What pickup for SLIGHTLY higher gain?

[Gplayerzzz]

Re: What pickup for SLIGHTLY higher gain?

If you want a JBish sound with a little more gain, then the Suhr Aldrich. The Dimarzio Norton is also a good rock pickup. And a lot of people love the Anderson H2+ You really have a few good options. Motor city, bareknuckle, Hill etc.

 

[Jeff_H]

Re: What pickup for SLIGHTLY higher gain?

The PATB-1b seems like a safe bet, especially since you have a second guitar that's a likely home for it, if it doesn't do what you want in the first.

The PATB-1b is higher output than the JB. It's also more dynamic, and responds better to volume and tone control.

It's got more highs, but they aren't all in one peak in the upper midrange like the JB, so it actually is smoother.

The JB has wilder harmonics and varying response in the upper register that makes it exciting for solos. The PATB-1b is smoother and more even... But responds more wildly to pick articulation, so you can get varying response another way, and far more controllably.

It's also tighter and more balanced than the JB. It crunches in a way the JB doesn't have the balance for, yet on the same amp/patch single note lines sing like no other pickup I've used. Usually you get brash crunch or singing leads, not both.

Don't know if you've listened to the Custom 5 or Custom Custom any, but I find I can wander between those tones if I set the volume around 85%. Tone up, more like C5. Tone around 75%, mid-80s EVH comes over to say hi.

The Parallel Axis design is odd, it doesn't behave like you'd expect for the resistance. PATB-1b is 15.7K... but a larger coil, I'm reasonably sure it's 43AWG (coils more full with wire than they'd be with 44, also the resemblances to CC/C5 tones), where a conventional coil would usually be 44AWG at that resistance. But despite being fairly high output, it's incredibly dynamic.

The polepiece design has a lot of advantages. Less string pull, longer sustain, enhanced harmonic response, sweeter treble, and terrific articulation. Transients are a bit less harsh, yet it doesn't lack in attack if you dig in with the pick. Notes bloom, oddly tuby response.

I can get pretty much everything I liked about the JB out of it, plus a ridiculous variety more.

[Note: I'm not knocking the JB in other guitars, I love it in other body woods, and it's more flexible if the wood fills out it's lows and highs a bit, rather than emphasizing it's already awesome mids.]

That's the best description I've ever heard.

 

[frankfalbo]

Re: What pickup for SLIGHTLY higher gain?

Did I miss it or did no one mention the Alternative 8? Please try this pickup, it should end your search.

 

[mannydingo]

Re: What pickup for SLIGHTLY higher gain?

The PATB-1b seems like a safe bet, especially since you have a second guitar that's a likely home for it, if it doesn't do what you want in the first.

The PATB-1b is higher output than the JB. It's also more dynamic, and responds better to volume and tone control.

It's got more highs, but they aren't all in one peak in the upper midrange like the JB, so it actually is smoother.

The JB has wilder harmonics and varying response in the upper register that makes it exciting for solos. The PATB-1b is smoother and more even... But responds more wildly to pick articulation, so you can get varying response another way, and far more controllably.

It's also tighter and more balanced than the JB. It crunches in a way the JB doesn't have the balance for, yet on the same amp/patch single note lines sing like no other pickup I've used. Usually you get brash crunch or singing leads, not both.

Don't know if you've listened to the Custom 5 or Custom Custom any, but I find I can wander between those tones if I set the volume around 85%. Tone up, more like C5. Tone around 75%, mid-80s EVH comes over to say hi.

The Parallel Axis design is odd, it doesn't behave like you'd expect for the resistance. PATB-1b is 15.7K... but a larger coil, I'm reasonably sure it's 43AWG (coils more full with wire than they'd be with 44, also the resemblances to CC/C5 tones), where a conventional coil would usually be 44AWG at that resistance. But despite being fairly high output, it's incredibly dynamic.

The polepiece design has a lot of advantages. Less string pull, longer sustain, enhanced harmonic response, sweeter treble, and terrific articulation. Transients are a bit less harsh, yet it doesn't lack in attack if you dig in with the pick. Notes bloom, oddly tuby response.

I can get pretty much everything I liked about the JB out of it, plus a ridiculous variety more.

[Note: I'm not knocking the JB in other guitars, I love it in other body woods, and it's more flexible if the wood fills out it's lows and highs a bit, rather than emphasizing it's already awesome mids.]

I totally forgot about pickups reading this and thought I was reading a love poem. Do you love the way that pickup sounds or have you fallen in love with it?:9: Very, very deep info on the pickup, thanks.

Did I miss it or did no one mention the Alternative 8? Please try this pickup, it should end your search.

After the above do you think I will take you seriously about your choice for me on what pickup I should choose? Prove your love to your pickup with a passionate love poem as Despair has done above.:lmao:

Wow, all these choices. I wish that all guitars had that new plug-in/snap-on pick up receptacles that is on some guitar I read about. Can't remember what it was or if it's a retrofit for all guitars. That should be done on every electric guitar in existence.

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: What pickup for SLIGHTLY higher gain?

Fact is, pickup choice is a small factor in determining your end result.

I wouldn't be stressing this hard about pickup choice for your situation...

 

[Binnerscot]

Re: What pickup for SLIGHTLY higher gain?

After the above do you think I will take you seriously about your choice for me on what pickup I should choose? Prove your love to your pickup with a passionate love poem as Despair has done above.:lmao:

Alt 8 may be a good choice, I haven't tried one yet. Frank is one of the big dogs at Duncan and literally has his hands in the design work (if I remember correctly).

 

[Despair]

Re: What pickup for SLIGHTLY higher gain?

I really like the PATB-1b, it saved my RG570 which felt great to play but never really sounded good. If a picture is worth a thousand words, trying to describe sounds precisely takes more than a few. And the feel and way it interacts with playing and amps a few more. I describe pickups I don't like in similar detail, even recommend some of them when they are what will do what somebody needs.

There's no one perfect pickup for every guitar and player. The PATBs do have their own quirks. No screws, so you can't adjust string balance/tone the same way as a conventional slug and screws humbucker.

Some guitarists don't like the interactive pick attack, instead wanting a more consistent or compressed feel. Someone who is hung up on the looks of an original PAF is not likely to even give it a chance. The high output can be a problem with modellers, where avoiding clipping at the DAC is pretty important for preserving good tone.

In the right guitar the JB is magical, especially for hair metal. But it's a pretty unique sound, and basswood is often the wrong guitar... Like my Ibanez RG570.

I don't agree that the pickup is a small factor, but it's impact can be lost in the signal chain. What's the most important element will depend considerably on the rest of the components and the guitarist's tastes. It is only one part of many contributing to the sound.

Can't really comment on the Alternative 8, the few clips I've heard it had some odd quirks so until I hear better samples I'm in need of more convincing. A8 with a hot wind is likely to be considerably hotter than a JB or PATB-1b, though. But it'll be tight with more bass than the PATB-1b or JB. If you are someplace where the 21 day swap guarantee is available, you can give it a try with little risk.

 

[Barron1]

Re: What pickup for SLIGHTLY higher gain?

Custom is 43AWG. JB is 44AWG. Very different winds. It's the Distortion that is a JB with a thick ceramic magnet. Custom is a normal thickness ceramic, and a very different sound, surprisingly like a hot PAF for a ceramic pickup.

The Custom is awesome for 70s rock, but doesn't sound much like the JB. It's warm and punchy with great cut. But doesn't have the screaming harmonics and wailing lead tone of the JB. Neither does it have the loose low end the JB runs afoul of in some guitars.

Thats the only thing I don't like about the Custom--mediocre harmonics. Its probably my favorite SD pickup because of the punch it delivers, but sometimes I wish I can get better screaming pinch harmonics from it.

That would be my ideal pickup. The heavyweight punch of The Custom crossed with the sceaming harmonics of the Distortion.

 

[Despair]

Re: What pickup for SLIGHTLY higher gain?

Thats the only thing I don't like about the Custom--mediocre harmonics. Its probably my favorite SD pickup because of the punch it delivers, but sometimes I wish I can get better screaming pinch harmonics from it.

That would be my ideal pickup. The heavyweight punch of The Custom crossed with the sceaming harmonics of the Distortion.

That's a tricky combination to pull off, though I'd lean more towards the harmonics of a JB, don't like the Distortion's gritty ceramic overtone.

Especially since the dynamics of the pickups are totally different, Custom is broader open, uncompressed feel where the Distortion is a narrower, more compressed spiky sound. Both awesome in rather different ways.

A Custom with an active midboost or a boost or eq pedal with a huge upper mid-peak is probably the easiest way to approach that tone.

I've heard of people combining one coil from each in a hybrid pickup, but while some liked it, some didn't and I can't recall hearing a recording of it.

A PATB-2 has more growl than a Distortion, but I don't know if that's what you are looking for either. It rounds off the ceramic bite slightly, slightly more JBish leads and partway to the Invader for riffs. Huge, but not in the same way as the Custom.

 

[Varg]

Re: What pickup for SLIGHTLY higher gain?

You are happy with the pickup in your Gio - as you've found, modellers can work well with even the cheapest of pickups.
I would suggest you just look out for another of those Gio pickups, and sell the JB.

 

[misterwhizzy]

Re: What pickup for SLIGHTLY higher gain?

Thats the only thing I don't like about the Custom--mediocre harmonics. Its probably my favorite SD pickup because of the punch it delivers, but sometimes I wish I can get better screaming pinch harmonics from it.

That would be my ideal pickup. The heavyweight punch of The Custom crossed with the sceaming harmonics of the Distortion.

That's interesting. I found that in my Les Paul, the Custom 8 was able to pull off harmonics easier than the Distortion. With the Distortion, you would get unwanted high frequencies accidentally when your picking was a bit sloppy. With the Custom 8, it seems a little more forgiving, but still delivers when you want to make it happen.

I've gotten out of the pinch harmonic thing for the most part, but if I happen to play a Zakk Wylde riff, it still works fine with the Custom 8. Not with the ultra-compressed EMG woo-woo-woo tone, but still a big squeal. I also find that the musical harmonic content is better with the Custom wind. It's just a fuller sound that's a little more mild, but with better punch.

 

[Barron1]

Re: What pickup for SLIGHTLY higher gain?

That's interesting. I found that in my Les Paul, the Custom 8 was able to pull off harmonics easier than the Distortion. With the Distortion, you would get unwanted high frequencies accidentally when your picking was a bit sloppy. With the Custom 8, it seems a little more forgiving, but still delivers when you want to make it happen.

I've gotten out of the pinch harmonic thing for the most part, but if I happen to play a Zakk Wylde riff, it still works fine with the Custom 8. Not with the ultra-compressed EMG woo-woo-woo tone, but still a big squeal. I also find that the musical harmonic content is better with the Custom wind. It's just a fuller sound that's a little more mild, but with better punch.

Right, I'm talking about the Custom not the Custom 8

 

[King IzzO)))]

Re: What pickup for SLIGHTLY higher gain?

Alt 8 or Duncan Distortion.