Rich harmonic pickups.

[CarlosG]

Hi!
What lower output pickups from JB have high harmonic content? Is this a factor that makes the guitar sound wider and richer? Especially great for 80s riffs.
Seymour Duncan's search engine suggests Pearly Gates. Another one that comes to mind is Alnico II Pro, it seems very rich in harmonics.
Although the Alnico II Pro can sound thin in the bridge position on the Superstrat, the Pearly Gates seem interesting.
Is it true that Pearly Gates sounds a bit like JB with a lower output level?
What else?

 

[Mincer]

PG, Full Shred, 59, and the Jazz set would be good choices. The Alnico II Pro has more mids than anything, though.

 

[soulforger]

Maybe the new Hades Gates, a hotter version of the Pearly Gates. Seymour Duncan '78 or the Dimarzio Fred.

 

[Ascension]

I would say a Perpetual Burn or a Hybrid. The Gates sounds absolutely nothing like a JB The Gates is pretty bright and crunchy, works very well in a 24.75 scale mahogany set neck like a Les Paul, but I can't stand a Gates in a super Strat.
The Pickup that does sound like a more open and slightly lower output JB is the Perpetual Burn.

 

[freefrog]

1) There are multiple factors potentially at play there but if we focus on main specs and "schematically" speaking, harmonically rich humbuckers are firstly those with a high Q factor (a pointy resonant peak) and a not too soft magnetism. That's roughly what was recommended above.

2) To sound thinner than a PG, an APH would need to be mounted with super high resistance pots and played through a super short cable for a lower cable capacitance. With the same pots and through a same cable, an APH should sound fatter than a PG because of its specs.

3) About the idea that a PG is close to a JB : yeah, they are both Duncan's looking like Gibson humbuckers. But all their other specs differ and so should do their tones. That said, a PG fitted with an A5 bar, mounted with 250k pots and associated to a 1nF capacitor from hot to ground should have a voicing reminding a JB, minus the output level...

 

[Rex_Rocker]

1) There are multiple factors potentially at play there but if we focus on main specs and "schematically" speaking, harmonically rich humbuckers are firstly those with a high Q factor (a pointy resonant peak) and a not too soft magnetism. That's roughly what was recommended above.

Would the JB fall in this category? Is the resonant peak on the JB very narrow, then?

I always wondered about the JB's resonant peak. I remember Duncan published that resonant peak to be 5K, IIRC. 5K is certainly not high mids, I would think.

 

[freefrog]

Would the JB fall in this category? Is the resonant peak on the JB very narrow, then?

I always wondered about the JB's resonant peak. I remember Duncan published that resonant peak to be 5K, IIRC. 5K is certainly not high mids, I would think.

*The high Q factor (pointy resonant peak) of a PG is the reason why I've evoked 250k pots in my advice about how to emulate a JB with a PG: their lower resistive load would give it a rounder resonance - anyway welcome with added capacitance, since higher capacitive loads tend to narrow the resonance... and the JB has not a pointy resonance IME.

EDIT: sorry, my first answer was not replying to your question. In clear, no, I wouldn't put the JB in the same category than the low DCR PU's mentioned above since it has a rounder and lower pitched resonance.
But as I said, there are other factors at play when it comes to "harmonically rich" pickups (capacitive mismatching between coils, exact magnetic flux).

*The resonant frequencies mentioned in the past by Duncan were those of UNLOADED pickups: play a JB through regular pots + 370pF of cable capacitance (=3m of wire) and its resonance will immediately shift way lower in the Spectrum.

Example of electrically induced resonant peak below. It's an old pic (or old "peak") and was measured on one of the two coils only (hence the stairstep in high frequencies) but it should show what happens with a JB in a guitar rather than unloaded...

 

[Rex_Rocker]

*The high Q factor (pointy resonant peak) of a PG is the reason why I've evoked 250k pots in my advice about how to emulate a JB with a PG: their lower resistive load would give it a rounder resonance - anyway welcome with added capacitance, since higher capacitive loads tend to narrow the resonance... and the JB has not a pointy resonance IME.

EDIT: sorry, my first answer was not replying to your question. In clear, no, I wouldn't put the JB in the same category than the low DCR PU's mentioned above since it has a rounder and lower pitched resonance.
But as I said, there are other factors at play when it comes to "harmonically rich" pickups (capacitive mismatching between coils, exact magnetic flux).

*The resonant frequencies mentioned in the past by Duncan were those of UNLOADED pickups: play a JB through regular pots + 370pF of cable capacitance (=3m of wire) and its resonance will immediately shift way lower in the Spectrum.

Example of electrically induced resonant peak below. It's an old pic (or old "peak") and was measured on one of the two coils only (hence the stairstep in high frequencies) but it should show what happens with a JB in a guitar rather than unloaded...

Very interesting, thank you. So what happens with pot value is you shift the peak lower the lower you go? i.e. 1M vs. 250K? I'm not sure I undertood that's what happens.

 

[freefrog]

Very interesting, thank you. So what happens with pot value is you shift the peak lower the lower you go? i.e. 1M vs. 250K? I'm not sure I undertood that's what happens.

You're welcome... but I'm not sure myself to understand your question. :-/

Anyway, let's try to clarify my previous post.

You know how a resonant peak becomes higher and pointier while the resistive load increases. Example:

https://www.jocidapark.com.au/circuits/GN2/pots1_zps8eb38254.gif

Something similar happens when the capacitive load increases: even with the same pots, the resonant peak becomes narrower, pointier. IOW, its Q factor is rising. See the pic below: it's an abstract of an Artec catalog, regarding the Artec equivalent of a SH4. The pic on the upper right shows how the resonant peak changes while cable capacitance increases. It becomes lower pitched but also narrower and higher relatively to other frequencies.
To compensate this effect due to high capacitance, a lower resistive load is needed...

 

[Rex_Rocker]

You're welcome... but I'm not sure myself to understand your question. :-/

Anyway, let's try to clarify my previous post.

You know how a resonant peak becomes higher and pointier while the resistive load increases. Example:

https://www.jocidapark.com.au/circuits/GN2/pots1_zps8eb38254.gif

Something similar happens when the capacitive load increases: even with the same pots, the resonant peak becomes narrower, pointier. IOW, its Q factor is rising. See the pic below: it's an abstract of an Artec catalog, regarding the Artec equivalent of a SH4. The pic on the upper right shows how the resonant peak changes while cable capacitance increases. It becomes lower pitched but also narrower and higher relatively to other frequencies.
To compensate this effect due to high capacitance, a lower resistive load is needed...

Oh, I thought that by "higher", you meant "higher up the frequency range". But I see it's "higher" as in "more intense, but on the same frequency. That was my question. But that graph made me understand it. Thank you.

 

[hamerfan]

A JB with an unoriented A5 has a tad lower volume and a bit less highs.

 

[nienturi]

You're welcome... but I'm not sure myself to understand your question. :-/

Anyway, let's try to clarify my previous post.

You know how a resonant peak becomes higher and pointier while the resistive load increases. Example:

https://www.jocidapark.com.au/circuits/GN2/pots1_zps8eb38254.gif

Something similar happens when the capacitive load increases: even with the same pots, the resonant peak becomes narrower, pointier. IOW, its Q factor is rising. See the pic below: it's an abstract of an Artec catalog, regarding the Artec equivalent of a SH4. The pic on the upper right shows how the resonant peak changes while cable capacitance increases. It becomes lower pitched but also narrower and higher relatively to other frequencies.
To compensate this effect due to high capacitance, a lower resistive load is needed...

12Hs of inductance? Wooaww, thats huge. My highest number of inductance is 8,970H of Tone Zone (17,45K). My top JB (actually a TB-4) inductance value is (8,500H - 18,62K)

 

[freefrog]

12Hs of inductance? Wooaww, thats huge. My highest number of inductance is 8,970H of Tone Zone (17,45K). My top JB (actually a TB-4) inductance value is (8,500H - 18,62K)

My own measurements are similar to yours, although I've already tested pickups in the 10/12H range (X2N, Hot Rails etc.). Unless it's a typo in the Artec catalog, it might be due to inductance measurements done at higher frequencies (inductance @ 10khz can be more than twice higher than @ 100hz and even @ 1khz, values are already higher).

 

[nienturi]

My own measurements are similar to yours, although I've already tested pickups in the 10/12H range (X2N, Hot Rails etc.). Unless it's a typo in the Artec catalog, it might be due to inductance measurements done at higher frequencies (inductance @ 10khz can be more than twice higher than @ 100hz and even @ 1khz, values are already higher).

I've been checking Mr.Glynns Pickups today and the values of his pickups are huge, too

https://mrglynspickups.com/mrglyns-humbucker-pickups/

The Cloud Nine-hot humbucker has 13.48 KOhms, 10.49H. The Attitude Bridge has18.6 KOhms, 12.63H.