Seymour Duncan JB

Humbucking Passive pickup

Installed in an Agile AL 3100.

Bridge position.

Replacing stock pickup.

Other pickup stock.

I was curious what JB sounded like, it's so famous.

Output very hot. I used it with a Peavey Classic 20, and a Fender Deluxe Reverb. Overall I thought the tone was a little too compressed and midrange???y. It drives the amp hard. I had to lower the pickup alot and even then it was still wasn't quite enough to offset the output. Distorted leads are the only thing I think you could use this pickup for... The cleans were unattractive???harsh, strident mid to upper mid range tone.

Been playing 30 years. Got into changing pickups recently... enjoying the learning process and experimentation. I have a bunch of guitars, Gibsons, Fenders, Univox, Agile, etc...
I got the Agile AL 3100 to experiment with pickups. Have tried the SD A2pro and the SD Jazz and the JB so far.
In my opinion, the JB doesn't sound good in a LP guitar. It emphasizes the wrong frequencies. It would sound better in a bright, thin guitar. I'm going to replace it with something else...

If you don't know what this is, why are you even bothering to read this?

Ibanez Prestige S 1625 FB (figured Bubinga). Mahogany body with Bubinga top. Maple neck with rosewood fingerboard. Bridge position. I'm replacing the stock QM 2 humbucker. I also replaced the stock QM 1 neck humbucker with a Duncan '59 four conductor. I changed them after being the original owner for about five years (purchased in either late '04 or early '05) because although I mostly play heavier rock and love high gain distortion, and the QM's are actually pretty good at that, I was ready for something with more versatility. The QM's sounded pretty decent for stock pickups, but they were both a bit on the muddy side, due in part to their high output, and the neck pickup was terrible for rhythm work when distorted.

As I mentioned, the stock QM 2 was pretty high output. I scoured the Ibanez forum and other forums as well as emailing Ibanez themselves, and could not get any specs on the QM's as far as DC resistance, or anything else for that matter (DC resistance is NOT the only thing that determines output). I do know that the QM 2 bridge pickup is a ceramic magnet pickup. In any event, it's pretty hot. The JB is not super hot, but I'm finding that if you have the right amp, the JB is plenty hot enough. Super hot pickups aren't as articulate. The tone of the JB, to my ears, definitely cuts through a mix well, because of it's midrange. I agree with other reviews stating that it has a spike somewhere in the midrange. To me it sounds good because it CUTS through a live mix. I'm also a recording engineer and operate a home project studio, and when recording I do find myself EQ'ing some of that out for rhythm work, but for leads it's perfect. Tone: Bass is accounted for, and you get a decent 'chug, chug, chug', when palm muting, but it doesn't sound 'woofy', as a pickup often does that is thick in the bass. The mids have been covered. The highs - I had a little trouble with the highs at first, but I learned to dial my tone stack on my amps in to accomodate the new p'ups, and they are very present and articulate, yet not piercing. It should be noted that my Ibanez's stock electronics come equipped with the treble bleed cap on the volume control. I found when I rolled the volume off on the JB with that cap in place, it sounded weak and thin, and not very warm. So, I took the treble bleed cap out (which, by the way, sounded GREAT with the QM's), and that warmed it up quite nicely when the volume is rolled off. I would not recommend a treble bleed cap if you're using a JB. If you only have one volume and you are installing or already have a '59 in the neck, I haven't found this to be much of a problem. The '59 isn't has hot as the JB, and I don't have to roll my volume back as far to get the '59 to clean up, so it hasn't been a problem for me. Also, I do play clean sometimes, and the circuitry in my Ibanez is a bit strange. Although it splits the coil in one position, it also splits the neck - it splits both of them and one coil from each is turned on. I am getting some nice, spanky, nasally sounds in that position, and when in full humbucker while playing clean, it has a lot of bite to it. For certain styles, you're probably going to need to roll the tone knob down a bit. I give this an 8 only because it is a refreshing change of tone from the QM's, and I'm very happy with it, but it isn't as hot as I was expecting, which is due largely to the fact that I didn't realize how hot my QM was (which in turn is due largely to the fact that I couldn't find any specs on it).

If it was destroyed or stolen, that would most likely mean that they have the rest of my guitar with it. Before I thought about replacing pickups, I would be asking everyone who I knew may have been in the vicinity of where I last left my guitar if they had seen anything. If I found the culprit, I would be notifying the authorities BEFORE I confronted the culprit, bust them, and either get my guitar back, or get some money for not the street value of it, but for the intrinsic value, which is A LOT. If they didn't want to pony up the dough, I would then pursue other alternatives. As far as the pickup goes, this is a tricky question. Here's the deal: the JB is a screamer - it sounds great dirty, and sounds pretty good clean, and I would probably buy it again - only because I don't have a ton of money to go out and try many different pickups and re-sell the one's I didn't like. Sort of like, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." So, yeah, rather than experiment, I would probably stick with this. What do I love about it? I love it for distorted soloing, as well as rhythm work - I'm talking about stuff that's influenced by the likes of Ratt, Steve Vai, Motley Crue, Joe Satriani, Poison, Van Halen, Skid Row, White Lion, etc. That sort of stuff - it excels at that, and that's what I play a lot of. What I DON'T like about it, is it 'sounds' really hot when it's clean - it isn't "shrill" exactly, but it definitely cuts a bit much for my taste when clean, hence why you will probably be rolling down the tone control (or the volume for that matter, that cuts some of the treble too unless you have that treble bleed cap). It's a pretty cool pickup. Yes, I did compare this to other products. I work at a famous music store, which shall remain nameless at this time, but I will tell you that it isn't Guitar Center, Sam Ash, or Musicians Friend. We only have one location, but we are pretty well known. That being said, I have access to many different guitars, with many different pickups. I did actually drop in a John Suhr DSV Plus in the bridge to try out, and I 'almost' left it in - it sounded REALLY good. It just wasn't quite hot enough for me. It's DC resistance was a little over 10Kohms I believe. I realize that different body woods and neck woods affect the tone. Getting that out of the way, I tried a bunch of different guitars with different Dimarzio's, Duncan's, and Gibson pickups. The Charvel San Dimas comes available with the same pickups I bought - the JB and the '59. I tried many guitars through many amps, and that Charvel with these pickups in it sounded the best to my ears. My Ibanez IS Mahogany, but it's an S, so it's very thin. Although it's Mahogany, it isn't quite as thick sounding as a Les Paul. Basically, some of my associates agreed that they sounded better in my S than it did in the Charvels - more articulate, more attack, 'sharper', whatever you want to call it. More top end/treble response too, which accounts for some of the articulation. So is this 'that sound' that I was looking for? Yes. I play weekly at my church - and the sound engineers mentioned how they always had to boost my mids in the mix to get me to punch through. Now they don't have to, the pickup punches through the mix by itself. We mix at about 90dB or so, so pretty loud, and we mic the amp with an AKG C414. I love my new sound.

Standard JB features, you all know what they are.

It is installed in a Schecter C-1 Plus in the bridge position. I am replacing the stock SD Designed pickups. The other pickup on the guitar is a slightly overwound BG Bucker neck pickup. I changed the pickups because I was not satisfied with the stock pickups.

PLEASE READ...I always liked the tone of the JB, but to my ears neither the Jazz nor the '59 was mated properly to the JB's tone, so I never used it. I had a JB I had taken out of a Schecter Blackjack and I had a set of slightly overwound set BG Buckers so I decided to try the BG Bucker neck with the JB.....BOY AM I GLAD I DID! The slightly over wound BG Bucker's neck tone mated perfectly to the JB delivering one awesome set of hard rockin' pickups capable of delivering a wide range of really great tones. The Bucker neck was only $70.00 to boot for a really nice hand wound pickup.

With the slightly overwound BG Bucker in the neck, the JB becomes that much more wonderful in the bridge. Been playin' for 20 years. I own some of the best gear in the world. This set, in the Schecter Plus delivers hard! Way drool worthy!

I more than likely don't have to expound on what the JB is; if you don't know, just read the 270-some reviews previous to this. It's a humbucker!

Installed this in an Agile LP-2500 Les Paul copy in the bridge position to replace the original no-name 'bucker, which was okay sounding, but lacked low end, and lacked definition. The neck pickup is still the original installed by Agile, which sounds okay, also. Soon to be replaced by a PAF in the neck.

As for the sound of the JB, I think it's safe to say that the JB is basically a hotter-wound PAF with a bit more high-end. Output is medium-hot, enough to mildly distort any tube amp I put it through when hit hard. Emphasis is on the upper mids and highs, but these frequencies are smooth and sweet, not harsh and icy. The first time I used a JB in a guitar was 1987, and I really don't notice any difference in a modern version with, of course, taking into account the type of guitar and wood. I play classic rock and the JB is great for that type of music. I wouldn't play country or jazz with this pickup, but I wouldn't be surprised if someone was able to do so wonderfully. I will definately stick with this pickup until I get a wild hair, then who knows?

Call me an old fart, but the Triple Rectifier/Krank undefined wall of mush fuzz doesn't do much for me, all you hear is characterless distortion. I like smooth distortion that allows you to hear the amp, the guitar, the pickup, the strings. Ten tons of gain and mud don't express your playing as much as muddy it up; but, to each his own. If that's your idea of sonic nirvana, have at it. If your ideal tone sounds similar to a bulldozer running over an amp that is shorting out, I'm guessing the JB ain't your pickup. For me, it works very well.

I have this pickup in the bridge of my schecter c-1+ and in the bridge of my epiphone flying v; both are mahogany bodied guitars

What type of music you play will determine how you perceive it's output level. If you play cleaner stuff like blues and jazz then this is a scorcher! if you play rock/hardrock/fusion you will find it pretty hot but tame-able. If you play metal you will find it warm but well punctuated. Iam a 14 year veteran to electric guitar. I have tried almost everything (That I could get my hands on!)Let me tell you: I absolutely LOVE this pickup! I've played active EMG's, Evolutions, Breeds, PAF's, Bill Lawrence L500XL's, you name it, All of which are great great pickups. The only problem they csn present is that they are more specialized for certain genres of music. The JB may not be able to cover all the bases, but it will cover most!! No kidding, I am not even hyping this up! At the moment I play in a band that covers stuff ranging from pop-rock to metal and this pickup nails it all no sweat. It has a nice vocal midrange but the vocal-like quality is more subtle than the dimarzio pickups tend to be. I don't know what else to tell you....this is a versatile little screamer and unless you need something more specialized, this IS the pickup for you that want the broadest and best spectrum of great tone.

Passive Humbucker. Black. Adjustable poles and 4 conductor wire.

2003 Schecter C1+
I installed it in the bridge position.
I replaced the original Duncan Designed H103B or H102B.
The guitar has a SD Jazz in the neck.
I wanted a high-output pickup that would match the Duncan Designed's output,but give me much better clarity and punch.

The output was lower than the Duncan Designed. All of a sudden I had to crank the distortion up on all my settings and pedals. The tone was very mid-rangey, not at all balanced. If you were to go "awwwww", that is it. Its a horible mid range sqwak to it. Its not pleasant. I play rock, hard rock, metal and some blues. I don't know what position is suitable for, but SD should get rid of it from their lineup.

I will never buy this pickup again or recommend it. Its just not what people want from a humbucker. You want a humbucker to be warm, punchy, powerful and clear. You get punchy and powerful, but not warm and clear. The mid frequencies that have been accentuated by this pickup are really harsh. The low notes get all muddy and the treble is very harsh and brittle. Seriously I was disappointed from the minute I put it in and tried it out. Just stuck it out because I was too lazy to change back.

Folks, there are PLENTY of other options from SD and DiMarzio, etc...that will hit the mark. The JB is way off, probably no matter WHAT music you play. I now have a DiMarzio Super Distortion and its everything I want in a bridge pickup. Powerful... drives my amp easily. Clear..I can actually play a open G chord with the distortion up all the way and hear every note clearly.

passive uncovered humbucker, four cables so can coil tap/parrallel

its rated high output

Alnico 5 bar, wax potted

Gibson Les paul, swamp ash body, ebony fret board (so a fairly bright set of woods), plus its got that warm les paul sounds.

I have the JB in the bridge and a custom wound p-90 to balance with it in the neck.

I upgraded from the stock pickups a couple of years ago becuase they were fairly generic sounding and very middy. I would reccomend an alnico V pickup over an alnico II in a les paul as I think you need the brightness.

Reasonable output. I wouldn't say high but more than a PAF. (this is in relation to how it sounds not its specs).

I use it through a number of effects, either a turbo rat or a compressor into blues driver for my main drive tones. This is pushing a fender hot rod with a celestion speaker.

The tone is nice and crunchy. Theres alot of treble and mid tones but its not unbalanced. I couldn't see this working in a neck position but as a lead pickup its perfect.

I use this guitar for heavy blues, some jazz, heavy country, and of course abit of rock. I think it could cope with metal if I wanted it too (I have the occassional muse/ratm moment but thats as far as I dip into metal). I wouldn't reccomend this pup to a metal purist but it'l cope if you want to go that way occasionally.

This is a lead pickup, I wouldn't recommend it for most rythm styles. It would cope but other pups would be better.

THIS IS THE IMPORTANT BIT. THIS PUP IS VERY DEPENDANT ON HEIGHT. TOO HIGH AND IT GETS MUDDY AND HARSH. BACK IT OFF, SET IT QUITE LOW AND THEN RAISE THE POLE PIECES.

I set the bass side slightly lower. Then raise the pole pieces about 5mm and then adjust with the guitar plugged in to get good string balance and definition. I find that the high E needs the most help, the G the least and I like to raise the low E and A to give my chords some oomph. I think you need to experiment though. I was given this pickup from a mate who hated it, once I'de set it up properly he wanted it back but I wasn't budging!

It really makes a hige difference. On all pickups its important but the JB seems more sensitive than most.

Passive, 4 conductor humbucker. Zebra cream.

I installed this JB in the bridge position of a mahogany Ibanez RG with a maple top and maple/rosewood neck and a matching SD Jazz in the neck position.

These replaced the stock Ibanez pickups.

The JB, to my ears, has a medium-high output level, good for overdriven sounds. I've used it with my Marshall DSL100, Peavey 5150 and ADA MP-1 all going into a 2x12 cab with G12H30's or a 4x12 cab with the same.

I play main rock/hard rock and metal. The JB is definitely a good match for any of these types of music. Not too bassy or trebly with a nice little midrange bump that works for that style of music. Though I always felt that the JB had a fuzziness to it that I didn't really get into.

Though I would recommend this pickup for anyone into the same kind of music, it was not for me. I wanted something a little more percussive and transparent, with less of a voicing.

I would not buy it again, but that is only because I never bonded with the tone much. It is a good pickup, just not for me.

I've been playing professionally and semi-professionally for over twenty years. I've probably owned something from almost every pickup company going. I mainly play an Ibanez for its versatility and flat neck, but I also own a Strat and Ernie Ball/Musicman Axis.

I loved the JB's midrange drive and it's rock tone, but didn't like the fuzziness. I found it a little too vocal and voiced. I prefer something more transparent. It should be noted that I did keep the Jazz in the neck position. I do like that pickup for that position and my style.

I've tried another brand I've been neglecting for years, and am so glad I did. It is the pickup for me, but I'm not saying what it is, I'd like to keep it to myself. ;) The Duncan JB is a good pickup regardless of my personal preference. It is kind of generic sounding though, which is another reason I didn't keep it in.

hot humbucking pick up. passive.

installed in the bridge position of a 92 gibson les paul customer 57 reissue. the jb is the new standard in hard rock humbucking pick ups unless you prefer the generic tone of an emg.

amazing! i can how some of the uneducated beginer players on here can make negative comments about it so lets address these.

#1- too much treble- nah, it has more presence. it sounds very alive and loud. like an amp through a bbe.

#2- not enough bass- nah, it has bass, it just doesnt have the mud that other high gain pick ups have so it can confuse and idiot really quickly. adjust your amps treble kid! bass isnt the farting noise your cheap amp makes due to muddy tone.

the truth- this pick up is for real players that have a clue. it isnt generic and should not be played by generic beginers that are using entry level jap guitars made of plywood. this pick up will make your tone come alive. there is a reason why this is the most popular humbucking pick up made today. pleanty of gain, smooth even tone with just the right growl and bite. bright alive sound, love it!

one word...duncan!

JB SH-4 Humbucker

Standard equip in the bridge position of my Schecter C-1 classic. The SH-2n Jazz model is standard in the neck.

First thing I noticed was the harmonics that seem to jump off the strings. The pickups look tight with their covers. Am running the Schecter into a Mesa Studio Pre, which runs into an older model Mesa 50/50. Using a Roadster 1X12 cab right now. Metal is my music of choice, but I fool around with Rock, Blues, and some Funk. This pickup works quite well for any of those applications. The output is not super hot, but it's what I'd call very alive!

There's nothing that I hate about them, and there's nothing I'd change about them. With the right equipment, I really believe you can get damn near any genre you want with them - including metal.