Members PuerAeternus Posted June 9, 2013 Members Share Posted June 9, 2013 From playing a couple of guitars with these pickups (my 335 with a 57 classic Bridge, my friends les paul with a jb, my schecter with a JB, it seems that the JB has the more aggressive sound with a little bit more oomph for palm mutes, definitely more presence in terms of soloing,...... but I found when playing chords with moderate distortion the 57 classic had way more clarity, you could really hear the notes when playing a 6 note distorted barre chord with the 57 classic bridge. Is there anyway to make the JB have a bit more clarity with full chords? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted June 9, 2013 Members Share Posted June 9, 2013 did you dial it in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GilmourD Posted June 9, 2013 Members Share Posted June 9, 2013 PuerAeternus wrote: From playing a couple of guitars with these pickups (my 335 with a 57 classic Bridge, my friends les paul with a jb, my schecter with a JB, it seems that the JB has the more aggressive sound with a little bit more oomph for palm mutes, definitely more presence in terms of soloing,...... but I found when playing chords with moderate distortion the 57 classic had way more clarity, you could really hear the notes when playing a 6 note distorted barre chord with the 57 classic bridge. Is there anyway to make the JB have a bit more clarity with full chords? There's always magnet swapping... However, from what I've read an A4 or an A3 would make the JB sound weak and an A2 would do the opposite of what you want. You've really just run into the differences between hot pickups and vintage pickups. If you want something HOT but with clarity, look at the Duncan Dimebucker or the Bill&Becky L500XL. Maybe a Duncan Custom 5, too. Or, you could go one of two ways with pedals... Get a boost to use with the '57 Classic or get a 10-band EQ for use with the JB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kayd_mon Posted June 9, 2013 Members Share Posted June 9, 2013 I have both of these pickups im different guitars (the 57s in a 339 and the JB in an Epi Les Paul). The JB sounds the best with the tone rolled back a bit, IMO. That helps take some of that edge off, and you can always crank the tone back up when you need the bite. I would play with the pickup height to try to get a little more clarity, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members billybilly Posted June 9, 2013 Members Share Posted June 9, 2013 Pickup height/volume down. The JB is a high output pickup, you'll never get absolute clarity with chords. It's pretty good for cleans though given it's a high ouput pickup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members slivertime Posted October 23, 2016 Members Share Posted October 23, 2016 Hey good question. I hate the JB. I agree with your ears that the 57 Custom pulls in thicker bar chords. I owned a Les Paul with 57 Custom. I got thick Open A5, Bar on A string, strong 6th string power chords. I played the JB on a couple of guitars. Your ears are on the money. The bar chords are way to thin. I rate a pickup, this is just my opinion. I rate a good replacement pickup with these criteria. If you play metal, I do, huge bar or power chords, good even harmonics with open chords like A, or D. Great sweep muted palms where the notes jump out almost 3-D, Sweet tones for solos, singing notes, great trebles are all sometimes needed. I've heard other musicians compromise with the JB. I don't know why they do. Don't get a JB. If your looking for a good pick up for metal. Here's my picks. Dimarzio Superdistortion. Super powerful, good for classic metal, new wave British Metal to Ozzy, very Sabbath sounding, very 3-D sounding for power chords. Guys get a really good set solos going. You can easily get your Randy Rhodes types guitar hero solos. A winner (Super D 2 and Super D 3). EVO , EVO 2, The Breed for big fat PAF, even Moe Joe in the bridge is good, big and fat for big fat chords. You could even go Superdistortion Bridge, Evo, Neck and screw the damn cleans for over the top metal. Tone Zone eats JB for lunch. I'm not trying to put you down. You sound like you know what your talking about. But, these will give you big fat tones for days. Also what music are you playing. With 335 or your Schecter. Metal on the Scheter, more blues on the Gib? Try theses,. Also Dimarzio pickup picker rules. It'll get you in the mood. Allright dude peace man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted October 23, 2016 Members Share Posted October 23, 2016 Hey good question. . . . Unfortunately, it was answered three and a half years ago. Welcome to the Forum. It's easy to miss post dates; I'm sure your next reply will be a bit more current. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thrill74 Posted October 26, 2016 Members Share Posted October 26, 2016 The DC resistance on both of those pickups are quite different from each other. I agree with GilmourD, you could swap the JB magnet to an A2 but it will only get you a similar flavor to the 57. With the DC resistance being pretty high on the JB, you can never really dial it into the dynamic range of the 57. That's just to how it's made. One pickups drawbacks are some of it's advantages though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted October 26, 2016 Members Share Posted October 26, 2016 Again, the OP asked the question three and a half years ago. I suspect he's figured it out by now. Gotta watch those post dates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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