Jackson JJ1, Suggestions for pickup selection?

[DoomBuggi]

Hey folks,

  I have a friend that has a Jackson JJ1, Scott Ian.  I don't know what year it is, and actuate information about these guitars is difficult to obtain.  Seems to be a rare model that was produced in the late 90's.  I believe that the body is Alder.  It has a bolt on Maple neck, a rosewood fretboard, 25.5 inches/64.77cm, 22 frets.  It has a fixed bridge, wrap-around single piece.  It has one humbucker that is a Duncan JB/SH-4.

 This guitar is tuned to Drop C, and the single chain is; guitar>ts9>Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier>Mesa Recto 4x12 Cab w/Vintage-30's.

The music being played has elements of industrial metal, though it is totally more on the metal side.  Lots of palm muting longs of single notes, and bar-chords (drop tuning).  I guess death metal would be a close fit, but with more of a heavy groove.

  His band is doing a tone overhaul, and two of the three guitarist are changing up some of their stuff to get a tone that is more to their liking.  The third guitars is all set with his tone.

With the Jb, he is really into the voice of it, but it just isn't giving him exactly what he is wanting.  He wants something that is going to give a little more power, but has a similar sound to the JB, with the mids and all.

I was thinking that it would be better for him to use something with a ceramic magnet. For the sake of the tuning, and for keeping it tight.

I have one pickup in mind, but I don't want to mention it, because I would like to see what you folks might recommend.  I don't want to have influence on other's suggestions.   With that being stated, I am not experience with BK, though I will be since my C-bomb set is in the mail on the way to my guitar.

Thanks in advance, I will appreciate anything you folks can share. 

[MAJ Meadows SF]

I personally hate the JB. It just never appealed to me tonally. I've heard it sounding decent in other peoples' guitars, but eventually I could pick apart what I still hate about it.

Just going off the guitar, amp and effects setup, plus style of music I would say Miracle Man. Similar output to the JB, tight, chunky, huge low mids. It's a great metal pickup. Rediculous harmonics too. It does have a slightly dry and compressed tone from the ceramic magnets, but that's standard. I use them to replace EMG 81s (though Tim feels the Painkiller is a better EMG replacement, and I'm starting to agree with that).

Another option is the C-Bomb. It has a dark character, great mids, higher output than the A-Bomb, and does progressive rock/metal and modern metal very well. It's a phenom at leads and great for rythym and distorted chords. Both of these pickups sound massive out of a Mesa Dual and Triple Rec. I might lean towards the C-Bomb though for the mids; the MM might be too low-mid and bassy at that C/C# tuning through a rectifier.

[DoomBuggi]

Just going off the guitar, amp and effects setup, plus style of music I would say Miracle Man. Similar output to the JB, tight, chunky, huge low mids. It's a great metal pickup. Rediculous harmonics too. It does have a slightly dry and compressed tone from the ceramic magnets, but that's standard. I use them to replace EMG 81s (though Tim feels the Painkiller is a better EMG replacement, and I'm starting to agree with that).

Another option is the C-Bomb. It has a dark character, great mids, higher output than the A-Bomb, and does progressive rock/metal and modern metal very well. It's a phenom at leads and great for rythym and distorted chords. Both of these pickups sound massive out of a Mesa Dual and Triple Rec. I might lean towards the C-Bomb though for the mids; the MM might be too low-mid and bassy at that C/C# tuning through a rectifier.

I appreciate that, and as the MM is in question, I'm not sure how it will fair since the mids seem drastically different than that of the JB.

I am interested in the diversity of perspectives that may come.  I am also trying to reach more understanding to the best of my ability without having access to the variations of pickups.  Though, obviously testing actual pickups would be superior.

All suggestions and perspective are welcome.  Would love to know the pros and cons as well  I know there is people on this forum who possession of quality experience.  I hope to join the ranks of those, and appreciate any experience shared.  

[DoomBuggi]

Any-one else?  I would like to know more.... :?

[Telerocker]

I think MAJ Meadows SF has a good point. Ceramics work best through Rectifiers. Downtuned the MM could be too much in the bassdepartment. I think a C-Bomb would work well. I read Painkillers are great for downtuned metal too. They have more treble though.

[DoomBuggi]

I think MAJ Meadows SF has a good point. Ceramics work best through Rectifiers. Downtuned the MM could be too much in the bassdepartment. I think a C-Bomb would work well. I read Painkillers are great for downtuned metal too. They have more treble though.

Hey I thank you for that, for that.  I do agree that Ceramics are in order.   There are three guitarist in the band.  They all use Mesa Boogie.
  The one who is set on his tone is using a single EMG 81 in a Jackson RR24.  He's got a handle on his setup, and for his part in the band, it couldn't be a better sound.  I'm not into active pickups myself, but I do say he's got his stuff dialed in to a very thick, massive, and clear tone.
 The other guitarists is either going for (in the bridge) an EMG 85, SD Blackouts AHB-1 (Bridge), or the Coldsweat. All of those have less pronounced mids. With those two guitarists catching those frequencies, It would probably be good If the guitarist in question had more mids.  That way it covers more of the total band width (all guitars included in this statement), and makes their over all sound full and defined.
 He has been using the JB for years, on and off since the early 90's.  He likes the general sound, but he needs something that is clearly more detailed, has more bite, and has a quick detailed low end response.  
 I use to use the JB myself, for a long time. Though I really liked it in my Les Paul, when I started using C#, I found it to be very thin sounding, fizzy, and a bit too loose for what I was doing.  I then turned to the Duncan Custom, and from their I ordered a set of Nailbombs (ceramic) after many emails with Tim, and interaction with people on the forum (thanks Nolly). They should be in this week.
 
 Though the MM one of the pickups in question, I do feel it isn't the right one in this situation.  I'm basing this on the fact that the other two guitarist are using similar detailed EQ within their pickups.  I would be concerned that it may mud up their sound if they all had a similar EQ profile with their pickups.
 Its good to know that the MM may not be a good choice for low tunings, I have no experience with any of the BK pickups other than the audio, video, and comments that I have studied.  So, it is helpful to me that you folks can lend your experience. I greatly appreciate it.  Any more details that can be given is definitely welcomed.

[darkbluemurder]

Hey folks,

  I have a friend that has a Jackson JJ1, Scott Ian. ... This guitar is tuned to Drop C, and the single chain is; guitar>ts9>Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier>Mesa Recto 4x12 Cab w/Vintage-30's.

... With the Jb, he is really into the voice of it, but it just isn't giving him exactly what he is wanting.  He wants something that is going to give a little more power, but has a similar sound to the JB, with the mids and all.

I was thinking that it would be better for him to use something with a ceramic magnet. For the sake of the tuning, and for keeping it tight.

I am surprised that no one mentioned the Aftermath yet. I have not yet played one but from the descriptions I read it should fit perfectly: very tight and suited for low tunings, strong mid voice, high power, aggressive attack.

Cheers Stephan

[darkbluemurder]

I have one pickup in mind, but I don't want to mention it, because I would like to see what you folks might recommend.  I don't want to have influence on other's suggestions.   

Now that you have got a few opinions I would be very interested in which pickup you had in mind.

Cheers Stephan

[DoomBuggi]

I have one pickup in mind, but I don't want to mention it, because I would like to see what you folks might recommend.  I don't want to have influence on other's suggestions.   

Now that you have got a few opinions I would be very interested in which pickup you had in mind.

Cheers Stephan

Thanks Steven,

  Actually, the the Aftermath hasn't crossed my mind.  These are the initial pickups I had in mind;

Painkiller
Nailbomb-C
Miricle Man, but I had doubts about that one, then after the feedback, I have thought against presenting it to my friend.  I'm going to look at the Aftermath.


I would still like for others to offer their perspectives.  I want to know as much as possible.  I too am looking for more options for my own set up.  Got the Les Paul pegged, but for the future, I was looking into getting a PK, and know I need to look at the Aftermath a little closer.

[DoomBuggi]

Stephen,

How do you think about the PK, NB-C?  I am actually considering the AM to present as well.  I have to ask him some questions about that though.

Also, he wanted a bit more of an aggressive sound. More so than the JB was providing for him.  Though the AM sound like a really good pickup, I believe that it has less output than the JB. 

[darkbluemurder]

Never played a PK or C-NB. For my personal tastes I think I would like the C-NB better. The PK is said to be the most aggressive of all BKP pickups.

As far as output is concerned: I know the JB - it has lots of output but to me this manifests in not being able to control the overdrive level with the volume pot. The JB to me has neither punch nor clarity. Hence I don't think Aftermath, PK or C-NB would have any less output.

The JB does also not sound aggressive to me by any stretch. To me it's just a mid bloaty mess of pickup. I would prefer any BKP to the JB for sure.

Cheers Stephan

[DoomBuggi]

Never played a PK or C-NB. For my personal tastes I think I would like the C-NB better. The PK is said to be the most aggressive of all BKP pickups.

As far as output is concerned: I know the JB - it has lots of output but to me this manifests in not being able to control the overdrive level with the volume pot. The JB to me has neither punch nor clarity. Hence I don't think Aftermath, PK or C-NB would have any less output.

The JB does also not sound aggressive to me by any stretch. To me it's just a mid bloaty mess of pickup. I would prefer any BKP to the JB for sure.

Cheers Stephan

I can agree with you on that.  I was just saying more aggressive than the jb.  I use to like it, but I guess my ears grew.  I started using lower tunings as well.  Though I play pretty intense music, I don't find my self using a ton of gain.  I feel like it makes things messy to my ears.  I generally add just enough gain to get the pick harmonics.  Less gain, seems to me to get a smoother, tighter distortion.  This of course is entirely my opinion and is only subjective to my playing style.  Obviously some one will disagree with this, but It works for me.

[Telerocker]

More mastervolume and less preampgain is a proven recipy to prevent gainmess.

[darkbluemurder]

More mastervolume and less preampgain is a proven recipy to prevent gainmess.

Indeed, and don't scoop those mids at the amp. The mids are the most important aspect of guitar tone in the band mix.

Cheers Stephan

[DoomBuggi]

Let me ask this;

Between the Painkiller, and the Aftermath, which one would be warmer sounding?  I guess this meaning less cold, or clinical sounding.