Author Topic: Bareknuckle version of a JB? (Read 22521 times)

AdamB · « **on:** August 30, 2006, 12:35:09 PM »

What's BK's closest pickup to a Seymour Duncan JB?

I'd rather buy a BK than SD

Cheers

deg0ey · « **Reply #1 on:** August 30, 2006, 12:41:16 PM »

Well, if you'd rather buy a BKP to a SD then you made that decision for a reason - why then ask for a BKP that sounds like an SD?

As far as I've been informed (when people have asked this question before) there is no BKP that sounds like a JB, you'd be better off asking:

"What BKP for a (insert adjective/guitarist here) tone?"

Sorry if that sounds a bit aggressive, but if you want the sound a JB would give you then go and buy a JB - otherwise pick your BK and welcome to the club :drink:

Muso · « **Reply #2 on:** August 30, 2006, 12:59:28 PM »

Simple answer this one, The Rebel Yell.

deg0ey, the JB is quite a damn fine pickup but not perfect thats probably why hes looking for a BK with similar tonal qualities.

:shock:

Peter Antal · « **Reply #3 on:** August 30, 2006, 02:17:54 PM »

EDIT: Holy Diver. See Ben's post below. However, I've compared a Nailbomb and a JB before and I do think the NB is a good alternative, if you want a more aggressive JB with better cut.

TwilightOdyssey · « **Reply #4 on:** August 30, 2006, 02:51:14 PM »

Edit: First of all, let me say

There is a TONNE of misinformation in this thread!

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Simple answer this one, The Rebel Yell.

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There are a few models that are similar to the JB.

Neither of these statements are correct in my opinion. If you were to listen to an original JB, back when they were made by Seymour Duncan the man, NOT Seymour Duncan the company, you would notice quite a big change in the pickup over the years. The DC resistance has gone up, the output has gone up, and the tonal balance is completely different.

The BK pickup that is remarkably close to that original JB, the handmade one that Seymour himself made, is the Holy Diver. The Holy Diver, overall, is clearer than the original JB, and it kills the current model of the JB.

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The Nailbomb could be an aggressive, nasty JB, the Crawler is a smoother and bluesier JB, the Holy Diver sounds darker than the Nailbomb and the Rebel Yell has rich mids and incredible harmonics, the sound is right between modern and vintage

Not a good comparison! Besides the Holy Diver, none of the pickups listed are close to the JB, either the original or the new one!

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Well, if you'd rather buy a BKP to a SD then you made that decision for a reason - why then ask for a BKP that sounds like an SD?

Well, maybe that's his/her only frame of reference. And your reply is just plain bitchy and trollish.

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As far as I've been informed (when people have asked this question before) there is no BKP that sounds like a JB

You've been misinformed, then.

I would definitely recommend a Holy Diver as a replacement for a JB, or if you're looking to capture that original JB tone you've heard on countless albums -- a bit dry, very high output, really strong bass, tuneful growl in the lower mids, and effortless harmonics without the brightness of other pups.

deg0ey · « **Reply #5 on:** August 30, 2006, 07:28:02 PM »

Quote from: TwilightOdyssey

Quote from: deg0ey
Well, if you'd rather buy a BKP to a SD then you made that decision for a reason - why then ask for a BKP that sounds like an SD?

Well, maybe that's his/her only frame of reference. And your reply is just plain bitchy and trollish.

Yeah, sorry about that one - I was in a bitchy mood earlier, and it didn't come out quite how I intended...

PhilKing · « **Reply #6 on:** August 30, 2006, 07:38:46 PM »

TO is correct as usual in that there is more than 1 flavour of the JB. The current pickup is nothing like the original, and I believe that there was at least one other version in the early 90's (it sounded way worse than the original, but still had more tone than the current one). I am assuming that most people who are asking have not played the original and are comparing to the current JB.

If the sound you are after is the Jeff Beck sound from Blow by Blow (which I am guessing is what Seymour had in mind at the time), then I would look to the VHII rather than a higher output pickup.

For the original late 70's JB sound, I would look at the Emerald - it is a bit lower output, but can get the cleaner driven tones that the original JB gets and has great harmonics.

The pickup that gets the mid 80's/early 90's JB sound is the Holydiver. It absolutely blows the JB away though in terms of the overall tone.

There is no BK pickup which can get the horrible sound of the current JB.

The Rebel Yell is what the JB always wanted to be but never quite got there!

TwilightOdyssey · « **Reply #7 on:** August 30, 2006, 07:50:02 PM »

I should post a correction to what I stated earlier ...

For that classic metal JB sound, which was often a JB loaded an alder super strat ... then the Holy Diver is the ticket.

Phil and I were just discussing the Holy Diver v. the Rebel Yell in replacing a JB. Let's just say we agree to disagree :) He says RY, I say HD. (Phil still has a lot to learn about pups, tho PDT_008 --- j/k, buddy)

Tim · « **Reply #8 on:** August 30, 2006, 08:57:18 PM »

I'm going to chime in here and say for the majority of S style guitars the Holydiver is going to be closest to the original JB tone-well as close as I'd want to get anyway-great pickup by the way, the original JB and certainly one that rightly claims it's place in rock history.
In a LP the new Rebel Yell does have a similar mid push to the early JB although it is a touch brighter to my ears and the bass is a little tighter too-as per usual this will be down to the asymmetrical wind and scatterwinding too.
The early JBs I've tested-one of which was Phil's- have all been symmetrically wound, part of the SD philosophy-which accounts for the way it behaves in the high end.

AdamB · « **Reply #9 on:** August 30, 2006, 10:41:23 PM »

Cheers everyone :)

I already have a Rebel Yell in my Gibson SG X, just wanted to replace the bridge of my SG standard with something abit different to a rebel yell, and because loads of people use JB's (mostly modern players), and i like their sound, i was wondering what BK sounded closest, i like the handmade quality etc

I probably should of included all this in my first post

I like the sound of this band - www.myspace.com/setyourgoals , the song mutiny, they use JB's (most probably) through a dual rectifier

Philly Q · « **Reply #10 on:** August 31, 2006, 12:57:20 PM »

Quote from: adammato

I already have a Rebel Yell in my Gibson SG X

I have a couple of SG-X's and I'm going to replace the pickups eventually. Just wondering if the RY works well in the SG-X, and did you wire it for coil-splitting? (I've changed mine to series/parallel)

JamesHealey · « **Reply #11 on:** August 31, 2006, 02:57:20 PM »

I'd go with the HolyDiver, im thinking of dumping a HD into a strat i've got my eye on as an alternateive to my other strat..

AdamB · « **Reply #12 on:** August 31, 2006, 05:45:51 PM »

Quote from: Philly Q

Quote from: adammato

I already have a Rebel Yell in my Gibson SG X

I have a couple of SG-X's and I'm going to replace the pickups eventually. Just wondering if the RY works well in the SG-X, and did you wire it for coil-splitting? (I've changed mine to series/parallel)

Yeah it works well, plenty of power, rich mids etc

i didn't bother with coil tapping or anything, i just will never use it, i'm too much of a straight up player. POWERCORE!

Sekhmet · « **Reply #13 on:** August 31, 2006, 06:44:11 PM »

This single post has actually given me a huge insight into what pick ups i want to go for next, and not to mention an interesting read to boot.

Cheers for all the informantion, and i hope you find your pick up.

Philly Q · « **Reply #14 on:** August 31, 2006, 08:53:25 PM »

Thanks for the SG-X pic, adammato. Mine are the slightly later type with a pickguard. Excellent little guitars!