Seymour Duncan JB

4 conductor passive humbucker pickup

Lately, I have used the JB in the bridge position of a Jackson Dinky DK2 (came stock) and of an Ibanez Paul Gilbert model PGM500. But a few years back, I have used the JB in a plethora of other guitars. I've been playing the JB for 10 years now.

The output level is high. I'd say maybe a touch less than a Dimarzio Tone-Zone, a tiny bit more than a Duncan Full Shred, about the same as a Duncan Custom. If I were to put a Dimarzio output mV number on it, I'd say around 360 mV. However, the pickup doesn't "feel" high output, as its mids are recessed and most of the power is concentrated in the treble and bass ends.

The tone of the JB is very particular for a humbucking pickup.
It has sucked out mids, flabby thick bass and searing treble, with some nice presence. The absence of mids make it hard to cut through many dense mixes. Most of the time, the attack will cut through, but not the note itself. The attack of this pickup is very special and sounds really "quacky", "squashy" or "underwatery" as I like to call it. The attack sounds just like Marty Friedman's lead tone on Rust In Peace. Indeed, I think this pickup sounds just like Marty's lead tone on RIP and most of Warren DeMartini's lead tones on just about any 80's RATT albums.

For rhythm playing this pickup is totally untight under heavy gain and is flabby. In my opinion, this pickup is a lead player's wet dream and a rhythm player's nightmare. I wouldn't record a tight rhythm guitar with this pickup unless I have no choice. Of course, the argument here is Dave Mustaine and many other players that used the JB. So yeah, it can be worked out, but it wouldn't be my first choice for tight rhythm (I recommend the Duncan Distortion for that!)

I play instrumental high-gain shred guitar (80's like), mostly leads and few rhythms.

I have used the JB in the neck some years ago and found it much too muddy to be useable. I recommend it in the bridge position.

The JB sounds good for leads, it has a nice searing tone. It feels really "elastic" when playing fast intricate line. The attack is immediate, but the note take a while to bloom. Consequently, the notes tend to "Burn" and change into an harmonic galore. The Dimarzio Tone-Zone also makes the notes "burn" but they just don't feel as elastic as with the JB. The JB is really thick and "slow" on the notes and really swift on the initial attack. This is mainly a result of having the mids really recessed.

The JB is a very good lead pickup for when I need that "elastic" feel. It has a particular tone that cannot satisfy everyone, but once in a while it's really pleasing to play such a "rubbery" pickup.
The JB is definitely at its best when playing high-gain 80's style shreddy leads in the studio, where the "lack of cut through" can be taken care of.

Overall, the JB is a good pickup, has a unique tone and feels like no other pickup that I know of.

AS everyone already said, specs are well known. I'm only into this one year, so I don't have a lot of knowledge

I bought a PRS Santana SE last year. It's one of their Korean made models. Mahogany body; rosewood fretboard, set in neck. I put the JB in the bridge, and the Jazz in the neck (apparently Seymours favorite combo). Again, I am new , and this was (is) the only guitar I ever played. Picked up and started playing 14 months ago. I use a little Roland Microcube practice amp. Didn't take too long to figure out that when on the distortion setting, the tone got real muddy real quick. Also, although the soloing was crisp and clear ( the guitar actually does reproduce the Santana sound pretty good). Something was definitely lacking, especially on the very high notes. I use 9 guage for easier to play, but have been putting a 10 on the high E to try and get more beef.

I immediately noticed a much stronger output. The technician also lowered the action on the SE. The combination of the pickups and lowered action allow for MUCH LESS effort to get more sound. Also very interesting, I can get more subtle shadings with the pickups. Pardon my lack of experience/perspective here, but without a doubt, the sound is much richer and fuller than with the stock pickups. Power chords on Rolling stones stuff are fuller, and on AC/DC with some distortion, everything is several notches clearer. Santana solo's sing now.

Pretty much said, this is the only guitar I've ever played. Would certainly buy the SD's again.

Everyone pretty much knows all the specs.

OLP MM1 and B. C. Rich Avenge guitars. Bridge positions. Swapped the stock pickups cause I wanted the best.

I have JB's installed into my OLP MM1 and also in a BC Rich Avenge SOB all in the bridge position. I also have another OLP MM1 with a Tonezone and a Peavey Wolfgang with Eddie's Pickups. The JB's sound is very clear and have lots of punch, midrange and fullness. I tested my JBs out in comparison to my other guitars. The JB and the Tonezone are very similar but the JB had more clarity while doing my a/b comparison. The JB was nearly identical to the pickup in my EVH Wolfgang. I've been using Duncan JB's since 1989 and I love 'em. My favorite sounding pickup of all time. I was on an EMG kick for a while but always end up going back to the JB. These are moderate to high output and remain clear and punchy. High output stuff tends to muddy my signal as I'm using high gain 5150 III heads.

The best pickup ever made!

Mine reads 16K3
Its not a present JB, but an 80??s JB, labeled JBJ. Ive had it in my SG for four months now.

What model guitar or bass did you install this in? Gibson Sg Special Faded 2006

What position is it in? Bridge.

What pickup are you replacing? Stock 490T.

Other pickups installed on the instrument? 490R.

Reason for changing the pickup? The 490T was too bluesy and funky for me, too trebly also, I needed more bass and mids.

What's the output level like? Its stronger than a tradicional PAF but not too much. Its not a metalhead pickup as I feared. Dont be impressed about the 16K resistance, it doesnt mean output. Its really sweet and not at all an agressive pick.

What amps and effects are you using it with? 50w Brazilian 60s and 70s 6L6 Fender based tube amps (Palmer and Giannini) and trash Meteoro and Marshall solid satate amps. + Yamaha Over Drive OD10 (80s OD) and Plan-9 68 Classic Fuzz Si (BC108 Fuzz Face clone).

Tone: very well defined and balanced, now my guitar shines in band contexts. Its not trebly at all, and souns fantastic in my Special Faded. The 490T lacked bass, and the first thing I realized was the beautiful mid and bass blends offered by this JBJ. The 490T was microfonic and kinda thin, while the JBJ is fat and strong. Even with crap amps it does the job but with good tube amps it really shines. I am impressed with the beautiful feedbacks it creates. I??ve only heard these kind of feedbacks with P-90s before.

What style of music do you play? I play since 1984. Now I??m in an Indy-punk-psycho Brazilian band named Gooks. I also like to play jazz & blues.

For which positions is this pickup (un)suitable? The best thing about this pickup is that its higher output doesnt mean DEBAR, i.e. distorting everything beyound all recognition. The sound is really well defined, beutifull and harmonically rich. Its an extremelly versatile pickup. I recommend it to every kind of music, except for mad Invader metal maniacs.

For which positions is this pickup unsuitable? Neck.

If it was destroyed or stolen, would you buy it again or get something else? Yes, I??m buying another JBJ as a backup right now. Maybe I??ll be forced to buy a Flying V for it if the pickup feels too lonely.

Are you satisfied with this pickup or still searching for that sound?
It??s the best pickup I??ve ever played with, it made me rediscover humbuckers after some years playing mainly with P90s. I only would like to know if the present JB is so good as this damn good 80s JBJ.

Passive Humbucker.

right now I have this pickup in my favourite guitar - Ibanez S470. First I replaced the stock Infinity pickup with a Dimarzio from Ibanez prestige (they're made as IBZ/Dimarzio pickups. This one was made just like the Tone Zone), but then I replaced it with this Duncan JB.

Before I got it in one of my Les Pauls.

I must say that since I installed this pickup in my Ibanez it doesn't sound like an Ibanez at all (you can't expect VAI's or Satriani's tone from it - Dimarzios are made for that reason :D).

The output is Hot! The tone is balanced, but the first impression can be not as good as the pickup actually is, because I had a feeling that it lacks bass. I have tried a lot of the greatest bridge pickups for distortion and heavy music styles - I have to say that this one is definitely for you, If you're looking for a really heavy tone.

I Play a lot of different styles, but mostly something heavy, so I know what I need to play metal.

If it was stolen or lost I would definitely buy it again.

When I first got the JB, I thought that it is not as heavy as I want, so I traded it to the SD Invader (sh-8), because I thought if Lamb Of God are playing with these, They can't be bad pickups. But I mistaken- the sh-8 was the worst pickup for distortion I have ever played. It was so muddy - unplayable!

I have tried a lot of pickups (I make guitars myself, so I have to try a lot of gear to find the best combination for every instrument) so far, I also have emg's in 2 of my guitars (one is Les Paul and the other one is custom made ESP ex series style guitar) And I can say that the JB is the greatest pickup for bridge position I've ever played. It produces nice clear tone comparing to Duncan Sh-6 (distortion) which also is too muddy for playing metal. The Emg 81 is a good pickup too, but it gives a LOT of extra noise while playing guitar. Bill Lawrence 500 (Dimebag used to use this before switching to Seymour duncan) is also great, but the JB still is the best one for me.

It is very good for power chords and also for solos. The pinched-harmonics are great on it.

But remember - there is always a risk that you wouldn't like it, so try to test it for a while, before buying one.

Medium-high output HB

What model guitar or bass did you install this in?

Stratocaster, Alder body, rosewood fingerboard, Fender original vintage tremolo bridge, 250K pots, HSS-TB4 (JB Trembucker)

SOUND: Organic. JB is not the hottest HB, but hot enough. More importantly, it has the Tone. Very transparent and eq balanced. Tight bass, sweet but sharp mids, glassy highs. It sings in lead work. Nice mid-honk.
Great for open cords, palm muting, riffs, harmonics and solos. Cuts through the mix very good. Works great in medium to high gain applications. It stays transparent and clear even in the highest gain settings and fastest soloing. Noise free in high gain.
I don???t play clean on the bridge position, but sounds ok splited with the middle strat pickup.

What style of music do you play? Is this a good match?
If you like Steve Stevens, EVH, Marty Friedman, Dave Mustaine, Steve Lukather and their guitar tones, you won???t go wrong with JB. It sounds just like a guitar should sound.
Just remember to make the right choice between SH4 and TB4 concerning string spacing and bridge dimensions. SD:??? TB4 is designed for wider string spacing in the bridge position: 2.070?????? or 52,6mm???

My gear: Alder Strat (250k pots), George L???s cables, MXR ZW44 OD, Customized Fender 2 channel 50watts Head, Engl VG412 cabinet with Vintage30 speakers.
I play Heavy Metal, Hard Rock, Southern Rock, live with the band.

This pickup is great for everything with electric guitar- from Pop, Country, Rock to Metal. It is not muddy enough for dead nu-metal, but maybe it works there too???

Passive Humbucker

I installed this piece of beauty in the bridge position of my Ibanez RG2EX1, basswood body with a fixed bridge, very simple and to the point. Some say that this pup sounds like trash in a basswood axe, personally I think thats bull****. I am replacing a number of pups, I tried a Bill Lawrence L500L, a Dimarzio Air Norton and a Dimarzio Drop Sonic before I found the all singing, all dancing crap of the world with the JB, this is hands down the best pickup I have found, but JB's are a love or hate pup, I happen to love it, sweet harmonics and just enough growl to suit my style, absolutely awesome.
I originally hated Duncans as I had tried an Invader a long time ago and it was a piece of ****. But Stephen Carpenter of the Deftones used a JB until after White Pony so I decided to give one a shot, damn am I happy I did! I found all the others to be good in their own way, the Lawrence was balls out insane, but too much for my humble hands, I'll let the Gods like Dime and Nuno handle those. The Norton was nice but lacked a certain..... I don't know what, and the Drop Sonic, despite being marketed as a new age bad mofo was rather flat and dull....maybe I just don't get it, anyway this is only my opinion and I think everyone needs to just find the pup that fufills their needs. The stock pups on any cheap guitar are just **** and should be replaced ASAP, they really dont let your guitar shine like it should.

I would say that this is a medium to hot 'bucker, for sure not as hot as a Lawrence, but hotter than the Norton.
I am using a Crate V 18 112, a CMATMODs DS 1, MXR 6 Band, and a Small Clone Chorus, not too many effects (yet) but this is mainly my pup for distorted sounds so it goes through the EQ and DS 1. It is stunning for ripping distortion, nice chunky rhythm and it screams on the high strings so lead sounds fantastic. I don't use it for cleans, I have a Dimarzio Humbucker From Hell in the neck for that. Don't be misguided by the name of that pup it is stellar in the neck for some almost single coil clean sounds. Truly unique. I play experimental sort of music, I like to get nice and heavy from time to time, but I also like to back it off a bit and go clean. I guess a band like Alice In Chains would be a big influence on my playing. But I also love Pantera, Tool, Helmet, Korn(the earlier stuff) Nirvana, Pink Floyd... there is a large list and I hate to limit what I do so a little bit of alot I guess.
I would say that this pup might lean on the trebly side, but has enough bass and balls to roll.
I would not use this in the neck, I had a douche from a music store install one of these in the neck positon of a 7 string that I used to have and it was wayyyy to much, hot pups in the neck position sound like ***.
This is a versatile pup good for almost any kind of music you'd like to make.

If stolen [. . .] I would then replace it as soon as I could, this is the only bridge pup I'll ever need again.
I have been playing off and on for about 10 years and I am by no means a pro, but I do have an ear for what sounds good and this sum***** sounds like god down from the heavens. If you want an extremely versatile bridge pup that has some balls, pick up a JB, again, it's a love/hate thing, but if you like it you'll love it.

ash bodied strat, maple neck Fender custom shop deal. Came stock.

Hot output, very, very boxy, mids and flubby on the lows. Good for singing solos where the note starts to turn into feedback. Very vocal and cool for that. No crunch tones ala ACDC or VH stuff. You want a more balanced pickup like the 59, or a Gibson PAF type. Too much mids/honk in this JB.

I'm going to switch it out for something more balanced. The JB is a total one trick pony if there ever was one.

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