Newb With Some Questions

[BluesPlayer77]

Greetings. I have a JS1000 and I want to replace the FRED bridge. It is a great pickup indeed but I want something a little smoother and tighter. Not ceramic, I'll go with alnico 2 or 5. This guitar has a coil tap so it has to sound good tapped. I'm open to suggestions for Seymour Duncan pickups and also Dimarzio or any other quality brand you can suggest. Thanks.

[super rad stuff]

JBs are both smooth and tight, has an a5 magnet, and is a great choice if you like a lot of mids and a good amount of compression.

[Marshall_Abuser]

IMHO, the JB rather LACKS mids as opposed to having a lot. I also disagree about it being "tight", there are a lot of "tighter" pickups out there. But I can agree about it having a smooth tone, that's for sure ! To my ears, the JB has a woofy bass, very clear and persistent treble, lots of presence and not much mids.

To the original poster : if you want something smoother and tighter than a FRED, maybe try another Dimarzio, like the Air Zone. Very smooth modern tone, not too much output, with plenty of low-end tightness. Has no equivalent from SD. If you want more output, try a Tone-Zone.

JBs are both smooth and tight, has an a5 magnet, and is a great choice if you like a lot of mids and a good amount of compression.

[blueman335]

IMHO, the JB rather LACKS mids as opposed to having a lot. I also disagree about it being "tight", there are a lot of "tighter" pickups out there. But I can agree about it having a smooth tone, that's for sure ! To my ears, the JB has a woofy bass, very clear and persistent treble, lots of presence and not much mids.

+1. I think the JB is bright, scooped, and harsh to my ears. Some guys complain about it's soft low end. The most common thing I've heard about the JB's shortcomings is it's annoying "ice pick" tone in some guitars. One guys said it sounds like a dentist's drill in his. It's too tempermental a PU to be recommended to someone without experience in swapping magnets & pots.

[blueman335]

As a fellow blues player, I like my medium output Fred, but maybe yours doesn't fit your wood or amp. Are you wanting a PAF (low output) bridge or something high output? For a PAF, I like the '59B with 250K pots (250K's add some mids and warmth). For more power, the C5 is very nice clean and with overdrive (I use 250K's on that too). A higher output PU will sound better tapped than a low output (a C5 is 14,000 ohms, 7,000 in coil cut; a PAF bridge is about 8,400, and 4,200 cut, which is getting pretty thin and weak).

If you want "something tighter", avoid anything with an A2 magnet, as they're famous for having a loose, flabby low end.

I'd recommend staying away from JB's too, as they're very finicky about the wood they're in, and too often sound shrill & harsh. While some guys love theirs, there's always lots of used ones sold by unhappy owners.

What kind of tones are you going for; who are are idols?

[BluesPlayer77]

Super Rad, thanks for your suggestion. I have a contrary opinion about the JB pickup. It\'s loose and compressed sounding to me and well that\\\'s not what I\'m going for. It might make a better hard rock pickup but I need something versatile.

Blueman, I\'m not a blues player in the modern sense of the word. \"Blues\" has been overused and abused so much that the whole meaning of it has gotten all twisted. Things have changed. Anyone with a mixer and some pentatonic chops are blues players. If blues means John Mayer gets his own signature Fender, forget it I\\\'m not a blues player. If it means playing something with all the vibe and emotion you can squeeze out of your instrument, then that\'s what I\'m all about.

My influences range from Albert King, SRV, Eric Clapton to Eric Johson, Randy Rhodes and Joe Bonamassa. You wouldn\'t get that from my playing style because I sound more hard rock but those are my main influences in a nutshell.

Thanks for suggestions everyone.

[Thunder]

What about a PAF PRO or VPAF. A5's

[frankfalbo]

Just for kicks try flipping your Fred around. The two coils are different from each other and their location has some effect on the sound. I'm not saying it will solve anything, but it's worth a try.

My recommendation has to be tempered with what you've already said about the Fred. If I take what you've said about the Fred at face value, I could recommend a Full Shred. But the PATB-3 would be great in there. It's a different look, but the tone should be just right. You could also try the Dimarzio Breed neck pickup in the bridge.