I've NEVER got along with the JB. So many of my favorite guitar tones are recorded with it (Jake E Lee, Dave Mustaine .etc), in fact It sounds great on a record but I've just never liked it. It's too hot for PAF style/classic tones and it has all these weird EQ Spikes at around 1-2.5k that just make it unpleasent for metal tones imo. Not to mention that flubby low end that makes palm mutes sound kinda lifeless. Again a lot of people have made great sounding tones on it, I just don't like the way it sounds when I plug into an amp and play. It's never worked for me. The Dimarzio Illuminator is a much better all around pickup imo, but it's all down to taste. How do you like the way it feels when you strike a chord and palm mute. That's where the JB fails me. Yeah it sounds good in a mix but I just don't like it when I'm playing by myself. The thing i really hate about the JB is people act like it's the end all be all of pickups, just buy one of those and throw it in there and forget about it. Screw that, try as many pickups as you can until you find the one that makes you want to pick up your guitar and play.
@@loydthabartender5794I totally agree. Palm muting with the Jb just sounds weird. It’s not tight percussively. It’s really hard to explain. I think its fault is that it has too much power. I wonder what a low wind version of it would sound like? Yeah so many pickups out there, and a lot of good ones to try for sure.
I've used both the JB and original ceramic magnet Duncan Custom since 1985 when I was 19 years old. At 58, the JB is sounding muddy, and I'm leaning back to the clarity of the Custom. Magnet swaps are fun too...
I don't blame you. I've been switching to low and medium output PAF pickups in my guitars lately. With modern amps and pedals, I don't really see the need for hot pickups anymore. And I absolutely do not sweat pickup spacing.
I put a coil split tone pot in and that jb calmed down A LOT. Now its a rocket ship when i want it and much more livable when split. The single coil tone out of it is actually pretty great. The neck and middle are texas specials and im super happy with this set up now.
That’s a good idea actually. I still have the pickup. I can use it for a project in the future and give that a try. Thanks for the info and stopping by to support the channel.
Yeah put you a push push pot in there to go between series/parallel or series/split and it’s like having a boost right there on your volume pot if you’re running a high output HB with singles it’s a must. You can use push pull but the push push is way more natural feeling.
The Pearly Gates is absolutely awesome. George Lynch used one on Breaking the Chains. They have clarity, incredible harmonics and texture, great sustain, and they can sound big and bad and crunchy.
The SD Jason Becker (Perpetual Burn) pickup is a good compromise. At around 12K, with a treble bleed circuit, you can roll the volume back to 7-8 and get PAF(ish) tones, or do the shred thing at full bore. It has way more treble than a JB and none of that ass sounding midrange honk. The treble is what allows it to do a PAF imitation with the volume rolled back.
Great video! I have been really loving Alnico 2 humbuckers in my strat style guitars lately. An interesting note on the Duncan Holdsworth Pickup, the current one, as sold from the custom shop, the 17k version is not what Allan ever used. His pickups were basically a Duncan 59 but both coils had screws, no slug coil and a DC resistance of around 8k-ish. David Phillips @RACKDOCTOR from L.A. Sound Design has great info on this, he has an 8.5k Duncan Holdsworth pickup in a guitar he demos on his channel. No one seems to know why they sell a 17k version, that i have seen.
@@DanCareaga that’s very interesting info. I could not understand why the AH SD is so hot. I thought that weird. But I figured what do I know. lol. Awesome information. Thank you for stopping in and watching and sharing. Have a great week.
Pickups are like ice cream flavors - you try a lot until you find the one you love. I played in a rock band in the 90's, and I had the JB/Jazz combo in all my guitars except my Les Paul. It worked for me - then. Now I play nothing but blues and while they'd work, it's not the flavor I'm looking for.
Glad to hear this. Have a sterling Cutlass ct50+ which is HSS. Started with the duncan distortion but the difference in output is so extreme that i couldn't get it dialed in right. Swapping for a 78 - literally dropped off at the luthier this afternoon - and it seems I made the right choice.
9k is really a sweet spot for bridge humbuckers for me, the hottest you can go with 42 gauge wire is around 10k, 43 gauge wire doesn't sound as full or dynamic to me, so as hot as 42 can go I'm all in. Artec Giovanni GVH-1 is great affordable option (maybe with an alnico4 mod). Recently Rockingers Bellbucker (10-10,5k) has been a nice surprise😉
I put a Treble Bleed capacitor on my JB equipped Kramer. Made a big difference. I saw an old article on EVH, he said his Original Frankenstein pickup was only about 9K. He said people assume he's using distortion and OD pedals... but he never did. His axe is mostly clean... Dirt all comes from the Amp.
Totally agree. I find lower gain pickup into high gain always sounds best. Good job on the treble bleed. Great idea. Thanks for the info and stopping by to support the channel.
it makes sense the demos ur seeing are all VH riffs cause the 78 is based off the pickup the man hiself gave to seymour to rewind with a hotter wind ... i have a jb in my baretta n i love it! since then ive been all about JBs n i got a guitar with Mustaine Thrash factors which is a modded Jb (essentially) BUT another pickup i really love n wanna try is a EVH frankenstein and i feel like the 78 is the original version of that.. plus less pricey lol i enjoy the 59 in the neck for solos, a very warm beautiful sounding pickup with the Thrash Factor in the bridge delivering Scorching hot leads and rhythms
I think the JB and the 59 work well. I think the EQ of the fender singles is so different they were not really working out together. This 78 is really nice. Will try to get a demo up soon.
PAF or slightly hot PAF style buckers are the maximum in output that you can pair with single coils, unless you want to use very high output single coils which lack the classic characteristics of single coils. Pickups like the Pearly Gates, 59, Alnico II Pro/Slash, and Duncan Custom series are as hot as you want a bucker to be to pair with singles. The '78 from what I've seen can work very well. It's at heart a tweaked PAF but not outrageously hot. On my main guitar I use a DiMarzio Tone Zone in the bridge paired with two stock Fender Single coils running off a 500k volume pot, but it all works and the number 2 position blends well with the back coil of the Tone Zone. I've actually seen a lot of strats like the Lone Star which came with a Pearly Gates or Pearly Gates Plus paired with some Fender Texas Heat or something SRV style singles.
I have a JB in my Les Paul and really like it but yes, I usually play stuff with more drive. I do find it interesting you find the JB muddy though, I tend to think it is shrill/trebley more than anything.
Yeah just on this particular JB in this strat. Weird. I agree I have had others that were trebley as you describe. Strange. I had a Jb / Jazz in a Les Paul years ago and it sounded awesome. Go figure.
No 2 pickups are exactly the same, but sometimes a tone capacitor upgrade can tame some of the screechy tones that JB's tend to have. My Cutlass HSS has two SSL-6's and a TB-14. I've found that combination very cohesive. The guitar I have with a JB in the bridge, was very brittle and just too harsh most of the time. I put a fairly inexpensive tone capacitor I bought from Sweetwater in it. The Mojotone oil filled canister. Made a big difference. Might wanna try some alternatives like these, if your so inclined?
I thought about it. I have that pickup loaded in a single cut guitar. I was being adventurous trying someone new. The 78 is pretty good actually. I’ll have to get a video up soon.
There is a way to control the volume balance of the humbucker, but I never see it done. Ditch the middle tone, use a 500k pot on the humbucker NOT grounded!! This will make a gradual volume control before it hits the switch, so it goes from 50% to 100% ca. Alternatively a 100k controlled split will yield similar results. Also a Bill Lawrence Q-filter can do some serious controlling of a bridge humbucker. But the easiest is my first suggestion. FWIW
People used to run JBs and I’ve heard they were designed to work with 250k pots like comes typically in single coil equipped guitars, I also wonder if perhaps back in the day maybe Jeff Beck ran it in parallel ? About the only way I could imagine a JB really working with standard fender single coils is wired in parallel unless you were boosting your singles to make up the difference between the jb output and single coils. Also the amps weren’t making a ton of preamp gain like modern amps do so possibly the bridge bucker was for rocking hitting the amp set to detonate and then flip to the singles for clean and edge tones ? I think with modern amps lower output Humbuckers are where it’s at possibly ? Duncan trembuckers also have copper coil tape around the coils to limit the spring noises is what I’ve heard, and they are a tight fit in a standard HB pick guard opening
ut oh, my /97 Guild Starfire III, the first yr of the real re-issue have that one year one time Seymor Duncan SH59's only difference cardboard vs plastic barrel- those sounds are tough to bet
Jb is a great pickup. did you try lowering it. that can usually match up better. but any humbucker is going to out power the single coils. that's just the way it is.
Yeah I tried lowering it but it was still too loud, and also the eq of that pickup really did not jive well with the fender fat 60s. The 78 is so much better working with the singles. Stay tuned my brother. Thanks for stopping by.
The JB stands for "Jazz/Blues" and I don't think Jeff ever used it. I think the connection to Beck is purely coincidental. That said, I don't see a lot of people playing Jazz or Blues with a JB. Great in hard rock and JB CUTS in a mix with a full band. So if you wanna play 80's hair metal, that's your pickup. But the 78 is a good choice for an overall blues/rock kind of vibe. I'm actually replacing my JB with an EVH Wolfgang pickup. It's maybe somewhere between the JB and 78. Another fun Van Halen fact: The 5150 Kramer guitar he used during Hagar ended up with a JB in it and the whole "without a net" concert from 86 had a JB in the guitar. It howls but that's not for everybody.
Awesome info. I did replace a JB in a guitar with a Wolfgang pickup once. I liked the result. I would say you are correct it sits between the two around 14k. But sounds stellar. I still have one and considered installing it in the fender but opted for the lower power of the 78. It was a good gamble I think. Thank you for stopping in and commenting. Also thank you for watching the video and supporting the channel. Much appreciated.
@@VinnyTheAxe Yep. I'm probably going to push/pull the Wolfgang in parallel and my Strat has one neck pickup and no middle so I think doing clean tones will work better that way. Parallel coils sound better to me, than a split humbucker single coil. Hopefully the combo works! Eddie had good ears so all his pickups tend to sound pretty awesome. Ha.
I didn’t care for the 78 in any of my guitars. From Les Paul to Charvel strat style. Kind of midrange and crispy at the edges. Very wood type/guitar dependent. The JB with the right A2 magnet seems to be very tasty. I’ve also had good luck with the EVH Frankenstein. However I didn’t care for the stock A2 in that one. I don’t get caught up in magnet type, just keep swapping until I find the feel and tone I’m after. Sometimes you can be surprised by a pickup you didn’t like at first when you find the right magnet.
Little secret about the spacing and why Fender isn't using "F" spaced / trembucker SDs: They sound different. That's it. The specs can't be exactly the same due to the change of construction.
I am visually impaired, so I apologize if there is something in the video I’m not seeing… What are you playing through in this video? Didn’t see anything in the description and I don’t believe you said, but I thought it sounded good so I wanted to ask. Thanks!
@@VinnyTheAxe oh, cool… My son has one of those but I don’t think I’ve ever heard it sound that good. I’m 53 years old and I’m trying really hard to teach myself to get rid of 4 x 12 cabinets and 50 W and 100 W heads… Maybe I I’ll make it someday.
The JB is overused. It's not just the output, but the EQ of the pickup itself. Duncan makes much better pickups, and so does DiMarzio and a number of other companies. The JB, like the Super Distortion, is one of those pickups that just winds up in everything. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
@@VinnyTheAxe BTW, and you probably know this, but George Lynch used a Pearly Gates on the first Dokken album Breaking the Chains. From that point on he was all about Duncans, although there is a brand called Arcane that makes a Lynch model. Duncan made the Screamin' Demon as the signature Lynch pup and they still do. Good pickup. They also make the Exciter which used to be called The Hunter, which is basically a tamer version of the Distortion. It's halfway between a Duncan Custom and Distortion in output.
Wow. Well I have owned about 10 or so and that has not been my experience. Setup has alot to do with that sometimes. I think maybe one out of the 10 was not that great. It’s hit and miss sometimes. Same with every other large company unfortunately.
Pro Tip: its cheaper to change out the pots than it is to change out your pickups. Swap out the factory tone pots for a 500k pots or consider adding a 0.047uF cap to your tone pots. Also, check and see if Fender slipped a push/pull coil split. From the looks of your volume pot, there's more than just volume going on there. Next, you may want to consider swapping out your bridge. Graph Tech makes an incredible bridge for Strats. You may also wish to consider brass saddles. They make a difference. They tend to be a bit warmer than steel saddles. The JB is widely regarded as one of the best pickups on the market. When I swapped out the pots in my 83 LP "Oxblood" to 500k audio taper, it was pure magic. Rock on M8!
Not to nitpick, but I heard that "JB" stands for "jazz bass,' not "Jeff Beck." Just throwing that out there. I could never imagine him playing those old sledgehammers!
Yes I believe you’re right, not a nitpick at all. Thanks for the correction. All these years I had it wrong. That’s what makes the internet a great place. I know I have heard others call it a Beck pickup in the past for sure. But you’re right someone else mentioned the same thing. Much appreciated. Thanks for stopping by the check out the video.
@@learnonedooneteachone3822 I was correct. Thank you I remember reading it some place years ago. planetbotch.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-seymour-duncan-jb-humbucker.html?m=1
Was JB for years now I’ll never play one again. It’s probably the worst possible choice to pair with single coils, and I don’t even like it in a dual humbucker guitar anymore. It’s too harsh, too powerful and good for only 80’s thrash metal. The custom shop 78 alnico 2 pickup is the best overall bridge pickup I’ve ever tried. It can do heavy but it’s much sweeter in the high E,B, and G strings and can cover clean stuff extremely well… and balances in a strat with singles.
I have come to the same conclusion. I am still digging the 78. Made that guitar a keeper for sure. It worked out great. Love when a project works out. Thanks for stopping in and commenting. Much appreciated
I haven’t tried the factory release version but it’s likely the same. I got the two I use back when the 78 was only available as a custom shop order with MJ winding them.
@@jmsamborski yes I was going to pull the trigger on a CS version but then realized they had a factory standard release now , so I figured I would give it a shot.
I've NEVER got along with the JB. So many of my favorite guitar tones are recorded with it (Jake E Lee, Dave Mustaine .etc), in fact It sounds great on a record but I've just never liked it. It's too hot for PAF style/classic tones and it has all these weird EQ Spikes at around 1-2.5k that just make it unpleasent for metal tones imo. Not to mention that flubby low end that makes palm mutes sound kinda lifeless. Again a lot of people have made great sounding tones on it, I just don't like the way it sounds when I plug into an amp and play. It's never worked for me. The Dimarzio Illuminator is a much better all around pickup imo, but it's all down to taste. How do you like the way it feels when you strike a chord and palm mute. That's where the JB fails me. Yeah it sounds good in a mix but I just don't like it when I'm playing by myself. The thing i really hate about the JB is people act like it's the end all be all of pickups, just buy one of those and throw it in there and forget about it. Screw that, try as many pickups as you can until you find the one that makes you want to pick up your guitar and play.
@@loydthabartender5794I totally agree. Palm muting with the Jb just sounds weird. It’s not tight percussively. It’s really hard to explain. I think its fault is that it has too much power. I wonder what a low wind version of it would sound like? Yeah so many pickups out there, and a lot of good ones to try for sure.
I've used both the JB and original ceramic magnet Duncan Custom since 1985 when I was 19 years old. At 58, the JB is sounding muddy, and I'm leaning back to the clarity of the Custom. Magnet swaps are fun too...
I don't blame you. I've been switching to low and medium output PAF pickups in my guitars lately. With modern amps and pedals, I don't really see the need for hot pickups anymore. And I absolutely do not sweat pickup spacing.
I put a coil split tone pot in and that jb calmed down A LOT. Now its a rocket ship when i want it and much more livable when split. The single coil tone out of it is actually pretty great. The neck and middle are texas specials and im super happy with this set up now.
That’s a good idea actually. I still have the pickup. I can use it for a project in the future and give that a try. Thanks for the info and stopping by to support the channel.
Yeah put you a push push pot in there to go between series/parallel or series/split and it’s like having a boost right there on your volume pot if you’re running a high output HB with singles it’s a must. You can use push pull but the push push is way more natural feeling.
@@brandonjackson5865 That’s a great idea. I think might run that on my next Warmoth build.
I get it, the JB is great for overdrive, but clean not so much. I got rid of mine for the exact same reason. I went with a pearly gates.
The Pearly Gates is absolutely awesome. George Lynch used one on Breaking the Chains. They have clarity, incredible harmonics and texture, great sustain, and they can sound big and bad and crunchy.
Try a 53mm Mule with aged cover and screws. WOW!
The SD Jason Becker (Perpetual Burn) pickup is a good compromise. At around 12K, with a treble bleed circuit, you can roll the volume back to 7-8 and get PAF(ish) tones, or do the shred thing at full bore.
It has way more treble than a JB and none of that ass sounding midrange honk. The treble is what allows it to do a PAF imitation with the volume rolled back.
Awesomeness. Lmao at the “ass sounding midrange honk “.
You should try a Mule pick by Bare Knuckle. They are just fantastic. Or if you just want Duncan's, the Pearly Gates.
Love bare knuckles. I was considering the mule actually.
Swapping the newer polished Alnico V for an old school rough cast Alnico V can tame the ice-pick high end in new production JB's
Great video! I have been really loving Alnico 2 humbuckers in my strat style guitars lately.
An interesting note on the Duncan Holdsworth Pickup, the current one, as sold from the custom shop, the 17k version is not what Allan ever used.
His pickups were basically a Duncan 59 but both coils had screws, no slug coil and a DC resistance of around 8k-ish.
David Phillips @RACKDOCTOR from L.A. Sound Design has great info on this, he has an 8.5k Duncan Holdsworth pickup in a guitar he demos on his channel.
No one seems to know why they sell a 17k version, that i have seen.
@@DanCareaga that’s very interesting info. I could not understand why the AH SD is so hot. I thought that weird. But I figured what do I know. lol. Awesome information. Thank you for stopping in and watching and sharing. Have a great week.
Pickups are like ice cream flavors - you try a lot until you find the one you love. I played in a rock band in the 90's, and I had the JB/Jazz combo in all my guitars except my Les Paul. It worked for me - then. Now I play nothing but blues and while they'd work, it's not the flavor I'm looking for.
Glad to hear this. Have a sterling Cutlass ct50+ which is HSS. Started with the duncan distortion but the difference in output is so extreme that i couldn't get it dialed in right. Swapping for a 78 - literally dropped off at the luthier this afternoon - and it seems I made the right choice.
9k is really a sweet spot for bridge humbuckers for me, the hottest you can go with 42 gauge wire is around 10k, 43 gauge wire doesn't sound as full or dynamic to me, so as hot as 42 can go I'm all in. Artec Giovanni GVH-1 is great affordable option (maybe with an alnico4 mod). Recently Rockingers Bellbucker (10-10,5k) has been a nice surprise😉
Very cool. I am digging this pickup. Stay tuned for the next video. Thank you for stopping by, commenting, and supporting the channel.
I put a Treble Bleed capacitor on my JB equipped Kramer. Made a big difference. I saw an old article on EVH, he said his Original Frankenstein pickup was only about 9K. He said people assume he's using distortion and OD pedals... but he never did. His axe is mostly clean... Dirt all comes from the Amp.
Totally agree. I find lower gain pickup into high gain always sounds best. Good job on the treble bleed. Great idea. Thanks for the info and stopping by to support the channel.
it makes sense the demos ur seeing are all VH riffs cause the 78 is based off the pickup the man hiself gave to seymour to rewind with a hotter wind ... i have a jb in my baretta n i love it! since then ive been all about JBs n i got a guitar with Mustaine Thrash factors which is a modded Jb (essentially) BUT another pickup i really love n wanna try is a EVH frankenstein and i feel like the 78 is the original version of that.. plus less pricey lol
i enjoy the 59 in the neck for solos, a very warm beautiful sounding pickup with the Thrash Factor in the bridge delivering Scorching hot leads and rhythms
I think the JB and the 59 work well. I think the EQ of the fender singles is so different they were not really working out together. This 78 is really nice. Will try to get a demo up soon.
PAF or slightly hot PAF style buckers are the maximum in output that you can pair with single coils, unless you want to use very high output single coils which lack the classic characteristics of single coils. Pickups like the Pearly Gates, 59, Alnico II Pro/Slash, and Duncan Custom series are as hot as you want a bucker to be to pair with singles. The '78 from what I've seen can work very well. It's at heart a tweaked PAF but not outrageously hot. On my main guitar I use a DiMarzio Tone Zone in the bridge paired with two stock Fender Single coils running off a 500k volume pot, but it all works and the number 2 position blends well with the back coil of the Tone Zone. I've actually seen a lot of strats like the Lone Star which came with a Pearly Gates or Pearly Gates Plus paired with some Fender Texas Heat or something SRV style singles.
I have a JB in my Les Paul and really like it but yes, I usually play stuff with more drive. I do find it interesting you find the JB muddy though, I tend to think it is shrill/trebley more than anything.
Yeah just on this particular JB in this strat. Weird. I agree I have had others that were trebley as you describe. Strange. I had a Jb / Jazz in a Les Paul years ago and it sounded awesome. Go figure.
I’ve heard a JB with 250k pots will smooth out that edgy top end.
@@cheesewesil18 good to know, I’ll try to use it in a project in the future.
No 2 pickups are exactly the same, but sometimes a tone capacitor upgrade can tame some of the screechy tones that JB's tend to have. My Cutlass HSS has two SSL-6's and a TB-14. I've found that combination very cohesive. The guitar I have with a JB in the bridge, was very brittle and just too harsh most of the time. I put a fairly inexpensive tone capacitor I bought from Sweetwater in it. The Mojotone oil filled canister. Made a big difference. Might wanna try some alternatives like these, if your so inclined?
Awesome info. Will be worth a try for a future project. Thank you for checking out the video.
That cocked wah tone of the JB that made me stay away from it…. I had them briefly on my Ibanez, and I took it off immediately….
Cool video! I bet a DiMarzio cream 36th Anniv bridge would look (and sound) killer!
I thought about it. I have that pickup loaded in a single cut guitar. I was being adventurous trying someone new. The 78 is pretty good actually. I’ll have to get a video up soon.
There is a way to control the volume balance of the humbucker, but I never see it done. Ditch the middle tone, use a 500k pot on the humbucker NOT grounded!! This will make a gradual volume control before it hits the switch, so it goes from 50% to 100% ca. Alternatively a 100k controlled split will yield similar results. Also a Bill Lawrence Q-filter can do some serious controlling of a bridge humbucker. But the easiest is my first suggestion. FWIW
Great video I in joyed shop time. Cool 😎
That was great Vinny, fingers crossed
Thank you, much appreciated. Stay tuned my friends.
Such a huge sound wow
People used to run JBs and I’ve heard they were designed to work with 250k pots like comes typically in single coil equipped guitars, I also wonder if perhaps back in the day maybe Jeff Beck ran it in parallel ? About the only way I could imagine a JB really working with standard fender single coils is wired in parallel unless you were boosting your singles to make up the difference between the jb output and single coils. Also the amps weren’t making a ton of preamp gain like modern amps do so possibly the bridge bucker was for rocking hitting the amp set to detonate and then flip to the singles for clean and edge tones ? I think with modern amps lower output Humbuckers are where it’s at possibly ? Duncan trembuckers also have copper coil tape around the coils to limit the spring noises is what I’ve heard, and they are a tight fit in a standard HB pick guard opening
You need to stay out of chat forums... everything you said is wrong.
ut oh, my /97 Guild Starfire III, the first yr of the real re-issue have that one year one time Seymor Duncan SH59's only difference cardboard vs plastic barrel- those sounds are tough to bet
Jb is a great pickup. did you try lowering it. that can usually match up better. but any humbucker is going to out power the single coils. that's just the way it is.
Yeah I tried lowering it but it was still too loud, and also the eq of that pickup really did not jive well with the fender fat 60s. The 78 is so much better working with the singles. Stay tuned my brother. Thanks for stopping by.
sounds great!
Nice! Sort of has that ' Brown' sound! Subbed!
Awesome. Thank you for stopping in and supporting the channel.
The JB stands for "Jazz/Blues" and I don't think Jeff ever used it. I think the connection to Beck is purely coincidental. That said, I don't see a lot of people playing Jazz or Blues with a JB. Great in hard rock and JB CUTS in a mix with a full band. So if you wanna play 80's hair metal, that's your pickup. But the 78 is a good choice for an overall blues/rock kind of vibe. I'm actually replacing my JB with an EVH Wolfgang pickup. It's maybe somewhere between the JB and 78. Another fun Van Halen fact: The 5150 Kramer guitar he used during Hagar ended up with a JB in it and the whole "without a net" concert from 86 had a JB in the guitar. It howls but that's not for everybody.
Awesome info. I did replace a JB in a guitar with a Wolfgang pickup once. I liked the result. I would say you are correct it sits between the two around 14k. But sounds stellar. I still have one and considered installing it in the fender but opted for the lower power of the 78. It was a good gamble I think. Thank you for stopping in and commenting. Also thank you for watching the video and supporting the channel. Much appreciated.
@@VinnyTheAxe Yep. I'm probably going to push/pull the Wolfgang in parallel and my Strat has one neck pickup and no middle so I think doing clean tones will work better that way. Parallel coils sound better to me, than a split humbucker single coil. Hopefully the combo works! Eddie had good ears so all his pickups tend to sound pretty awesome. Ha.
@@autodidacticprofessor869 Sounds like an excellent plan. Let me know how it works out. So far the 78 seems to be really good .
Use the neck pick up from a Gibson, Les Paul, or something similar.
I didn’t care for the 78 in any of my guitars. From Les Paul to Charvel strat style. Kind of midrange and crispy at the edges. Very wood type/guitar dependent. The JB with the right A2 magnet seems to be very tasty. I’ve also had good luck with the EVH Frankenstein. However I didn’t care for the stock A2 in that one. I don’t get caught up in magnet type, just keep swapping until I find the feel and tone I’m after. Sometimes you can be surprised by a pickup you didn’t like at first when you find the right magnet.
Little secret about the spacing and why Fender isn't using "F" spaced / trembucker SDs: They sound different. That's it. The specs can't be exactly the same due to the change of construction.
They sound better in a F spaced. Which is Fender or Floyd.
Try DM virtual solo in the bridge.
I am visually impaired, so I apologize if there is something in the video I’m not seeing… What are you playing through in this video? Didn’t see anything in the description and I don’t believe you said, but I thought it sounded good so I wanted to ask. Thanks!
Sorry for that. I have a little Yamaha THR10X on the bench. It’s a cool little amp.
@@VinnyTheAxe oh, cool… My son has one of those but I don’t think I’ve ever heard it sound that good. I’m 53 years old and I’m trying really hard to teach myself to get rid of 4 x 12 cabinets and 50 W and 100 W heads… Maybe I I’ll make it someday.
there's a Warmoth video where he does a comparison between a trembucker and a normal one and there's little to no difference according to that video.
I remember seeing that one as well. Yeah. I am pleased with the results here. I will try to do a video soon with it in the room.
Is it safe to be on YT if you're in the Witness Protection Program?
Lmao!!!!! Love it. Thanks for stopping in and supporting the channel, and giving me a good laugh for the day. Much appreciated.
@@VinnyTheAxeGood answer...
If that doesn’t do it the Duncan alnico II might be what you want.
The JB is overused. It's not just the output, but the EQ of the pickup itself. Duncan makes much better pickups, and so does DiMarzio and a number of other companies. The JB, like the Super Distortion, is one of those pickups that just winds up in everything. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
Totally 110 percent agree. Thanks for stopping in and supporting the channel. Much appreciated.
@@VinnyTheAxe You do great reviews. Extremely intelligent and thorough, and you are a solid player. Keep rocking.
@@angusorvid8840 Thank you.
@@VinnyTheAxe BTW, and you probably know this, but George Lynch used a Pearly Gates on the first Dokken album Breaking the Chains. From that point on he was all about Duncans, although there is a brand called Arcane that makes a Lynch model. Duncan made the Screamin' Demon as the signature Lynch pup and they still do. Good pickup. They also make the Exciter which used to be called The Hunter, which is basically a tamer version of the Distortion. It's halfway between a Duncan Custom and Distortion in output.
Most players can not afford a custom shop.
And, I have played custom shop strats that felt like crap.
Wow. Well I have owned about 10 or so and that has not been my experience. Setup has alot to do with that sometimes. I think maybe one out of the 10 was not that great. It’s hit and miss sometimes. Same with every other large company unfortunately.
Pro Tip: its cheaper to change out the pots than it is to change out your pickups. Swap out the factory tone pots for a 500k pots or consider adding a 0.047uF cap to your tone pots.
Also, check and see if Fender slipped a push/pull coil split. From the looks of your volume pot, there's more than just volume going on there.
Next, you may want to consider swapping out your bridge. Graph Tech makes an incredible bridge for Strats. You may also wish to consider brass saddles. They make a difference. They tend to be a bit warmer than steel saddles.
The JB is widely regarded as one of the best pickups on the market. When I swapped out the pots in my 83 LP "Oxblood" to 500k audio taper, it was pure magic.
Rock on M8!
JB is too shrill in any alder body. A Seymour Duncan Custom Custom, EVH Wolfgang, or EVH Frankie pickup will sound much much better.
I agree. I have a Wolfgang pickup and it sounds really good.
Not to nitpick, but I heard that "JB" stands for "jazz bass,' not "Jeff Beck." Just throwing that out there. I could never imagine him playing those old sledgehammers!
Yes I believe you’re right, not a nitpick at all. Thanks for the correction. All these years I had it wrong. That’s what makes the internet a great place. I know I have heard others call it a Beck pickup in the past for sure. But you’re right someone else mentioned the same thing. Much appreciated. Thanks for stopping by the check out the video.
Nope. Jeff Beck is the right answer.
I did some research. Check it out :
planetbotch.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-seymour-duncan-jb-humbucker.html?m=1
@@learnonedooneteachone3822 I was correct. Thank you I remember reading it some place years ago. planetbotch.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-seymour-duncan-jb-humbucker.html?m=1
@@VinnyTheAxe Okay, but he doesn’t cite any sources; rather states everything authoritatively as if first-hand. This is why research is hard.
generic comment
Was JB for years now I’ll never play one again. It’s probably the worst possible choice to pair with single coils, and I don’t even like it in a dual humbucker guitar anymore. It’s too harsh, too powerful and good for only 80’s thrash metal. The custom shop 78 alnico 2 pickup is the best overall bridge pickup I’ve ever tried. It can do heavy but it’s much sweeter in the high E,B, and G strings and can cover clean stuff extremely well… and balances in a strat with singles.
I have come to the same conclusion. I am still digging the 78. Made that guitar a keeper for sure. It worked out great. Love when a project works out. Thanks for stopping in and commenting. Much appreciated
I haven’t tried the factory release version but it’s likely the same. I got the two I use back when the 78 was only available as a custom shop order with MJ winding them.
@@jmsamborski yes I was going to pull the trigger on a CS version but then realized they had a factory standard release now , so I figured I would give it a shot.
I downvoted your comment simply because it lacks all reality and integrity.
Integrity? Sound is subjective, go get fucked