Duncan JB - Love it or hate it? Why?

[frontline205]

So the JB itself is a weird pickup for me. I like most JB derivatives. The Duncan RTM is one of my favorite pickups of all time. The Distortion SH6 my absolute favorite, which is similar to a JB but with ceramic magnet. However the JB itself is kinda plain jane to me. In fact in high school it was the first piece of guitar gear I played and was disappointed by. It's a bit too loose for what I like and to me the output doesn't sound like it's there despite on paper having the same output rating as all my favorite pickups. It's higher output then the L-500XL another favorite of mine.
So I'm not a fan of the standard JB but appreciate its contribution to the gear community, and feel like it would be one of my favorite pickups with a few simple tweaks.

 

[Little B]

Owned jb's since the 80s.Especially like it paired with a jazz in neck..or..jb junior/ cool rails. Depending on the guitar's wood,a jb can sound good when split too.
There were a few guitar's I've played over the last 30 years that it didn't jive well in,but usually it does in most.
I like it in 440 and e flat guitars.

 

[vultures]

If a guitar came with a JB, I wouldn't rush to change it. I wouldn't put a JB into a guitar though. However I've owned the Antiquity JB and it's a different monster. A buddy of mine has the rail JB and I'm curious to try it out.

 

[Sixstringflannel]

I have a like/hate relationship with the one that came in my Charvel Henrik model. The pinch harmonics (for whatever the hell my technique is) just jump out effortlessly. Not super fond of the low end though. I do read the older ones or the antiquity’s are better but I’d rather fork out the dough for an Afwayu right now. Tried an Aldrich and it was so balanced with a flat eq that it was just kind of boring to me. Cinderella still looking for the glass slipper. Maybe it’s the stacked pot which I think is a 500k but no clue at this point.

 

[JohnnyGtar]

I have a like/hate relationship with the one that came in my Charvel Henrik model. The pinch harmonics (for whatever the hell my technique is) just jump out effortlessly. Not super fond of the low end though. I do read the older ones or the antiquity’s are better but I’d rather fork out the dough for an Afwayu right now. Tried an Aldrich and it was so balanced with a flat eq that it was just kind of boring to me. Cinderella still looking for the glass slipper. Maybe it’s the stacked pot which I think is a 500k but no clue at this point.

DiMarzio FRED, Mo'Joe, or Satchur8, depending on how much output you want. Also, Henrik has signature DiMarzio pickups coming out soon.

 

[Speeddemon]

DiMarzio FRED, Mo'Joe, or Satchur8, depending on how much output you want. Also, Henrik has signature DiMarzio pickups coming out soon.

Don't forget the DiMarzio Norton! Harmonics flying out and a tight low-end, unlike the loosey goosey JB's low-end.

 

[BlueParfait]

Love it.

One of my favorites of all time

 

[BABMusic]

Never tried one but they sound good when I hear others play them. Hard to say if the bottom end would bother me, as I do like tight bottoms.

 

[JohnnyGtar]

Don't forget the DiMarzio Norton! Harmonics flying out and a tight low-end, unlike the loosey goosey JB's low-end.

Very true!

 

[TheGreatGreen]

This might be getting pedantic, but pickups can't have "loose" or "soft" or "tight" low end. A pickup doesn't distort.

A pickup can have big lows that easily mud up an amp, sure, but that's the amp, not the pickup.

If you like the general character of the JB, or any pickup, but want to tighten up the lows coming from it, you could always do the old trick where you wire a resistor and capacitor in parallel with each other, then wire that combo between the pickup's output wire and the pickup selector though. This basically builds in a low shelf EQ cut. The value of the capacitor controls the cutoff frequency and the resistor controls how hard the lows are cut.

 

[BlueParfait]

Don't forget the DiMarzio Norton! Harmonics flying out and a tight low-end, unlike the loosey goosey JB's low-end.

I actually am using the Norton right now

I don't think they're that similar, but I do think it's a great pickup

The Norton really feels and sounds like a souped up PAF to me IMO. The JB is louder, more compressed, more sweeter in the highs

 

[Speeddemon]

This might be getting pedantic, but pickups can't have "loose" or "soft" or "tight" low end. A pickup doesn't distort.

Highly...highly...highly disagree. And the fact that there are 1000s of aftermarket pickups with all kinds of specific tunings (created by wire thickness, choice of magnets, etc.) supports that.

Otherwise, we'd all be using the exact same sounding PAF, right? And a Super Distortion from Dimarzio wasn't JUST created for more output....

But for funsies, try a Dimarzio ToneZone or a Duncan Invader in a mahogany Les Paul and then try a Norton or a Duncan Distortion in the same guitar. If the low-end response sounded the same to you in terms of tightness with all 4 pickups...well... oof.

Besides, we're not talking about pickup distortion here. Just frequency and transient response. I'm well aware that a beefy sounding pickup may overload a pre-amp and create a sluggish amp's response, but the differences I'm talking about are even audible when playing them into Fendery clean amps.

EDIT: check Mike Stamper's YT channel; he's done tons of pickup A/B comparisons:
https://www.youtube.com/@mikestamper/videos

Here, from 3m06s onwards you can hear the low-end response difference between the Invader and SH-6 Distortion with the same amp settings. And around 3m54s, when he starts the faster galloping riffs, you can hear the Invader is becoming a tad woofy, while the Distortion retains its clarity better.



And here, from a different Mike, at 1m18s you can hear their different responses when played clean. The SH-6 ain't no slouch in the low-end, but the Invader sounds bigger, but 'slower' too.

 

[Speeddemon]

I actually am using the Norton right now

I don't think they're that similar, but I do think it's a great pickup

The Norton really feels and sounds like a souped up PAF to me IMO. The JB is louder, more compressed, more sweeter in the highs

I find the similarity sits in their 80's hair metal/shred tones and harmonics. But the Norton is a better pickup to do early EVH tones than a JB would.
Indeed, the JB is louder and more compressed, but sweeter in the highs? Maybe...the Norton is more dry there. But the JB in the wrong guitar has a nasty high-mid spike. I found that replacing the stock Floyd block to a thick 34mm high brass block changed the high-end response of the JB too, in my Kramer SM-1. Made it a tad rounder, but especially the lows and low-mids became beefier.

 

[BlueParfait]

But the Norton is a better pickup to do early EVH tones than a JB would.

Yep

Like I said it's like a souped up PAF

It's like if someone took a PAF (or a 70s T-Top) and goosed the hell out of it. So there's the high mids like a JB, there's the harmonics, but the bass, mid-mids and highs are different

Very good pickup. I used to not like it, but it's one of my favs now

 

[Anje]

The JB is a classic for good reason IMHO; like anything else it will depends on the guitar / rig and what you play / want, but to me it's one of the baseline options to try in the bridge for an 80's / 90's hard rock flavor.
My personal JB reference has been this old Charvel:

It had an early double white "The JB model", sounded fantastic!

 

[SFW]

I really like the JB. It's not always my first choice for a guitar, but it does a thing. If I am having trouble finding the right tone for a guitar, I will typically throw a JB in it, and it just works.

 

[Uzi Nein Millimetah]

I really like the JB. It's not always my first choice for a guitar, but it does a thing. If I am having trouble finding the right tone for a guitar, I will typically throw a JB in it, and it just works.

For me, that's the Distortion, but they are brothers.

 

[rstites]

I've never really gotten along with the JB. It has a presence peak to it that is overly harsh in my experience and the bass response is a bit loose. I much prefer the Custom for a SD with a similar output level and a better balanced sound. There are obviously lots of people who love them and several get great tones with them, so that doesn't make them bad.....just not for me. (It's a bit like how a lot of my favorite guitar players primarily played Gibsons and I've never really gotten along all that well with them either, sticking primarily to super strats.)

 

[SonVolt]

I like them. The mids are near perfect with a JB. I do wish the lows were a bit tighter though and more percussive. The Duncan distortion is near perfect for me and that is my go to pickup. The Custom sh-5 doesn't have a good mid character to it IMO. Like the notes don't have enough body to them.

I feel like the Distortion misses a lot of the body and roundness that makes the JB great.

 

[thegame]

JB is very polarizing because of its significant mid push, which works very well with some guitars yet not others. In the wrong guitar it’s just too much but nice and balanced in others. More balanced pickups are easier to match up with various guitars