JB Wiring Issue

jafo

jafo

New member
Red+White, Green+Bare, as usual. 16k95 reading from green to black; W/R to green is 8k6, R/W to black is 8k6. Both coils pass the tap test. However, there is no humbucking and the whole thing is weak, severely outpowered by the Jazz N, seemingly double as if in parallel, but the readings rule that out. Maybe one coil got wound backwards?
 
First try increasing the pickup height. I just had this with a brand new, newly fitted, SNS. Then i noticed how low the bridge humbucker was relative to the strings.

As for coil readings:

With the red and white joined you should get around 16.6 kohm green to black.

Split the red and white apart and you should get around 8.3 kohm black to white and red to green.

You should NOT be getting ANY circuit (infinite ohms) white to red or green. Likewise black to red or green.

If you are getting a circuit where you should not, either someone's been messing with the wiring or you've got a dud.
 
Even if the coils are wound correctly, one of them could be wired out of phase.
It's been known to happen (once or twice, out of countless thousands of pickups).

The pickup is brand new, yes? I'd exchange it for another, rather than opening it up.
 
To my hearing/taste, the JB definitely sounds "better" with an A2 or even an A8. BUT...it still sounds like a JB (which is not a good thing to me).
 
jafo said:
Thanks, guys. Turns out that they had the red and green leads reversed. Easy fix. Popped in an A2, and I'm thinking I should've done this four decades ago.
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They wouldn't let me join the RAF because I'm ever so slightly red/green color blind. I expect someone at SD might be too :D

About the first they do at the recruitment center is to give you an eye test to check whether you can tell if the planes are coming towards you (bad guys presumably) or flying away from you (good guys presumably).

I failed.
 
Mincer said:
See, to me, a JB sounds like a JB, even with an A2.
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I tried everything I could think of to improve the sound of the JB, different magnets, different pole pieces, wiring in parallel, etc. Nothing worked...it still sounded like a JB. To me, that's not a good thing. The JB seems to have its place and lots of people like it, but it's just not my thing. It overloads my hearing and gets very tiring after a short while.
 
GuitarDoc said:
I tried everything I could think of to improve the sound of the JB, different magnets, different pole pieces, wiring in parallel, etc. Nothing worked...it still sounded like a JB. To me, that's not a good thing. The JB seems to have its place and lots of people like it, but it's just not my thing. It overloads my hearing and gets very tiring after a short while.
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I had the same experience. As much as I tried, I could just never get into that sound.
 
When I first put a JB in a guitar and try it out, it seems fine...maybe even good. But after about 30 seconds I get fatigued by that tone and just can't "fix" it. I just want to throw my guitar out the window and scream (I don't actually do that though). Just take out the JB and put something else in. There are SOOOO many other/better pups available.
 
Demanic said:
I can't imagine ever getting fatigued by the sound of a properly wired JB.

Sent from my SM-A115A using Tapatalk
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What do you mean by "properly wired"? Are you referring to the connections in the control cavity or the windings on the coils? Is connecting the two coils in parallel or splitting to only one coil considered "properly wired"?
 
GuitarDoc said:
What do you mean by "properly wired"? Are you referring to the connections in the control cavity or the windings on the coils? Is connecting the two coils in parallel or splitting to only one coil considered "properly wired"?
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I'm a fan of all sorts of different configurations. By "properly" I mean all of the solder points being solid.

Sent from my SM-A115A using Tapatalk
 
I’m finding that the A2 gives the JB a warmer, sweeter, less boomy sound (maybe too soft), but yeah, it’s a JB. However, it’s all in how you use it. It’s fantastic as a more… vocal? liquid? sustaining? PAF, especially under lower gain. (I’m not a shredder.) It’s a great complement to the Customs, which excel as hotter, crunchier PAFs.
 
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