Sd Jb for drop tunings

[Intellex222]

My new guitar will arrive soon (maple neck and fretboard, basswood body, bolt on) and i was planning to tune it to c# standard, drop b, and all other tunings architects use . I got a jb laying around and i was wondering if any of you tried have tried this pickups for low tuned metalcore.

 

[budda]

Sounds like something you can try and report back on.

 

[CanserDYI]

Yep, sounds fine.

 

[død]

I had a JB in my ESP for a while, we tune to drop A# in my band, and the JB works fine for that, it cuts through nicely, but the bass is a little bit in the woofy side, and the mid spike can sound a little grating at times. It absolutely should work in C#, tho!

 

[slavboi_delight]

I use in a JB in Drop C#, Drop C and E flat Standard. Does it all. Lot of chunk and girth in Drop C with the right string gauge.

 

[ekulggats]

In a balanced or brightish sounding guitar? Especially with the Tone disabled? Hell yeah. I love the JB especially when bypassing the tone. Just have to avoid guitars with too much low mid

 

[Choop]

A Les Paul with a JB in the bridge tuned to drop B through my rectifier is one of the best metal tones I've heard in person -- was using it more for a melodeath type sound, but I don't see why it wouldn't be great for what you want, too.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Testament's The Gathering is a Recto being pushed by a JB-loaded guitar with no boost. Most of that album is C#.

 

[HoneyNut]

Michael Amott supposedly used JBs and tuned them to C standard for Arch Enemy.

 

[Manurack]

Michael Amott uses, oh @HoneyNut beat me to it lol

 

[Chris Bowsman]

My RG 7 string mutt (basswood body, RG7621 neck) has a JB. Sounds killer from standard down to drop F#.

 

[Necky379]

I really liked the JB but I loved it with an EQ pedal right after the guitar before any boost.

 

[Alex79]

I'm going to go against the grain here and say it's "just ok", like 3 out of 5 stars.
I had one in my baritone and I currently have one lying here on my desk that I tried out to replace a Full Shred in my Ibanez RG tuned to C standard.
The main issues it has is that (when tuned to C or below) it is too focused on the upper frequency spectrum and doesn't give you the nice oomph of the low mids. It sounds a bit as if some frequencies are just cut off on it. The bass is also a bit woofy and not that tight, but that is to be expected. The Full Shred handles the low end much better.

There are similar pickups that do the job much better:
- DiMarzio Tone Zone - much more chunk; like the JB it is not the tightest, but it works much better across the whole spectrum range.
- BKP Nailbomb (I have the Alnico version as a direct JB replacement) - more aggressive and tighter, less treble and a "throatier character"; all-around better for down-tuned metal.
- Seymour Duncan Full Shred - tighter low end and clearer top end; not my cup of tea for rhythm due to the mid-scooped character, but with a tube screamer or mid boost it fills a lot of that back in.

Two similar pickups I would also like to try:
SD Pegasus, BKP Rebel Yell

 

[Hoss632]

Should sound fine. Ben Burnley of breaking benjamin uses a JB and they play in Drop A#.

 

[død]

Yeah, I replaced the JB with a Black Winter, pretty much solved all of the (minor) grievances I had with the JB in that particular guitar and tuning. There are definitely other pickups that I think do what OP wants to "better", but it’s not NOT gonna work either.

 

[sell2792]

Solid pickup, but I find the low end to be a little too loose for downtuning beyond like drop D.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Should sound fine. Ben Burnley of breaking benjamin uses a JB and they play in Drop A#.

On top of using like .15 - .74 gauge strings on a 27/28'' baritone.

Solid pickup, but I find the low end to be a little too loose for downtuning beyond like drop D.

Yeah this was my experience. It works with thinner strings, but you start downtuning with thicker strings and it gets a bit too mushy for my liking. So weird because on paper the pickup has little bass.

 

[Hoss632]

On top of using like .15 - .74 gauge strings on a 27/28'' baritone.



Yeah this was my experience. It works with thinner strings, but you start downtuning with thicker strings and it gets a bit too mushy for my liking. So weird because on paper the pickup has little bass.

Everyone has their preferences I guess. SRV used 13's for standard tuning on a strat.
Out of curiousity, did using a boost with the JB in lower tunings not help enough to tighten it up?

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Everyone has their preferences I guess. SRV used 13's for standard tuning on a strat.
Out of curiousity, did using a boost with the JB in lower tunings not help enough to tighten it up?

It did yeah, but my guitars all had tighter sounding pickups and I'm a weirdo that likes his guitars to sound consistent.

 

[Alex79]

Michael Amott supposedly used JBs and tuned them to C standard for Arch Enemy.

He had a signature pickup with Dean so he hasn’t used the JB for quite a long time.