JBJ vs JB
- Thread starter esandes
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Rex_Rocker
Well-known member
I don't have a JBJ, but I do have the next best thing, I suppose. An Antiquity. My experience with the Ant vs the standard JB is exactly the same as the first video and the video I posted.
That being said, I like the regular production JB just fine. Especially in a Les Paul tuned low.
Honestly, I don't agree with romanticizing vintage. I get it, old JB's have the cool factor. And like the guy says, that's the sound that you hear on those old records. But current day JB's are good too. They're just slightly different (but not all that much and probably more consistent). And they start sounding more similar to the old ones the more they age too. They surely never made a deliverate decision like, "yeah, let's totally make the JB sound worse now." If anything, the changes made were meant to improve it in some way or another.
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Chistopher
malapterurus electricus tonewood instigator
Unless this is a video comparing Joe Bonamassa and Jon Bon Jovi, I'm not watching it
Rex_Rocker
Well-known member
On a related note, I've never found the contemporary JBs' treble to be problematic, personally. My hot take, I suppose, is that if anything, the treble is pretty rolled off if you start comparing to the Custom, Custom 5, Distortion, Nazgul, Dimebucker, '59B, WLH, PG, etc., and like 80-90% of the Duncan humbucker lineup. So I don't think a little extra treble from the polished magnet in contemporary JB's is that attrocious of a thing.
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i like a current jb, just put one in a friends guitar and it sounded awesome! i get the cool factor of having an old one, and maybe it does sound a little different, bet it still sounds like a jb though.
as far as joe b vs jon bj... i dont care to watch that video. but id love to lay my hands on some of joes gear
as far as joe b vs jon bj... i dont care to watch that video. but id love to lay my hands on some of joes gear
Bill Dennis
Active member
I took it to mean an older MJ wound JB
Th more experienced I get, the more I realize that the nuances I chased around every corner back in the day really don't matter all that much. If its brighter you instinctively tweak the amp, adjust your picking hand etc. and end up pretty much in the same spot no matter what variation on a theme you are using
Certainly not with a thumbnail like that. I have a hard time with guitar influencers.
Rex_Rocker
Well-known member
Sorry to beat on a dead horse, but I was playing my Les Pauls back to back today. One with the standard JB, one with the CS Antiquity JB, and there's not much to it. Yes, I like the CS JB better, but not in a way that I know it's rational. If you think the standard JB is worse because it's brighter, then by those standards, the Custom, the Distortion, or any pickup that's brighter and/or harsher than the JB is inferior... and that's just not the case. They're not even THAT different, but even with the difference there is, one is not objectively better than the other.
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Bill Dennis
Active member
I keep hearing how bright a JB is but I am not hearing it. I have one in an alder body, roasted maple neck, 1 humbucker guitar with just a 500k pot. It should be bright as hell if the tales are to be believed but it isn't. It tracks a touch dark if anything. It was bought new from Sweetwater and has not been altered in any way, and yes, I am sure the pot is 500k +/- 10%. I measured it.
Rex_Rocker
Well-known member
I agree. I don't think the JB is all that bright to begin with. I mentioned a few posts ago that once you start comparing it to most of the rest of the Duncan humbucker lineup, the highs are actually pretty rolled off by comparison. So the fact that the polished magnet and whatever other difference the newer ones have gives them a little bit more highs is not such a bad thing, I feel.
Bill Dennis
Active member
What frequency range are "true mids" vs "scooped mids" in a pickup?
Dunno, never measured.
Rex_Rocker
Well-known member
Recorded a quick clip of my JB equipped guitars.
I like the palm-mutes on the Ant better, but I kinda like the roar the chords have in the Plain Jane JB.
marcello252
Well-known member
I had a jbj in the 90s (I didn't know it was a precious thing back then, but I remember the sticker on, I sold it eons ago), I don't know if it's just psychoacoustics or nostalgic impression but the modern jb I have now on the same strat doesn't give me the same feeling I remember, it lacks a certain warm, it's however a very good pickup, just not the same in my mind
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