JB question

[gimmieinfo]

I realize you guys apparently talk about this ad nausium but i am not a regular member. I only pop in now and then to as a question. So i'm not aware of the apparent huge debate these seem to bring here regarding various versions. Heres my experience with them. Used one in the mid 80s and i recall liking it. Tried one again in the mid to late 90s and hated it. Not at all what i remembered. Sold it but later thought i may have been hasty in not trying in in a few strats. So i tried one again a few years later in a different strat and again hated it. 250k pots both times AND with the strat in the 80s. Sounded kinda thin and plinky. Heres the question....i don't know if the one i had in the 80s was different or if my memory and hearing back then were to blame. So is there actually a difference in the original runs vs later and if so, 1-HOW different and in what way, and 2- is the current custom shop one or antiquity, whatever it is, the same as the 80s version? Yes, i saw the thread with the examples but i put zero stock in videos for more reasons than i could cite i a post smaller than the bible.

 

[Lewguitar]

I had the same experience with Duncan 59's. Loved the earliest versions and I have three sets of those. Then bought a brand new set maybe three or four years ago and they lacked the texture and warmth of my old ones.

I'd learned something about bar magnets here on the forum from guys like Bluesman, who no longer posts here, but who knew a lot about magnets.

So I opened up the new 59's and found polished alnico 5 magnets. Opened up my old ones and found roughcast alnico 5 magnets.

I ordered some roughcast alnico 5 magnets from AddictionFX and put them in the new 59's and they sounded alot more like the old ones.

I compared some Custom Shop Pearly Gates pickups I had to the standard model. I found that the CS version used roughcast magnets and the standard version used polished magnets.

So I no longer have any old JB's but I liked the old ones. Didn't like the new ones. They hurt my ears.

I suspect that if I still had those old ones I'd find a roughcast alnico 5 magnet in them and a polished alnico 5 magnet in the new ones.

I don't have any though, so this is all just guess work and speculation based on observation and trial and error.

But I suspect that if you put roughcast magnets in a new JB you'll get most of the sound of a 40 year old JB from the 1980's. The same way that my new 59's that I replaced the polished magnets with roughcast magnets, now sound much more like my old 59's from the 1980's.

I'm sure there's more to it than that. But polished vs. roughcast magnets is a big part of it.

 

[gimmieinfo]

Could be. I tried roughcast A5 in my 59/custom hybrid an compared to polished it sounded warmer and fatter and the high end sounded richer and less sine wavey. Not a huge difference if you thought of it as numbers but it was huge in how much more i liked it. I'm just curious as to whether there is a known difference between them. I would think with the many years of talk here someone must have heard duncan data on it or checked the magnet to see if it's polished or RC. Maybe if i see one dirt cheap i'll try it since i already have a few RC A5's.

 

[Mincer]

Things did change over time, from the bobbin material to the type of magnet, to the amount of wires coming off of it. Some people like the modern versions over the vintage, and some don't.

 

[gimmieinfo]

No one makes a "vintage" JB? I've heard so much hate for the later/current version over the years that i would think someone would have back engineered the vintage version. Seems it's a gold mine waiting to happen.

 

[Lewguitar]

No one makes a "vintage" JB? I've heard so much hate for the later/current version over the years that i would think someone would have back engineered the vintage version. Seems it's a gold mine waiting to happen.

They do. In the Duncan Custom Shop. I think it's called the Antiquity JB.

I prefer the Custom Shop versions of everything!

The Antiquity Surfers are a Custom Shop version of the Duncan SSL-1 standard Strat pickups for example and they have a more complext tone than the stock ones.

The stock ones sound excellent. But the Custom Shop versions always sound better.

At least to me.

 

[gimmieinfo]

Yeah, I'd have to pass on $150for a single pickup, especially one thats beat to crap. I'm not a relic guy to put it mildly. I also have a sneaky suspicion the regular JB changed to the widely disliked current version about the time the ant version showed up. that would keep me buying one principal alone.

They do. In the Duncan Custom Shop. I think it's called the Antiquity JB.

I prefer the Custom Shop versions of everything!

The Antiquity Surfers are a Custom Shop version of the Duncan SSL-1 standard Strat pickups for example and they have a more complext tone than the stock ones.

The stock ones sound excellent. But the Custom Shop versions always sound better.

At least to me.

 

[Lewguitar]

Yeah, I'd have to pass on $150for a single pickup, especially one thats beat to crap. I'm not a relic guy to put it mildly. I also have a sneaky suspicion the regular JB changed to the widely disliked current version about the time the ant version showed up. that would keep me buying on principal alone.

Although both the Custom Shop and the SD Company are under one roof, the Custom Shop is a smaller operation and more like a small boutique shop. The Custom Shop pickups are worth the extra coin. They're pretty much all I use.

 

[ErikH]

Yeah, I'd have to pass on $150for a single pickup, especially one thats beat to crap. I'm not a relic guy to put it mildly. I also have a sneaky suspicion the regular JB changed to the widely disliked current version about the time the ant version showed up. that would keep me buying one principal alone.

Actually, this discussion about the JB has been going on for quite a long time. Seems like the "change" happened somewhere in the late 1990's to early 2000's, which is well before the Antiquity model was introduced.

I've had a few older JB's from the 80's and early 90's and one or two from more recent years. The older ones had a sweeter sound to me, not as harsh. I don't use them anymore though. About the hottest I go with a Seymour Duncan humbucker is the Custom Custom. I say that because I love the DiMarzio Super Distortion and Air Zone and the SuperD is hotter than the CC. I would put the AZ in the same ballpark as the CC.

 

[jeremy]

the "new" jb far predates the antiquity version or any of the other versions for that matter.

 

[Rainbow in the Dark]

Hi my friend, this is can be psychological. But another ideas ;

• 90's JB may have been exposed to magnetic fields. Because magnets(if there are signal coming from outside) are not good for the all pickups.
• You tried different times. Maybe you used with different equipments.
• Solders are too important, if your solders not good, i'm sure this: you took not powerful drive tone(generally damage switch). For example: You wanna play high gain sound but you took crunch tones, other times you wanna crunch tone but you took like clean tone.

If this is not psychological im sure that one this. I dont believe in a different productions about JB's.

and finally sorry for my english guys, i want to just help to this friend...

 

[Demanic]

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Sent from my SM-A115A using Tapatalk

 

[Lewguitar]

I dont believe in a different productions about JB's.

Well no offence, but you're wrong. :8: The JB and other Duncan pickups (like the 59 and the Antiquity humbucker) have changed over the last 40 + years.

Some of us have been using Duncans for 40 years and know that some models have changed because we have some of those 40 year old pickups to compare today's pickups too.

 

[Mincer]

I will also add that if you want the best example of a pickup, the Custom Shop is worth it. But I understand people not wanting to spend that much. If I am buying or building a multi-thousand dollar guitar, it is worth it to have a set of the best example of those pickups. If your guitar costs 300-500, that is a decision you have to make...is it worth it? For anyone who has bought a set, they say 'yes!'.

 

[gimmieinfo]

I will also add that if you want the best example of a pickup, the Custom Shop is worth it. But I understand people not wanting to spend that much. If I am buying or building a multi-thousand dollar guitar, it is worth it to have a set of the best example of those pickups. If your guitar costs 300-500, that is a decision you have to make...is it worth it? For anyone who has bought a set, they say 'yes!'.

It's not about a pickup's cost as much as the potential to lose. I have bought lots of pickups over the years and the majority end up getting thrown in a parts drawer and never used again or sold for a huge loss. Even with the exchange policies i have never swapped for another to find nirvana. So it's too much of a crap shoot to consider high $ pickups.

 

[Mincer]

I don't agree, and my guess is, over a few decades, most Custom Shop customers don't either. Buying any custom pickup is generally an unknown, but so many people on this board (including me) love their Custom Shop pickups, feel they are more than worth their price, and don't just 'throw them in a drawer'. The more I am certain of what I want, the more the CS delivers for me, and I'd have no reason to swap that out.

 

[Clint 55]

I paid $90 for my 86 JB. It sounds decidedly different than my new JBs and I really like it. I'm positive it was built differently back then. I think it was definitely money well spent. I also have an Antiquity that I paid full price for. I think the JBJ is the best value.

 

[Rainbow in the Dark]

Well no offence, but you're wrong. :8: The JB and other Duncan pickups (like the 59 and the Antiquity humbucker) have changed over the last 40 + years.

Some of us have been using Duncans for 40 years and know that some models have changed because we have some of those 40 year old pickups to compare today's pickups too.

This is amazing! no offence, dont worry. I learned new information about JB, this is good for me thanks a lot friend for this.

How many different production about JB since 70's?

 

[gimmieinfo]

Whats the consensus about the early 59's vs today's version? Same difference with the old ones sounding much better or are the mostly the same?

 

[Clint 55]

My 80s 59 sounds closer to the new one. It just has the aged sound and vibe.