Jb with lower output
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Ascension
Well-known member
Re: Jb with lower output
Agree!! Many will say the Perpetual Burn but I disagree. Have a couple of Hybrids in play and one Perpet along with a couple of JB's. The Hybrid is more harmonically alive than the JB has less output so cleans and opens up better but also hit's like a sledgehammer when you want it to.
The Perpet is a cool pickup but is MUCH more shall we say "polite" than both. The Perpet is a very big sounding articulate smooth and clear pickup and is very cool, however has a much more polite and reserved overall vibe than both the JB and the Hybrid.
A2 with the JB will drop the output and also take out a little of the mid honk it has but also makes the JB softer in feel and looser in the bottom. Have had several mags in JB's.
Agree!! Many will say the Perpetual Burn but I disagree. Have a couple of Hybrids in play and one Perpet along with a couple of JB's. The Hybrid is more harmonically alive than the JB has less output so cleans and opens up better but also hit's like a sledgehammer when you want it to.
The Perpet is a cool pickup but is MUCH more shall we say "polite" than both. The Perpet is a very big sounding articulate smooth and clear pickup and is very cool, however has a much more polite and reserved overall vibe than both the JB and the Hybrid.
A2 with the JB will drop the output and also take out a little of the mid honk it has but also makes the JB softer in feel and looser in the bottom. Have had several mags in JB's.
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David Garner
New member
Re: Jb with lower output
If I wanted an under wound JB I’d call the Custom Shop. Right now that means a long wait but that’s one way to get exactly what you’re after.
If I wanted an under wound JB I’d call the Custom Shop. Right now that means a long wait but that’s one way to get exactly what you’re after.
Masta' C
Well-known member
Re: Jb with lower output
This is not a common mod here (it was made popular by DiMarzio players...people here tend to lean toward mag-swaps and hybrids, as you can tell), but half-airing the JB could work! It would open up the sound a bit and reduce the output slightly, just as you want. Another option would be to swap the magnet for an unoriented A5 (aka: UOA5).
This is not a common mod here (it was made popular by DiMarzio players...people here tend to lean toward mag-swaps and hybrids, as you can tell), but half-airing the JB could work! It would open up the sound a bit and reduce the output slightly, just as you want. Another option would be to swap the magnet for an unoriented A5 (aka: UOA5).
beaubrummels
Well-known member
Re: Jb with lower output
A3 in the JB?
A3 in the JB?
DavidRavenMoon
New member
Re: Jb with lower output
Reducing the magnet strength will make the tone darker and the dynamics mushy. The DiMarzio air gap is their way to weaken the magnet without going to a weaker magnet.
Putting a ceramic magnet in will give a less compressed tone. Or maybe an alnico 8.
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Reducing the magnet strength will make the tone darker and the dynamics mushy. The DiMarzio air gap is their way to weaken the magnet without going to a weaker magnet.
Putting a ceramic magnet in will give a less compressed tone. Or maybe an alnico 8.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Masta' C
Well-known member
Re: Jb with lower output
A8 for less compressed tone than A5? Yeah, no...a tighter bottom end, more midrange focus and more output, sure, but definitely not less compression/more dynamics.
Sheer magnet strength isn't the only thing to be considered here.
I would try the half-air mod first, honestly. It should lower the output and add in some dynamics without changing the core tone of the JB too drastically. I'm also thinking a half-aired JB with a UOA5 could be a dream for some.
A8 for less compressed tone than A5? Yeah, no...a tighter bottom end, more midrange focus and more output, sure, but definitely not less compression/more dynamics.
Sheer magnet strength isn't the only thing to be considered here.
I would try the half-air mod first, honestly. It should lower the output and add in some dynamics without changing the core tone of the JB too drastically. I'm also thinking a half-aired JB with a UOA5 could be a dream for some.
Masta' C
Well-known member
Re: Jb with lower output
You with your hybrids and double-thick mags...:9:
He can likely get what he wants with a screwdriver, 10 minutes, and no other parts required. Seems the best place to start, especially since he likes the JB in stock form, just needs a tweak.
By the way, CARLOSG, did you try adjusting the height of the pickup and/or pole pieces? Backing the JB away from the strings a bit could also help.
You with your hybrids and double-thick mags...:9:
He can likely get what he wants with a screwdriver, 10 minutes, and no other parts required. Seems the best place to start, especially since he likes the JB in stock form, just needs a tweak.
By the way, CARLOSG, did you try adjusting the height of the pickup and/or pole pieces? Backing the JB away from the strings a bit could also help.
hamerfan
Well-known member
Re: Jb with lower output
I think these were quite common mods back in the days. They were something like a DIY version of the Dokkenbucker and the first attempt to create an Alternative 8.
I think these were quite common mods back in the days. They were something like a DIY version of the Dokkenbucker and the first attempt to create an Alternative 8.
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Dave Locher
New member
Re: Jb with lower output
Before all the other mods, put the A5 back in, lower the pickup down a fair bit and maybe raise the fillister screws a bit. Voila: JB with a bit less output and a more open sound.
Before all the other mods, put the A5 back in, lower the pickup down a fair bit and maybe raise the fillister screws a bit. Voila: JB with a bit less output and a more open sound.
Ascension
Well-known member
Re: Jb with lower output
Disagree here. I find the A8 to be less compressed than the A5 have run A8's in the JB a couple times like the set up. Tighter quicker in response and more balanced to my ear. I also pull A8 mag pickups down a little further than normal because of the mag pull so the output doesn't change very much just the tone and feel.
Disagree here. I find the A8 to be less compressed than the A5 have run A8's in the JB a couple times like the set up. Tighter quicker in response and more balanced to my ear. I also pull A8 mag pickups down a little further than normal because of the mag pull so the output doesn't change very much just the tone and feel.
Re: Jb with lower output
This has been around the block for years. The JB is so heavily would to a 16k or so it doesn't matter what mods you make, the over wind will always make it dirty when you lower the volume. Don't believe me? Try any mod and play it through a nice clean Fender like a Princeton or a Deluxe set on clean. The closest you will ever get to clean is dirty.
Great p'up when all the way up for screaming leads, but it will NEVER, EVER, CLEAN UP. You must do a hybrid (then you'll have 2 great pickups) with a much lower out put humbucker, period. Or go to a lower wind like the 59/Hybrid. Still screams, but just low enough to clean up. Mag changes, "air-mods" won't do it. What mincer and Clint-55 said! I know this as fact as l have done them all. I currently like the gritty WLH Bridge, and it cleans up nicely. At 9k with a hot magnet, you outta try it, a step below 59/Hybrid but still screams. And gives you BB King if you feel like it by turning it down with the vol. pot.
SJB
This has been around the block for years. The JB is so heavily would to a 16k or so it doesn't matter what mods you make, the over wind will always make it dirty when you lower the volume. Don't believe me? Try any mod and play it through a nice clean Fender like a Princeton or a Deluxe set on clean. The closest you will ever get to clean is dirty.
Great p'up when all the way up for screaming leads, but it will NEVER, EVER, CLEAN UP. You must do a hybrid (then you'll have 2 great pickups) with a much lower out put humbucker, period. Or go to a lower wind like the 59/Hybrid. Still screams, but just low enough to clean up. Mag changes, "air-mods" won't do it. What mincer and Clint-55 said! I know this as fact as l have done them all. I currently like the gritty WLH Bridge, and it cleans up nicely. At 9k with a hot magnet, you outta try it, a step below 59/Hybrid but still screams. And gives you BB King if you feel like it by turning it down with the vol. pot.
SJB
freefrog
Well-known member
Re: Jb with lower output
In the late 90's I obtained the cleanest tones from a bridge JB in a marshall thanks to a simple trick: a parametric EQ before any gain stage, digging drastically the midrange (F= 1khz, Q factor = 1). It worked pretty well...
Years later, I've discovered that Paul Gilbert was doing the same kind of thing with his "Detox" pedal.
USELESS WORDY FOOTNOTE - Actually, it would be possible to give a JB the same kind of tonal curve than a regular P.A.F. replica by wiring it in series with a small capacitor (something like 470pF). As long as this component would be located AFTER the tone pot, all the controls in the guitar would work correctly.
Another simple solution would be to wire a JB in parallel with a LR network... Find any cheap MIC HB with the same readings than a JB (roughly 16k and 8H). Pull off its mag and baseplate. Wire the whole in parallel with the active JB and burry this "dummy" pickup in the electronic cavity.
Play and listen. If it flattens the tone too much, rise a bit the resistive load to ground (with a no load tone pot, a 1M volume etc.)...
Non limitative list FWIW (a few cents of components and a few minutes of experiments with alligator clips for anyone who would want to hear what this post is talking about).
In the late 90's I obtained the cleanest tones from a bridge JB in a marshall thanks to a simple trick: a parametric EQ before any gain stage, digging drastically the midrange (F= 1khz, Q factor = 1). It worked pretty well...
Years later, I've discovered that Paul Gilbert was doing the same kind of thing with his "Detox" pedal.
USELESS WORDY FOOTNOTE - Actually, it would be possible to give a JB the same kind of tonal curve than a regular P.A.F. replica by wiring it in series with a small capacitor (something like 470pF). As long as this component would be located AFTER the tone pot, all the controls in the guitar would work correctly.
Another simple solution would be to wire a JB in parallel with a LR network... Find any cheap MIC HB with the same readings than a JB (roughly 16k and 8H). Pull off its mag and baseplate. Wire the whole in parallel with the active JB and burry this "dummy" pickup in the electronic cavity.
Play and listen. If it flattens the tone too much, rise a bit the resistive load to ground (with a no load tone pot, a 1M volume etc.)...
Non limitative list FWIW (a few cents of components and a few minutes of experiments with alligator clips for anyone who would want to hear what this post is talking about).
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