Have you had a bad SD JB?

[Rick Lee]

I had a $50 Gear Credit on my GC card expiring, so I grabbed a new SD JB to throw into my '83 Kramer Pacer. I wired it for coil splitting, sounded fantastic. Recently, while playing through my Suhr SL67, I started getting what sounded like bad preamp tube noise, howling, chirping, etc. I rolled and swapped out all preamp and power tubes, no joy. So I ran it through a different 2x12. Same noises. Then I ran it through my other heads (SLO100 and two 1959SLPs). Same noise, no joy. Changed cables, no pedalboard. Still same noises. I tried a Les Paul and no noise at all. This Kramer has one pickup, one volume knob and that's it. It has to be the pickup. It was the only constant in all that testing. I never noticed it before, so it can't be some factory defect. My tech says newer JBs suck and to only use old ones. I've had this for about six mos, so probably no chance of a warranty thing. Are current JBs subpar?

 

[VonBonfire]

You sure you ain't got a cold solder joint someplace? Checked all the wiring in the guitar? Reflowed your solder?

 

[DanTravis62]

Nope, not once

Honestly it sounds like a cold solder joint or ground

But its certainly possible that the pickup itself is defective somehow

New JBs tend to be slightly less good sounding then older ones but it's not a huge difference IMO

 

[Music&Chaos]

Anything is possible but I would check grounding and wiring first. Easy test is also to wire direct to output jack and see if you get any different results.

On another note, saw a Planet Tone pickup I am interested in as a reviewer said they have used JB for a long time and then swapped over to these instead.

May be worth a look if you decide to go another route.

Here it is:

"A clearer JB pickup that rips"

"For twenty years my pickup of choice had been a JB. I now have Planet Tone Aggressor HB pickups in three of my guitars, this is what ROCK sounds like!!!"

https://planettone.com/collections/pickups-humbuckers/products/aggressor-humbucker-1


Thinking of grabbing one for my Jem if I can afford it, as they currently have a 25% off sale running!

 

[ChurchHill]

FWIW, I've had a pickup that went microphonic after about 12 years. Started off sounding similar to what you describe. In theory, it's feasible that it could have a bubble left over when it was potted, but I'd think that unlikely. As others have said, check the solder joints and grounding first. I've also had weird vibrations from the pickup springs, just a thought.

 

[Music&Chaos]

FWIW, I've had a pickup that went microphonic after about 12 years. Started off sounding similar to what you describe. In theory, it's feasible that it could have a bubble left over when it was potted, but I'd think that unlikely. As others have said, check the solder joints and grounding first. I've also had weird vibrations from the pickup springs, just a thought.

I once kept chasing a string buzz noise down and found out it was a loose tuner washer at the headstock. Drove me crazy!

 

[Deleted member 8175]

I've had this for about six mos, so probably no chance of a warranty thing. Are current JBs subpar?

Duncans have a 5 Year Warranty.

 

[ChurchHill]

Duncans have a 5 Year Warranty.

It'd be worth at least reaching out to them, see if they have any suggestions.

 

[Techdeth]

Nope, not once

Honestly it sounds like a cold solder joint or ground

But its certainly possible that the pickup itself is defective somehow

New JBs tend to be slightly less good sounding then older ones but it's not a huge difference IMO

When did they change . I have an old one in my 93 SG Standard

 

[DanTravis62]

When did they change . I have an old one in my 93 SG Standard

That's a good question, I honestly don't know when or what changed but there's an audible difference

 

[Techdeth]

That's a good question, I honestly don't know when or what changed but there's an audible difference

I really like mine in they SG . I took a billl Lawrence l500 out . I miss they Lawrence but it was so clean .,JB low end suits me

 

[sytharnia1560]

if it sounded fine when you first installed and now doesn't indicates something went wrong with the wiring?? could be a pot went bad or a cold solder somewhere

 

[Rick Lee]

Will poke around when back from travel.

 

[Omnipotent1]

SD taking the EMG approach.. Why do these manufacturers not try to maintain consistency for each of their models..

 

[Geo]

I have received dead SD's from Sweetwater but not what you are describing.

 

[anomaly]

Weird, i'm having some noise issues with a JB I have too. It's about a year old. Sounds like a grounding issue with mine...? I've checked everything and it should be good, but it's not.

 

[ChurchHill]

Grounding issues can be tough to find. Bad solder joints can look good on the outside. There've been a few that have taken me days to track down. If you've got some alligator clips, you can make a jumper and use that to isolate which part of the circuit is causing the problem. Seen a few where there was more than one problem, too.

 

[anomaly]

Grounding issues can be tough to find. Bad solder joints can look good on the outside. There've been a few that have taken me days to track down. If you've got some alligator clips, you can make a jumper and use that to isolate which part of the circuit is causing the problem. Seen a few where there was more than one problem, too.

Ya, I might just reheat the solder on a few of the connections and see what that does. It was working fine before too, but I had to go and disconnect the tone pot and take it out of the equation out of curiosity. Now I don't even like the tone of the pickup anymore... It's got more of that lower mid congestion without that pot it seems. Palm mutes are not tight enough any more, weird shit.

 

[DanTravis62]

Grounding issues can be tough to find. Bad solder joints can look good on the outside. There've been a few that have taken me days to track down. If you've got some alligator clips, you can make a jumper and use that to isolate which part of the circuit is causing the problem. Seen a few where there was more than one problem, too.

This is really good advice.

I don't know how many times a connection looked fine but was actually causing a poor ground or something

 

[napalmdeath]

Nope, not once

Honestly it sounds like a cold solder joint or ground

But its certainly possible that the pickup itself is defective somehow

New JBs tend to be slightly less good sounding then older ones but it's not a huge difference IMO

Yep, check the wiring. Or, put in a TB-5.