Seymour Duncan JB

Nickel Covered passive Humbucker.

Purchased as a replacement for the stock bridge pickup (500T) of a faded Gibson flying V. The 500T was just way too hot. Tried a Gibson Dirty Fingers and that only made it worse.

It has a slightly hotter output than the Burstbucker Pro's in my les Paul. At first I didn't like it too much. But the more I play it, the more I LOVE this pickup. It's got authority and balls. Very dynamic to pick attack and playing style. I have had it in the guitar for a few months now, and am very glad I dropped it in there. I play Hard Rock, Blues, and Metal through a Marshall TSL100 head into a Mesa 4x12 cab.

For leads this thing ROCKS. Higher up on the neck the tone seems to get compressed and starts singing, like a neck pickup would..way cool. It's quite the change from the Burstbucker in my Les Paul. I am seriously considering putting one of these in my Les Paul, as it is my main guitar.

I have tried the Duncan Distortion, Custom Custom, Custom, EMG's and various Gibson humbuckers. This and the Burstbucker Pro are my favorite. It just has BALLS.

just like any other passive humbucker

I put this pickup in the bridge position of my 96' MIJ Ibanez Artist series, kinda like Ibanez version of Gibson Les Paul, mahogany body, really thick mid-lows.
pickup i replaced: duncan designed HB102 bridge, it's like cheaper version of the JB
other pickups on the instrument: duncan 59' neck
reasons for changing the pickup: the duncan designed lacks definition, a bit muddy

medium to high output, more output than dimarzio PAF pro in my other guitar, but not too much, it's perfect..
im using it with a POD XT live, running straight to the PC, i'm focusing on alternative rock, hardrock, fusion rock, but i like to play just everything from acoustic instrumental to death metal :p

OVERALL: i think it's geared towards the higher mids, it's bright, and lots but not too much of mids, lows are kinda loose.
the clean tone is honky, this pickup wont give you that crispy clean tone, so you need good neck pickup for all the clean jobs..

LEAD TONE: i think it's the best duncan for lead playing, you know it when you do some long sustained bends, the highs become more present, then it began to sing, it's like having a slight chorus on your tone, then slowly it turns to sweet harmonics before it fades away, very good tone..

RHYTM TONE: mmm.. you can smell the 80s, bright distortion with depth, and just the right amount of mids to balance with the highs, lows are kinda loose, really good for heavy chords, let me say it again, HEAVY!!! playing the low E chord gives you nothing less than brutality, very very solid and thick sound.. it screams metal!!
playing the higher chords really give you that EVH style of tone, bright with juicy mids..

you gotta be careful with the lows tho, don't put this pickup too close to the strings, or it will turn out muddy, VERY MUDDY!!! back it off, until you find the lows not overwhelming, this pickup is very height sensitive..
you can also do yourself a favor and install a push-pull pot aka. koil tap, this will give you VERY TIGHT lows, but with lower output..

For which positions is this pickup (un)suitable?
suitable for blues, all kinds of rock, metal, non suitable for strict fast palm muting (Master of Puppits is the borderline IMO)

If it was destroyed or stolen, would you buy it again or get something else?
yes, i would buy nother JB and mod it,change its polepieces, magnet swaps, to tighten the lows.. i tried nother duncans but nothing has that singing highs and sweet crunch the JB famous for..

How long have you been playing? What other gear do you own?
i've been playing for 3 years, since in my 10th grade, now im in the university. i have no other gear, but im still saving for my first tube amp - hughes kettner siwtchblade..

Anything you wish it had?
tighter lows

Are you satisfied with this pickup or still searching for <b>that</b> sound?
satisfied, but still need something like EQ to tighten the lows and reach for "THAT" sound

Passive humbucker. yeah

Installed in a Gibson Sonex Deluxe 180 in the Neck position. I have no idea what pickup I was replacing. The originals are long gone. The bridge pickup is a Seymour Duncan SH6 Distortion. I replaced the pickups because the old ones were weak and muddy. The original pickups (dirty fingers?) were hot and muddy. I wanted hot and defined.

Seems like it's got pretty high output. With the volume on 4 or 5, it sounds about as loud as the previous pickups which were pretty weak. The JB makes my Fender Deluxe compress easily, drives my marshall really hard.

The tone is hot and clear. The guitar is naturally bassy and sustains a lot on its own. Every other pickup has been dark and muddy in this guitar. The JB isn't dark. Seems to compensate well for this guitar. Nice warm clean, suitable for jazz. With the volume full up, it's hot enough for pretty much whatever.

Been playing 13 years. That also how long I've had this guitar. This is definitely the best this guitar has ever sounded. I own a variety of guitars with lots of different pickups. SC, p90, vintage-style Humbuckers and now this with hotter humbuckers. It rounds out my collection nicely. I love how this pickup give a really good clean sound as well as overdriven. I wasn't looking for 'that sound', I just knew I wanted something on the hot side. I got it. I'm really happy with it, and the nice clean sound is a pleasant extra.

Hot Humbucker

'62 Reissue Strat, replacing bridge pickup.

Peavey Classic 50, Vox Buckingham.
Excellent hard rock growler. Nice sustain, even in a Strat.
Not much on the clean side, so it's not versatile. It's just one particular tone I was looking for. The JB was the best match. Good for blues, AC/DC crunch, and 70's hard rock.

Been playing 35 years. Have a dozen or so guitars so I seek out different tones. I want a hard Gibson sound from my Strat--the JB comes very close. Would not be a good stage choice if you play a wide variety of styles. For a good warm, crunchy pickup, you can't go wrong. I would replace it if lost or stolen.

Double Coil High Output Pickup.
Bought as Hot Rod set - with Duncan Jazz.

for the Neck. Installed in Bridge of Epiphone Les Paul Classic with the Jazz pickup in the Neck to upgrade this guitar as replacement to the stock pickups. It also has a Fisher Piazo Bridge Pickup for acoustic sound that can be mixed with the magnetics.

The output is great. Not too much to handle, doesn't squell at loud volume. Running through Boss GT-7 into Traynor YVC-30 (30 watt tube) AMPI. Tone is great. When mixed with the Jazz on the clean sound, it is very versatile for different tones based on the volumes of each pickup. I play Classic Rock. I'm surprised at the very negative reviews on this pickup. But then again I play Classic Rock and perhaps this wouldn't be the best pickup for modern Rock.

I would replace this if it were destroyed or stolen. I've been playing guitar for over 25 years. My other guitars are a 2006 Gibson Les Paul Standard (stock) and a Ibanez RG350 (Seymour Duncan int the Bridge position). I like the JB for the Mohogany body guitar because I think the Dunan Distortion may have been a little too much and may have turned muddy. The JB has a good high end blend to bring out the nice Mohogany tone. Great Pickup, make sure the poles are adjusted properly.

Its a 16k passive humbucker.

I put this in my Orville Les Paul Custom, I just didn't like the pickups in it. I put this one in at the bridge position because I thought I would like a high impedance pickup at the bridge. I put a Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates in at the neck.

I really hated this pickup. Turns out I don't like high impedance pickups at all. They are just all really distorted mids with no highs and a bottom end that is all mud. I hate that sound. You can't get any rock and roll (as opposed to rock) sounds out of this thing at all. I changed it to a Pearly Gates bridge pickup and now I am happy. Again, this pickup is for Eddie Van Halen types who just want to make a bunch of noise. Yuck.

Anybody want to buy a pickup? Just kidding really but its just gathering dust in a drawer, wouldn't use it in anything I own. Its well made and all but not the sound for me. I have eight guitars that I play and I like low impedance pickups so I get my distortion from the power tubes and nowhere else and its got to be clean and clear when I want it. Just not for me. I do like the Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates or '59 humbuckers, the T.V. Jones classics I have in my Gretsch White Falcon, and the Gibson Classic 57's I have in my Riviera elite. Those pickups have sweetness, soul, and bottom end growl. The JB is just all noise.

Dual coil humbucker, 16k resistance, Gibson spaced

I bought this to replace the 490T bridge pickup in my SG Special. I wanted similar tone to the stock pickup with a little more output. The reviews here indicated this would be the case, along with the folks at Duncan. Sadly, this was *NOT* the case.

The output level is less than the stock pickup was. The neck pickup now has more output than the bridge. Highs? non-existant. All mids. Really lousy blanket-over-the-amp mids. I raised the pickup as high as it would go, still too low. Raised the polepieces until the stick out of the pickup 3/8 inch. Looks like crap, but now is almost as loud as the stock pickup. The neck pickup, lowered all the way down, is *Still* louder! In another guitar I have mighty mite motherbuckers. I really didn't care for the bridge tone in it, but it SMOKES this thing. If I switch my Heartbreaker Head to the high gain mode, it sounds pretty decent, but then about ANY pickup will at this gain level. I think I will yank it out and go with a Dimarzio Super Distortion, or just put the stock pickup back in. It can't get much worse. After all the hype, I'm really disappointed. Sounds no better than many no-name pickups I've used in the last 35 years...

If lost or stolen, I would miss the instrument, not the pickup. I like nothing about it. Alnico V my butt. All-no-tone is more appropriate. I wish it had more higs. I wish it had comparable output to the stocker. After all, I was looking for a little *MORE* output. I wish somebody would take the blanket off of my amp when I switch to this pickup in low gain mode.

Passive Humbucker
16.4k and versatile

Jay Turser: JT200PRO; JT200QMTVINE; JT-55FB; JT-55BLK
Replaced stock Bridge pickups
Understand many artists use this pickup
Read many positive reviews and wanted a hotter and more versatile Bridge pickup.

The output is relatively hot but not to the point it cannot be controlled by height and amp adjustments. The sustain and tone is superb and again is very controllable with guitar and amp settings. I play mostly southern-fried, classic and heavy rock. The JB is so versatile you can play most anything, jazz, rock, gospel even metal with the right amp settings. I use a Fender Cyber Twin SE so good multi effects are at my disposal and the JB sounds great through them and did I mention its is very versatile?

Ok here is the bottom line opinion from a old "fat cat w/a strat":
In other reviews posted I like to collect Jay Turser guitars mainly the JT-55 series just for the rip of it. The stock neck pickups were ok but I wanted to experiment with the bridge and purchased a Burst Bucker Pro--aaarrrrgggg! Was ok at first-no soul and was out mega bucks. I then chose the JB because Seymour himself liked it and that was good enough for me. Picked up a gold covered JB put it in the bridge of a JT-55 and it transformed this cheap import clone into a (you know who) slayer. Then I purchased another to test in each Turser and the rest is history. Most have covered pickups but the JT200 Pro was open coiled, and yes there is a slight tone difference between the 2 but not worth converting both pickups just to have a match. If lost or stolen would I purchase again-well if the fool got passed the dogs he would have to carry out a fire proof vault. I have 6 Tursers 4 of which JB's were added and 1 with a SD Custom and 2 more guitars coming-so yes. If you look up the word versatile in your Funk & Wagnals, a picture of a SH4-JB will be beside the definition. Customer service with Seymour Duncan is awesome-these folks do givarip about your satifaction.

Passive humbucking pickup. Not much else to say.

I installed this pickup into an Epiphone Firebird Studio. Bridge position. It replaced the stock Epiphone Alnico pickup.

The output level on this pickup is very hot. My guitar setup is the guitar straight into the amp, no effects or coloring of any kind. I like to get my distortion from the pickup, and this pickup can deliver in spades. I play blues/rock/hard rock styles.

I didn't think that the pickup cleaned up particularly well, and I thought it was a bit muddy, but it is very strong pickup and the lead tone was smoldering.

I've been playing for about 8 years and I've used a number of Seymour Duncans (SH-5 Custom, SH-6 Distortion, SH-1 '59) and this one was good I thought. I didn't like it as much as the Custom, but it was a good strong pickup and I liked it. I ended up selling the guitar that I put it into, the guitar wasn't for me, but the pickup was good. Not sure if I'd want to buy another one. I like the Custom too much.

Well, the features should be clear by now. Mine is not different to the other reviewed Pick Ups.

The JB is the stock PU in my Schecter??s Bridge Position. On the neck i have an ??59 which matches wonderful with the JB.
I don??t see any reason why i should change one of them.

Sonic Evaluation:
Schecter C-1 Blackjack Baritone>>>Engl E530 Preamp>>>Digitech GSP2101>>>Rocktron Velocity 120>>>Self-made 4x12 with Celestion Speakers
Output:
Since the Engl and the Digitech GSP have tons of gain i am very glad that the JB has a decent output, but not as hot as a SH-8 or Emg 81.
I??d say medium output.
Tone:
This PU has balls and cuts through the mix at the same time. I play my Baritone very low tuned (A)and therefore need lots of highs and especially mids since i can??t stand midscoop. The JB gives me all that and still does not sound muddy this low tuned.
I also use i quite often for clean sounds when splitted to a single coil. Together with ??59 it sounds awesome.
Style of music:
I play Death Metal and it suits me and my gear very well. But actually i can??t see any musical style this PU couldn??t handle with a bit fiddling on an amps EQ.

If it was stolen obviously my whole guitar was stolen. And yes i??d buy the guitar including the pick ups again.
My other guitars (2 Jacksons) have different pick ups, one has an Emg 81, the other a SH-6 Duncan Distortion. I also tried the Sh-8 Invader (sucked all the sustain+muddy)but the JB is the best so far.

I didn??t have to pay extra for it since it is the stock PU in my guitar, but the price here (Germany) for the JB is surprisingly low. It is cheaper than all Emgs, Di Marzios and even the other Duncans.
So it is definately value for money.