Another JB thread

[richard parker]

I've had a JB in a very old SG Junior for years and I carry it around as a back up. I've never had any problems with the 'spike' and the low end is tight with none of the flubbiness that many complain about. It sounds great. I took it to a local jam night last week and, after I'd played a couple of numbers, two guys begged me to let them play it. I was happy to let them and enjoyed listening to my guitar with a sense of paternal pride. We were playing through a very old Park 2 x 12 combo and a vintage Tube Screamer.

Another guy turned up with a Charvel San Dimas with a JB bridge which many would say is a more natural setting for a JB rather than an SG. This guitar sounded like total poo. Everything bad I've heard about the JB - screechy, thin, mushy, undefined low end. Just awful.

I don't really have a point to make, just felt like sharing my experience.

[Edgecrusher]

It didnt cause all the amps for a 5km radius to implode did it?

[Aceman]

Again - a couple of things:

1. WHile the JB is NOT a Ceramic Screamer - it can scream. Thius the 300k pot rule likely applies, IMO. And that's what you have.

2. I DIG the Charvel San Dimas JB sound. It IS the 80's. However...
- Those guitars went through more processing than a can of cheese whiz. No doubt that helps
- I think say, Warren Demartini's guitar through a TS & Park would sound harsh, but right

I believe a lot of guys give "out of context" smack to a lot of pickups. I have been rocking the JB in my SIlverburst Caddy and didn't like it for all the usual reasons. Didn't think I would. Stuck with it for a while though. But, all MAhog, 500k pots etc...for ME, FAIL> I went JB8.

But I do like a JB in some situations. I do not think it at all sucks.

[DonP]

And I love the stock JB in my Charvel Aqua Wildcard. So much so that I went with an A2 JB in my Charvel SD ProMod. Never tried a JB in a mahogany axe.

[DK89]

How would a JBjr sound in a mahogany body 'strat style' guitar?

[idsnowdog]

The JB Jr is bright and a bit anemic. It makes a good neck pickup though. If you're looking for a full sized JB's sound in a mini try the Fastrack II instead.

[darthphineas]

2. I DIG the Charvel San Dimas JB sound. It IS the 80's. However...
- Those guitars went through more processing than a can of cheese whiz. No doubt that helps

[J.LaGrassa]

The JB in my Les Paul Classic Rocks, I love the way the pickup cuts in a band mix!

[joyouswolf]

I've been playing around with magnet swapping.
JB TB A4 & RC5
Freaking loving it.
So far I'm liking the response I'm getting from the TB wind better then the SH wind.
Peace

[lazyfinger]

This is interesting, what's the difference between TB and SH version of JB?

[Edgecrusher]

This is interesting, what's the difference between TB and SH version of JB?

The wider bobbins with wider pole spacing other than that they are the same. Some say it changes the sound due to having less wire on the wider TB bobbins to get the same resistance. In my experience they are hard to gauge back to back cause how can you tell if the difference your hearing is the spacing difference or the less wire? For me SH or TB doesn't matter they both sound enough like JB's for me any differences are splitting hairs

[uOpt]

Probably the tremolo with it's block removing the last bits of useful bass.

[joyouswolf]

This is interesting, what's the difference between TB and SH version of JB?

There not wound the same.
SH-4 is around 16.4K with usually a 3% asymmetrical wind.
TB-4 is a wind to compensate for the lack of bass do to tremolo systems so it is usually wound to 17.4K and a symmetrical wind. Use a meter for yourself and see. It will state a description of this a little on the box of a TB pickup. How it is designed to makeup for the lack of bass do to tremolos. All the TB versions are wound different from there SH versions. It is not just the spacing width of the pickup but also a winding difference. I can hear a difference but it is very subtle and more feel a difference in string response. Again just check on a meter a TB vs a SH version side by side.

[frankfalbo]

Pickups are not wound to "resistance". They are wound to a turn count. The resistance is the byproduct, and the resistance range helps determine whether the pickup's wire is in spec, and the coil was wound properly.

[Edgecrusher]

Pickups are not wound to "resistance". They are wound to a turn count. The resistance is the byproduct, and the resistance range helps determine whether the pickup's wire is in spec, and the coil was wound properly.

Now this is cool to know I was mistaken in my beliefs in the differences between TB's and SH's

[joyouswolf]

Pickups are not wound to "resistance". They are wound to a turn count. The resistance is the byproduct, and the resistance range helps determine whether the pickup's wire is in spec, and the coil was wound properly.

Good to know. Thanks

[Aceman]

The JB in my Les Paul Classic Rocks, I love the way the pickup cuts in a band mix!

A great point. I HATED the JB in my Silverburst Cadillac in my living room. Played with a band - it got some tonal compliments...



(And by the way Rich - I'll take another JB thread any day over an EVH tone thread...)

[357mag]

Pickups are not wound to "resistance". They are wound to a turn count. The resistance is the byproduct, and the resistance range helps determine whether the pickup's wire is in spec, and the coil was wound properly.

I just had Jeff Chevalier wind a '67 bridge pickup to 7.2k. Seems to me when you specify that, the pickup is wound to resistance. But perhaps they still start with a turn count.

[frankfalbo]

There are many variables in coil winding, but for the sake of explaining the difference between winding to a target DCR vs understanding turn counts, let's pretend the only variable we're discussing is inconsistency in the wire diameter (which results in differing DCR).

Pretend you wound two coils with 8500 turns of 42 gauge wire:

Coil A has a DCR of 6.0k
Coil B has a DCR of 6.9k

Due to inconsistency in the wire, let's say a healthy amount of wire on Coil A is a little on the thick side (lower resistance) and a healthy amount of wire on Coil B is on the thin side (higher resistance)

Those two coils will sound MUCH MORE alike to one another if you leave them both at 8500 turns. If you started peeling wire off of Coil B until it measured 6.0 DCR, it would sound MORE DIFFERENT than Coil A. If you were going to buy a pickup, and your only measure was DCR, you might be fooled into thinking those two pickups were very well matched because the DCR was identical, but you'd be wrong.

If you requested a pickup be wound to a target DCR, a pickup maker is likely to give you what you asked for, since that's your measure of success.

[LtKojak]

The main reason ALL TB p'ups measure higher than their SH counterparts is due to the TB's bobbins core being a bit LONGER, so for every turn, the DCR is higher than the other.

That's physics for ya.