Old JB VS New, or Bareknuckle Holy Diver

[psychodave]

Suhr Aldrich or SSH+

The Suhr SSH+ is a smoother sounding JB to my ears

That's what i have heard as well....The Aldrich is very Similar with Slightly more output.

I don’t hear this at all. I hate the JB and love the Aldrich.

Bad.seed, you could always change magnets in the JB to an alnico 8 or alnico 2...

 

[nigelpkay]

500T for a Les Paul for sure. It’s the closest thing to a ceramic JB. Tight and percussive but still has that nice give and bounce to it like the JB. Holy diver is ok, but as others have said already, it is not as high output, can sound less ballsy and thin, even though it has good clarity. It’s better suited in a Charvel type guitar than a Les Paul (I’ve tried it).

Duncan Distortion is very similar to the 500T but better for lower tunings in a Les Paul if that’s what you do.

 

[sluice]

I currently have a Holy Diver in my 76 Les Paul Custom. and I hated it.
I initially bought the pickup to go in a bright guitar, sold the guitar before installing and decided to try it on my Custom.

The holy diver is not suited for dark guitars.
I recently bought a Rebel Yell, will comment on this one, one I received it!

 

[Price]

I currently have an Aldrich in my Studio with a nickel cover. It’s definitely a thick humbucker with lots of mids but no mud whatsoever. Good power but not super wet like the J.B. But it’s more of a rock pickup than metal imho, although it is flexible enough you could make it work.

Rebel yell is a good suggestion. Have you considered the Crunch Lab? High gain, tight and powerful, but maybe a little boomy in single cuts.

 

[Beyond Black]

Suhr Aldrich or SSH+

The Suhr SSH+ is a smoother sounding JB to my ears

That's what i have heard as well....The Aldrich is very Similar with Slightly more output.

I don’t hear this at all. I hate the JB and love the Aldrich.

Bad.seed, you could always change magnets in the JB to an alnico 8 or alnico 2...

Agreed. The Aldridge does not sound like a JB at all. it's much thicker, has smoother mids and much more low end. To my ears it's actually kind of wooly/hairy sounding.

 

[skullfxr]

Have you considered the Crunch Lab? High gain, tight and powerful, but maybe a little boomy in single cuts.

I like the crunch lab a lot and have it in a pair of ibanez prestiges. I don't know how it would do in a LP though.

 

[skullfxr]

Or maybe the JP Illuminator bridge? I have the set in an ESP Eclipse and I like it but again it's different enough FROM a LPC

 

[braintheory]

Suhr Aldrich or SSH+

The Suhr SSH+ is a smoother sounding JB to my ears

That's what i have heard as well....The Aldrich is very Similar with Slightly more output.

I don’t hear this at all. I hate the JB and love the Aldrich.

Bad.seed, you could always change magnets in the JB to an alnico 8 or alnico 2...

Agreed. The Aldridge does not sound like a JB at all. it's much thicker, has smoother mids and much more low end. To my ears it's actually kind of wooly/hairy sounding.

Agreed. Those are the differences I hear too. I don’t care for either bridge pickup

 

[chunktone]

Tighter/clearer JB? Sounds like what they´re saying about the Thrash Factor, but I haven´t tried it myself. Tighter bass, less mids, more aggressive top.

If this is what you're after, you may want to try some WCR's. I have an Icebucker set and a LP and they are fantastic! Clear, tight and tons of harmonic overtones.

 

[Bad.Seed]

Tighter/clearer JB? Sounds like what they´re saying about the Thrash Factor, but I haven´t tried it myself. Tighter bass, less mids, more aggressive top.

If this is what you're after, you may want to try some WCR's. I have an Icebucker set and a LP and they are fantastic! Clear, tight and tons of harmonic overtones.

I have a Godwood in a 2012 Traditional, and it is one of my favorite pickups I've tried. I wish he gave more specs in his descriptions, seems hard to make out what pickups would be suited best for what style based on his website.

 

[Bad.Seed]

Thanks for the input everyone!

I may actually end up going with a custom wind through Vineham Pickups. I have a couple of his winds and he does some good work and at great prices.

He's going to hit me with an Underwound JB type with a roughcast A5 magnet. Should do the trick!

 

[braintheory]

Agreed with others about WCR aka Wagners. The Iron Man is by far the best high output pickup I’ve tried. I like it paired with either a Darkburst neck or matching Iron Man neck. IMO these smoke the JB, Aldrich or any Bare Knuckle I’ve tried

His other models like the Darkburst bridge or Fillmore are also cool, but Iron Man is my favorite

 

[greatmutah]

Try a Motor City Angeldust. Good low end without being flubby, super sweet midrange and a clear top end that’s not shrill. I run a set (bridge and calibrated neck) in my Heritage H-150.

 

[ke2]

Fast triplets?

 

[LPMojoGL]

Godwood in my Explorer has great, tight low end.
Better than the 500t, in every way.

 

[2prog4u]

This is gonna blow your mind, but I think the original PATB-1 would suit what you are looking for. Tighter than the JB, but has that upper mid thing and singing lead quality.

 

[sytharnia1560]

for sure the old JB's (and pretty much all pickups form before regulations changed around magnets) sound better than the new ones ... There is a video somewhere online with seymour and MJ where he mentions having a stash of old magnets for customshop stuff and he says that the knew magnets are close but not quite the same so they wind them a little differently now

 

[IntenseJim]

Consider the Bare Knuckle Crawler.

I reinstalled one in my Les Paul last night and it’s fantastic.
It reminds me a little bit of the Aldrich pickup.
Similar to the Rebel Yell but does not attenuate the low mids and low-end.

 

[skullfxr]

That's maybe part of the reason I love my DiMarzio PAF from the 80's more than others... I didn't know that they had to change magnets over time. Lol

 

[the rossness]

Check out a DiMarzio Gravity Storm