SH-4 JB or SH-5 Custom in Gibson Explorers

[Falloffthebonetone]

Re: SH-4 JB or SH-5 Custom in Gibson Explorers

Vinta9e mentioned the full shred, and that sounds perfect for what you're going for. Tight for low tunings, good presence, mid output, stays clear with string and note separation under gain, great harmonics, adjustable polepieces, great versatility, loves mahogany and shorter scales etc. Custom would also be a fine choice as well if you want a bit more output highs and lows.

 

[metlking]

Re: SH-4 JB or SH-5 Custom in Gibson Explorers

I swore off the JB in any mahogany bodied guitar years ago....That said I had to pull out a Duncan Distortion from my Explorer so I could trade the pickup to somebody else. I stuck a spare JB in the Explorer to make it playable at least and damn does it sound good! Cuts right thru the mix in a good way......I think I'll leave it there...........

 

[Dahla]

Re: SH-4 JB or SH-5 Custom in Gibson Explorers

Frank Falbo helped me out when I asked for a few pickups compared to an emg in output and he said it was almost impossible to answer because the emg will clip on its own from the preamp if you pick hard, and a passive pickup will have a higher peak and more headroom which would lead to greater PERCEIVED output because the only thing clipping would be the amp. So it really depends on the player you are. Compared to an emg 81, a BW would likely sound cleaner and quieter when picked softly, but louder and more edgy when picked hard. My .02

Ok, now we are getting somewhere.

But does the clipping add to the output? It would distort more and more the harder you pick, but wouldn't the output would have reached it's ceiling somewhere? Like a brickwall limiter? It seems backwards to me that a signal can compress and clip, and get more output at the same time.

Passives are less steady-state than emg, so percieved or not, the passive will then have more output since it can peak higher and is cleaner than actives (the headroom thingy)? But somewhere passives will reached it's ceiling also.

And how hard is hard? Easy questions right?


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[Falloffthebonetone]

Re: SH-4 JB or SH-5 Custom in Gibson Explorers

Ok, now we are getting somewhere.

But does the clipping add to the output? It would distort more and more the harder you pick, but wouldn't the output would have reached it's ceiling somewhere? Like a brickwall limiter? It seems backwards to me that a signal can compress and clip, and get more output at the same time.

Passives are less steady-state than emg, so percieved or not, the passive will then have more output since it can peak higher and is cleaner than actives (the headroom thingy)? But somewhere passives will reached it's ceiling also.

And how hard is hard? Easy questions right?


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Clipping of the preamp would add no output, it would be hitting a ceiling. Picking harder would strengthen the signal but be too much for the preamp at a point. And also "how hard is hard" depends on the life of the battery. That ceiling gets lower and lower the older the batteries get, this is why an 18v mod boosts the headroom and frequency response: you can pick harder and the tone will respond to it without preamp clipping. It's a gradually degrading response and output from the actives, so that is another thing to factor and another reason this question is so hard for anybody to answer. So emgs have a higher minimum but a lower maximum output basically. Passives reach their ceiling but you really have to nail the strings and have them loose and thick. So more so the amp clipping from the output would do it before the pickups, making it more controllable. And I think perceived output is sort of a matter of tone and response, not necessarily the genuine signal strength of the pickup.

This explains why the individual notes in heavy strummed chords sound mushy with emgs but solos punch through really well.

 

[dystrust]

Re: SH-4 JB or SH-5 Custom in Gibson Explorers

Ok, now we are getting somewhere.

But does the clipping add to the output? It would distort more and more the harder you pick, but wouldn't the output would have reached it's ceiling somewhere? Like a brickwall limiter? It seems backwards to me that a signal can compress and clip, and get more output at the same time.

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Clipping acts like a variable-ratio compressor. At onset of clip the ratio will be relatively low, so you will get slightly greater volume as you increase signal. However the compression ratio will increase with signal strength due to either higher gain settings on the amp or more input signal, eventually reaching ∞:1 and acting as a limiter whereby you'll get more gain with increased signal but not more volume.

 

[misterwhizzy]

Re: SH-4 JB or SH-5 Custom in Gibson Explorers

Again, the Distortion will have more kids than you want with the amp maybe.

This is a great, unintentionally quotable snippet.