My love/hate relationship with the JB.

[B2D]

Man, do I ever go back and forth on this pickup.

I do really like the JB as an all-around pickup... great basic tone, hot but not too hot, sounds great for rhythm and lead alike, but the thing that keeps me from being totally satisfied with it is that I want the response to be tighter and a little fatter in the bass, and with a little bit better note separation at higher gain levels. On that last part - it's NOT a technique thing. At higher gain levels, notes sometime seem like they're smearing together during fast single-note passages. I've played a number of other pickups - mainly DiMarzios - that have a cleaner, faster sound, if you will.

I haven't been able to find a pickup like that yet. I'm told the Motor City Afwayu and the Suhr Aldrich come close though, but I haven't tried 'em as they are expensive.

I tried putting in an A8 mag in my JB for a while and that seemed to help a little at first, but I realized that doing that made the pickup too hot for me and the A8 mag added a slightly strident quality to the pickup that fatigued the ears after a while.

*sigh* What to do, what to do...

[uOpt]

Try the DD.

[SFW]

Put an alnico 2 magnet in it and enjoy!

[Diego]

I tightened my stock JB with these steps:

1) Replace the screw coils with hex screw coils, like those found in Dimarzio pickups.
That made things a good bit brighter and clearer. Not fatter, but stay with me.
2) Raise the screws! Lower the pickup a bit and set the hex screws up for extra brightness. Or take them down and raise the pickup instead if you want more fat.

Note that all of these steps added clarity and definition, but not fat per se. The bass got tighter and more precise. But you could still dial in a thicker tone with your amp/pedals/etc. if the JB is giving a clearer sound, no?

Hope this helps a bit.

[blueman335]

Put an alnico 2 magnet in it and enjoy!

+1. That's the best JB to my ears.

[Benjy_26]

Alnico II does change the bass response for the better, but the high gain tone gets even more smeary.

FWIW, the Air Zone is kind of like a bigger, fatter JB, but you do lose the high mid bump.

[Koreth]

Whatever happened to those hex screws I sent you? They'll tighten the JB right up.

[surface54]

yup still going through the same thing bro. i just think we dont have the gear/amp to make the JB sound good with either the A8 or stock A5 mag in it. with the A2 it was really smooth but dont expect to get chugging bass out of it, its basically like 2 on the eq chart.
maybe try a custom 8? its tamed and still aggressive.
im with you on love/hate the JB, i really want to love it all the time, but when i get up and start playing it it hurts my ears.
at higher gain levels for me it seems the pickup destroys its own clarity with hiss crunch, if that sounds right, too bright to actually hear the clear tone underneath.

[CTN]

I just think the JB sounds how do i put it...."squashed"

like if you took a Custom SH5's sound, put it in a 3 dimensional vice grip, and squashed it to 1/3 size, and then because it's not totally air tight, some of the sound got squeezed out in the high-mid range.

That's what the JB sounds like to me. the low mids aren't tight enough, the bass is weak (IMO), the highs are tinny, and that high mid spike makes everything sound 1 dimensional. It sounds even worse in bright woods.

[surface54]

like if you took a Custom SH5's sound, put it in a 3 dimensional vice grip, and squashed it to 1/3 size, and then because it's not totally air tight, some of the sound got squeezed out in the high-mid range.

thats a clever analogy of it

[B2D]

Try the DD.

The DD is one of my LEAST favorite pickups. Too much midrange content and to scratchy sounding for me.

Put an alnico 2 magnet in it and enjoy!

I still haven't tried that... tahnks for reminding me.

I tightened my stock JB with these steps:

1) Replace the screw coils with hex screw coils, like those found in Dimarzio pickups.
That made things a good bit brighter and clearer. Not fatter, but stay with me.
2) Raise the screws! Lower the pickup a bit and set the hex screws up for extra brightness. Or take them down and raise the pickup instead if you want more fat.

Note that all of these steps added clarity and definition, but not fat per se. The bass got tighter and more precise. But you could still dial in a thicker tone with your amp/pedals/etc. if the JB is giving a clearer sound, no?

Hope this helps a bit.

I've got some hex screws in there right now actually. I've been experimenting with pole/pickup height as well and haven't been quite getting what I want.

Alnico II does change the bass response for the better, but the high gain tone gets even more smeary.

FWIW, the Air Zone is kind of like a bigger, fatter JB, but you do lose the high mid bump.

I'm actually selling an Air Zone after having experimenting with it for a few weeks. Cool pickup, great note separation, but it's a little too smooth and doesn't quite have the snarl that I like.

Whatever happened to those hex screws I sent you? They'll tighten the JB right up.

I've got them in the JB right now. It improved the sound but it's still not quite there yet.

yup still going through the same thing bro. i just think we dont have the gear/amp to make the JB sound good with either the A8 or stock A5 mag in it. with the A2 it was really smooth but dont expect to get chugging bass out of it, its basically like 2 on the eq chart.
maybe try a custom 8? its tamed and still aggressive.
im with you on love/hate the JB, i really want to love it all the time, but when i get up and start playing it it hurts my ears.
at higher gain levels for me it seems the pickup destroys its own clarity with hiss crunch, if that sounds right, too bright to actually hear the clear tone underneath.

I have a Bogner 101b... I think that's a decent enough amp to make MOST things sound pretty good.

The stock JB is like... 80% of the way there as to what my ideal bridge pickup would be. I just can't seem to find the other 20%

The Custom 8 sounded excellent when I tried it and I can't say a bad thing about it. It just had a different character than the JB. Maybe I need to try it again?

I just think the JB sounds how do i put it...."squashed"

like if you took a Custom SH5's sound, put it in a 3 dimensional vice grip, and squashed it to 1/3 size, and then because it's not totally air tight, some of the sound got squeezed out in the high-mid range.

That's what the JB sounds like to me. the low mids aren't tight enough, the bass is weak (IMO), the highs are tinny, and that high mid spike makes everything sound 1 dimensional. It sounds even worse in bright woods.

I'm with you on not liking it in bright woods, but I do like the basic sound of the pickup... not everyone does. I think it's really expressive and snarly and I like that - that translates to loose and tinny to some people I guess.

[Koreth]

If you liked the custom 8, and (mostly) like the JB, maybe a JB/Custom hybrid might do it for you?

[surface54]

If you liked the custom 8, and (mostly) like the JB, maybe a JB/Custom hybrid might do it for you?

how would that be done kind sir!?

[B2D]

If you liked the custom 8, and (mostly) like the JB, maybe a JB/Custom hybrid might do it for you?

I've seen the thread on how to make a '59/Custom hybrid, I'm assuming this would be done much in the same way. Have you done this yourself? Which coil from which pickup would you use? Which magnet?

[Koreth]

I've not, but it's been something I've been wanting to try if for no other reason to satisfy my curiosity on what the tonal result would be. Unfortunately all I can offer is speculation in this regard. I'd defer to those who actually have experience with a Custom/JB or Custom/DD hybrid. I know I saw a thread where someone made one. Or maybe it was a FS/DD hybrid, I can't remember.

[Stef]

which speakers do you use?
JB doesn't work with V30's IME

[surface54]

which speakers do you use?
JB doesn't work with V30's IME

+1 i have v30s and boy it is a mountain size spike.

[B2D]

which speakers do you use?
JB doesn't work with V30's IME

Emi Man-O-Wars and Governors in an X pattern in a 4x12.

[MetalManiac]

The JB was designed around an late 70's /80's Marshall Amp and its mid eq, and probabaly primarily for a Superstrat maybe even bumped up with a Tube screamer..The SuperD was designed around a Paul and a Marshall. This is just conjecture on my part.
I adore my JB in the bridge for my Superstrat through the marshall 2204. The SuperD is awesome for a Gibson through a Marshall JCM800. They are the greatest pickups ever made for Strats and Pauls through the Marshall; they both are legendary.
If you have a Bogner, or something, you might want to look at a more modern sounding pickup that reacts differently to a higher gain, tighter sounding less organic style amp.
Custom5?

[MetalManiac]

The V30's are fantastic speakers. Contrary to waht has been said elsewhere, they will get a great early Zepplin sound almost in the area of an original G12m-20.
I dont use the V30 with my 2204 marshall, cause I really think ter G12-65 or the Greenbacks are much better for a Marshall stock, but in the right amp that scoops the mids without sounding too thin, the V30 ( i use a cross of the G12H and V30m in a 4x12 marshall cab) can sound fantastic!
I also like the Tonker in a alot of amps.