An alternative to the Duncan JB.

[glassjaw7]

The answer for some might be a different version of the JB. Here's a great comparison video of the standard current production, 35th anniversary and Antiquity JB.

You can really hear the subtle differences on the higher gain stuff like the "Them Bones" riff. The 35th stays tight but is a touch less hollow and spiky sounding than the standard. Antiquity sounds the sweetest to me on several of the lower gain clips but is looser. Not as good for high gain.

 

[dennyps4]

Awesome, I have been wanting this pup since it came out. We have the same taste so I trust your opinion LittleB.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

Again... aldrich.

If you must JB, then JB with the 35th anniversary or antiquity

If you must further JB with tighter bass but less pronounced top end, then yee must JB with a Dimarzio At-1

End of the day, you can pickup swap forever. I say go for what delivers to your ear. I like rounded highs but tight lows and crunch... i guess the same way I like my women..

 

[Speeddemon]

I'm not too sure about the Custom 5. I would like a little less mids than what the JB offers but just a little.
The Custom 5 sounds very scooped in comparison.
The demos of the Custom 5 I've heard don't do anything for me.

I think a lot of people including myself look at the C5 eq on paper and think it's midscooped but when I tried it it was anything but midscooped, really ballsy and balanced. The only reason I got rid of it is was I felt it was a little too hot , felt just as hot as the JB , Super Distortion or Duncan Distortion

The Custom 5 is hot, but IMHO not Duncan Distortion-hot.
Plus, the Alnico-5 magnet gives it a lot more 'breathing room' than the more compressed-sounding ceramic from the DD.

I've experimented quite a lot with pickups, especially in my Les Pauls, my Charvel So-Cal and my ESP Horizon NT-II;

taking in account the OP's wishes (and I *too* find the JB sometimes too middy/bright, too loose in the low-end and hot, which is why it left both my LP Custom and ESP), my recommendations would be:
-Custom '59/Hybrid; quite versatile, open sounding and balanced; but slightly noisier due to the mismatch in coils (=not 100% humbucking anymore)
-DiMarzio Norton (DP-160). Everything the JB aspires to be. Bright, but not harsh, chunky mids, but not middy, good low-end that's tight, awesome harmonics.
-Duncan Custom 5; Improved on the JB; still good alnico-V flavor, bigger and sturdier low-end (not as loose), nice balanced high-end (not harsh). Quite hot output, but more of the 'vintage hot' kind than EMG/D-Activator hot.
Oh and F*** all this 'scooped sounding' BS. Maybe if you're NOT playing EL34-based amps. Especially in middy/bright guitars that can use some low-end reinforcement, the Custom 5 does wonders, without woofin' out like a DiMarzio ToneZone could sometimes do.

Custom 5 is in my ESP now, Custom 59/Hybrid in Les Paul Custom, Norton is in LP Standard and Charvel. I could work with all 3 pickups in different guitars FWIW. I had the Custom 5 in my LP Custom, right when I switched from TungSol EL34B's in my Engl Invader to JJ KT77's; BRINGETH THE PUNCH it did!
Since one of my bands does a lot of classic rock covers too, the Custom 59/Hybrid was a pinch more versatile and jangly for that, but I could have happily died if the Custom 5 was the final pickup in that LPC.

 

[sytharnia1560]

put an A8 magnet in the jb

Or just get an alternative 8...wait, you want less output than a JB, right?

$5 magnet vs $100+ pick up ....... no one should ever want less output unless its from the singer

 

[Chubtone]

Maybe if you're NOT playing EL34-based amps. :thumbsdown.

You know, I thought your post was great but then I came to the line I highlighted. I don't know if I have ever read those words all before in the same sentence. Not playing an EL34-based amp? Why not? Did the world run out of EL34 tubes? That is my greatest fear and one that I can't see life being worth living without EL34's.

Goodbye Rig Talk. Goodbye EL34 less world!

 

[Racerxrated]

Don't do it!!!!!

 

[mchn13]

put an A8 magnet in the jb

Or just get an alternative 8...wait, you want less output than a JB, right?

$5 magnet vs $100+ pick up ....... no one should ever want less output unless its from the singer

I really want to try a JB8. It just sounds like a hotter JB? Would be perfect in my metal guitar.

 

[Speeddemon]

Maybe if you're NOT playing EL34-based amps. :thumbsdown.

You know, I thought your post was great but then I came to the line I highlighted. I don't know if I have ever read those words all before in the same sentence. Not playing an EL34-based amp? Why not? Did the world run out of EL34 tubes? That is my greatest fear and one that I can't see life being worth living without EL34's.

Goodbye Rig Talk. Goodbye EL34 less world!

You do understand that my trail of thoughts was exactly intended like you just described, right?

Aaaand you noticed the thumbs down smiley too, right?

I'm just sick of all these folks that never PLAYED the Custom 5 constantly bickering how it's so 'scooped', yaddayadda.
But then again, look at my amp list in my sig...the day I run out of mids is the day the earth stops spinning. Wayyyy past my Fender Champion 110+Boss MT-2 bedroom days now. (Come to think of it, that's over 20 years ago... )

 

[NaturalBornBoy]

I have yet to order anything, but as of now, it's a toss up between the Perpetual Burn and the 59/Custom Hybrid.

 

[hammered]

I have yet to order anything, but as of now, it's a toss up between the Perpetual Burn and the 59/Custom Hybrid.

If you want to stay with something along the lines of the JB yet a slightly different vibe I'd go with the PB . If you want a somewhat hot pickup along lines of a PAF that just cuts and slices I'd go with the hybrid

 

[Little B]

Awesome, I have been wanting this pup since it came out. We have the same taste so I trust your opinion LittleB.

...The perp.burn to me is tighter than a stock jb on the bottom end..More mid dip,and its low output so it sounds really nice with all my high gain firebreather amps.It splits real well too.It doesn't seem to have a lot of magnetic pull so you can set it closer to your strings, I believe..My two favs at this current time are the PB. and Bare Knuc.holy diver.

 

[NinjaRaf]

I've had the JB, Custom/59, and Custom all in the same guitar within the last 2 months.

I hate the JB. I have hated it for years. It always sounds either fizzy and bloated or weak and powerless in every guitar I have used it in.

First thing I did, based on EndTimes suggestion, was swap the magnet for a ceramic. This improved it by about 1 million points!! Way better...tighter low end, gave it some heft to the tone, took away the harshness. But it still wasn't doing what I wanted. Still not tight enough in the lows.

Enter Custom/59 Hybrid. Pretty cool pickup, if you like the low output thing...personally, I don't. Pretty immediately put the JB with the ceramic back in the guitar, and got in touch with SD to swap out the Custom/59 for a Custom.

The Custom is by far my favorite thing that SD offers. Its very receptive to your guitars...so it will sound a bit different in each one. Tight and powerful low end, high end is not too sizzly, mids are a bit scooped. Its fucking incredible.

Also, when I had my Horizons, they came with Custom 5s. These are also awesome pickups. Very similar to a Custom, obviously, since the only difference is supposed to be the A5 magnet vs the ceramic magnet. But the low end on the C5 is definitely more round and loose than the Custom. Didn't really do it for me the way the Custom does, so I ended up swapping the magnets in those pickups.

Anyway...if it were me, I would go with the Custom, for sure.