I still say it's all down to the guitars.
The JB will have been tested and specced up for guitars available in the early eighties. Woods used and construction methods were different back then.
The HD was designed recently, using more recent guitars, hence it works well in new guitars.
The interesting test would be to put a brand new JB and HD into in both an eighties guitar and a new guitar. If anyone has a new JB knocking about I wouldn't mind testing it back-to-back in my PRS McCarty with the current HD, and I can compare it with my 80s Ibanez RG (plus the old JB in my '87 Baretta)................
I dont know why youre stressing that the difference in JBs is new Vs old guitars.
At the risk of starting one of those lovely "Vintage" guitar divergences, youre suggesting a consistent difference in tone between old and new instruments leading to two families of sound....due to the guitar, not the pickups or the amps or the players, the guitar
I dont see how thats in the least a sensible position. All the old giutars I've played have sounded very comparable to all the new guitars, and I just cant see how it would come about. Have trees mutated that much in 30 years? Steels vibration transmision properties altered?
That is of course an argument from incredulity, so go ahead and tell us why old guitars Vs new guitars make the old JB sound different, and why they dont make all pickups sound different :)
I'd like to double-blind test this once and for all
No one gets to play the guitar, cos feel can give it away. Maybe blindfolded if they're the same model or old vs VOS. They listen to them, all playing the same thing through the same gear.
One batch of old guitars, one of new guitars. Same pickups and setup given to all guitars.
Group 1 - told rank the guitars, told nothing about the guitars. Control group.
Group 2 - told that some of the guitars are vintage, told which are vintage and told to rank the guitars
Group 3 - Told that some of the guitars are vintage, but lied to and told that the new guitars are the vintage ones
Group 4 - Asked to identify the vintage and the new guitars by sound alone.
I'll be your next PRS that the tests would show that the control showed no preference, those that are told that there are vintages in there like the vintages better and those that are asked to indefify which is which will do no better than chance.
Volunteers?
