Duncan JB Pup height

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SQUAREHEAD

SQUAREHEAD

Well-known member
After all these years I’m still finding it frustrating to find the proper height…
How close to the strings do you guys put your bridge humbucker!
How much do you adjust the screws?
Is there a set rule of thumb? Or is it just play it by ear?
I have a few MJ wound JB’s from the 80s that I really like, but I never feel
like I’m getting the most out of them for some reason…
Keith
 
I don't have a JB currently but I used to put them fairly close, almost too close then try it and ultimately I'd back it down until the Bass stayed tight and full while keeping the clarity. Don't have an exact measurement. A few years back I finally realized how good the JB can be when I moved it closer to the strings..now I do that with every pickup. I've tried to mess with the screws and it didn't make too much of a difference to me.
 
I find it depends on the amp you are running. When using high gain I tend to have the pick up a bit further away from the strings

for me the rule of thumb is use your ears to find "the" spot

always loved this video Joe did https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STeHgXlnh1c
 
I took someone's advice on here from a recent thread about pickup up heights in general and started with the treble side about a nickel's thickness away from the high E with the string fretted at the highest fret. Two nickel's on the bass side. Worked out quite well actually.

I did make some pole adjustments a couple months back also that I picked up from another thread so that may have helped also.
 
I came across this advice years ago and saved it as a txt file. Not sure who posted it but give it a try. YMMV.
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JB is very touchy. It likes the heights about the same on the high and low side. I tweak

mine and I like it. I raise the pole pieces. G and D higher. B a little. High E a very

small amount. Low E flush. I then adjust the pickup to a little over 3 32nd's on each side

and tweak a little from there. I usually wind up with the low E at just over 3 32nds and

the high E at 3. Makes a huge difference with the JB. When I hit the sweet spots it's not

shrill and has a massive punch. For a darker guitar I raise them more and then lower the

pickup. Makes the tone brighter and clear. Depends on the guitar how I adjust.
 
IMO, the closer, the better. I find all humbuckers sound fuller and fatter, yet with a more promient pick attack the closer you get them. I usually set my bridge pickup as close to the strings as I can just before it starts making plinky noises from the strings hitting the poles (I am heavy-handed). This ends up being around 2-2.5 mm on the bass side, 1.5-2 mm on the treble side.
 
thenine":13xgnq88 said:
I came across this advice years ago and saved it as a txt file. Not sure who posted it but give it a try. YMMV.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

JB is very touchy. It likes the heights about the same on the high and low side. I tweak

mine and I like it. I raise the pole pieces. G and D higher. B a little. High E a very

small amount. Low E flush. I then adjust the pickup to a little over 3 32nd's on each side

and tweak a little from there. I usually wind up with the low E at just over 3 32nds and

the high E at 3. Makes a huge difference with the JB. When I hit the sweet spots it's not

shrill and has a massive punch. For a darker guitar I raise them more and then lower the

pickup. Makes the tone brighter and clear. Depends on the guitar how I adjust.
Click to expand...
Exactly what I do. I tweak in this range. One thing about the JB is that the guitar itself makes a huge difference with this pickup.
 
Thanks a lot guys, I think I have it in the sweet spot at about 3/32 or so,
No just to fine tune the pole pieces and I should be there,
You would think after 50 years of life, I would know all this crap!
 
All of mine are set the same. All screw slugs screwed down flat to the bobbin. Tops of screws even with top. If you run your finger across bobbin, the heads are even. Never liked arching the screws to match radius. I think pickups sound fatter this way. But any way I'm 1/16" on both high and low E's while holding down last fret.
 
I set all of my pickups the same way. I set both sides to 3/32 at the pole with the string depressed at the highest fret. from there I will usually start to back the high e side down until the pickup sounds balanced across from highs to lows while strumming a G chord. So that no particular frequency pokes my ears.

For strats with single-coils, I usually eat them at 4/32 on the low E and 3/32 on the high e. Single-coils have more pull against the strings than humbuckers do.
 
I like them close. About as close as I can get without rubbing.
 
i experimented a lot by ear and by general advice found on forums.

I like thick, high tone, with lows and low mids, and for that setup I settled on:

with the last fret fretted:

bass side: 1.8 - 2 mm
treble 1.5 - 1.7 mm.

For cleaner tone I would just raise the pup slowly till it mellows out.

btw. I am using 300k volume pot, 500k would be treblier.
 
Adjusting pickup height is like messing with the gain, bass and treble knobs on your amp all at once. With your amp set where you like it for other known good sounding guitars, adjust the height by ear. This makes a huge difference between liking and not liking a pickup in a particular guitar.
 
I usually screw JB all the way down, pull out of guitar and replace with BKP Rebell Yell :)

And now seriously, JB works with alder bodies not so much with mahagony. There is always something shrill in highs what I can't tame.
 
Chubtone":34pc08fp said:
Adjusting pickup height is like messing with the gain, bass and treble knobs on your amp all at once. With your amp set where you like it for other known good sounding guitars, adjust the height by ear. This makes a huge difference between liking and not liking a pickup in a particular guitar.
Click to expand...

Ya, so true…
 
I get the pickup too close and it sounds Trebley and choked With very little sustain at all… The notes just die / stop… When I get it too far away, I have a warmer tone that’s not as tight but sustain is great… It’s just trying to find that happy balance.
 
Keep in mind I prefer JB's with a 250 or 300k pot and no tone pot in the circuit.
 
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