, the Pro Track being the warmer of the two, as well as more vintage sounding. I think the Pro Track could fool some people into believing your Strat is a Les Paul in the bridge.

A lot of people use those pickups in the neck with a high output full-sized humbucker bridge.

A JB Jr. or Tone Zone S would overpower your stock middle and neck single coils.

*remember you might need to rewire and replace the pot for your bridge humbucker. The Pro Track and Chopper aren't bright pickups. Using a 250k pot with them is not advised.

Hey 9unslin9er, thanks for chiming in!
I'm aware that guitar won't be fully balanced if I
change bridge pup only. Thing is, I spend 90 percent of time on bridge pup anyway and I don't
play live, I only record. So, with some careful tweaking I can compensate for output differences.
Of course, it would be better to change all 3 pups at
once, but it's not an option now.

Out of all options, what do you think would suit me
the most? And, can you tell me more about the Choppers tone? Thanks!

 

[9unslin9er]

Re: JB Jr vs Lil'59 vs Tone Zone S - advice needed!

Of all the options you've listed, I would go with the Pro Track for a bridge pickup.

it is very thick and sounds like an authentic medium output PAF in single coil form. A lot of people use it in the neck, I personally think it's way too muddy in that position.

The DiMarzio Chopper sounds like a hum canceling P90 to me. Again, it's thick, but unlike the Pro Track, you get some glassiness you would hear in a single coil. With the Chopper your Strat would just sound hot rodded.

I think the Pro Track would make it sound like a whole different instrument.

 

[implant]

Re: JB Jr vs Lil'59 vs Tone Zone S - advice needed!

Of all the options you've listed, I would go with the Pro Track for a bridge pickup.

it is very thick and sounds like an authentic medium output PAF in single coil form. A lot of people use it in the neck, I personally think it's way too muddy in that position.

The DiMarzio Chopper sounds like a hum canceling P90 to me. Again, it's thick, but unlike the Pro Track, you get some glassiness you would hear in a single coil. With the Chopper your Strat would just sound hot rodded.

I think the Pro Track would make it sound like a whole different instrument.

Thanks man! It's really hard to choose between all the options. I'm starting to consider Super Distortion S, too...you're definitely for PAF style pickup, given the
sounds I'm after?

 

[9unslin9er]

Re: JB Jr vs Lil'59 vs Tone Zone S - advice needed!

Thanks man! It's really hard to choose between all the options. I'm starting to consider Super Distortion S, too...you're definitely for PAF style pickup, given the
sounds I'm after?

No, I'm recommending a "medium output" single-coil sized humbucker pickup.

The only way to do a "PAF" style pickup is to get a new pick guard routed for one.

Any pickup you throw in a tremolo system Strat is going to sound less "Ballsy" than it would in a Hardtail, shorter scaled instrument. That's a whole other discussion. Add in the fact you are using a form factor that "picks up" literally half of what a full-sized humbucker would, and...

Really, any of DiMarzio's higher output stuff would do the trick. Super Distortion S, Tone Zone S, Fast Track 2, etc, but like you stated, you don't want that extra compression.

Yes, the Pro Track and Chopper would give you less compression and have better dynamics across the gain range.


Don't forget about the Seymour Duncan Cool/Hot Rails either.

 

[implant]

Re: JB Jr vs Lil'59 vs Tone Zone S - advice needed!

No, I'm recommending a "medium output" single-coil sized humbucker pickup.

The only way to do a "PAF" style pickup is to get a new pick guard routed for one.

Any pickup you throw in a tremolo system Strat is going to sound less "Ballsy" than it would in a Hardtail, shorter scaled instrument. That's a whole other discussion. Add in the fact you are using a form factor that "picks up" literally half of what a full-sized humbucker would, and...

Really, any of DiMarzio's higher output stuff would do the trick. Super Distortion S, Tone Zone S, Fast Track 2, etc, but like you stated, you don't want that extra compression.

Yes, the Pro Track and Chopper would give you less compression and have better dynamics across the gain range.


Don't forget about the Seymour Duncan Cool/Hot Rails either.

Yeah, there's lot of options! I will be playing some metal too, so compression is ok - just not super compressed pups
for djent and similar. I'll probably go with either Super Distortion S, what do you think of it? I hope it's not too 80's metal,
does it work convincingly for less polite styles, like garage and punk?

 

[9unslin9er]

Re: JB Jr vs Lil'59 vs Tone Zone S - advice needed!

I'll probably go with either Super Distortion S, what do you think of it? I hope it's not too 80's metal,
does it work convincingly for less polite styles, like garage and punk?

djent is a rhythmic term.

you can "djent djent djent" with any pickup you want. It's a hand placement/playing style.

As for the super d s, I'm not a fan of it.

It doesn't sound like a full-sized super d. if the super d is what you want, you can very inexpensively get a new pickguard to mount one on.

Likewise for the JB Jr. I'd just get the real deal

The Super D is a great rock pickup in general. It has been used extensively by Dexter Holland of the Offspring and Kurt Cobain.

It has been used for shred metal, but I hear it shine more as a rhythm pickup.

 

[Adieu]

Re: JB Jr vs Lil'59 vs Tone Zone S - advice needed!

Hey 9unslin9er, thanks for chiming in!
I'm aware that guitar won't be fully balanced if I
change bridge pup only. Thing is, I spend 90 percent of time on bridge pup anyway and I don't
play live, I only record. So, with some careful tweaking I can compensate for output differences.
Of course, it would be better to change all 3 pups at
once, but it's not an option now.

Out of all options, what do you think would suit me
the most? And, can you tell me more about the Choppers tone? Thanks!

Thru creative wiring and raising/lowering, u can balance anything and everything...I've matched a fullsizeJB (flush to strings no less) to two 5k ceramic cheapo singles and an EMG 81 in NECK to a bridge 7.92k Super 70 (an a8 paf wind). A bit of series wiring here, a balance pot and three way i stead of 5way switching there... Dont let a basic wiring diagram restrain you. Especialky when it doesnt even mention important nuances like mag polarity and potentiometer interactions that make or break oh, only like EVERYTHING.

 

[implant]

Re: JB Jr vs Lil'59 vs Tone Zone S - advice needed!

Very good, thanks a lot guys! After some research, I decided to go with either Super Dist S, Duncan SH-5 or Fast Track 2, but I'll
probably choose between the first two...I'll just have to do the math and see if it's necessary to go the full bucker path now. Thanks again!

 

[implant]

Re: JB Jr vs Lil'59 vs Tone Zone S - advice needed!

Quick update - went with SD Custom SH-5. I hope to install it until the end end of the week, will let you know how it sounds. Thanks again
to all of you, cheers!