The Duncan JB and it's clones

[eaeolian]

I've seen it described as a clearer Duncan Distortion. Once I figure out what I'm doing with this guitar on the way I'm def gonna check it out.

I hadn't thought of it that way - to me, it's like a super-powered Slash A2P. Same sweetness and ripping harmonics, but a bit more girth.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

I hadn't thought of it that way - to me, it's like a super-powered Slash A2P. Same sweetness and ripping harmonics, but a bit more girth.

Hmm, gonna have to try one when I can. I'm just going by one of the impressions I read. It was actually one of the guys from MG.org before the site imploded, and they all seem to be familiar with Wolfe's pickups.

 

[slavboi_delight]

What would be a less nasal JB?

 

[Alex79]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned that there isn't really "one" JB, but that the Seymour Duncan pickup has gone through tonal changes throughout its history.

The "original" 80s JB is a lot warmer and smoother than the modern day production one. The closest you could find to an old one is apparently the 35th anniversary JB. There are some YT comparison videos that give a bit of an impression of the difference.

I have had two different modern day JBs as well as the 35th anniversary JB and I was quite surprised how big the difference was (it felt more than the aforementioned YT videos convey). I prefer the modern one, because it fits more with my guitars; it is tighter and more ice-picky. When I think of the "original" JB I always think of Chris (?) Olivia's tone with Savatage (no idea what he actually used). Stellar, smooth and searing solo sounds; more rounded and softer rhythm tones.

This difference is importance because of the talk about which BKP fits the JB tone. The Holy Diver is actually more or less a take on the "original JB" and not the modern one. Hence it is warmer and smoother and doesn't have the ice-pick mids. The Rebel Yell on the other hand is tighter and closer to the modern day JB (I haven't played the RY, but I had a HD). You can read up on this on the BKP forum if you don't believe me.
To make things completely confusing, very early Holy Divers apparently had a ceramic magnet and were different from the current one. I wouldn't be surprised if that is what became the Cold Sweat, but I'm not sure on this.

Finally, not all pickups are created equal. My first JB, as I sadly had to find out, was better than the second one; I really regret very much selling that one pickup. In my naivety I thought all pickups in a line always sound exactly the same... well sadly there is enough tolerance in machines and materials that that isn't always the case. Seymour Duncan btw also makes the Thrash Factor, which is apparently based on Dave Mustaine's JB from Rust in Peace. If the story is true (it might just be marketing talk), that would actually go to show how much variance you can have in pickups.

On other variants:

• Dean makes a pickup for Michael Amott that is a JB with less mids (less nasal) from what I hear. According to Michael, he has used the pickup to record the last couple of AE albums.
• The Alnico Nailbomb - my all time favourite pickup - is IMO not that close to a JB. It is has some similarities, which come with the type of pickup (hot alnico), but is throatier, darker and fuller. I would guess that the Rebel Yell is closer in tone.
• SD makes the Thrash Factor, which is supposed to be a thrashier JB (hopefully not trashier). They also made an active version with the Dave Mustaine Livewire set.

 

[Alex79]

What would be a less nasal JB?

https://www.deanguitars.com/dmt-pickups/

The Michael Amott Tyrant might be what you're looking for. I read a big review of Dean pickups in a magazine a couple of years ago.

 

[Drew]

Don't forget the DiMarzio AT-1

I was going to mention this one too - I believe Andy Timmons was using an older, less overwound JB before he got a Dimarzio signature model, and it definitely has some of that vibe - a bit smoother, more vocal, and without the snarl, but hitting broadly the same tonal footprint.

I had a set of Rebel Yells in my Suhr 7 for a while and ended up moving on from them - they weren't especially evocative of the JB, to me, maybe a little brighter and lighter in the low end, but while I liked the overall tone quite a bit, they just seemed oddly underpowered to me.

 

[Noisy Humbucker]

Anybody have experience with Lundgren? While the JB is not perfect, it may be my all-around favorite. That said, I’m trying to figure out which Lundgren might fall into that ballpark:
- Roughly the same output
- Similar eq (tighter, but not super-modern)
- Alnico is a must

 

[Spaced Out Ace]

I'm curious if EMG does anything JB esque...

 

[Hoss632]

I have guitars with both pickups and the CS bridge does not sound similar to a JB to my ears. CS has less mids, more bass and lower output. That being said, the JB and the 81 are my favorite pups

Is yours the alnico CS or the ceramic? I was mainly referring to the ceramic one

 

[slavboi_delight]

https://www.deanguitars.com/dmt-pickups/

The Michael Amott Tyrant might be what you're looking for. I read a big review of Dean pickups in a magazine a couple of years ago.

I'll look into it thank you.

 

[Eyelessfiend]

The JB was what made me go pickup hunting in the first place.
I had a JB, a Perpetual Burn and a Holy Diver in the same and then similar guitars(all Gibson SGs). The JB had the most low end and the HD had the most clarity. I actually perferred the Perpetual Burn cause its high end was smoother and I felt like it handled gain better than the others. Definitely the least aggressive of the three though.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

https://www.deanguitars.com/dmt-pickups/

The Michael Amott Tyrant might be what you're looking for. I read a big review of Dean pickups in a magazine a couple of years ago.

I actually saw one of these pop up and it got me curious. Not much about this pickup because the guitars they come in are godawfully ugly compared to the ESPs he used to use.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

I hadn't thought of it that way - to me, it's like a super-powered Slash A2P. Same sweetness and ripping harmonics, but a bit more girth.

I was going to mention this one too - I believe Andy Timmons was using an older, less overwound JB before he got a Dimarzio signature model, and it definitely has some of that vibe - a bit smoother, more vocal, and without the snarl, but hitting broadly the same tonal footprint.

I had a set of Rebel Yells in my Suhr 7 for a while and ended up moving on from them - they weren't especially evocative of the JB, to me, maybe a little brighter and lighter in the low end, but while I liked the overall tone quite a bit, they just seemed oddly underpowered to me.

Fuck it I'm gonna ask you both since @eaeolian is the resident JB nerd and Drew is the dude that uses Suhrs.

Any experience with the standard Suhr pickups like the DSH(+) or SSH(+)? From what I've read the Aldrich is supposed to also be based on the SSH+ with a hotter wind. I'm curious if that means the DSH/SSH would have some tonal characteristics, just with a bit clearer sound due to the lower wind.

 

[t777empest]

The Thrash Factor is supposed to be modeled after Dave Mustaine's JB he had during the Rust In Peace era, but I have no idea whether it's really better.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

The Thrash Factor is supposed to be modeled after Dave Mustaine's JB he had during the Rust In Peace era, but I have no idea whether it's really better.

From what I gather it's worth a shot trying if you're replacing something completely different than a JB, but not worth replacing a stock JB since the difference is so minute.

 

[Noisy Humbucker]

From what I gather it's worth a shot trying if you're replacing something completely different than a JB, but not worth replacing a stock JB since the difference is so minute.

I almost - ALMOST - wanted to pull the zebra JB/Jazz from my Warmoth for a Nailbomb set, then get a Thrash Factor/Covered Jazz for my super tele, but if I have enough $$$ I think I’m going to refinish my RGD instead.

It’s funny, every time I convince myself I don’t really like the JB and need to replace it - I sit down and actually play with it and it’s nearly all smiles. My little signature saying thingy is waaayyy too accurate.

 

[sighval]

Well, I kinda don't know what to think anymore. I've got a 1999 Framus with a stock JB in the bridge; is there any point to trying some of these different versions out? I mean - is there a conceivable difference that can't be simply achieved by turning some knobs down the chain?

For what it's worth, I really like my JB. That midrange can get tricky sometimes, but overall it's just solid.

 

[Spaced Out Ace]

Well, I kinda don't know what to think anymore. I've got a 1999 Framus with a stock JB in the bridge; is there any point to trying some of these different versions out? I mean - is there a conceivable difference that can't be simply achieved by turning some knobs down the chain?

For what it's worth, I really like my JB. That midrange can get tricky sometimes, but overall it's just solid.

If it works, don't break it.

 

[Spaced Out Ace]

I think a JB with an Alnico II or Alnico IV could be kind of cool.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

I think a JB with an Alnico II or Alnico IV could be kind of cool.

They don't make it anymore, but the Concept Set was a single-conductor JB A2/Jazz set. The JB originally had an A2 magnet but I guess they decided to change it early on.

Besides that, the Custom Shop Duncan RTM (Warren DeMartini sig) seems to be an A2 JB.