Modding a JB Pup for a VERY bright guitar

[Tobester]

Hey guys,

I am battling with a strange beast of a guitar to get improved tone. I love how it plays, looks...everything. But damn, can I get it to sound right for me? Hell no.

It's a Washburn WI66Pro I've had and loved for nine years. Plays like a dream. Mahogany body/maple top. Mahogany neck/rosewood board. SD '59 at the neck and a JB at the bridge. It originally came with a Custom Custom at the bridge, but I found it to utterly lack balls so yanked it out.I initially tried a Duncan Custom but I felt that was one for the shredders, in his guitar anyway.

This guitar is acoustically so damn BRIGHT before pickups even enter the equation. The body is pretty slim and the neck is like a lollipop stick. It has nowhere near the mass of a full thickness Les Paul. 500k push/pull pots fitted to split both pups.

I play through a high gain amp and a closed back cab housing a pair of Celestion V30s. I know....upper mid spike on the speakers. You love them or you hate them. Dialling in bottom end is not so much of an issue as I have control over resonance. Now...with my silly-bright guitar and JB, those high mids and ice pick sounds get way out of control. Pole piece adjustments have yielded minimal results.I am more of a chords guy than a soloist. I leave that stuff to the other guitarist.

I just want to tame the ice pick and harsh upper mids. The occasional Metallica cover is about as metal as I get. I hear people have had success with dropping an A8 magnet into a JB and while it gets louder, it smooths out the harsh highs. Ok....so I have some A2s, an A3, an A4 and an A8 on the way to see if one of these magnets gets me there (for my ears anyway). I also find my '59 neck pup boomy, hence why I've ordered several magnets.

If I like how the A8 sounds, am I going to be dealing with a big output mismatch with my neck pup? I have only ever used the '59 split without overdrive because I find it boomy and unusable with both coils in use. It would be great to be able to use it to its full capabilities.

Any feedback/advice would be much appreciated. I don't have the dough for new pups right now and five magnets have just cost me £12......which is a steal if even one of them can make me happier.

Cheers,and thanks for reading my essay. It got longer than I'd intended

Tobester

 

[jtougas]

Re: Modding a JB Pup for a VERY bright guitar

Try the A4 in the neck... Might need to try something besides the JB in the bridge - it's notorious for ice picks in mahogany.

 

[Lampy H]

Re: Modding a JB Pup for a VERY bright guitar

I'd start with with either 250k pots or that A2.

 

[iamthesuck]

Re: Modding a JB Pup for a VERY bright guitar

Tone Zone, Super 3, Alternative 8, or Invader if you want some balls and a new pickup

 

[mamm]

Re: Modding a JB Pup for a VERY bright guitar

Celestion V30s

You can mess around with other variables, but I think that's the main "ice-pickyness" generator of your rig.

Maybe you can capitalize on the "Celestion" name and trade those awfully scooped, shrill speakers for something else without loosing too much money? Eminence Cannabis Rex comes to mind to tame shrillness and giving body to a rig.

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Modding a JB Pup for a VERY bright guitar

Make a pair of JB/59 hybrids. The 59 coil gives the JB balls, and the JB coil gives the 59 guts.

 

[Mr. B]

Re: Modding a JB Pup for a VERY bright guitar

I agree with Lampy. I run JB's with 300k pots normally in alder bodied guitars, but if I had it in your Mahogany body guitar, I would replace the A5 magnet with an A2.

 

[cokekolev]

Re: Modding a JB Pup for a VERY bright guitar

You can mess around with other variables, but I think that's the main "ice-pickyness" generator of your rig.

Maybe you can capitalize on the "Celestion" name and trade those awfully scooped, shrill speakers for something else without loosing too much money? Eminence Cannabis Rex comes to mind to tame shrillness and giving body to a rig.

+ 1. Ditch the speakers.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Modding a JB Pup for a VERY bright guitar

+ 1. Ditch the speakers.

Much cheaper to replace a couple magnets than a couple speakers.

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Modding a JB Pup for a VERY bright guitar

Alot of people seem to find the JB to be ice picky in Mahogany. I really like a Dimebucker in Mahogany–the Dimebucker set from SD has it paired with a '59 (but I believe it is the bridge model, could be wrong on that.) Just a thought there...

 

[Tobester]

Re: Modding a JB Pup for a VERY bright guitar

Thanks for your input everone.....much appreciated.

To be honest, I picked up the cab for a steal and took my chances with the V30s.New and £142 delvered, with a pair of V30s. It costs more to buy the speakers alone in the UK, so that's what tipped the balance.

As some of you have said, the combined effect of the mid spikey speakers with a JB in a bright mahogany guitar are what I'm not enjoying here.

I don't want to be left without speakers (a man neds to gig), so I guess I'll have to take the plunge and just go for some. It's the old can't try before you buy game again We don't have Guitar Center here, so it's not so easy to try anything out.

In the meantime I'll throw an A2 in the JB and A4 in the '59 and see if that takes the edge off things until I'm ready to dump the speakers.. Yes....I probably can trade on the Celestion name in this case and the speakers have done a good amount of work in the three months K've had them.. They're definitely not as harsh as they were on the day I unboxed the cab....that's for damn sure!!

 

[guitarSQUIRELL]

Re: Modding a JB Pup for a VERY bright guitar

Does the JB have an alnico 5 magnet? Thought it was a 3 or 4. Hmmmm...That would explain the high output i guess. I have a mahogany body agile and i want to change the pups in it, but i dont want something to shrill in the bridge....I want it to have enough BALLS if you will for a heavy rock sound but also really clean and when a slight overdrive is applied i want it to have that nice warm bluesy sound at the neck pup as well. So, what im saying is, im not sure which to choose.....

However, I have a JB in a basswood ibanez and it is perfect in the bridge....

 

[Tobester]

Re: Modding a JB Pup for a VERY bright guitar

Does the JB have an alnico 5 magnet? Thought it was a 3 or 4. Hmmmm...That would explain the high output i guess. I have a mahogany body agile and i want to change the pups in it, but i dont want something to shrill in the bridge....I want it to have enough BALLS if you will for a heavy rock sound but also really clean and when a slight overdrive is applied i want it to have that nice warm bluesy sound at the neck pup as well. So, what im saying is, im not sure which to choose.....

However, I have a JB in a basswood ibanez and it is perfect in the bridge....

The JB is Alnico V, as is the '59 I believe..The JB seems to be hit and miss from guitar to guitar but, as people have said above, in a bright mahogany one it's probably not going to be the best match. A friend of mine has a JB and a Jazz in an Epiphone Les Paul, running through a 6505+ and a Marshall 4x12 bass cab loaded with V30s and it sounds mindblowingly good. Not harsh or ice picky at all. So, I suppose your mileage may vary.

The comments from the guys above have helped to confirm some of my suspicions of mismatches in my rig though.

 

[Demanic]

Re: Modding a JB Pup for a VERY bright guitar

Try a UOA5 in the JB.

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk

 

[Aceman]

Re: Modding a JB Pup for a VERY bright guitar

So many wrong things here…..where to start?

Wrong pickup, wrong speakers, wrong pickups for the speakers, wrong wrong wrong!!!!!

First - put the CC back. I think you just didn't have it adjusted properly. Not sure what your tonal definition of balls is, but CC is hot enough and should be great in too bright guitar. Lot's of threads on CC adjustments.

Sll of THAT said…you have a high gain amp - get an A2P and call it a day. Seriously. Trade JB for A2P.

Next - de-brighting a JB….in a bright guitar. Recipe for FAIL. That said, if you must - JB, swap the mag for an a2 with a 250k pot. Ignore these fools suggesting subtleties.

All of that said….

Get an A2P and call it a day. Seriously, trade JB for an A2P. And I still say put the CC back.

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Modding a JB Pup for a VERY bright guitar

Whaddya you know, you got kicked out of KISS. I mean, who does that? :lol:

Try the JB/59 hybrid. You've got both already, and can go back if you don't like it.

I run the JB coils on the inside on mine, but have been thinking about swapping the neck and bridge around just to see/hear.

 

[iamthesuck]

Re: Modding a JB Pup for a VERY bright guitar

+ 1. Ditch the speakers.

I had the exact same issue with a mahogany PRS SE. I replaced the pickup with a tone zone and that helped, but new speakers fixed my tone completely. I also got the cannabis rexes and they have perfected my tone. Can't recommend them enough. If your amp is less than 50 watts you only need one

 

[Stratabuser]

Re: Modding a JB Pup for a VERY bright guitar

Thanks for your input everone.....much appreciated.

To be honest, I picked up the cab for a steal and took my chances with the V30s.New and £142 delvered, with a pair of V30s. It costs more to buy the speakers alone in the UK, so that's what tipped the balance.

As some of you have said, the combined effect of the mid spikey speakers with a JB in a bright mahogany guitar are what I'm not enjoying here.

I don't want to be left without speakers (a man neds to gig), so I guess I'll have to take the plunge and just go for some. It's the old can't try before you buy game again We don't have Guitar Center here, so it's not so easy to try anything out.

In the meantime I'll throw an A2 in the JB and A4 in the '59 and see if that takes the edge off things until I'm ready to dump the speakers.. Yes....I probably can trade on the Celestion name in this case and the speakers have done a good amount of work in the three months K've had them.. They're definitely not as harsh as they were on the day I unboxed the cab....that's for damn sure!!

Since it sounds like you are in Britain, have you thought of getting a set of Fane speakers?

 

[CTN]

Re: Modding a JB Pup for a VERY bright guitar

leave the speakers, they are fine.

leave the magnets, they are fine.

You do not need to make a hybrid.

You do not need new speakers, a new amp, a new rug, a new strap, new strings, a new guitar, new pickups or anything.

leave everything except the volume pot on the JB. Change it to a 250k.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Modding a JB Pup for a VERY bright guitar

leave the speakers, they are fine.

leave the magnets, they are fine.

You do not need to make a hybrid.

You do not need new speakers, a new amp, a new rug, a new strap, new strings, a new guitar, new pickups or anything.

leave everything except the volume pot on the JB. Change it to a 250k.

It's going to take more than one 250K to tame the 'out-of-control' high end he's describing.