JB versus Tone Zone

[9unslin9er]

Body is alder
Neck is maple
Fretboard is rosewood

Genres played: Hard Rock, Hair Metal, Instrumental Rock, with the occasional Punk.

Shootout Go!

*with poll!

[dominus]

Tone Zone if the guitar itself is fairly bright.

JB otherwise.

[JeffB]

What kind of bridge?

In general I prefer the JB , but if the bridge is a floyd, I would lean towards the tone zone.

A better match would be a standard Norton, best of both worlds.

[TheLivingDead]

Tone Zone.

[9unslin9er]

Bridge is standard Fender trem
...because Floyds rob tone. Bummer!

*Norton is my favorite bridge pickup but it thrives in mahogany. I've tried both JB and Tone Zone in Alder. Just a match made in heaven.

[darthphineas]

Bridge is standard Fender trem
...because Floyds rob tone. Bummer!

when set up properly and given a few minor and inexpensive tweaks, that is just not the case.

[RayBarbeeMusic]

I prefer the JB, but I don't like either all that much in that combo.

Again, Breed.

[9unslin9er]

when set up properly and given a few minor and inexpensive tweaks, that is just not the case.

This may just be my ears playing tricks on me, but under a controlled condition, having owned identical guitars with different trem systems, I can vouch for non-locking trems having more sustain. Not knocking Floyds - I love 'em. They just need some extra help.

LTD ST-203 + pro-setup + Tone Zone > LTD ST-203FR + pro-setup + Tone Zone

LTD ST-203 + pro-setup + ESP bridge pickup < LTD ST-203FR + pro-setup + Tone Zone

*but this is another discussion for another day.

[UberMetalDood]

It took me a long time to understand and appreciate the JB. I had some wiring issues and dialed my amp in with lots of mids, and it just never seemed right. After some time, I came to appreciate it as a very tight, articulate, and hot pickup. Although the JB is a stock pickup on all kinds of guitars, I wouldn't consider it the kind of pickup that matches all kinds of guitars. To me it doesn't agree with as many tonewoods as the Tone Zone.

I actually posted an audio comparison of the JB and Tone Zone. They were both installed in strats, and the only variable was that the Tone Zone was in a darker sounding strat. As you can hear, the pickups are very similarly voiced and the difference in wood translates fairly. Ironically, some people still mistake it as kind of a dark pickup. It's really not. When you have a pickup with as much mids as the Tone Zone, it's not going to be that dark.

Depending on what you're going for, the JB or Tone Zone could be a great choice. First of all, the Tone Zone stays together very well under high gain. Given that and that it's kind of high-ouput and has a deep low end, it's used often as a metal pickup. The JB is also a great metal pickup, maybe even better for ultra high gain. It's very tight and focused. Both the JB and the Tone Zone sound kind of compressed. Both pickups have a little spikiness in the top end. The Tone Zone has more low mids and bass, dips a little around the high mids before the treble picks up. The JB has a little less low end and low mids but has a bit more in the upper mids and a similar high end. The difference is kind of a subtle shift as you can hear in the audio.

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=10668612

I think the JB is more focused and the Tone Zone is a bit more versatile. The Tone Zone has more harmonic overtones, and perhaps not as plain as the JB, but it has a hint of graininess even though it's slightly more compressed than the JB. Either way you go you're going to have a wealth of mids.

Basswood is a balanced wood that combs away some of the harshness of the upper frequencies. Alder is also a fairly balanced wood but accentuates the midrange a little more. Putting either of those pickups in an alder body is going to give you a very rich, thick sounding guitar with the perfect cut.

I have a lot of strats, most of which have maple fret boards. A few of them have rosewood fret boards. I personally find rosewood to have a little top end sizzle that my maple strats don't have. For this reason, I think that it's possible for either of those pickups to translate that high end sizzle. If you have an amp that is on the bright end, you'll probably notice.

For great, complex mids and more openness then you have to consider the Seth Lover. It's more versatile than the JB and adapts better to different tonewoods. With a similar difference, the Dimarzio Breed offers a bit less compression, more complex mids, and a bit more openness than the Tone Zone. Both pickups sound pretty thick in a strat, but the Breed is slightly thicker.

There aren't a lot of great demos of the Breed, but a couple of youtube give you a pretty good idea of what they sound like for the average user. Here's driven and clean demos:

[LonePhantom]

I have that same timber combo, and the alder is fairly bright. Tone Zone sounds amazing in it. I love it so much. I'll be trying JB in it soon though, I'm curious to see how it goes.

[9unslin9er]

The first time I ever heard the Tone Zone was in Dave Sharman's "1990". I thought the tone was so smooth and awesome and never got it out of my head.
I've heard the JB in various applications - mainly in pop/punk. The first time I personally played one was in my buddy's Wayne (Charvel) Rock Legend. It sounded incredible in alder as well and I love it even more when I heard 80's players like Satchel from Steel Panther using it.

Anyhoo, this is more or less what I'm looking for:

JB

Tone Zone

[UberMetalDood]

The first time I ever heard the Tone Zone was in Dave Sharman's "1990". I thought the tone was so smooth and awesome and never got it out of my head.
I've heard the JB in various applications - mainly in pop/punk. The first time I personally played one was in my buddy's Wayne (Charvel) Rock Legend. It sounded incredible in alder as well and I love it even more when I heard 80's players like Satchel from Steel Panther using it.

Anyhoo, this is more or less what I'm looking for:

JB

Tone Zone

Man I don't know how you can hear the qualities of those pickups with all of the effects and saturated digital distortion they're using. Honestly those videos have bad tone. If that's what you're going for then get a POD and the pickups won't matter that much.

[9unslin9er]

I'm not too keen on the style of the Jackson player, but I love that Vai/Satriani style saturation. If you don't like it, that's all you. Everyone has different taste. I happen to think the POD is a good piece of kit. Don't think it makes the tone "bad." Subjective.

[Empty Pockets]

This may just be my ears playing tricks on me, but under a controlled condition, having owned identical guitars with different trem systems, I can vouch for non-locking trems having more sustain. Not knocking Floyds - I love 'em. They just need some extra help.

LTD ST-203 + pro-setup + Tone Zone > LTD ST-203FR + pro-setup + Tone Zone

LTD ST-203 + pro-setup + ESP bridge pickup < LTD ST-203FR + pro-setup + Tone Zone

*but this is another discussion for another day.

Two different guitars with the same specs are not the same guitar.

I could easily find you two identically-specd guitars that do not sound the same as eachother.

The basis for your "floyds rob tone" statement is entirely flawed, good sir.

[9unslin9er]

Man I don't know how you can hear the qualities of those pickups with all of the effects and saturated digital distortion they're using. Honestly those videos have bad tone.

So, this guy Gustavo Guerra uses a ton of saturation. I don't think picking a set of Lollars or Lindy Fralins would suit this style of music well.

[ErikH]

JB for me every time. I have it in 2 guitars, both with Floyd's. It just works. The Tone Zone is a little too much for me. I like mids, but there is such a thing as too much mids as well.

[UberMetalDood]

So, this guy Gustavo Guerra uses a ton of saturation. I don't think picking a set of Lollars or Lindy Fralins would suit this style of music well.

You would be surprised. It's not that Guerra uses "a ton" of saturation necessarily. It's that he records everything with digital devices. His technique is much sharper than the two videos you presented and therefore of course it will sound clearer, however, he's known for doing good guitar covers, not his tone.

A lot of shred guitarists use vintage pickups. In fact, probably the majority of them either use single size humbuckers, or moderate output pickups. I suggested the Seth Lover. It's considered a vintage humbucker with a lot of class, but let me tell you. It's tight and handles distortion great. It's not ideal for hardcore metal, but it can go pretty far into metal territory, and it's fantastic for shred.

Shred players like a pickup that's articulate and dynamic because they need every note to sound good. If all of their fast runs were indiscriminate then they wouldn't be the best in the world now would they? That's hard to achieve with Duncan Distortions and X2n's.

[orpheo]

The comment floyds suck tone makes me laugh. A good floyd will sound awesome. Niet sucking of tone or sustain.

I would choose the jb. The tonezone only with a halfaired a8 and silver nickel baseplate, and even then the jb walks circles round the tz.

[9unslin9er]

A lot of shred guitarists use vintage pickups. In fact, probably the majority of them either use single size humbuckers, or moderate output pickups. I suggested the Seth Lover.

Yeah, I'm not really sure what his pickups/gear are.
I'm a big fan of medium output pickups myself and I certainly always go vintage output on the neck pickups, thus my favor towards the '59 or AII Pro.

I'd go Seths every time if were not for cost and cavity size. My guitars prohibit long legs without further routing.

That said, I'm not using those videos as an end all be all for a demo on the TZ or JB. They were just on the top of the youtube page for the style of music I like.

I'm currently looking into an alder build as most of my guitars tend to be darker woods tonally - basswood, mahogany, sapele.

I don't expect the TZ to win this one as it's generally got a bad rep for some reason, but so does the JB on this forum.

[9unslin9er]

Also, if I get one more post regarding the Floyd Jab (as it's completely irrelevant to this discussion) I'm going to just close this thread. It was clearly in jest, and people are acting like I just fracked their sister.

I am a HUGE fan of Edge Pros, and Kahlers, and Floyds as I think they're pivotal for the shredder revolution of the 80's and 90's.

However, I am not a whammy abuser and if I don't need to clamp down strings at two ends, or cut a huge piece out of my headstock joint, I won't.