JB's through the years..

yngwie308

yngwie308

New member
Can anyone help me with some data regarding the SD JB pickup??
First when was the model introduced?
And how if any would a 1984-5 version differ than say an early nineties one or in comparison to todays.
Did they have more conductor wires as years went on, did the technical specifications vary at all??
Also in the years 1984(late) to (early) 1985 were the DC resistance measurements the same, the outputs similar?
I am writing an article about a famous guitar and this info would help me immensely.
Also what single coil pickups were available back then, were the SSL series out?
What would have been a popular suitable mixture for the single coil in the neck position and the JB in the bridge. This is an alder bodied geetar with a maple neck, one piece.
Thanks in advance
yngwie308
 
Re: JB's through the years..

Jb hasnt changed. The protypes did come with a rough cast A5 mag where the production pickups have all came with smooth cast but that was it.

1974 was when Seymour wound the originals for Jeff beck but went into production in 76
 
Re: JB's through the years..

This from the Bare Knuckle site:

" The specs are really different and to me the sound is totally different having had both - my original JB (which is so old that there is no mention of Seymour Duncan anywhere on it and it only has the sticker on the baseplate, which I am pretty certain is just JB), has a DC resistance of 14.74K and has a different reading in each coil (I think 7.22 and 7.52), the spec on the new one is 16.4 K. The new one to me is a very 'closed' pickup and is a dark sound, whereas the old one is a really nice sounding pickup and works really well as a neck pickup with a PAF style neck pickup (I have it witk a 1990/91 Pearly Gates - with a PGNJ sticker). I gave away the newer one (which was a 90's one), because I couldn't stand the sound of it. "

Personally I have no idea , just saying there are differences of opinion. SD currently make 4 versions of the JB - normal, antiquity, anniversary and one made to the specs of the original pre-production pups made for Jeff Beck. Make of that what you will.
 
Re: JB's through the years..

richard parker said:
This from the Bare Knuckle site:

" The specs are really different and to me the sound is totally different having had both - my original JB (which is so old that there is no mention of Seymour Duncan anywhere on it and it only has the sticker on the baseplate, which I am pretty certain is just JB), has a DC resistance of 14.74K and has a different reading in each coil (I think 7.22 and 7.52), the spec on the new one is 16.4 K. The new one to me is a very 'closed' pickup and is a dark sound, whereas the old one is a really nice sounding pickup and works really well as a neck pickup with a PAF style neck pickup (I have it witk a 1990/91 Pearly Gates - with a PGNJ sticker). I gave away the newer one (which was a 90's one), because I couldn't stand the sound of it. "

Personally I have no idea , just saying there are differences of opinion. SD currently make 4 versions of the JB - normal, antiquity, anniversary and one made to the specs of the original pre-production pups made for Jeff Beck. Make of that what you will.
Click to expand...

and in this thread https://forum.seymourduncan.com/showthread.php?t=2617 Evan states (post number 7) that they didnt change. They have even explained the different versions of it. Its been said time and time again that the production JB hasnt changed. Sure someone might wind up with one that was wound a little hotter or a little less hot or someone might have one that the mag has degaussed some but that doesnt mean that there were actual production differences... those are production variations.
 
Re: JB's through the years..

what is up with these "14K" JB's? I would think that a pup wound to 14K with the JB wire gauge(AWG44) would sound really crappy?
I have seen quite a few for sale or whatever that says the reading was at 14K? thats quite a bit off from the 16.4K-17.6K it is these days
 
Re: JB's through the years..

Are they sure it's not actually a Custom? Looks that way. Do those 14K JBs have Alnico or Ceramic mags? Are you sure they are 14K AWG44, and not AWG43?
 
Re: JB's through the years..

richard parker said:
This from the Bare Knuckle site:

" the old one is a really nice sounding pickup and works really well as a neck pickup with a PAF style neck pickup (I have it witk a 1990/91 Pearly Gates - with a PGNJ sticker). "
Click to expand...

That guy makes no sense.
 
Re: JB's through the years..

I love the 80's JBs :) found one at a pawn shop for $60. Installed it in my dad's Leslie Paula and it sounds killer. Very JBish haha. It isnt too far off from the new SH-4s personally... i think the tone has smoothed out a little bit over the years though, which awesome.
 
Re: JB's through the years..

richard parker said:
This from the Bare Knuckle site:

" The specs are really different and to me the sound is totally different having had both - my original JB (which is so old that there is no mention of Seymour Duncan anywhere on it and it only has the sticker on the baseplate, which I am pretty certain is just JB), has a DC resistance of 14.74K and has a different reading in each coil (I think 7.22 and 7.52), the spec on the new one is 16.4 K. The new one to me is a very 'closed' pickup and is a dark sound, whereas the old one is a really nice sounding pickup and works really well as a neck pickup with a PAF style neck pickup (I have it witk a 1990/91 Pearly Gates - with a PGNJ sticker). I gave away the newer one (which was a 90's one), because I couldn't stand the sound of it. "
Click to expand...

Use as a neck pickup? Just because it has 1 K less shouldn't it usable as a neck pickup. This whole quote doesn't sound very credible to me, not to mention it looks messed up.

Also, the plain baseplate doesn't make it *that* old. I'm not sure what the cutover date was but it was long after production at SD started.

My JBs measure between 15.9 and 16.7, with the oldest one happening to be the lowest resistance. Assuming that SD puts on the same number of winds, maybe the wires changed a bit to be just a tiny bit thinner?

In any case, these DC/resistance numbers are +- 5% which is easily explained just with temperature.
 
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