S/D JB for Brad Gillis/Ozzy tone?

M

My96z

New member
A tone I really like is Brad Gillis's tone off of Ozzy's Speak of the Devil album. Especially in the first song - Symptom of the Universe. I never heard so much beautiful crunch. So I tried looking into Brads setup...

There is not alot out there that I found about his guitar pick-ups that he used for that album. I have heard he used PJ Marxx pick-ups. I tried looking into those and they are pretty much impossible to find.... so I started looking for somthing close. Best I found was the DiMarzio Crunchlab. Sounds like a great pick-up with good tone and crunch. Sounds to me like it was a fairly close fit. Then the other day I heard he used a Seymour Duncan JB for that album and went to the PJ Marxx later. I did some listening and damned it if isnt a close fit as well. I just cant find any hard evidence thats what Brad used, but I know that the Seymour Duncan JB was around then and seems like the original pick-up upgrade... Unfortunatley, Brad's site is down or I would shoot him an e-mail. But can anyone confirm this?

I would like to hear your opinions, suggestions and recomendations on the best pick-up to duplicate that crunch and tone on the Speak Of The Devil album, specifically Symptom of the Universe.

The guitar that its going into is a Ibanez RGR421EXFM - fixed bridge, mohagany body. http://ibanez.wikia.com/wiki/RGR421EXFM
Thanks for your help!

Jeff

Reference:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uABf6zvc8-w
 
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Re: S/D JB for Brad Gillis/Ozzy tone?

He didn't use the same guitar as you, his is an Alder bodied Strat with a Floyd so getting the same pickup won't give you his tone.
Also, the guitar was just part of his chain, so again, consider that.

As a pickup, I like the JB in my Strat but I prefer 250K pots to tame it.
However, my guitar isn't mahogany so I can't advise you how the JB would sound in yours.

Listening to the track there's chorus on his guitar and I think he was using Boogies back then which are very bright sounding.

If you had the same guitar, I'd def say a JB would give you that, it's a classic 80's LA rock tone.
 
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Re: S/D JB for Brad Gillis/Ozzy tone?

In Ozzys band Brad used a Les Paul also and I`m pretty sure it had a Floyd on it.
 
Re: S/D JB for Brad Gillis/Ozzy tone?

51501984 said:
In Ozzys band Brad used a Les Paul also and I`m pretty sure it had a Floyd on it.
Click to expand...

Here's a little portion of a Vintage Guitar magazine interview with Brad Gillis, talking about his time with Ozzy:

You were in one of the first MTV concerts ever broadcast, and it featured some relatively-primitive laser effects, including a cross that floated out to center stage, then it inverted. What was that supposed to signify?

That was at Irvine Meadows, south of L.A. – quite a big show for me, too; we’d been on tour for months, so I was pretty much locked into the groove. There were laser bats on the side of the stage, but as for “The Cross,” that goes back to early Black Sabbath. I’ll let Ozzy tell you about that.

Was that the rebuilt Strat you were playing?

Yes, I’ve been using that guitar since 1980. When I played with Ozzy I used two Strats because some of the songs were tuned to E-flat. I’d bring my black Les Paul out at the end of the night for “Paranoid” and “Iron Man.”
Click to expand...

In a different portion of that interview, Brad does talk about having a '68 Les Paul routed for a Floyd not long after Floyd Rose systems came out onto the market.
 
Re: S/D JB for Brad Gillis/Ozzy tone?

Wow thanks. You guys are a wealth of information!

I realize I wont get his exact tone, I am not Brad and dont have near his ability or his equipment. I know that the pick-ups are a part of the chain but I believe a very important one and a good place to start. I love that LA tone, and I hear the JB was a staple of that era.

I do know that I am not happy with the stock Ibanez V8 pickup thats in the guitar... I think I am going to give the JB a try and see what happens in my guitar.

I do have a basswood bodied - Ibanez RG770FM w/ Floyd Rose back home I can throw the JB in if it doesnt turn out well in this one.

Flieger - where did you dig that up at? I have googled my subject up and down and didnt turn up much. That from your private magazine collection?

I have a video of the Speak of the Devil concert, but its not the Sabbath tunes. I think off hand he used a red Strat and a black one and as you said a Black Les Paul for the Iron Man and Paranoid... I will have to watch it again.



Thanks again guys for your help!

Jeff
 
Re: S/D JB for Brad Gillis/Ozzy tone?

My96z said:
Flieger - where did you dig that up at? I have googled my subject up and down and didnt turn up much. That from your private magazine collection?

I have a video of the Speak of the Devil concert, but its not the Sabbath tunes. I think off hand he used a red Strat and a black one and as you said a Black Les Paul for the Iron Man and Paranoid... I will have to watch it again.

Thanks again guys for your help!

Jeff
Click to expand...

Hi, Jeff.

I'm glad to have been of help. The info I cited was from an interview Brad Gillis did with "Vintage Guitar" magazine back in 2004. You can read the article here: Brad Gillis interview

That red Strat you see in the video of the "Speak of the Devil" tour is Brad's main guitar throughout his career. I don't recall all of the details but he got the guitar in a trade and it was just a box of parts and the body was stripped. He and his brother painted the guitar and rebuilt it, including a wireless effects switching system that his brother designed and built into the guitar.

I know, as you mentioned, that Brad has been a PJ Marx pickup user. I don't know what he used he before the Marx pickups, but he did mention in his old Starlicks instructional video that the middle pickup is the stock Fender pickup that the guitar came with.

Good luck with your pickup hunt. A JB wouldn't be a bad place to start and if you don't like it, it's easy enough to try something else.
 
Re: S/D JB for Brad Gillis/Ozzy tone?

My96z said:
I do know that I am not happy with the stock Ibanez V8 pickup thats in the guitar... I think I am going to give the JB a try and see what happens in my guitar.

I do have a basswood bodied - Ibanez RG770FM w/ Floyd Rose back home I can throw the JB in if it doesnt turn out well in this one.
Click to expand...
I loathed the JB in my old basswood (rosewood fretboard, floating vibrato) '90 Ibanez RG570... Flubby lows, enraged goose honk mids, terrible cleans. Though even with all that didn't work, it was still great for solos. Even with all that, it was an improvement over the V2, at least for distorted playing.

On the other hand, yours is a Flame Maple, if it's more than a veneer, that may tighten and brighten it enough to make the JB work. Or if your hunk of basswood has less odd lows and less rolled off a high end than mine.

Mine had the old V1/S1/V2 pickups and I quickly grew to hate them. I have a PATB-1b in the bridge, which is awesome in it. Among Duncan's best pickups for a 24fret shredstick.
 
Re: S/D JB for Brad Gillis/Ozzy tone?

wolf5150 said:
He didn't use the same guitar as you, his is an Alder bodied Strat with a Floyd so getting the same pickup won't give you his tone.
Also, the guitar was just part of his chain, so again, consider that.

As a pickup, I like the JB in my Strat but I prefer 250K pots to tame it.
However, my guitar isn't mahogany so I can't advise you how the JB would sound in yours.

Listening to the track there's chorus on his guitar and I think he was using Boogies back then which are very bright sounding.

If you had the same guitar, I'd def say a JB would give you that, it's a classic 80's LA rock tone.
Click to expand...


Boogies for sure, the Mark 2 would fit the time period.
 
Re: S/D JB for Brad Gillis/Ozzy tone?

A Duncan Custom or Distortion would work well for that sound.
 
Re: S/D JB for Brad Gillis/Ozzy tone?

I will check out that article. Thanks for linking it. From the pics I see it looks like he still uses that red strat today, although its not so pretty looking!

The one I have back home is a "Japan only" 2001 FM 770FM http://ibanez.wikia.com/wiki/RG770FM_(2001-2002) mine is the black one. It has the QM pickups that arent too bad. I would hazard a guess that its just a veneer. Unless there is a difference between a veneer and a "top"?

Either way I love that guitar! I had picked up a RG 1550 Prestige in a pawnshop and loved the way it felt so I had to have one. I then happened across mine on on the bay and won it. Got it home and it felt even better than the Prestige! You know the feeling when you pick up a guitar for the first time and you know its the one. The Ibanez wizard necks work well for me since I dont have have big hands, and they just feel great to me.

I had heard he used the Mark II's during that time as well.

I just ordered the JB TB-4 so I will let you know how it goes!

Thanks again guys!

Jeff
 
Re: S/D JB for Brad Gillis/Ozzy tone?

... JB & (original) Duncan Hotstack pups... wish they still offered that one in red. Boogie MKII B Simulclass heads... unmistakeable Gillis tone w/ the Boogie EQ really boosted @ the mids. BTW Brad didn't use the PJ Marks's until after '84...

Around 1990 I *almost* bought a Gillis model Fernandes Strat from a store out here (Stan West?) for $350 bucks. It was basically brand new... had the non-locking tuner Floyd, preamp, black Strat headstock & everything. Can't recall why I didn't buy it... but you can -> :chairshot ... me now for not...
 
Re: S/D JB for Brad Gillis/Ozzy tone?

I've met brad Gillis and he was cool as hell to me. He answered any question I threw at him. Send him an email at his website and he'll get back with you. A buddy of mine did that once and he told him everything he wanted to know. Actually, when I met him, I told him a friend of mine had emailed him and asked him a bunch of questions and stuff. He even remembered the email I was referring to.


EDIT: I just noticed you said his website is down. Bummer!!
 
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Re: S/D JB for Brad Gillis/Ozzy tone?

Yea I have been checking it periodically to see if it comes back up. I have heard he is really a cool guy.

I just looked at your gear link... you own all of that? When are you gonna have a sleep-over so we can play with all thos beautiful toys! :D
 
Re: S/D JB for Brad Gillis/Ozzy tone?

It also depends on what tone YOU get out of each pickup. Using what he used may get a general tonality, but there would be certain characteristics your playing style/personal tone would influence and which would require a specific pickup to counter.

For example, if he used a Custom, you'd need a 59. If he used a JB, you'd need a Custom. Maybe even a CC.
 
Re: S/D JB for Brad Gillis/Ozzy tone?

My96z said:
Unless there is a difference between a veneer and a "top"?
Click to expand...

A veneer is usually a 1/8" or thinner sheet of figured wood that is laminated onto the body. A "top" is usually thicker, 1/4" or more.

Unfortunately, most companies state "flamed maple top" when they talk about veneers.
 
Re: S/D JB for Brad Gillis/Ozzy tone?

I distinctly remember watching that Ozzy concert on MTV when it first came out. I had it on videotape for years, but its gone now. The upside down cross thing was a little disturbing.

I also remember the red strat for most of the show.

Speak of the Devil was a good recording-had that one on cassette tape, wore it out after a year or so. Then the Tribute album came out and I never missed Speak of the Devil.
 
Re: S/D JB for Brad Gillis/Ozzy tone?

Dr - I am not sure what Ibanez classifies as a veneer vs top? I think it says "top" in the specs... I will hit up the Ibanez boards and see what they say. I am now curious about that.

Here is my guitar I have here with me (blue, but looks more purple in person): http://ibanez.wikia.com/wiki/RGR421EXFM It says maple top as well but I can't tell how thick it is by looking at it.

Yes that Tribute album was hard to beat. I would have liked to hear Randy rock those Sabbath tunes in Speak of the Devil... but I think Brad did a excellent job on that album. I think I will watch that show again tonight.

The JB should be here this week so I should see how it sounds soon!
 
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Re: S/D JB for Brad Gillis/Ozzy tone?

Yeah............that version with Brad Gillis might just be the greatest version of all time!

 
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