Old JB sounds... dull and dark?

[C-Martin]

Ive recently tried installing a JB in my strat as ive realized that i need a 2nd guitar with a similar sound than my charvel so i don't have to go out of ways to re-eq and readjust all my pedals and amp when i switch between them at gigs or practice so since my charvel has a JB in the bridge then i found it logical to switch my strat to a jab in the bridge aswell. The one in my charvel is a old trembucker TB4 and the one i installed in my strat is a old JBJ both have the same sticker so i figure they are both about the same age so thus they should sound the same but in my charvel the JB screams and has a lot of upper mid cut and tight aggressive sound where as in my strat the JBJ sounds dull and rather dark with not allot of cut and dont really feel it has good mids at all... could it be that it might be old and the magnet is degaused enough to make the difference? or is trem spacing realy that critical to the sound?

Both guitars are strats charvel being alder with maple neck the strat being ash with rosewood fingerboard.. both are wired exactly the same.. no tone pot and straight to the volume 500k pot. Anyone ever had this experience? i don't think i've ever heard a jb sound dark or dull usualy people complain they are too bright especially in a strat type guitar

 

[C-Martin]

Re: Old JB sounds... dull and dark?

just checked the pot and the strat one reads 412k and the charvel ones reads 490k, would the little difference actually make a difference? i realy love the sound of the jb in my charvel and if i could figure out a way to get this sound or similar out of my strat that would be awesome especially when switching guitars during gigs

 

[dr. ad]

Re: Old JB sounds... dull and dark?

it's interesting
tell us about the bridges and what you know re the wood in both guitars. the alder/maple charvel likely has advantages other than the woods, but rosewood boards and ash don't always lend themselves to cutting through IMO

 

[C-Martin]

Re: Old JB sounds... dull and dark?

Charvel has a Floyd rose and the fender has a non locking 2 point trem, it also has a brass nut and the neck is slightly taper scalloped if that makes any difference. Acousticly speaking the fender is atleast twice as loud as the charvel unpluged so i figured if anything the jb would sound louder more lively and bright i was almost going to go for a 250k pot just incase but now i dont know... I mean i know for sure the pickup will sound different in both guitars.. thats without a doubt but to the extend im hearing it atm im quite surprised, i figured they'd both have a very similar sound atleast

 

[hamerfan]

Re: Old JB sounds... dull and dark?

If you have the time you could swap them around. First of all i would measure the resistance of both pups and check the strength of the magnet with a screw driver - just to be sure.
I recently bought a LP and discovered that the 59B measured in mega ohm realms - half dead.

 

[uOpt]

Re: Old JB sounds... dull and dark?

Connect both directly to a guitar cable using crocodile clips, bypassing all electronics.

A degaussed magnet doesn't make the sound dull, just ... well weaker.

 

[DonP]

Re: Old JB sounds... dull and dark?

just checked the pot and the strat one reads 412k and the charvel ones reads 490k, would the little difference actually make a difference? i realy love the sound of the jb in my charvel and if i could figure out a way to get this sound or similar out of my strat that would be awesome especially when switching guitars during gigs

Measure the pickups also. Make sure the JBJ is over 16K.

 

[C-Martin]

Re: Old JB sounds... dull and dark?

well this is odd... the JBJ measures 14.45k exactly and the TB-4 in my charvel measures 16.89k

Both are definitely seymour duncans they both have the base plate engraved with the logo and look exactly the same the sticker is the same kind same font and everything just like over a dozen old SD pickups i have, this JBJ came out of a kramer guitar i rebuilt for a friend and he wanted nickel covered pickups so i let him have a couple of mine i had in exchange for his uncovered SDs both being a DCJ and a JBJ. The DCJ measures 14.10k and from what i remember it sounded just like a Custom in his guitar but this JB sounds weird in the bridge of my strat. This pickup was in the neck of his guitar, the DC was in the bridge.. is it possible that this JB was wounded specially for the neck position thus making it lower output on intentionally for that purpose?

 

[uOpt]

Re: Old JB sounds... dull and dark?

well this is odd... the JBJ measures 14.45k exactly and the TB-4 in my charvel measures 16.81k

Both are definitely seymour duncans they both have the base plate engraved with the logo and look exactly the same the sticker is the same kind same font and everything just like over a dozen old SD pickups i have, this JBJ came out of a kramer guitar i rebuilt for a friend and he wanted nickel covered pickups so i let him have a couple of mine i had in exchange for his uncovered SDs both being a DCJ and a JBJ. The DCJ measures 14.10k and from what i remember it sounded just like a Custom in his guitar but this JB sounds weird in the bridge of my strat. This pickup was in the neck of his guitar, the DC was in the bridge.. is it possible that this JB was wounded specially for the neck position thus making it lower output on intentionally for that purpose?

It's far too low.

Can you see what kind of magnet it has? Maybe a thick ceramic?

 

[C-Martin]

Re: Old JB sounds... dull and dark?

btw i realized my use of the word dull might be a bit exaggerated. It doesn't sound "dull" as in completely dead or anything it like that just sounds dull'er kinda less lively compared too how i expect a JB to sound like.. not so much mids, kinda scooped or atleast something odd is going on with the mids and theres a kinda shrillness in the highs with somewhat looser bass than what i get from my charvel. It just sounds weird overall, definitely sounds completely different than the other JB i have.

 

[C-Martin]

Re: Old JB sounds... dull and dark?

im not an expert on magnets but its not oversized its the standard 1/8 magnet and what looks like an alnico magnets its not a ceramic from what i can tell.. its the same dimentions and color as the magnet in one of the 59s i have

 

[C-Martin]

Re: Old JB sounds... dull and dark?

installed another JB (reads 17.25k) and it seems to work but its almost 5 am so i cant really crank my amp anymore to test it fully so ill know tomorrow for sure. I've tried this one in my charvel long time ago and so i know this ones a good one and should work. The reason i've tried to avoid using it before now is that it doesn't have "feets" on the legs so to speak.. so i've had to tape it so it doesn't move around. Ill probably have to either find another JB like it or sum up the courage to change base plate on it...

Im still curious as to what the deal with the other JB is tho...

 

[C-Martin]

Re: Old JB sounds... dull and dark?

well i just tried it in a full setup and played trough my cranked mark iv and it sounds great just what i wanted.. now i have to figure out if i want to risk changing the base plate or just finding me another long legged JB lol...

stil no clue what the hell is wrong with the other jb and why it reads only 14k ish. Both coils work just fine and i don't see any proof of alteration or anything its still waxed and all so this has become a mystery pickup... maybe ill try it in the neck position and see what that gives...

 

[uOpt]

Re: Old JB sounds... dull and dark?

Might want to send it to somebody to look at it.

 

[dr. ad]

Re: Old JB sounds... dull and dark?

any marks on it? maybe one of the coils was damaged?

 

[DonP]

Re: Old JB sounds... dull and dark?

If the reading is low like you say, it means that there is a short in one/both coils. The "short" allows electricity to take a short cut, 14.45K instead of the correct 16.?K.

 

[guitarded]

Re: Old JB sounds... dull and dark?

A full size JB in my American Strat actually was a bit excessive in lower mids, making the Strat sound like it had no top end on some amps. Is that what is happening?

btw i realized my use of the word dull might be a bit exaggerated. It doesn't sound "dull" as in completely dead or anything it like that just sounds dull'er kinda less lively compared too how i expect a JB to sound like.. not so much mids, kinda scooped or atleast something odd is going on with the mids and theres a kinda shrillness in the highs with somewhat looser bass than what i get from my charvel. It just sounds weird overall, definitely sounds completely different than the other JB i have.

 

[guitarded]

Re: Old JB sounds... dull and dark?

Ohh wait... You are using a Mark IV..... So do I and a similar experience with a full size JB in a Strat with 500K pots. It sounded nice through a JCM 800, although changing the PUP might be cheaper than changing your amp


FYI.... Through the Mark IV the JB Jr sounded a lot better for me, although a little lacking in the sustain department compared to the full size pup.

well i just tried it in a full setup and played trough my cranked mark iv and it sounds great just what i wanted.. now i have to figure out if i want to risk changing the base plate or just finding me another long legged JB lol...

stil no clue what the hell is wrong with the other jb and why it reads only 14k ish. Both coils work just fine and i don't see any proof of alteration or anything its still waxed and all so this has become a mystery pickup... maybe ill try it in the neck position and see what that gives...

 

[C-Martin]

Re: Old JB sounds... dull and dark?

Might want to send it to somebody to look at it.

i thought about sending it straight to mj or something to have em check it and perhaps even rewinding it.. for now i have a JB that works but it lacks legs so it wobbles in the slot until i can find a solution for it or a replacement pickup

 

[C-Martin]

Re: Old JB sounds... dull and dark?

Ohh wait... You are using a Mark IV..... So do I and a similar experience with a full size JB in a Strat with 500K pots. It sounded nice through a JCM 800, although changing the PUP might be cheaper than changing your amp


FYI.... Through the Mark IV the JB Jr sounded a lot better for me, although a little lacking in the sustain department compared to the full size pup.

I actually love how the jb sounds trough this amp. You gotta remember the mark iv is a very mid prominent amp so eq'ing it properly according to what guitar/pickups you are using is very essential part of setting this amp up. And the jb has a good amount of mids imo so dialing it all together right takes a bit of tries but when its setup right i think it sounds amazing.. altho i do admit the JB "communicates" better with my JTM-45 and i can more easely dial in a good tone with it than the mark IV. That said the speakers used with said amps also affect the tone greatly. I sometimes wish i had never discovered "tone" lol things seemed simpler back then