The JB (and other high output pickups) were designed to push a lightly driven tube amp. Back then, amps didn’t have a lot of gain, so you had to use a boost or a hot pickup to push it into distortion (and there weren’t very many overdrive pedals available). Super hot pickups make less sense when amps have boatloads of gain on tap. Turn the gain down on the amp, and you’ll probably like the JB a lot more.
I'd say that doesnt really matter. I still run high gain preamps with a JB, Dimarzio Evo , burst buckers or other high gain pickups and add a drive pedal. Add some 400ms stereo ping pong delay in to stereo 4x12's and Im high gain face melting heaven :) depends what kinda tone your after though
Good video and nice playing. I love the JB, but if you ever decide to go into "mid output" territory, the Duncan "Pearly Gates" and "Custom Custom" bridge pickups are very cool. I recently put the Duncan "59/Custom Hybrid" bridge in my Strat and I love it. Very versatile (and mid output) pickup. I dug the JB tones you were getting. Keep jamming and experimenting with it.
I think that was his first model to start his business He installed it in Jeff Beck's guitar. He won't say that is why he called it the JB but... come on now...lol. Anyway, I have one in one of my strat's and felt like you at first but, I wanted to make it work also (I am a Eddy fanatic) 2 things I did that helped. 1. Lower that beast as far as you can play for a while moving it up or down to find what is best for you. Trust me, you have a lot of different tones in that but, you have to play it to learn it is there. 2. split the coils, you can find million videos on line walking you through it, you can put a push pull pot in your usual tone pot, you just have to wire it to work. If that scares you go to guitar center or what ever is near you and ask them how much they charge to do it for you. It is like having 2 pickups in 1. If you learn how to do it, it is so worth the time. BTW your playing is awesome. In both cases, work that volume knob. Good luck bud....
Think of it like this, you got all the high output right there in your pickup. Think of 10 as actually being 11 and then roll off from there to get other tones. Take a ruler and measure the distance from your pickups to your strings, adjust your JB from there keeping in mind how full volume sounds, how half volume sounds, how barely any volume sounds, etc. Once you get it to a place you like, compare it with your other pickups and adjust those if needed. We can also look at how you're driving your amp, if you're pushing a ton of volume through your pickup you're going to have to adjust both your OD and your preamp to a place you like and then check out how many tones you can get by simply rolling off the volume on your guitar (listen with OD both on/off). The power section of the amp is also going to play a role but that part depends a lot on how actual volume you're trying to push.
Did the strat previously have 3 single coils in it? Asking because single coil guitars usualy have 250k pots in them where as Ibanez RG's/Superstrats and Humbucker guitars have 500k's ( sometimes 300-350k). The 250k pots take out some of the high end of single coils and will be too much with Humbuckers ( or if u remove the tone pot as EVH did may work as this brighten things up again). The JB isnt really a dark pickup, its brighter than many other humbuckers I have, or more to the point it has a resonant peek that can make it seem very bright or ice picky. I've herd the JB sound amazing, but never realy got on with it myself, probably due to it not suiting guitars I've tried it in. Tone Rider Rocksong with the magnet swapped to a A5 is my current fave bridge pickup. Also Id suggest you try adding a little 300-400ms delay or verb to your sound, currenty its sounding so dry its almost un-natural without backing insturmenst and no natural room verb. Most guitar You tubers have a lot of delay or verb going on, and even when they sound pretty dry these still a little on the guitars most of the time :)
I've never got along with this one at all. It sounds amazing in so many other people's hands and on some of my favorite guitar tones of all time but I just never gelled with it. There's a big loose low end that makes palm mutes feel weak, there's this high mid spike that can make 25" scale guitars sound very tinny (especially if they don't have a tone knob) and it just doesn't "feel" right to me if that makes sense. Once you double it on a track it sounds amazing. It really comes alive when you pan hard left and right and record two rhythm tracks, but I spend more time practicing and playing live than I do recording, so I'd rather just stick with a pickup I like, and there's a lot of pickups I much prefer to this one.
I play, 80s hard rock, and honestly I'd still say that is more of a 70s rock live sound... you would have better luck rolling off to clean if you were using a Marshall. The modern JB is really not as good as the 80s ones in terms of fullness clarity sustain and cleanliness when rolled off volume. I use a full shred pickup in my Jackson which mine is more souped up and much hotter than a JB(around 22k), It actually rolls off much nicer than a JB though I think the pickup is too woofy. Honestly your best pickups would be medium-low output for what you want to do... I recommend the Slash signature pickup imo which is quite low output plus the alnico 2 makes it better sustained. Honestly the JB is an overall solid pickup, and I know I'm used to playing with a lot more gain than what you want to achieve. Have good luck with your tone quest!
The jb was my introduction to seymour duncan pups. Had a jb thrown into a LP classic and it i never loved it. Loose, loud low end and didnt like it for root6 power chords. The JB was better for lead than rhythm, imo.
The JB is a very, *very* dark pickup, for EVH-type tones I would pick-up (ha) specifically a '78 (Duncan's version of what Eddie did to that pickup, which you can order from them unpotted too) or a Full Shred or the bridge iteration of the Slash signature pickups. If you get really into Tool & A Perfect Circle & get a Les Paul, come back to this pickup and you'll find that tone exactly (if the Duncan Distortion is out of production again by that point) edit: weird suggestion too but also look into the Gibson Dirty Fingers, it's the 80's James Hetfield pickup lol
The JB (and other high output pickups) were designed to push a lightly driven tube amp. Back then, amps didn’t have a lot of gain, so you had to use a boost or a hot pickup to push it into distortion (and there weren’t very many overdrive pedals available). Super hot pickups make less sense when amps have boatloads of gain on tap. Turn the gain down on the amp, and you’ll probably like the JB a lot more.
@@josephbenz4913 that’s a good point thanks!!
I'd say that doesnt really matter. I still run high gain preamps with a JB, Dimarzio Evo , burst buckers or other high gain pickups and add a drive pedal. Add some 400ms stereo ping pong delay in to stereo 4x12's and Im high gain face melting heaven :) depends what kinda tone your after though
Good video and nice playing. I love the JB, but if you ever decide to go into "mid output" territory, the Duncan "Pearly Gates" and "Custom Custom" bridge pickups are very cool. I recently put the Duncan "59/Custom Hybrid" bridge in my Strat and I love it. Very versatile (and mid output) pickup. I dug the JB tones you were getting. Keep jamming and experimenting with it.
@@richcharvel7162 thanks man!! And thanks for the suggestions!
I think that was his first model to start his business He installed it in Jeff Beck's guitar. He won't say that is why he called it the JB but... come on now...lol. Anyway, I have one in one of my strat's and felt like you at first but, I wanted to make it work also (I am a Eddy fanatic) 2 things I did that helped.
1. Lower that beast as far as you can play for a while moving it up or down to find what is best for you. Trust me, you have a lot of different tones in that but, you have to play it to learn it is there.
2. split the coils, you can find million videos on line walking you through it, you can put a push pull pot in your usual tone pot, you just have to wire it to work. If that scares you go to guitar center or what ever is near you and ask them how much they charge to do it for you. It is like having 2 pickups in 1. If you learn how to do it, it is so worth the time.
BTW your playing is awesome. In both cases, work that volume knob.
Good luck bud....
@@JohnRussomJr Cool man thanks for the tips!!
I had a JB in an all mahogany Washburn and it was amazing for rock and metal.
@@NunSuperior heck yea!
Think of it like this, you got all the high output right there in your pickup. Think of 10 as actually being 11 and then roll off from there to get other tones. Take a ruler and measure the distance from your pickups to your strings, adjust your JB from there keeping in mind how full volume sounds, how half volume sounds, how barely any volume sounds, etc. Once you get it to a place you like, compare it with your other pickups and adjust those if needed. We can also look at how you're driving your amp, if you're pushing a ton of volume through your pickup you're going to have to adjust both your OD and your preamp to a place you like and then check out how many tones you can get by simply rolling off the volume on your guitar (listen with OD both on/off). The power section of the amp is also going to play a role but that part depends a lot on how actual volume you're trying to push.
@@lordjonasofficial ok cool thanks for the tips!
Did the strat previously have 3 single coils in it? Asking because single coil guitars usualy have 250k pots in them where as Ibanez RG's/Superstrats and Humbucker guitars have 500k's ( sometimes 300-350k). The 250k pots take out some of the high end of single coils and will be too much with Humbuckers ( or if u remove the tone pot as EVH did may work as this brighten things up again). The JB isnt really a dark pickup, its brighter than many other humbuckers I have, or more to the point it has a resonant peek that can make it seem very bright or ice picky. I've herd the JB sound amazing, but never realy got on with it myself, probably due to it not suiting guitars I've tried it in. Tone Rider Rocksong with the magnet swapped to a A5 is my current fave bridge pickup. Also Id suggest you try adding a little 300-400ms delay or verb to your sound, currenty its sounding so dry its almost un-natural without backing insturmenst and no natural room verb. Most guitar You tubers have a lot of delay or verb going on, and even when they sound pretty dry these still a little on the guitars most of the time :)
I've never got along with this one at all. It sounds amazing in so many other people's hands and on some of my favorite guitar tones of all time but I just never gelled with it. There's a big loose low end that makes palm mutes feel weak, there's this high mid spike that can make 25" scale guitars sound very tinny (especially if they don't have a tone knob) and it just doesn't "feel" right to me if that makes sense. Once you double it on a track it sounds amazing. It really comes alive when you pan hard left and right and record two rhythm tracks, but I spend more time practicing and playing live than I do recording, so I'd rather just stick with a pickup I like, and there's a lot of pickups I much prefer to this one.
Had the same experience.. didnt reallise the double tracked thing, thought it was more my not finding the right guitar for it
I play, 80s hard rock, and honestly I'd still say that is more of a 70s rock live sound... you would have better luck rolling off to clean if you were using a Marshall. The modern JB is really not as good as the 80s ones in terms of fullness clarity sustain and cleanliness when rolled off volume. I use a full shred pickup in my Jackson which mine is more souped up and much hotter than a JB(around 22k), It actually rolls off much nicer than a JB though I think the pickup is too woofy. Honestly your best pickups would be medium-low output for what you want to do... I recommend the Slash signature pickup imo which is quite low output plus the alnico 2 makes it better sustained. Honestly the JB is an overall solid pickup, and I know I'm used to playing with a lot more gain than what you want to achieve. Have good luck with your tone quest!
@vinnibafile8361 oh that’s good advice thanks man!!!
The jb was my introduction to seymour duncan pups. Had a jb thrown into a LP classic and it i never loved it. Loose, loud low end and didnt like it for root6 power chords. The JB was better for lead than rhythm, imo.
@@MDwng yea it is a very dark pickup
The JB is a very, *very* dark pickup, for EVH-type tones I would pick-up (ha) specifically a '78 (Duncan's version of what Eddie did to that pickup, which you can order from them unpotted too) or a Full Shred or the bridge iteration of the Slash signature pickups. If you get really into Tool & A Perfect Circle & get a Les Paul, come back to this pickup and you'll find that tone exactly (if the Duncan Distortion is out of production again by that point)
edit: weird suggestion too but also look into the Gibson Dirty Fingers, it's the 80's James Hetfield pickup lol
@@fives. haha love the pun! And yea I’ve been seeing people mention the Slash pickup a lot. Thanks for the suggestions!!