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I seem to remember someone recommending it for Oasis-type rocky sound in the bridge of my Epi dot. I'm gonna change the pup in a couple of months, and it's down to the '59 or the JB (nickel covered, both of them). Is there a difference in gain between the two? I sure ain't looking to put an invador in my lovely semi...

The JB is quite a bit stronger than the 59B but it doesn't sound like an Invader or anything like that! Robben Ford used one for a long time and made many of his most popular recording with the JB. Robben gets a a fairly smooth and overdriven tone for his solos but he's primarily a jazz and blues player so you know the JB is not a metal pickup...though it could certainly be used for metal if you chose to.

The JB, paired with a Jazz neck, is also Seymour's favorite humbucker combination...he's not a metal player either.

Really, the JB can sound any way you want it to depending on how you adjust your amp's volume and tone controls.

It will definately push your amp harder and push it into overdrive at a lower volume setting on the amp than the 59B but it's capable of nice clean tones too...especially when combined with a neck 59N or Jazz N and you roll down the volume a little on your guitar.

The JB, when split into a single coil, also has the best single coil tones from a humbucker I've ever heard. Another big plus for the JB.

The JB is a little louder than the 59B and has more mids and also has a certain pronounced upper midrange peak that makes notes sing and pinch harmonics take off more easily than with most other humbuckers.

To some ears (mine! ) the upper midrange quot;peakquot; is a little to penetrating when playing at higher volumes and standing close to your speakers. Onstage I've never found it to be an issue.

If you're going for primarily an overdriven to slightly overdriven rock tone, I wouldn't worry about it being to hot...unless the tone you have in your head really is the tone of a vintage output pickup like the 59B.

I really like the 59B, BTW. It's my favorite alnico 5 bridge humbucker. I use it in two differant Strats and to my ears it has the tone of Eric Clapton when he played with Cream.

For me, the 59B pushes my amps hard enough and I don't need a hotter bridge pickup than that.

Lew

Well, oasis is about as heavy as I get - my other stuff is indie, alt-rock, that kinda thing. Some Foo-Fighters, maybe... I like the idea of getting a 4-way conductor and splitting it - should sound lurrvly in a semi

I'd say its a mid output pup. Don't let the DC resistance fool you, it does not have the output of an Invader/DD/Dimebucker. Probably more along the lines of the Custom series.

The JB is a very cool pickup. It is fairly high in output but unlike many 16k pickups it is not dark or murky sounding like many hotter wound pickups can be. This is what drew a lot of players to it when it first came out and one of the things that has made it one of SDs most popular pickups for quite a long time. The cleans are very nice and fairly balanced. It's not going to be as jangly and snappy as the 59 or other 7.5k-8.5k pickups but you may find the JBs extra output and thickness makes it very useable for clean rhythm tones. It also splits very nicely with enough output from a single coil to still sound present.

For distorted leads and rythms it has exceptional cut and tone and cuts through the mix extremely well.

How you like it will depend a lot on your amp. If you are running an oped ended or class A amp fairly wide open you will definately get more push from the JB than a 59. The JBs output will tend to cause these types of amps to tighten up their distorted tones, giving you a rounder, fatter tone with more punch. With modern high gain amps the JB adds a dose of compression, giving you a more defined and less quot;fuzzyquot; tone.

The JB is very versatile and thats part of the reason that you'll get conflicting reports of what it is good for. Clean players like the warmth and definition, pushed players like the extra punch and high gain players like the extra compression. While I have the CC in my #1 guitar, I have the JB in two others and every time I pick up one of the JB loaded guitars I get re-impressed with just how cool the JB is.

Thanks for the advice folks, at the moment my rig is Epi 335 gt; Boss SD-2 pedal gt; Behringer V-amp 2 gt; the normal input of a Fender princeton 650 solid state, so the JB should give me a nice balance.

what has higher output? The JB or the Distortion?

Distortion is higher output. Ceramic mag, remember?

If you like Oasis, I might recommend something in the PAF arena, or maybe a custom. Seems like those would work really nicely for that.

I think it goes like this (coolest to hottest) Custom---JB---Distortion

*this is not to say that the Custom or JB are low or medium output pickups by any means. Both are pretty hot.

really I thought it went JB---Distortion---Custom (lowest to hottest)

The distortion is the hottest with a 16.6k wind and an over sized ceramic magnet. The JB and Custom are pretty close as far as output goes. The JB is wound hotter but the Custom has the ceramic magnet. The JB might be a little hotter but its a really close call.

Oh boy...Now I have an urge to try a Custom with an oversized magnet.

But that has to wait till I make a Custom/JB hybrid. Hell, I can swap the magnet and have a Custom/DD hybrid.


Originally Posted by DeadSkinSlayer3Oh boy...Now I have an urge to try a Custom with an oversized magnet.

Do so immediately. It's the shiz-nit :afro: