With a JB jr and an Alnico Pro 2 neck laying around. hmmm.

[pjd3]

Hi folks, I just built a fretless walnut strat guitar and am pretty pleased with how that came out. I'm ready to make or put together another guitar.

Hanging around in my draw, there is a JB jr and an Alnico Pro ll neck humbucker and wondering if they would team up well for the next guitar build.

I do rather like the sound of the JB jr in a strat after listening to many youtube vids and having it in my strat for just a few days. I'm just wondering if the Alnico pro 2 neck humbucker wil be compatible with the JB jr. There is also the choice of wood for the body and neck. I'm generally a Strat guy and like good punch and some brightness but, i'm open to suggestions. The idea of having a Mahogony body is interesting to me. My main guitar is a Strat plus with single coils so I am looking for a departure from that, something with a little more meat and push.


I'd love to hear your comments good or bad.

Thanks,

Phil

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: With a JB jr and an Alnico Pro 2 neck laying around. hmmm.

I don't think the Alnico Pro ll will be a good choice at all. You might want to try an Alnico ll Pro instead.

 

[Mincer]

Re: With a JB jr and an Alnico Pro 2 neck laying around. hmmm.

Ha^
What kind of music? What kind of guitar? I think it should work great. I know a few Tele players that have used this combo.

 

[pjd3]

Re: With a JB jr and an Alnico Pro 2 neck laying around. hmmm.

Thanks for getting back guys. OK...The Alnico ll Pro it is.

I'm in 3 bands (4 piece classic rock 60's - 90's, a Beatles tribute band and a 3 piece classic rock trio). My Strat has been more that adequate for the large range of songs and tones that are called on for but, it would be nice to have another guitar around with some different tone responces than just my Strat with the Fralin Vintage hots. The midrangey aggression of the JB jr would do a number of tunes well. Really, I also just want and excuse to venture another guitar project. Its fun as hell building or putting together guitars and I'm gassin for a next progect. I figured if we do say, a Van Halen, Boston, ACDC tune, that JB jr may work a bit better for stuff like that. When it comes to songs that have a classic humbucker sound I typically use my SeymourDuncan pickup booster and push the mids on the amp a bit but it would be nice to grab a guitar with some sort of a higher output humbucker even if it is a single coil sized one. It would be enough, and it would give these pickups a home. My main concern was the relative outputs of each pickup. Since they are both 4-conductor, I certainly would create a coil cut for combining then in singlecoil, figure I might get a good strummy rhythm tone or two for some things. I'd probably do a series/parallel/cutcoil for the Alnico ll Pro to thin it out if needed. So, thats it. I was expecting that the JB jr may have more output than the Alnico ll Pro. I'd be OK with that if it wasn't a ridiculous difference but, if it was I figured you guys could warn me. Hey, thanks for your time and I'd be interested in any more insights and comments that you have. Even if it is just correcting my grammar! Phil

 

[Mincer]

Re: With a JB jr and an Alnico Pro 2 neck laying around. hmmm.

I'd love to see a pic of this fretless walnut beast when it is done. Is it heavy? In the early 80s, Fender made walnut strats that were about 11lbs. I would think it is pretty bright.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: With a JB jr and an Alnico Pro 2 neck laying around. hmmm.

So let me get this straight in my mind...I certainly understand wanting another guitar to get some different tones (boy do I understand that...I have about 40). But you want to make a new guitar to fit a JB Jr and A2P just because you already have them lying around? I'd be inclined to forget about the JB Jr (I personally don't care much for the tone of the Jr) and put in a full-sized JB in the bridge with the A2P in the neck. They work fine together. Make the guitar an H/H type. I would also include toggles to get series/split/parallel on each pup for some good combined tones.

Compared to the JB jr, the A2P will sound pretty bright ("thin"). I don't think you would need a series/split/parallel switch for the purpose of "thinning" it out to match the JB Jr (which to my ears is pretty dark). But it's nice to have both pups able to s/s/p to get some cool combined pup tones.