Never underestimate the classics...

[Diego]

I found myself a bit stuck tonewise with my guitars.

1) My new Epiphone sounds great, and it raised the bar a bit tonewise in my herd since it gave me a perspective point.

2) My Ibanez SZ should be it's faster, thrashier brother, but with a Demon in the bridge it didn't sound like it.
It sounded a bit too single coil-like and subdued in the mids and output. More AC/DC than Metallica.

Also, the Epiphone made me realize this Ibanez's resonance is much more scooped and bright that I thought.
So I knew for sure I needed a pickup with more push.

3) My Jackson is my most stable guitar for downtuning (strings warble the least) but the stock ceramic Jackson bridge pickup lacked a bit of detail, so it sounded a bit muddy for Drop C and such.

So I did a bit of a merry go round and ended up with:

1) A good old Duncan JB, a pickup I'd totally forgotten about, in my Ibanez.
2) The Demon in the bridge of my Jackson Kelly.

The Demon sounds pretty good downtuned and it fits the purpose and the guitar.
And also it looks pretty cool!

However, I'm very surprised by the JB, a pickup that's supposed not to work in anything made of mahogany.
I wouldn't have suggested this if I'd been asked!

The guitar's resonance adds a fair bit of clarity and sizzle to the JB, a pickup I don't think would work too well in my Les Paul for example.
But who knows?

My only critique is that it sounds a bit too vanilla and "stock" maybe.
But it's a great starting point and this swap has been a step forward and a good lesson, giving me ideas on what to go for in my next pickup purchase.

 

[Thundermtn]

Re: Never underestimate the classics...

Right on. I don't know that vanilla is necessarily a bad thing though. I always try to have one that has nice tone but is really middle of the road. It'll take whatever pedals and amp settings I throw at it.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Never underestimate the classics...

I've heard JBs sound great in mahogany (usually when other people use them, I can't make them work for me in any wood), but I am happy you found the combination that works well for you!

 

[Diego]

Re: Never underestimate the classics...

I've heard JBs sound great in mahogany (usually when other people use them, I can't make them work for me in any wood), but I am happy you found the combination that works well for you!

Thanks!

I have to say, and please don't think of it as a bash, but the JB doesn't really thrill me all that much these days.
I've had it in 4 guitars I think, so it's a very familiar sound for me. I know that midrange structure so well.

I like it! But I'd prefer a bolder choice someday.

 

[gregory]

Re: Never underestimate the classics...

The Screamin' Demon/Full Shred Neck (with a row of fillisters) works really well in my SZ for my style, but I'm considering some swaps of my own. The PAF Pro in the bridge of my EBMM Silhouette would go in the neck of the SZ and the SZ's really amazing stock bridge pickup would go back in. The bridge position of the Silhouette would get a Breed Neck and the Demon would likely be hybridized and put in two other guitars. One concern is that the PAF Pro is F-Spaced, so the SZ might get a Seymourizer II instead, which is currently in the bridge of one of the guitars that would receive a Demon hybrid.

I don't think I'll find a home for my JB and an EMG 81/85 pair would get kicked in the process as well.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Never underestimate the classics...

I knew it would be the JB!

 

[Diego]

Re: Never underestimate the classics...

The Screamin' Demon/Full Shred Neck (with a row of fillisters) works really well in my SZ for my style, but I'm considering some swaps of my own. The PAF Pro in the bridge of my EBMM Silhouette would go in the neck of the SZ and the SZ's really amazing stock bridge pickup would go back in. The bridge position of the Silhouette would get a Breed Neck and the Demon would likely be hybridized and put in two other guitars. One concern is that the PAF Pro is F-Spaced, so the SZ might get a Seymourizer II instead, which is currently in the bridge of one of the guitars that would receive a Demon hybrid.

I don't think I'll find a home for my JB and an EMG 81/85 pair would get kicked in the process as well.

I bought this SZ used, and the original owner had dumped the stock bridge pickup and replaced it with a Tonerider Generator that I quickly sold.
I know for a fact the stock pickups were excellent in this series; in fact the neck pickup in my SZ is stock and I don't plan on changing it!

 

[gregory]

Re: Never underestimate the classics...

I thought you had an A2P in the neck.

I found the stock neck pickup to be boomy and too underpowered for the inner split combination in the middle position.

As a pair, the SD/FSn combination were better balanced in level and more tonally complimentary overall than the stock pair; hence the reason for replacing the stock neck with a PAF Pro or Seymourizer II (SH-6N). The Seymourizer currently has a row of short hex screws and an A5. Either or both may stay if it better compliments the stock pickup.

 

[Masta' C]

Re: Never underestimate the classics...

There is certainly nothing wrong with a JB in "mahogany" guitars. In fact, more often than not, the JB is RIGHT. It didn't get to be the most popular pickup in the world by "sucking in mahogany" or "only sounding good in a super strat"!

I like the combo you ended up with.

Did your SZ originally come with the Ibanez/Duncan HB103 (aka: HB112) model in the bridge?

 

[daenius]

Re: Never underestimate the classics...

Edwards (ESP) makes a whole product line of GREAT Les Paul copies that put Gibson to absolute shame and most of them ship with the Duncan Hot Rod Set (JB + JM)

And they are all mahogany

Your amp and your play style matters way more than body wood any day of the week. If the JB fits your amp and playing style, it'll sound great for you in any guitar you put them in. The body wood will just add some subtle differences that gives each guitar just a tad of slight variation here and there, but you'll still have your own signature sound with just a slight twist. That's what I absolutely love about the JB.

And since we're talking about wood: I personally find the specific piece of wood to matter more so than the type of wood! I've had alder guitars that sound more like what you'd expect out of basswood, and I've even had a mahogany guitar that behaved more like what I'd expect out of ash. Wood is organic and inconsistent, each piece that you cut out for the body is going to be uniquely different with its own weight distributions and density, even if they are all cut from the same exact tree. The same type of wood is supposed to mean they have similar properties in a general ball park, but the variation with each piece can be big, especially when you also have to consider things like your neck and fretboard wood and the nut and the bridge. I own 5 mahogany guitars and none of them sound the same, acoustically or plugged in, or even give me the vibe of "yup, that tone is the mahogany doing work". When it comes to guitars, the whole is more than the sum of its parts. You can never isolate just one piece of it and go "yeah this makes all the difference".

I'll happily put a JB in any guitar, any time, any place!