What years do you see Seymour Duncan pickups labeled with who wound it?

TRex

TRex

New member
Im waiting on a 1999 Hamer Artist, and realized they might have pickups by a well regarded winder such as MJ.

When where the last "production" JBJ and such wound?
 
Re: What years do you see Seymour Duncan pickups labeled with who wound it?

I have a pocket full of $20's that says you can't tell 3 JB's wound by MJ and three random ones wound by anyone else.

Do you want this just for the nostalgia/bling factor or do you think it sounds different?
 
Re: What years do you see Seymour Duncan pickups labeled with who wound it?

Aceman said:
I have a pocket full of $20's that says you can't tell 3 JB's wound by MJ and three random ones wound by anyone else.
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This I agree with, but I bet you could detect a difference between a 1990 JB and a 2016 JB.
 
Re: What years do you see Seymour Duncan pickups labeled with who wound it?

Obsessive Compulsive said:
Is it still valid? What I found on all of my SDs are date and ROHS numbers, something like this:

http://en.audiofanzine.com/guitar-p...el-cover/medias/pictures/a.play,m.379305.html
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Yes and no. They switched from a cryptic label code to a date code (there is a post in a thread somewhere on here that said the cutover date), but the model number is still on there matching the post-2002 chart and the name of the pickup is there, so less confusing/ambiguous I think.
 
Re: What years do you see Seymour Duncan pickups labeled with who wound it?

Aceman said:
I have a pocket full of $20's that says you can't tell 3 JB's wound by MJ and three random ones wound by anyone else.

Do you want this just for the nostalgia/bling factor or do you think it sounds different?
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Mostly just cool factor. Doubt the sound of the old JBs varied all that much.

It is cool to know who it was wound by, especially if its someone who is well know.
 
Re: What years do you see Seymour Duncan pickups labeled with who wound it?

You'll see a smaller computer printed label on most '90s-gen pickups, but it should still indicate the winder. On the '80s and early '90s pickups, no winder initial typically meant a pickup was wound by Seymour himself, but I'm not certain when or if that practice ceased at some point.

As for JB"J" vs JB__, I agree that you'd be hard pressed to hear any difference between a pickup wound by MJ and the same model wound by Seymour (aka: JB), Lydia Daniels (aka: JBL), etc.

However, I also agree that the older JBs tend to be a bit nicer sounding than the production models of the last several years. I've gotten my hands on enough NOS (new old stock) examples at this point to note the subtle differences. Come to think of it, I have a couple brand new '80s-vintage "JBJ" models in boxes sitting on my desk as I write this!
 
Re: What years do you see Seymour Duncan pickups labeled with who wound it?

masta' c said:
You'll see a smaller computer printed label on most '90s-gen pickups, but it should still indicate the winder. On the '80s and early '90s pickups, no winder initial typically meant a pickup was wound by Seymour himself, but I'm not certain when or if that practice ceased at some point.

As for JB"J" vs JB__, I agree that you'd be hard pressed to hear any difference between a pickup wound by MJ and the same model wound by Seymour (aka: JB), Lydia Daniels (aka: JBL), etc.

However, I also agree that the older JBs tend to be a bit nicer sounding than the production models of the last several years. I've gotten my hands on enough NOS (new old stock) examples at this point to note the subtle differences. Come to think of it, I have a couple brand new '80s-vintage "JBJ" models in boxes sitting on my desk as I write this!
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Do JB's from the 80's and 90's use roughcast magnets?

Do current JB's use polished magnets?

If so, that would account for a difference in feel and tone that should be able to be both felt and heard by any skilled player.
 
Re: What years do you see Seymour Duncan pickups labeled with who wound it?

masta' c said:
You'll see a smaller computer printed label on most '90s-gen pickups, but it should still indicate the winder. On the '80s and early '90s pickups, no winder initial typically meant a pickup was wound by Seymour himself, but I'm not certain when or if that practice ceased at some point.

As for JB"J" vs JB__, I agree that you'd be hard pressed to hear any difference between a pickup wound by MJ and the same model wound by Seymour (aka: JB), Lydia Daniels (aka: JBL), etc.

However, I also agree that the older JBs tend to be a bit nicer sounding than the production models of the last several years. I've gotten my hands on enough NOS (new old stock) examples at this point to note the subtle differences. Come to think of it, I have a couple brand new '80s-vintage "JBJ" models in boxes sitting on my desk as I write this!
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been going through a series on the JB Model for a few months. final entry should be this week, with a comparison of them all to come down the road.

masta'c sums it up very nicely. :bigthumb:
 
Re: What years do you see Seymour Duncan pickups labeled with who wound it?

Well, I think the old ones have their own thing going on enough to have an Antiquity model. Slight de-magnetization, along with a slight change in materials will do it. However, I know that if in a blind test, I couldn't tell an old JB with a new one. Especially in the time it takes to unsolder the old one and put the new one in. The JB's tone, to me, seems to me, takes 'the player' out of the equation more than, a more vintage output pickup. But it can also be that there is enough in the JB sound that I don't like that I could never detect subtle differences.
 
Re: What years do you see Seymour Duncan pickups labeled with who wound it?

Mincer said:
Well, I think the old ones have their own thing going on enough to have an Antiquity model. Slight de-magnetization, along with a slight change in materials will do it.
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it's good to see more people associated with the Duncan company admitting the materials can/do change over the decades of production.



Mincer said:
However, I know that if in a blind test, I couldn't tell an old JB with a new one.
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I think you should give it a try and see if you could. :D
 
Re: What years do you see Seymour Duncan pickups labeled with who wound it?

Lewguitar said:
Do JB's from the 80's and 90's use roughcast magnets?

Do current JB's use polished magnets?
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Generally, yes.

However, there are exceptions. For instance, the two NOS mid-'80s non-logo, long-legged, "JBJ" pickups I have in front of me at this very moment both have polished mags from the factory. Probably a fluke in the supply chain that month, but this isn't the only time I've come across this phenomenon in all my years of buying and selling vintage JBs.

I've also seen a roughcast A5 make it into a polished-era production model that was not a shop floor custom (bought new by me).

Typically speaking, though, the older ones were roughcast and the newer ones are polished.
 
Re: What years do you see Seymour Duncan pickups labeled with who wound it?

darthphineas said:
I think you should give it a try and see if you could. :D
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After uninstalling and reinstalling the old & new pickup, I still wouldn't like the sound of a JB, so my ears would give up. :)
 
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