Duncan JB - Love it or hate it? Why?

[Greazygeo]

Just put my old 80’s JB with a Jazz in my SG yesterday. Was in my RG570 previously. Sounds great in either guitar. Have had this pickup in many guitars over the years, always sounds great.

500 k pots not working with them? They work fine with them. No pickup sounds great in every guitar. There have been a few guitars that JB’s didn’t work, it happens. But not many for me.

 

[Greazygeo]

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

If you look at Duncan’s eq curve, it does not show a mid push. Little bass, little more mids and alot more treble. I have not experienced a mid push with them, could be in a certain guitar though.

 

[thegame]

If you look at Duncan’s eq curve, it does not show a mid push. Little bass, little more mids and alot more treble. I have not experienced a mid push with them, could be in a certain guitar though.

I don’t think that oversimplified B/M/T description is adequate. Should have two more fields, LM lower mids and UM upper mids. Otherwise lots of their pickups will read similarly on paper yet sound quite different in real world testing. That high ‘treble’ reading on paper is more of an upper mid peak IMO.

 

[Greazygeo]

I don’t think that oversimplified B/M/T description is adequate. Should have two more fields, LM lower mids and UM upper mids. Otherwise lots of their pickups will read similarly on paper yet sound quite different in real world testing. That high ‘treble’ reading on paper is more of an upper mid peak IMO.

I dunno, pretty accurate to how they sound to me. Pretty good gauge after trying one model and trying to find something different. Dimarzio does the same thing, but I have much less experience with them.

 

[Speeddemon]

I dunno, pretty accurate to how they sound to me. Pretty good gauge after trying one model and trying to find something different. Dimarzio does the same thing, but I have much less experience with them.

Dimarzio actually uses 4 EQ steps now in their Tone Guide, which is more effective. Bass, Low Mid, High Mid, Treble.
Super Distortion for instance:
https://www.dimarzio.com/pickups/high-power/super-distortion

And FWIW, the Duncan EQ chart can be handy, but misleading as well. Take the Jazz and the Screamin' Demon; both very suited as a neck pickup. Both Alnico V magnets too... But Jazz says EQ: 6/3/9 and SH-12 says: 5/4/9. The Jazz is waaaay more scooped and sterile in the mids than the clarity with character of the Screamin' Demon in practice. And the 59n at 6/3/8 still sounds quite different from the Jazz in terms of character.

Or take the SH-14 Custom 5 compared to the JB; SH-14: 6/3/8, JB (SH-4 5/6/8. These numbers would make you think that the SH-14 is as scooped as a 59 or Jazz and has a similar high-end to the JB; nuh-uh. Not in practice. I took out the JB from my ESP Horizon NTII (neck-thru, fixed bridge), and after putting in the SH-14, it was like a much more balanced JB, without the hairiness and screechiness. As I said earlier, there definitely is a place for a JB and I love it in my Kramer SM-1, but I wanted that ESP to be more versatile. The SH-14 is not as scooped as some folks want you to believe. The mids are more balanced IMO. The high-end is 'sweeter' than the JB; it has a little less output, but it's still in the medium/hot category. It works as well in a Les Paul (Custom) as in such a superstrat design as the ESP Horizon.

 

[Greazygeo]

Dimarzio actually uses 4 EQ steps now in their Tone Guide, which is more effective. Bass, Low Mid, High Mid, Treble.
Super Distortion for instance:
https://www.dimarzio.com/pickups/high-power/super-distortion

And FWIW, the Duncan EQ chart can be handy, but misleading as well. Take the Jazz and the Screamin' Demon; both very suited as a neck pickup. Both Alnico V magnets too... But Jazz says EQ: 6/3/9 and SH-12 says: 5/4/9. The Jazz is waaaay more scooped and sterile in the mids than the clarity with character of the Screamin' Demon in practice. And the 59n at 6/3/8 still sounds quite different from the Jazz in terms of character.

Or take the SH-14 Custom 5 compared to the JB; SH-14: 6/3/8, JB (SH-4 5/6/8. These numbers would make you think that the SH-14 is as scooped as a 59 or Jazz and has a similar high-end to the JB; nuh-uh. Not in practice. I took out the JB from my ESP Horizon NTII (neck-thru, fixed bridge), and after putting in the SH-14, it was like a much more balanced JB, without the hairiness and screechiness. As I said earlier, there definitely is a place for a JB and I love it in my Kramer SM-1, but I wanted that ESP to be more versatile. The SH-14 is not as scooped as some folks want you to believe. The mids are more balanced IMO. The high-end is 'sweeter' than the JB; it has a little less output, but it's still in the medium/hot category. It works as well in a Les Paul (Custom) as in such a superstrat design as the ESP Horizon.

I noticed the Dimarzio has the 4 bands listed now. Been awhile since I have looked.

The Custom 5 I have is very scooped and sounds like he eq chart would suggest. In my SG Custom I tried the JB first and it was too dark. Talking to my Duncan rep he recommended the Custom 5. It sounded much better, needed the scoop to bring out the highs…ultimatley wanted something more early 70’s sounding and was recommended the Custom /59 Hybrid and it is still in there. It has the right brightness I was looking for.
In my SG Standard I just put my 80’s JB and Jazz in there. Those pickups sound good in there. You said the eq was 6/3/9 for the jazz. I would agree with that.

I find their charts pretty accurate. But you have to start somewhere and if you don’t like the pickup, and can tell what it is that is lacking, using the eq charts are handy.

Like I said earlier, no one pickup works in every guitar.

 

[DanTravis62]

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

This isn't what makes the distortion great, though. The SH-6 is defined by it's super grind-y high end/upper mids character, which is something a whole lot of modern amps are missing ("kerrang")

If you already are playing a JMP or plexi, yeah, who needs more than the body and roundness?

If you're playing a 5150 or Rectifier? It becomes a different ballgame, and the distortion becomes a fire breathing monster that can significantly improve a rig that has a JB at the start of the signal path.

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

I've heard good sounding combinations, mostly in old superstrats, which I fucking hate and think sound like shit generally.

That's the best use-case for a JB generally, though. A strat scale guitar made of ash or whatever, has tinny characteristics, that needs the honk and body. They generally sound like muddy shit with LP scale guitars or guitars with darker characteristics, though.

Just IME.

Honestly I think this is the way it works with almost all gear - there's a use-case that works for it, for some people. With the JB (and super strats for that matter) that person is not me.

 

[DanTravis62]

Or take the SH-14 Custom 5 compared to the JB; SH-14: 6/3/8, JB (SH-4 5/6/8. These numbers would make you think that the SH-14 is as scooped as a 59 or Jazz and has a similar high-end to the JB; nuh-uh. Not in practice. I took out the JB from my ESP Horizon NTII (neck-thru, fixed bridge), and after putting in the SH-14, it was like a much more balanced JB, without the hairiness and screechiness. As I said earlier, there definitely is a place for a JB and I love it in my Kramer SM-1, but I wanted that ESP to be more versatile. The SH-14 is not as scooped as some folks want you to believe. The mids are more balanced IMO. The high-end is 'sweeter' than the JB; it has a little less output, but it's still in the medium/hot category. It works as well in a Les Paul (Custom) as in such a superstrat design as the ESP Horizon.

The SH-14 is like the perfected version of the JB IMO

The high end and upper mids are much less grating, and the low end and low mids are much more up front.

 

[Speeddemon]

Talking to my Duncan rep he recommended the Custom 5. It sounded much better, needed the scoop to bring out the highs…ultimatley wanted something more early 70’s sounding and was recommended the Custom /59 Hybrid and it is still in there. It has the right brightness I was looking for.

Good choice on the C/59! I had the JB in my Burny Les Paul Custom (Randy Rhoads model, '83) and it was ok. Then I went through a phase with GFS pickups, but while they came across as great in the beginning, eventually I started missing some of the finer details than Duncans usually have.

A few more pup swaps later, I initially settled on the Custom 5, which absolutely slayed in combination with putting KT77's in my Engl Invader 100. Really brought out the heaviness and low/low-mid punch!

But because I wanted to move the Custom 5 to my ESP Horizon *and* because I was curious about the C/59, I finally settled on the Custom/59 Hybrid bridge and a Pearly Gates neck. Awesome combo and like you, I found the Custom/59 Hybrid has the right level of brightness/70's kerrang, without sounding screechy or brittle. Before the Pearly Gates neck, there was a Dimarzio DP103 36th Anniv. PAF in the neck position, which was perfectly fine too ( a tad more polite and warmer sounding than the PGn), but I wanted the guitar to be all Duncan.
I still need to try a '59n with an A4 magnet one day, to make it less boomy/scooped, but I won't see myself using the Jazz ever again after using it in a few totally different guitars with the same sterile results.

 

[Speeddemon]

and the low end and low mids are much more up front.

That...and the low-end of the SH-14, while big(ger), is tighter than the JB's low-end!

In some regards the JB's low-end reminds me of the ToneZone's low-end; works wonders in the right guitar, but in the wrong one, you're no longer able to do Petrozza/Holt/Ian/Schaffer tight riffing with the same ferocity as you would be able to with tighter sounding pickups...even with tightening boosts and all. Just a bit spongey/loose.

It's the main reason I took out the ToneZone of my Charvel So-Cal and after having a Distortion, a Norton and Breed Bridge (mistake!) in there, there's a Super Distortion in there, being that it's my 'Adrian Smith' guitar anyways.

 

[thegame]

That...and the low-end of the SH-14, while big(ger), is tighter than the JB's low-end!

In some regards the JB's low-end reminds me of the ToneZone's low-end; works wonders in the right guitar, but in the wrong one, you're no longer able to do Petrozza/Holt/Ian/Schaffer tight riffing with the same ferocity as you would be able to with tighter sounding pickups...even with tightening boosts and all. Just a bit spongey/loose.

It's the main reason I took out the ToneZone of my Charvel So-Cal and after having a Distortion, a Norton and Breed Bridge (mistake!) in there, there's a Super Distortion in there, being that it's my 'Adrian Smith' guitar anyways.

Rust in Peace and Speak English or Die…that’s all the JB, rhythms, leads, everything. That’s tight riffing! Though obviously their pickups were from the 80’s which are so much better than the modern versions.

 

[Speeddemon]

Rust in Peace and Speak English or Die…that’s all the JB, rhythms, leads, everything. That’s tight riffing! Though obviously their pickups were from the 80’s which are so much better than the modern versions.

You missed the part where I said '..but in the wrong guitar...'

I had an older JB (not JBJ tho' ) in an import (Korean) Hamer Californian and it was a match made in heaven! I used that guitar in an Ozzy tribute to play Shot in the Dark (weird-ish tuning for just that song) ...matched JEL's tight tone quite nicely.

 

[JohnnyGtar]

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

The Norton sounds killer in parallel wiring, too.

 

[Speeddemon]

The Norton sounds killer in parallel wiring, too.

And split, it does a mean Tele-ish bridge tone in a Les Paul bridge position.
It's my go-to when playing Status Quo songs, or James Gang's "Funk 49" (yes, I'm aware that Walsh played this on a Les Paul...I don't have his old pickups, amp or fingers... ) for that extra jangle and bite.

By the way, and sorry for bringing this back up, but I had a bit of an epiphany after all the Duncan EQ-tone chart talk...
The difference in low-end response between the JB (SH-4 ) and the Custom 5 (SH-14) (both labeled as 'High' output too by Duncan) goes to show that there actually is a difference between tight and loose that is not shown by the EQ chart *and* it goes against the notion that 'just more low-end output overloads an amp's preamp more, creating sluggish/woofy tones'.
The Custom 5 has a higher (6) low EQ rating than the JB (5), so that would suggest it would overload the preamp more, yet it's a tighter low-end tone, but just plenty beefy.
There.

 

[LanBaul]

JB is such a versatile pickup, perfect match for your rig

 

[anomaly]

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

Well, they are supposed to be the same wind, just the Distortion has a ceramic magnet. The Distortion has this great grind character in the upper mids that works so well for metal. Don't get me wrong, the JB is a cool pickup as well, but perhaps better suited for rock as it does indeed have a little more body to it, but sounds softer.

 

[romanianreaper]

I want another sg. Been on an ACdC kick lately so that doesn’t help. Pulled out the yammy sg700 though. It’s more Les Paul style than sg. Damn that guitar sounds and plays good.

Exactly why I got an SG a few months ago! I want a second one, lol.

 

[JackBootedThug]

I love sg’s…. They are so easy to play…

 

[itsme]

Love JB’s. Warm and vocal. They sound great in 95% of the guitars I’ve put them in. Had 2 that they sounded weird in. A Custom 5 fixed those

 

[Uzi Nein Millimetah]

Love JB’s. Warm and vocal. They sound great in 95% of the guitars I’ve put them in. Had 2 that they sounded weird in. A Custom 5 fixed those

I've played at least 1-2 bolt-on thin body basswood Superstrats where they missed the mark, but they always seem to hit it in girthy, mahogany bodied guitars with Gibson scale. Seemed slightly curious to me at first when I learned that the new LTD Andy Larocque has the JB considering all the choices out there today, but then again, it has those two features.....and I think I will pick one up this year. And I bet the JB will rock in it.