JB sounds great clean - myth?

Re: JB sounds great clean - myth?

I think that the JB in series sounds horrible clean. I have to admit that I haven't tried it in other guitars than my Jackson DK2 or in any other position than bridge. My benchmark is my ash/maple/maple strat with a Fender CS'54 SC in the neck.
 
Re: JB sounds great clean - myth?

Satch1222 said:
I think the JB sounds like garbage clean with a 250k pot. I also think the Cool Rails in the neck with a 250k pot does not sound good clean. This is in an alder strat with a maple neck and through the natural channel of an Orange Rocker 30, which is about as non-dirty as you can get.
Click to expand...


As the others said, and IMO also, the JB in parallel or split gets excellant clean tones.

In full humbucking mode, the JB is designed to push the daylights out of an amp and push it into overdrive. Vintage pafs are about 8.2K...the JB measures a whopping 16.6K.

For a long time I didn't like the JB with 250K pots...but now I do. Really smooths out the tone. Seymour uses it with 250K pots too.

I can go either way. In a Gibson type guitar I'd probably go 500K but in a Fender type guitar 250K is cool too.

Lew
 
Last edited:
Re: JB sounds great clean - myth?

Lewguitar said:
Garbage in = Garbage out. :laugh2:

As the other's said, the JB in parallel or split gets excellant clean tones.

In full humbucking mode, the JB is designed to push the daylights out of an amp and push it into overdrive. Vintage pafs are about 8.2K...the JB measures a whopping 16.6K.

For a long time I didn't like the JB with 250K pots...but now I do. Really smooths out the tone. Seymour uses it with 250K pots too.

I can go either way. In a Gibson type guitar I'd probably go 500K but in a Fender type guitar 250K is cool too.

Lew
Click to expand...

See, the natural channel is a natural channel. You guys probably have tweakable clean channels, but I don't, which is why I'm hearing the pickup for what it is. The JB is anything but sparkly and the Cool Rails sounds quite muddy in the neck on my clean channel. When you combine them with the vintage rails in the middle, they sound good, but on their own they suck.
 
Re: JB sounds great clean - myth?

Lewguitar said:
For a long time I didn't like the JB with 250K pots...but now I do. Really smooths out the tone. Seymour uses it with 250K pots too.

I can go either way. In a Gibson type guitar I'd probably go 500K but in a Fender type guitar 250K is cool too.

Lew
Click to expand...

Lew - you turncoat!!!!:biglaugh:

What would you suggest for a double cut-away guitar, specifically a PRS custom II. I am on the fence w/ my JB in that axe, snipping the bright cap was an improvement, and the mahogany body makes it sound a little warmer, but I wonder if a 250K pot is the ticket? Funny thing is, the Jazz neck sounds brighter/zingier than the JB bridge in that axe.

JQ
 
Re: JB sounds great clean - myth?

Johnny Q said:
Lew - you turncoat!!!!:biglaugh:

What would you suggest for a double cut-away guitar, specifically a PRS custom II. I am on the fence w/ my JB in that axe, snipping the bright cap was an improvement, and the mahogany body makes it sound a little warmer, but I wonder if a 250K pot is the ticket? Funny thing is, the Jazz neck sounds brighter/zingier than the JB bridge in that axe.

JQ
Click to expand...

I think the Jazz is brighter/zingier than the JB. I don't hear the JB as being a sparkley kind of pickup...but the Jazz kind of is. I hear all kinds of little springey and zingy upper harmonics when I play my guitar with the Jazz neck. But the JB isn't voiced that way. When people complain that the JB is to bright, I think they're hearing some upper mids that are very pronounced and present and for some players, that makes the JB seem to bright. I'd try the JB with 250K pots and a .02 tone cap, and connect the tone control to the middle terminal of the volume pot and NOT the same terminal on the pot that the pickup is connected too. That's called the 50's mod. If the JB still doesn't do it for you then it may be that the JB isn't the right pickup for you.

Lew
 
Re: JB sounds great clean - myth?

Lewguitar said:
I think the Jazz is brighter/zingier than the JB. I don't hear the JB as being a sparkley kind of pickup...but the Jazz kind of is. I hear all kinds of little springey and zingy upper harmonics when I play my guitar with the Jazz neck. But the JB isn't voiced that way. When people complain that the JB is to bright, I think they're hearing some upper mids that are very pronounced and present and for some players, that makes the JB seem to bright. I'd try the JB with 250K pots and a .02 tone cap, and connect the tone control to the middle terminal of the volume pot and NOT the same terminal on the pot that the pickup is connected too. That's called the 50's mod. If the JB still doesn't do it for you then it may be that the JB isn't the right pickup for you.

Lew
Click to expand...

Hey Lew, I did your recommendations regarding pots and cap for my JB.I got improvement somehow yet still looking for something out of JB. Regarding connecting the tone control on the middle terminal of the volume, I haven't tried that out yet. Maybe that's what I need now. Cool!:chairfall
 
Re: JB sounds great clean - myth?

ricabb7 said:
Hey Lew, I did your recommendations regarding pots and cap for my JB.I got improvement somehow yet still looking for something out of JB. Regarding connecting the tone control on the middle terminal of the volume, I haven't tried that out yet. Maybe that's what I need now. Cool!:chairfall
Click to expand...

Then it may be time for the WCR Shredder or the Bare Knuckles Holy Diver, Rebel Yell or Crawler. I hope I dont get banned for suggesting these, but all were designed to improve upon the JB. I have the WCR personally - it actually reminds me of a C5 with more mids.

JQ
 
Re: JB sounds great clean - myth?

Lewguitar said:
I think the Jazz is brighter/zingier than the JB. I don't hear the JB as being a sparkley kind of pickup...but the Jazz kind of is. I hear all kinds of little springey and zingy upper harmonics when I play my guitar with the Jazz neck. But the JB isn't voiced that way. When people complain that the JB is to bright, I think they're hearing some upper mids that are very pronounced and present and for some players, that makes the JB seem to bright. I'd try the JB with 250K pots and a .02 tone cap, and connect the tone control to the middle terminal of the volume pot and NOT the same terminal on the pot that the pickup is connected too. That's called the 50's mod. If the JB still doesn't do it for you then it may be that the JB isn't the right pickup for you.

Lew
Click to expand...

Hi Lew! I'm now using 250K pots and .02 cap. You said connect the tone control on the middle terminal of the volume pot. My questions are how about the main terminal of the five-way lever switch of the pickup, where it suppose to be connected? How about the jack's hotline? Isn't it normally connected to the middle terminal of the volume pot, so where it should be connected? Do you have diagram of 50's mod diagram? Or any links that I could visit that has this wiring diagram? Thanks!:chairfall
 
Re: JB sounds great clean - myth?

The JB does have a good clean sound. It may not be the best, but it should be acceptable. If you get a muddy sound, you better check your wiring or the pickup itself. Be it a 500K or 250K pot with any capacitor, if you turn the tone all the way up, it will retain all its highs and sound exactly like how it is hook up directly to the amp. A lot of people told me their pickups were no good but it turned out that their wiring was either wrong or they did a terrible job in soldering.
 
Re: JB sounds great clean - myth?

I like how the JB sounds clean. It's not for everyone, but it has a mid punch. Think no distortion pedals whatsoever, and the Hot Rodded combo was designed for Jazz and Blues. The combo does this. Read up on the "tele-gib" or whatever, I did and it opened my eyes.

But no pickup is right for everyone, which is why they sell pickups other than the Hot Rodded combo.
 
Re: JB sounds great clean - myth?

Although I love the harmonics and richness of the JB (especially distorted) and have even gotten some acceptable cleans sounds out of it, I must say it takes almost too much work and tweaking to clean it up properly. Heres where I think its problem lies overall for this pick up, clean or distorted:

For me its not an issue of it being inherently too bright or harsh as some say because I think the upper end is really where all its magic is at. I see it being more a lack of enough bottom end to compensate for this exaggerated top. If it just had more oomph in the low end to balance it out, I think getting a good clean sound out of it would become more a matter of backing off the volume knob than trying to kill all its highs with tone control. I also think once clean, the pup is more suited to softer nuance work than power strumming if you want to hear it totally clean (unless you like a bit of breakup in your spank).

Would love to find something very JBish (right off the shelf ) but something with a way more balanced bottom end. I'm almost thinking my JB may be worth trying in the neck. The clean may actually sound quite good there with the amount of volume you'll have to pull back to match the bridge yet with the JB's bite it coild sount more like a jazz or something. Anyone ever try this?
 
Last edited:
Re: JB sounds great clean - myth?

ricabb7 said:
Hi Lew! I'm now using 250K pots and .02 cap. You said connect the tone control on the middle terminal of the volume pot. My questions are how about the main terminal of the five-way lever switch of the pickup, where it suppose to be connected? How about the jack's hotline? Isn't it normally connected to the middle terminal of the volume pot, so where it should be connected? Do you have diagram of 50's mod diagram? Or any links that I could visit that has this wiring diagram? Thanks!:chairfall
Click to expand...

If you have a master tone control, yes you can connect it to the output jack and get the same connection as connecting it to the middle terminal of the volume pot. On a Hamer guitar with two volumes and one tone, that's just how they do it. It's all a matter of personal taste, but I always connect my tone controls to the middle terminal of the volume pot if it's a Les Paul type guitar or guitar with two volumes and two tones, or a Tele with one volume and one tone...and to the output jack if the guitar has two volumes and one tone. The effect is the same: connecting the tone control after the volume pot to retain highs when the volume control is turned down.

The middle termional of the volume pot is the output of the pot and leads to the output jack even if it first goes to the switch. Lew
 
Re: JB sounds great clean - myth?

nrs said:
Would love to find something very JBish (right off the shelf ) but something with a way more balanced bottom end.
Click to expand...

Someone on this forum told me a JB/C5 hybrid will give you exactly this. I never tried it, but it makes sense, right? The mid punch/crunch of the JB and the tight low end of the C5

JQ
 
Re: JB sounds great clean - myth?

I used a JB in the bridge of my Tele for years. It surprized alot of people with the way it sounded like a regular tele bridge pickup. I didn't like having to mess with my tone knob when I used distortion though, the JB was always too bright. I just put a Custom in it and we'll see how that goes.
 
Re: JB sounds great clean - myth?

Lewguitar said:
If you have a master tone control, yes you can connect it to the output jack and get the same connection as connecting it to the middle terminal of the volume pot. On a Hamer guitar with two volumes and one tone, that's just how they do it. It's all a matter of personal taste, but I always connect my tone controls to the middle terminal of the volume pot if it's a Les Paul type guitar or guitar with two volumes and two tones, or a Tele with one volume and one tone...and to the output jack if the guitar has two volumes and one tone. The effect is the same: connecting the tone control after the volume pot to retain highs when the volume control is turned down.

The middle termional of the volume pot is the output of the pot and leads to the output jack even if it first goes to the switch. Lew
Click to expand...

Got your instructions perfectly. Lots of thanks Lew!:chairfall
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top