The JB "I call BS on everyone" thread

[Aceman]

Touch sensitivity is all about how the amp, speaker, effect, pickup sound/react based on your touch. So yes it is all about your ears. Please tell me you can tell the difference purely based on touch the difference between any two pickups. If I blindfolded you and gave you a guitar with Black Winters v. a guitar with 59s unplugged could you tell the difference based on touch? Hell no! You would need them plugged in to "feel" (dare I say hear) the amplified sound, the sustain, the sensitivity and the bloom of the note. No pick up will change the physical feel of an instrument, it can change the attack when touched, but not the physical characteristics of the instrument. Unless you are telling us somehow your fingers can detect magnetic fields.

Yeah - and my Mesa has a few settings where you couldn't tell the difference between a Dimebucker and a refrigerator magnet too. Works the other way as well. And since you didn't bother to ask, Lew, I'd say I can completely feel the difference between a number of pickups. But you know a pair I can't? A SuperDisotrtion and a Tone Zone. And I bet that's a pretty similar situation, and I bet a lot of guys can't tell the sonic differences without seeing or being told there either!

EVERYTHING in the signal chain can have an effect on the sound. We are gonna take all that away - including sight. And then we'll see how much people really know.

Remember - this thread started because a guy was on a death hunt for a JBJ having never ever heard one, let alone played one.

I'm totally down for the Helen Keller pickup challenge! We'll make that round two for any who succeed through the first ordeal!!!!

 

[Demanic]

It depends on the age of the person doing the test. As you get older you lose the ability to pickup up certain frequencies. It's not an opinion, it's a fact and has been proven scientifically. Google it.

That said, the BS is on anyone over 60 claiming to be able to distinguish between a regular JB, a JBJ, Antiquity JB, Chinese JB, etc. Except maybe Keith Richards...lol.

We live in the 21st century. Augmentation is available.
And as far as the JB goes, if you can tell the difference, then you spend accordingly.

Sent from my SM-A115A using Tapatalk

 

[Securb]

Helen Keller pickup challenge!

 

[Demanic]

Beethoven used to put his hand on top of his piano.

Sent from my SM-A115A using Tapatalk

 

[Securb]

Beethoven used to put his hand on top of his piano.

Micheal Jackson used to put his hand on top of his organ.

 

[JamesPaul]

Don't make me go thru the parts shelf. I've got a couple of those magic "JBJ" pickups somewhere. I'm dying to throw one in my Reissue HM Strat, but I've successfully resisted since March.

 

[frankfalbo]

And Frank has my phone number if he has a problem with me...

I can honestly say I’ve never had a problem with you big enough to make me want to talk to you.

 

[formula73]

I can honestly say I’ve never had a problem with you big enough to make me want to talk to you.

BRUH lol

 

[Demanic]

Better get to work.

Sent from my SM-A115A using Tapatalk

 

[Clint 55]

Don't make me go thru the parts shelf. I've got a couple of those magic "JBJ" pickups somewhere. I'm dying to throw one in my Reissue HM Strat, but I've successfully resisted since March.

Why resist tinkering? That's part of the fun.

 

[JamesPaul]

One original from the '80s and one I got from Masta'C. I'm just trying to resist Bro. Just trying to resist... I mean, the stock Fender doesn't sound bad. However, deep down I know it's not the JB I butchered my Strat for back in '86. One question. Who's side are you on Bro?

 

[JamesPaul]

Now back to Clint wanting me to put a JBJ in my Reissue HM Strat...have you talked to Aceman about this?:sword::18:

 

[JamesPaul]

Time to sleep Bro. The day gig is back in full swing for me.

 

[Artie]

As long as we're on this subject, is there a definitive way to identify what era your JB might be from? Or, what "flavor" it is?

 

[playas]

Smoke and mirrors Roy, smoke and mirrors.

 

[beaubrummels]

As long as we're on this subject, is there a definitive way to identify what era your JB might be from? Or, what "flavor" it is?

Not definitive, but there was a thread that listed all the baseplate and label variations to help identify within 3-5 years of when it was made.

 

[Artie]

Not definitive, but there was a thread that listed all the baseplate and label variations to help identify within 3-5 years of when it was made.

Cool. I'll look for it.

 

[frankfalbo]

It depends on the age of the person doing the test. As you get older you lose the ability to pickup up certain frequencies. It's not an opinion, it's a fact and has been proven scientifically. Google it.

That said, the BS is on anyone over 60 claiming to be able to distinguish between a regular JB, a JBJ, Antiquity JB, Chinese JB, etc. Except maybe Keith Richards...lol.

This is actually very false logic, and contributes to bad science and engineering, for a couple reasons. First, where your hearing drops off does not dictate your perception of audio. The easiest, quickest illustration was a blind experiment with music cut off above 20kHz (the accepted human limit) and the same music that contained the information above 20kHz. The subjects overwhelmingly chose the music that contained the information above 20kHz as sounding better/more pleasing although none of them could say why, or knew the difference.

We have other ways of sensing sound waves than just our eardrums.

However...the biggest reason it is meaningless is because guitars work in distortion and compression. The frequency content greatly affects the distortion characteristics. When I’m doing high level R&D I can make a fraction of a decibel change somewhere above 12kHz and everyone in the room can tell through the cranked Marshall JCM800. Whether or not they could hear the difference between them through a clean Blues Jr with the volume on 3 is irrelevant.

 

[Masta' C]

As long as we're on this subject, is there a definitive way to identify what era your JB might be from? Or, what "flavor" it is?

Non-logo baseplates were exclusive to 1982 and earlier. The earliest JB's from 1976-77 used flat-head screws on the baseplate, so that's one way to tell those from, say, an otherwise identical version from 1978-80. Pre-1980 nearly always had the longer ink-stamped labels that read "The JB Model", but the shorter versions with model designation and winder initials (i.e. "JBJ") started to appear sometime around 1980. If you come across a JB that has a second row of holes drilled in the baseplate, you can bet it's from the 1981-82 period (coinciding with the intro of the Invader in 1981), though there are examples from the 1981-82 period without the second row of holes like earlier models.

Starting around 1983, packaging was updated and the large logo baseplate appeared. These have the big SD logo that takes up most of the baseplate and no "Made in America" stamp. This baseplate was standard through 1986.

Beginning sometime in late-1986/early-1987, SD went to the smaller logo that's still in use today. Actually, there was an intermediate logo used that was slightly bigger than the current version, but it is relatively rare. Earliest versions said "Made in USA" below the logo, but this was later changed to "Made in America" sometime around 1988.

In 1989, SD began to screen-print their logo on the bobbins, but not all pickups received this treatment. That said, if your paper-label "JBJ" says "Seymour Duncan" on the bobbin, you can rest assured it's no older than 1989 and is more likely from 1990-1993 or so. In the mid-'90s, the first computer printed labels appeared. They were small and still used the 3-letter model designation with winder initial, but gone were the ink-stamped paper labels most think of when they imagine a "JBJ".

 

[GuitarStv]

Have we got to the point of this thread yet where people realize that the Tone Zone is a better pickup than the JB yet?