New JB Modding Experiment

[TheCanadianNews]

I am new to SD Forum, but after reading up a bit on existing posts, I had not seen a recent JB mod. For my iteration, I tried a couple specific changes to hopefully bring a certain set of results:

• Swapping an Alnico 5 for an Alnico 8. Something about my playing style does not mesh with an A5. Probably because they have a certain aggressive EQ with a relatively high output.
• Pulled out the metal spacer under the screws bobbin. I tried to search a bit on what 'airing' specifically requires one to do, and I think it is pulling what I did. The A8 is now a fraction of inch from the screws, which should lessen the magnetic pull on the side closest to the bridge.

Overall, I am primarily a PAF player, having ordered an overwound A4 set from the SD Custom Shop. I do love heavy music, though (Mastodon, Alice in Chains, Tool) and thought a JB might be a nice mod platform. I generally like the sound, it has a strong wind, and frankly is an affordable pickup to find used. It is so popular! Overall, I am hoping for a slighter broader EQ'ed JB with a bit less magnetic pull. I used the JB in the past I appreciate a higher output pickup for the range of output you can get from it. It is hard to turn a volume knob above '10,' but can easily control a high output pickup for that half power sound. I also saw & heard lots of the work Rob Timmons is doing over at Arcane, and it inspired the idea of an A8. The pickup will go into a Les Paul with quick connect plugs so I can easily swap from the A4 PAF to the J8 (what I am calling it!) for different palettes.

 

[GuitarDoc]

I am new to SD Forum, but after reading up a bit on existing posts, I had not seen a recent JB mod. For my iteration, I tried a couple specific changes to hopefully bring a certain set of results:

• Swapping an Alnico 5 for an Alnico 8. Something about my playing style does not mesh with an A5. Probably because they have a certain aggressive EQ with a relatively high output..

• 
  
  Well, the A8 is an aggressive magnet having strong highs, (but a bit smoother sounding than the highs from an A5) and really strong lows. It has more mids than an A5. It also has HIGHER output/strength than an A5. So by going from an A5 to an A8 you're going in the wrong direction. If you want less aggression and lower output than an A5 you might want to consider an A3.
  
  
  

  Overall, I am primarily a PAF player, having ordered an overwound A4 set from the SD Custom Shop. I do love heavy music, though (Mastodon, Alice in Chains, Tool) and thought a JB might be a nice mod platform. I generally like the sound, it has a strong wind, and frankly is an affordable pickup to find used. It is so popular!

  
  It's so popular and affordable on the used market because so many people are influenced to buy it because of the advertising and hype then they are disappointed by what the pup actually sounds like and try to get rid of it on the used market. It's not a "bad" pup, it's just unique within a very specific niche. Some people love it, many not so.
  
  I personally don't get along with its upper mids. At first it sounded great, but very soon with minimal playing it gets very tiresome. No matter what magnet I tried in it, it still sounded like a JB. It's definitely NOT what I would consider a good "mod platform". Any of the Customs are great though...Custom With ceramic mag), Custom Custom (Custom with an A2), C5 (Custom with an A5), and C8 (Custom with an A8, this is not a standard pup but it is so popular that it should be). The Customs get along with every type of magnet, they split well, sound great in parallel, and are the perfect wind to use one coil to match with another pup's coil to make a hybrid pup. But the JB is really not my cup of tea.
  
  But you say you like it, that's fine. But from what you said you're trying to achieve, you're going the wrong direction if you go to an A8. Like I said, try an A3 instead of the A5 or A8.

 

[Mincer]

I personally don't get along with its upper mids. At first it sounded great, but very soon with minimal playing it gets very tiresome. No matter what magnet I tried in it, it still sounded like a JB. But the JB is really not my cup of tea.

Exactly how I feel about a JB, but many here love it, and many here have used it with an A8.

 

[playas]

I've tried A8, A2 A3 and A4. I suspect that UOA5 is probably the best option in there, but haven't tried it.

Most were quite a while ago, but from recollection, here are my impressions.


To me the A3 just seemed to move the mid hump higher. I found it very unpleasant.
A2 was an improvement on the A5 but a bit mushier.
A8 sounded quite aggressive but not too different from a normal A5 otherwise I think it was quite similar to the A2.
A4 wasn't too bad and seemed to smooth out the mid hump a bit but does lack a bit of character (sounds strange for the JB I know.)

I would be interested in hearing a JB with UOA5 and a single row of hex screws out of curiosity. May try it some day.

 

[jeremy]

a8 but aired might be a cool pup, never tried that specifically

 

[alex1fly]

I liked the A8 in the JB. Gave a little more roundness and beef. Might as well try it, pretty easy

 

[skelt101]

I've tried A8, A2 A3 and A4. I suspect that UOA5 is probably the best option in there, but haven't tried it.

Most were quite a while ago, but from recollection, here are my impressions.


To me the A3 just seemed to move the mid hump higher. I found it very unpleasant.
A2 was an improvement on the A5 but a bit mushier.
A8 sounded quite aggressive but not too different from a normal A5 otherwise I think it was quite similar to the A2.
A4 wasn't too bad and seemed to smooth out the mid hump a bit but does lack a bit of character (sounds strange for the JB I know.)

I would be interested in hearing a JB with UOA5 and a single row of hex screws out of curiosity. May try it some day.

Haven't had a chance to install it, but I modded a JB to try and mimic the DiMarzio EVH/Axis bridge pickup (which was based on a "broken" JB.) I went with an UOA5 and short polepieces.

 

[devastone]

The JB, or Ed's broken JB is nothing like the DiMarzio EVH/Axis pickup. The Tone Zone is probably the closest stock, it was the runner up when Ed chose the pickup. I've heard that a 1/2 aired TZ is really close. The Air Zone is a nice pickup, and goes a little more to the vintage side of the EVH/Axis pup.

 

[TheCanadianNews]

a8 but aired might be a cool pup, never tried that specifically

It is definitely an experiment. From what I can tell in other threads and responses here, no one has tried it. An A8 appears to be used in a wide range of pickups, from PAF repros to overwound hot rods like the Arcane PowerDozer. GuitarDoc makes a point that I might be headed in the wrong direction, but the consistently hear "harsh high mids" for the JB. Other shared the A8 pulls the mids across a wider spectrum and has an A2 top end. It sounds like a "results may vary" disclaimer we see on skin care products!

 

[TheCanadianNews]

I liked the A8 in the JB. Gave a little more roundness and beef. Might as well try it, pretty easy

I want to be a foil to a PAF pickup, and always like chunky!

 

[TheCanadianNews]

The JB, or Ed's broken JB is nothing like the DiMarzio EVH/Axis pickup. The Tone Zone is probably the closest stock, it was the runner up when Ed chose the pickup. I've heard that a 1/2 aired TZ is really close. The Air Zone is a nice pickup, and goes a little more to the vintage side of the EVH/Axis pup.

I will report back and share how this "J8" compares!

 

[Aceman]

Can't speak to the spacer...

But I have had both JB and JB8 recently. It was really a matter of the guitar, with the JB, I think. One did not love it, one did. With the A8, the spikey upper mid range noise - fixed completely.

Tamed the highs a bit, eliminated the spike, shifted mids lower, upped and tightened bass. JB became sort of a mix between a SuperDistortion and a Duncan Distortion, with A8, IMO.

 

[Masta' C]

Yeah, an A8 in a JB, known as a "JB8" around here, is absolutely nothing new.

"Airing" the JB8, on the other hand, is not something I can recall someone trying, at least not recently

 

[JB6464]

I must be the odd ball; I love the two Ant JB's built by MJ with the aged A5 in them.
It just lights up my Tele Deluxe guitars in a way I can't explain over the regular JB pickups.

 

[orpheo]

Exactly how I feel about a JB, but many here love it, and many here have used it with an A8.

stick the JB in an Ash tele with a thick maple neck and then it starts to make so much sense. Seymour once told me the JB/Jazz set were made to be a tele pickup set, but hotter, and noiseless. If you have that in your mind then the pickups make so much sense.

On topic.

I tried exactly what you did, years ago. I don't like the JB with the A8 in any way, shape or form. If you want to get rid of that upper mid spike, get an alnico IV or even alnico II, but the A8 is just way too hot. Too hairy for my ears.

But then again, I prefer lower output humbuckers nowadays. Not singlecoils, mind you! I'm a 42 awg wire guy all the way through. I tried one this week that's wound to 9.5K and uses a double thick ceramic magnet. Don't ask me how or why but that baby SMOKES. Too hairy for my taste, fizzy in the high end, but if I ignore that, it's great.

 

[JB6464]

I really would like to try a JB/59 hybrid, wondering how different it would sound compared to the Custom/59 hybrid.

 

[zionstrat]

I really would like to try a JB/59 hybrid, wondering how different it would sound compared to the Custom/59 hybrid.

I've been waiting for somebody to do a 59 JB or a custom JB... I love the JB for its second position split for very quacky Strat sound but I find the humbucker tone more and more limited over the years. I keep hoping that someone will try a hybrid so the JB coil can continue to quack but the other coil provides a more useful humbucker.

 

[TheCanadianNews]

Initial impressions from the J8 ("jate") are positive:
In my Les Paul, I would describe the tone as precise, chunky, and definitely powerful output. I am deacribing it closely to a Duncan Distortion mixed with the vowel like attack of the usual JB.

For comparison, I was using a A4 overwound (9k) PAF for the Custom Shop before swapping. I love that pickup, but I wanted something that could handle progressive/fusion music better for fast lead runs. Different flavors! I use Gibson Quick Connects with separate pickup rings to make the swap in under 5 minutes.

In overall tone, I hear a slight mid/bass increase, and a treble decrease. I was concerned the JB elements would harsh my impression, but I find it pleasantly fluid sounding, if you listen for it. It's definitely not overbearing, which was my goal of an A8 swap and 'airing' the magnet. For reference, I am using a Bogner Ecstasy with the controls close to noon, "Tight" excursion switched, and Bright 2 engaged.

I played some parts from Tool (Schism, Stinkfist, The Pot) as well as Aerosmith (Walk this Way, Last Child) and it did very well! Easily finds Plexi and high gain EL34 tones. I did find it to be a bit too powerful with the same settings to accurately reproduce Yes (Roundabout) where a true PAF tone might be desired. There is no sense of loose/flab response, so the largest discrepancy is in feel.

As a final thought, it cleans up very nicely. There is something I particularly appreciate about a powerful humbucker rolled back to 5 that something like a PAF cannot quite execute.

​​​​​​​I'll post more as I use it.

 

[TheCanadianNews]

I've been waiting for somebody to do a 59 JB or a custom JB... I love the JB for its second position split for very quacky Strat sound but I find the humbucker tone more and more limited over the years. I keep hoping that someone will try a hybrid so the JB coil can continue to quack but the other coil provides a more useful humbucker.

This is a genius idea. Describe what you mean by "more useful humbucker"?

 

[AdrianSD]

Initial impressions from the J8 ("jate") are positive:
In my Les Paul, I would describe the tone as precise, chunky, and definitely powerful output. I am deacribing it closely to a Duncan Distortion mixed with the vowel like attack of the usual JB.

For comparison, I was using a A4 overwound (9k) PAF for the Custom Shop before swapping. I love that pickup, but I wanted something that could handle progressive/fusion music better for fast lead runs. Different flavors! I use Gibson Quick Connects with separate pickup rings to make the swap in under 5 minutes.

In overall tone, I hear a slight mid/bass increase, and a treble decrease. I was concerned the JB elements would harsh my impression, but I find it pleasantly fluid sounding, if you listen for it. It's definitely not overbearing, which was my goal of an A8 swap and 'airing' the magnet. For reference, I am using a Bogner Ecstasy with the controls close to noon, "Tight" excursion switched, and Bright 2 engaged.

I played some parts from Tool (Schism, Stinkfist, The Pot) as well as Aerosmith (Walk this Way, Last Child) and it did very well! Easily finds Plexi and high gain EL34 tones. I did find it to be a bit too powerful with the same settings to accurately reproduce Yes (Roundabout) where a true PAF tone might be desired. There is no sense of loose/flab response, so the largest discrepancy is in feel.

As a final thought, it cleans up very nicely. There is something I particularly appreciate about a powerful humbucker rolled back to 5 that something like a PAF cannot quite execute.

​​​​​​​I'll post more as I use it.

That's good work, thanks for the time you took to document it. Really curious how/if the JB8 with a treble bleed mod will work together to give you a PAF-ish like tone, just by adjusting the volume to taste. Though from my understanding PAF implies a rather mid scooped sound and JB is anything but scooped, regardless of the magnet used.