JB mod for bright guitar

[Diego]

Re: JB mod for bright guitar

As the owner of two SZs, I can tell you they are HARD to tame.
They pack a laser beam in the high mids (tons of sizzle) and the JB already has a lot of midrange so that's a complicated combination.

Mine has an A2 Pro in the neck and it sounds right in your effin' face compared to my Epi LP with Probuckers, which are also A2 and low output.
I've got a Custom in my bridge position currently and it sounds thick and powerful. Easily the best overall bridge pickup I've had in it.
Had a JB for a while and it sounded very honky. Not a good pickup for this guitar I thought.
Had a set of Invaders for a while and it didn't work for me. Amazing for playing Master of Puppets, I'll give them that.
I used to have a Screamin' Demon and it sounded great, but it was so bright it almost sounded like a juiced up P90. Amazing for chords, awful for Metal riffs, weird for leads. Definitely an acquired taste, but an interesting tone I might relive one of these days. It just sounded different.

My point is, this guitar is picky as hell.

Try an A2 magnet with that JB, that should relax things a bit. If that doesn't work, get a Custom. I keep reading how the Custom is supposed to sound a bit scooped and I'm not really hearing that, but maybe it is and it's taming things up a bit. I really like it and I far prefer it over the JB in this guitar.

 

[PDC]

Re: JB mod for bright guitar

I'd go with the 59/Custom Hybrid, which sound solve the problem you are having.

Just tried my first 59/Custom hybrid last week. Really, really digging this pickup. Hard to go wrong with this one.

 

[WDeeGee]

Re: JB mod for bright guitar

Hi guys, thanks so much for the suggestions.

I went with a custom5, now that works very well with the guitar.

The Ibanez SZ has a lot of upper mids, and it works well with the scooped custom 5 sounds, searing lead tones and chords have this massive "wall of sound" character. Think AC/DC on steroids. Or Danzig on steroids (and they already sound like they're on steroids, jk). Impressive.

Maybe I will put an UOA5 in it later on, as I feel it's a little too bold of a sound for now, we'll see how it grows on me.

Anyway, thanks for the heads up, have a nice life!

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: JB mod for bright guitar

Maybe just lowering the pickup would soften that spike

The JB is very particular in where it sits under the strings

Too close and its overwhelming
To low and it's just meh

 

[Diego]

Re: JB mod for bright guitar

Hi guys, thanks so much for the suggestions.

I went with a custom5, now that works very well with the guitar.

The Ibanez SZ has a lot of upper mids, and it works well with the scooped custom 5 sounds, searing lead tones and chords have this massive "wall of sound" character. Think AC/DC on steroids. Or Danzig on steroids (and they already sound like they're on steroids, jk). Impressive.

Maybe I will put an UOA5 in it later on, as I feel it's a little too bold of a sound for now, we'll see how it grows on me.

Anyway, thanks for the heads up, have a nice life!

A Custom 5 is a damn good choice man. With a UOA5 it should mellow out a bit if you want it to.
I love the regular Custom in mine, it's a bit too hot for my amp's preamp but it kills with high gain, high wattage amps.

 

[jhansen]

Re: JB mod for bright guitar

I have the same problem with my JB. It was radical very sensitive needed taming. The mids sounded good. The highs are up there. Booming lows. I changed my volume pot to a 1meg audio/tapper and the tone pot to a 1meg linear/tapper. The change was like giving the pup room to breath. I also swapped out the original bridge saddles with Graph Tech String Savers. Now I have good control of the Treble, Bass and Middle tones making amplifier adjustments and guitar volume/tone adjustments. The guitar is a Gibson Explorer with it's odd shape and extra body mass.

 

[Orange]

Re: JB mod for bright guitar

This is how I feel about 5150's.

Have you tried swapping caps and pots ?
I used to have a very bright maple guitar.
I researched new magnet and pickups.
One forum member suggested i tried 300K pots and a .33 cap.
Turns out that made a HUGE difference.
That was 8 years ago. Never looked back since.

Also, tuning down and getting bigger string gauge might be q good idea.
Some bright instruments litteraly come to life once tuned down, especially heavy bodies as they will resonate better with heavier strings and therefore have more sustainz

 

[Ace Flibble]

Re: JB mod for bright guitar

For the future, should anyone else be looking for an answer to this, I would now suggest you consider swapping in an A6 magnet. I just tried it in an HB-102 (and will try it in other pickups including a 'proper' JB sometime in the near future) and more low mids, less top is exactly what it does compared to an A5.

 

[WDeeGee]

Re: JB mod for bright guitar

For the future, should anyone else be looking for an answer to this, I would now suggest you consider swapping in an A6 magnet. I just tried it in an HB-102 (and will try it in other pickups including a 'proper' JB sometime in the near future) and more low mids, less top is exactly what it does compared to an A5.

Thanks! Seems like an interesting option indeed!