Magnet swap to fix JB's muddy cleans

[gregory]

Re: Magnet swap to fix JB's muddy cleans

DCR is a consequence of the design. There is no point in designing something to have a specific DCR.

Thank you for doing all this heavy lifting, Joey Voltage. Hopefully this nonsense about DCR will cease, especially as it is misused to characterize humbuckers wired in parallel. The religion seems to run pretty deep, however.

 

[Joey Voltage]

Re: Magnet swap to fix JB's muddy cleans

Exactly! And anytime.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Magnet swap to fix JB's muddy cleans

If you want to improve the JB, you could fiddle with mag swaps. Or you could hard wire in a bass cut or do a bass cut knob. Or you could partial split, parallel, or do a spin a split. I agree with the others though that a different pickup is the call. If you want better cleans but want it good for handling dirt the next step down for less output more clarity would be the Custom 5, and then the 59/C, and then the Screamin Demon.

 

[gregory]

Re: Magnet swap to fix JB's muddy cleans

Full Shred fits in there somewhere, as well as the Pegasus, which to me is the sweet spot in the SD line if you still want a pickup with some cojones.

 

[Joey Voltage]

Re: Magnet swap to fix JB's muddy cleans

To be honest, I don't know anybody including myself that uses the bridge pickup by itself clean. I usually have the inner coils shorted when the switch is in the middle position, and just use that position for clean stuff, or the neck pickup for clean solos. Bridge is usually reserved for crunch or distortion only

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Magnet swap to fix JB's muddy cleans

I like clean bridge for surf or garage rock or the like.

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: Magnet swap to fix JB's muddy cleans

I agree with a clean bridge working well for surf; but I don't use a JB for that, split or not.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Magnet swap to fix JB's muddy cleans

Uh huh probably more for White Stripes or Everclear type stuff.

 

[KNUCKLHEAD]

Re: Magnet swap to fix JB's muddy cleans

Country pickers used to use clean bridge all the time for studio work . I got Lost in Texas drinkin' too much Everclear back in the day

 

[LtKojak]

Re: Magnet swap to fix JB's muddy cleans

To be honest, I don't know anybody including myself that uses the bridge pickup by itself clean. Bridge is usually reserved for crunch or distortion only

This forma mentis is the result of listening and/or playing a very narrow selection of music styles.

Sign of times, I suppose...

 

[Despair]

Re: Magnet swap to fix JB's muddy cleans

This forma mentis is the result of listening and/or playing a very narrow selection of music styles.

Sign of times, I suppose...

Going back 3 decades. Single pickup guitars were overly popular in rock/metal circles in 80s. Often with just the JB, and not even a parallel or series switch. Or even a tone control. A bit overspecialized for my tastes...

On the other hand, some of the players who exclusively used the bridge pickup back then, or only used neck for cleans, have discovered distorted neck solo tones in the last decade... Better late than never! Now for the middle position...

 

[SJ318]

Re: Magnet swap to fix JB's muddy cleans

Lt. Kojak hit it.
Really big picture vs. the really narrow view.
Dear OP, there is way too much info here that you don't need to fix your problem. Good info, but too much. Toss the JB, sell it. Get a '59, try a RCA5, A4, or RCUOA5. The mags are dirt cheap. You can't lose. Get a Seth Lover, same mag swaps. Again, you cannot lose. For a bigger sound, and the ability to get clean sounds, get a 59/Hybrid NO mag swaps.
If money and the ability to try 2 similar p'up's and 1 louder, but clean also p'up is daunting, get the 59/Hybrid. I've tried lots of p'up's, not the '59. So if you were my BEST FRIEND, but in another state, I would tell you to get the 59/Hybrid. You can even get really solid clean highs if you install the p'up with the stronger slugs (hotter bobbin) nearer the bridge. With the weaker pole bobbin toward the neck, you can dial in or out as much high or low as you want. Both of my hybrids are slugs toward the bridge. I love them.
Really.
'NUFF SAID. Steve Buffington. ....(the A4 I like more than most folks, thought I'd add it. Hey, what are friends for?)

 

[blueman335]

Re: Magnet swap to fix JB's muddy cleans

Lt. Kojak hit it.
Really big picture vs. the really narrow view.
Dear OP, there is way too much info here that you don't need to fix your problem. Good info, but too much. Toss the JB, sell it. Get a '59, try a RCA5, A4, or RCUOA5. The mags are dirt cheap. You can't lose. Get a Seth Lover, same mag swaps. Again, you cannot lose. For a bigger sound, and the ability to get clean sounds, get a 59/Hybrid NO mag swaps.
If money and the ability to try 2 similar p'up's and 1 louder, but clean also p'up is daunting, get the 59/Hybrid. I've tried lots of p'up's, not the '59. So if you were my BEST FRIEND, but in another state, I would tell you to get the 59/Hybrid. You can even get really solid clean highs if you install the p'up with the stronger slugs (hotter bobbin) nearer the bridge. With the weaker pole bobbin toward the neck, you can dial in or out as much high or low as you want. Both of my hybrids are slugs toward the bridge. I love them.
Really.
'NUFF SAID. Steve Buffington. ....(the A4 I like more than most folks, thought I'd add it. Hey, what are friends for?)

Agree except for one minor point, I have to have a warmer magnet in a '59/Custom or similar hybrid, as it's just too bright and thin for me otherwise. But that's a matter of taste. When I make my own bridge hybrids, I don't want that big of a difference in coils (7K vs 4.2K); that's a lot more than needed to get a clear, bright bridge tone. .5K or 1K difference is plenty. A .5K difference in coils in a neck hybrid is enough to give a nice sharp high end, even with an A2 or UOA5.

 

[Joey Voltage]

Re: Magnet swap to fix JB's muddy cleans

This forma mentis is the result of listening and/or playing a very narrow selection of music styles.

Sign of times, I suppose...

Is it though? Or just an indication there are more options.

Back on topic though. I know the op didn't specify, but he did mention the purpose was occasional slow arpeggios. That and his choice of a JB in the first place doesn't really lead me to believe hes trying to play calypso or reggae. Call me narrow minded, but I wouldn't go and buy an invader or dd, reading the description of it thinking I was going to go use it for first wave ska or for a buddie holly tribute. So I did make assumptions the jb was chosen for a reason

BTW I would be the first to admit that I'm not interested in music for the sheer sake of it being subjectively music. We all gravitate towards certain things.

 

[KNUCKLHEAD]

Re: Magnet swap to fix JB's muddy cleans

Going back 3 decades. Single pickup guitars were overly popular in rock/metal circles in 80s. Often with just the JB, and not even a parallel or series switch. Or even a tone control. A bit overspecialized for my tastes...
..

I only remember 1 or 2 professional using JB for a single pickup in those decades ( in So-Cal / Main Action center ) alot of people were using super D's + MMK as well . ( not that often for JB in my experience , some of us didn't like them even then

 

[SJ318]

Re: Magnet swap to fix JB's muddy cleans

For blueman335
One last post from me, to blueman, per your last post, I know that to my ears, when I flipped my hybrid 180 degrees, putting the slugs nearer the bridge, not only was that bobbin much hotter, but the slugs trap(capture?) the vibration better, as they are short, so no magnet loss under the p'up. Also they are thicker (no threads) flat (direct, no slot either), so they are not only
a much bigger sound, they are also warm and not too bright as when installed as usual.
You know all these things, but I wanted to point out to you I absolutely hear the difference and to me it is significant. I turned one of them the regular way today in case I needed to defend what I said and so, in all due deference to one of my favorite and interesting forumite, I still stand by what I said. I don't know if you ever tried hybrids this way.
Thank you for reading, and that is all I got on the matter.
Without sounding too creepy, I am a fan of your posts, along with others whose posts I always give great weight to.
Also, I agree about the magnet, but in my particular case, the slugs do warm it up for me enough to just leave that alone. I dislike polished A5's. I prefer RCA5, RCUOA5, or A4's.
Steve Buffington

 

[Joey Voltage]

Re: Magnet swap to fix JB's muddy cleans

For blueman335
One last post from me, to blueman, per your last post, I know that to my ears, when I flipped my hybrid 180 degrees, putting the slugs nearer the bridge, not only was that bobbin much hotter, but the slugs trap(capture?) the vibration better, as they are short, so no magnet loss under the p'up. Also they are thicker (no threads) flat (direct, no slot either), so they are not only
a much bigger sound, they are also warm and not too bright as when installed as usual.
You know all these things, but I wanted to point out to you I absolutely hear the difference and to me it is significant. I turned one of them the regular way today in case I needed to defend what I said and so, in all due deference to one of my favorite and interesting forumite, I still stand by what I said. I don't know if you ever tried hybrids this way.
Thank you for reading, and that is all I got on the matter.
Without sounding too creepy, I am a fan of your posts, along with others whose posts I always give great weight to.
Also, I agree about the magnet, but in my particular case, the slugs do warm it up for me enough to just leave that alone. I dislike polished A5's. I prefer RCA5, RCUOA5, or A4's.
Steve Buffington

Of course it will matter with that pickup, even more so than others. It's essentially using what's covered in Dimarzio's 4501185 patent, and is kind of Duncan's version of the Fred more specifically. Dimarzio even recommends getting uniquely different sounds by doing exactly what you did, which is exacerbated even more by the different pole type.

 

[gregory]

Re: Magnet swap to fix JB's muddy cleans

The Crunch Lab is yet another.

 

[Despair]

Re: Magnet swap to fix JB's muddy cleans

I only remember 1 or 2 professional using JB for a single pickup in those decades ( in So-Cal / Main Action center ) alot of people were using super D's + MMK as well . ( not that often for JB in my experience , some of us didn't like them even then

80s ['87 was 30 years ago] had crazy numbers of JB users. Warren de Martini, I think Robin Crosby of Ratt also, though he may have switched later, Dave Mustaine, Jake E Lee, Brad Gillis in some guitars, Sammy Hagar, Van Halen sometimes after Hagar joined, Steve Stevens, and I'm not even going to try to get all the rest who were using it back then. Even Allan Holdsworth, before he switched to custom all-screw and A2 variants.

No, it wasn't the only pickup in use back then [Gillis used PJ Marx pickups in other guitars]. And yeah, before mid 80s, Super Distortion was vastly more common in metal circles.

And sure, when you go back 40 years ago, DiMarzio ruled replacement pickup manufacturing, and the artists who were using Seymour Duncan back then didn't talk as much about it...

All of which is a digression from the real point, that 80s guitarists were weird and didn't care about frills like clean pickups or tone controls, let the soundman handle that stuff!

 

[Ben Davella]

Re: Magnet swap to fix JB's muddy cleans

Older newb here. I learned tons on this thread, I will say that. My question is, do you need those cleans on one song? Then back to screaming lead a minute later? The JB is meant to SCREAM. Why even bother using a JB to play clean Arpeggios? When you need a hammer, you grab a screw gun? There are tons of great pickups, some more versatile than than others, why ask a PUP designed for other purposes to be great for something else than it was designed for? How many other guitars you have? They all sound the same? There is no ONE perfect pickup for every application. I have a JB in one my guitars, I split it and roll down the volume and get by, mix with the neck, tons of options. None sound as good as a PUP and guitar that was designed to sound like glass.Maybe a piezo? Just my thoughts