JB VS 59/Custom hybrid and was very surprised.

[Ascension]

Today while rehearsing for a labor day gig tomorrow I took my 95 Washburn USA MG 102 with a JB and my 15 Modern player Tele with the 59/Custom.
Here is my take on the 2.
JB very slightly hotter but much more compressed fatter but also less defined and clear.
The 59 Custom cut through the mix better was more defined had much better clarity overall and a HUGE lead in the harmonics.
I expected the JB to be more the lead players pickup have better harmonics and more of a singing solo voice. Could not have been more wrong!!
The 59 Custom is lead players wet DREAM! this pickup sings like crazy and harmonics just explode out of this pickup in this particular guitar. The 59/Custom in the mix cuts so well it seems both hotter and bigger than the JB much to my amazement!!
May be somewhat due to the different set ups though. The Tele is a pine body solid maple neck hardtail, the MG a swamp ash maple neck rosewood board with a Wilky.
Saying that the MG 102 has consistently been one of my best sounding guitars for harder rock and solos and the Tele with the 59 Custom just flat spanked the heck out of it head to head today for both.
HUGELY surprised here with the tones I'm getting out of the 59/Custom hybrid and will tell you this thing is one heck of a rocking pickup and loves to SING!!!
I expected clarity and harmonics but not the huge open tones I got this pickup is a BEAST!!

 

[Mincer]

Re: JB VS 59/Custom hybrid and was very surprised.

I agree. For my playing, I will take the 59/Custom Hybrid over the JB every single time. You can use it clean, with a little dirt or all out. It sounds tight no matter what. Very versatile, which I never found the JB to be.

 

[Ascension]

Re: JB VS 59/Custom hybrid and was very surprised.

I agree. For my playing, I will take the 59/Custom Hybrid over the JB every single time. You can use it clean, with a little dirt or all out. It sounds tight no matter what. Very versatile, which I never found the JB to be.

What really surprised me was how it feels so BIG but yet is so clear and defined. I expected it to be a PAF like pickup but it's so much more. Pick harmonics just explode out of this thing like nothing else I have used. I'm not joking on how well it sings on solos just fluid and oh so smooth but still clear.
Have always thought the JB in the right guitar was pure magic but in the wrong one also really bad. I can't see the 59/Custom being anywhere near as fickle on woods as the JB. Bet it would REALLY be a cool pickup in a Les Paul for hard rock to metal!!

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Re: JB VS 59/Custom hybrid and was very surprised.

I agree. For my playing, I will take the 59/Custom Hybrid over the JB every single time. You can use it clean, with a little dirt or all out. It sounds tight no matter what. Very versatile, which I never found the JB to be.

Totally agree. I don't dislike the JB, but I'm not the only one who's found it to be pretty much a one trick pony.

 

[stevie_bees]

JB VS 59/Custom hybrid and was very surprised.

I've got 2 JBs, one fitted in a superstrat and one in a Fret-King Esprit V. The one in the superstrat is in there for exactly the reason it should be in there. The JB excels in that situation, but I have to ensure my amp/pedals are tweaked specifically for it. I don't tend to gig with that guitar for that reason, but it does 80's hair metal at a canter. The JB in the Esprit is paired with a Jazz. It has more versatility imo in the mahogany body/neck of that guitar, and I can get a good variety of tones. It gives me some good options using a classic rock type of tone. That being said, I'm eyeing up the Saturday Night Specials to go in that guitar down the line!
I have the 59/Custom in my McCarty, and it is superb. Extremely versatile, splits really well and I can get spanky cleans to rock out roar from one guitar. It was originally in the Fret-King, and sounded fab in there too!
My conundrum (1st World pickup problems!) is whether to get a trem-spaced version to go in the McCarty (the poles are slightly too narrow) and put the 59/C back in the Fret-King, or plan for the SNS set!


Sent from my TARDIS using timey-wimey talk.

 

[Demanic]

Re: JB VS 59/Custom hybrid and was very surprised.

Makes me want a JB/Custom hybrid.

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[darthphineas]

Re: JB VS 59/Custom hybrid and was very surprised.

Makes me want a JB/Custom hybrid.

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk

Made one years ago, using the A5 mag. It's a fun pickup.

Also have a DD/Custom pickup I'll be evaluating in the very near future. So imagine the JB/C with a double thick ceramic.

Compared to the JB, I found the 59/C Hybrid to not have the push that I wanted for lead work.

 

[Demanic]

Re: JB VS 59/Custom hybrid and was very surprised.

I would think that the JB/Custom would have a better push for leads while still having the benefits of the unbalanced coils.

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[darthphineas]

Re: JB VS 59/Custom hybrid and was very surprised.

I would think that the JB/Custom would have a better push for leads while still having the benefits of the unbalanced coils.

it does.

 

[SJ318]

Re: JB VS 59/Custom hybrid and was very surprised.

Hey, Hi there,
Can this clean up enough if played with a Princeton Reverb and the Amp volume down to 3 or 4, with the bridge pup dimed, can you get close to the "ideal for me" Bloomfield
clean tones. All else can be added with more amp & pedals.
I hated the JB as it would NOT clean up through my Princeton Reverb, It was just TOO hot, too much resistance. ruined hot pickups forever for me, but....that 59/Custom calls.
Pretty please an answer, gentlemen and women, as I keep looking at this through the years while I have been exploring PAF 8K-9K PAF style pup's with mag swaps, ThroBaks, ECP pups, and many many Duncans. A5' A5 short, A4 mags seem to help me with certain pups, not with other. I have found my perfect sound about 3 times now.
Might even go with an UOA5, but still have not as one well liked winder says "nah, just sounds like an A4, and another popular maker says, Nah, don't like 'em.
These winders are Throwback and ECPickups. So, I read here they are remarkable in the right pup. This has got to stop, I'll die in bed doing mag swaps.
The 59/Custom seems to be an all in one for a lot of folks. Edgy, clean, rockin', etc.
Your favorite interrogator,
Steve B.

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: JB VS 59/Custom hybrid and was very surprised.

Made one years ago, using the A5 mag. It's a fun pickup.

Also have a DD/Custom pickup I'll be evaluating in the very near future. So imagine the JB/C with a double thick ceramic.

Compared to the JB, I found the 59/C Hybrid to not have the push that I wanted for lead work.

Try a JB/59.

 

[Demanic]

Re: JB VS 59/Custom hybrid and was very surprised.

I have a UOA5 in a JB and it's not coming out again. I have to think that I would like it in the 59/Custom too.
If I want a more scooped sound I'll use my Ibby V with the D-Activators. If I want to peel the paint and powder the drywall, I use my Ibby with the Alt8 in the bridge.

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[darthphineas]

Re: JB VS 59/Custom hybrid and was very surprised.

Try a JB/59.

I have.

How did that one work out for you??

 

[Ascension]

Re: JB VS 59/Custom hybrid and was very surprised.

Hey, Hi there,
Can this clean up enough if played with a Princeton Reverb and the Amp volume down to 3 or 4, with the bridge pup dimed, can you get close to the "ideal for me" Bloomfield
clean tones. All else can be added with more amp & pedals.
The 59/Custom seems to be an all in one for a lot of folks. Edgy, clean, rockin', etc.
Your favorite interrogator,
Steve B.

In the right guitar I should think so Steve . In particular the cleans split are nice for a bucker and this pickup really responds well to touch.

 

[SJ318]

Re: JB VS 59/Custom hybrid and was very surprised.

Ascension,
Thank you, I have done many mag swaps, used so many pickups, that the whole idea of offset coils being edgier -
(That word I hope means the same to all, as in "crunch"), just sounds so sounds right. It gets all the correct adjectives I look for, I won't bore you with a list.
I am am financially getting more comfortable with pulling the trigger. It was that way for me with TroBak PG-102, and it turned out great finally in the right guitar, (a very dull chambered basswood Strat.)
Seth's, many mag swaps, A4 was great, then A5 Short sounded a little better not so harsh as an A5(very subtle, but enough for me to love it.) The Jazz Bridge is remarkably good, yes it's quite bright, but a few adjustments on the amp set it good. Also on my list of possible good bridge p'ups. Maybe a mag swap, or wound a little extra for more resistance which would take a little high end off.
Anyway, always on the hunt for a PAF wind that can do it all, for my ears, and my curse is I am a fickle and OCD kind of guy. I think Lt. Kojak would agree on that one! I mean that in a good way, Pepe.
Well, thanks for responding,
Steve B.

 

[Mincer]

Re: JB VS 59/Custom hybrid and was very surprised.

Hey, Hi there,
Can this clean up enough if played with a Princeton Reverb and the Amp volume down to 3 or 4, with the bridge pup dimed, can you get close to the "ideal for me" Bloomfield
clean tones. All else can be added with more amp & pedals.
I hated the JB as it would NOT clean up through my Princeton Reverb, It was just TOO hot, too much resistance. ruined hot pickups forever for me, but....that 59/Custom calls.
Pretty please an answer, gentlemen and women, as I keep looking at this through the years while I have been exploring PAF 8K-9K PAF style pup's with mag swaps, ThroBaks, ECP pups, and many many Duncans. A5' A5 short, A4 mags seem to help me with certain pups, not with other. I have found my perfect sound about 3 times now.
Might even go with an UOA5, but still have not as one well liked winder says "nah, just sounds like an A4, and another popular maker says, Nah, don't like 'em.
These winders are Throwback and ECPickups. So, I read here they are remarkable in the right pup. This has got to stop, I'll die in bed doing mag swaps.
The 59/Custom seems to be an all in one for a lot of folks. Edgy, clean, rockin', etc.
Your favorite interrogator,
Steve B.

Yup, absolutely. It doesn't compress like the JB (or any JB coil) does. Still sounds open to me, and very responsive to dynamics.

 

[Hopkinwfg]

Re: JB VS 59/Custom hybrid and was very surprised.

So the 59custom hybrid has a basic character of a JB and has a much better tone than a JB ?

 

[SJ318]

Re: JB VS 59/Custom hybrid and was very surprised.

Hi,
I had a JB and was impressed at how big the sound was at rehearsal, but when I went to play it clean on my Princ.Rev. it would not, under any circumstances, clean up. It was sot hot that with my 15-18 watt amp, on 3-4, when I turned the volume down, it was a mud wrestling competition, and when I turned my guitar all the way up, it was just like a fuzz pedal with the gain on very slightly, and the volume on 10.
So I tried a different guitar with a BB 2 in it, and it was clean as glass, nice tone, and I compare that sound to Mike Bloomfield.
Therefore, the idea of a pickup that can do a good job of cleaning up, and has the ability to push the front end of an amp when said amp is on 7 or so, well, the 59/Custom seems to be the only one that might.
So, they are very different p'ups. The 59/Custom could have more "growl" but still clean up to Bloomfield standards.
Thanks, Mincer. The JB was a 14-16k (which will give you an "idea" of how loud it is, and my BB 2 was 8.4K or so).
Steve B.

 

[Mincer]

Re: JB VS 59/Custom hybrid and was very surprised.

So the 59custom hybrid has a basic character of a JB and has a much better tone than a JB ?

To me, it sounds nothing like a JB. It isn't compressed. It doesn't have a high mid spike. It doesn't honk at you. It sounds good clean. It has touch-sensitivity. For my stuff, the Hybrid is much, much better.

 

[Hopkinwfg]

Re: JB VS 59/Custom hybrid and was very surprised.

To me, it sounds nothing like a JB. It isn't compressed. It doesn't have a high mid spike. It doesn't honk at you. It sounds good clean. It has touch-sensitivity. For my stuff, the Hybrid is much, much better.

It seems like the 59s custom hybrid is cool for high gain application... just wonder will the 59s custom hybrid will sound natural and raw ?