Mk 1 Herbert owners using Seymour Duncan JB/Jazz pickups?

[Me]

Can anyone help prove if I'm going mad. Who has a Mk1 Herbie, and has a guitar with Seymour Duncan JB bridge pickups (or Jazz Neck)? Someone must do, hundreds of guitars come with them standard!

If you do, can you do me a favour and tell me how loud you can put your guitar volume pot and how hard you can play it before channel 1 distorts? For arguments sake lets say with all channel 1 knobs at 12 o'clock.

Also same question goes for any other humbuckers. If you have lower output and super-high output humbuckers which ones make it distort quite easily, which ones are hard to make it clip.

Just trying to determine if this amp is "broken" or if it's "normal". When I bought it I swore it's clean channel was amazing and clean with the Seymour JB on this same guitar and the guitar volume pot full. It was one of it's major selling points to me. Peter has said he can "mod" it to increase headroom, but I'm not sure it's "normal" to begin with.

Mk2 Herbie owners have more Ch1 headroom so that's not a good comparison, although might be good to hear how nuts you can go. This is based on a 6-string guitar too, not a massively downtuned 7 string if it makes any difference.

Thanks!

 

[zerotolerance]

I'm using EMG 81/60 combo with Herbert MK1 and clean channel overdrives just a little bit. When I want to have full clean I'm just lowering pickup volume from 10 to let's say 7 or 8.

 

[Me]

I'm using EMG 81/60 combo with Herbert MK1 and clean channel overdrives just a little bit. When I want to have full clean I'm just lowering pickup volume from 10 to let's say 7 or 8.

Thanks! Any guesses how high an output they are compared with a passive Seymour JB? Is that when you hit it hard only, or just medium? Googling suggests the EMG 81 is "a lot hotter" than the JB.

 

[Me]

After more googling it appears the output from a JB vs 81 verdict is undecided.

 

[zerotolerance]

I'm using EMG 81/60 combo with Herbert MK1 and clean channel overdrives just a little bit. When I want to have full clean I'm just lowering pickup volume from 10 to let's say 7 or 8.

Thanks! Any guesses how high an output they are compared with a passive Seymour JB? Is that when you hit it hard only, or just medium? Googling suggests the EMG 81 is "a lot hotter" than the JB.

I had JB set and 81/60 combo has a lot more output than these pickups. I played PRS CU24 with stock pickups with this amp and clean channel was crystal clean, even at very high volumes.

 

[Me]

I had JB set and 81/60 combo has a lot more output than these pickups. I played PRS CU24 with stock pickups with this amp and clean channel was crystal clean, even at very high volumes.

Cheers! Any ideas if the PRS humbucker is "medium" or "hot" or anything? The JB is supposedly "Hot" or "Hot Rodded" on the SD website, but not deemed "Ultra High" like the Invader or Dimebucker.

The neck Jazz is supposedly deemed "medium" output. This distorts too. Obviously being in the neck it probably has more bottom end.

This same issue also happens with my Parker MIDIFly. Unfortunately I have no idea what pickup it is other than the same "Custom-Wound" DiMarzio that's in the Nitefly. I can tell it's definitely less than the JB just by listening, and this still clips, so I'd imagine this is closer to the PRS. Dunno if the PRS would be deemed "Medium" or "Vintage" output though by SD's vague categorisation!

Keep 'em coming...

 

[spguitar]

Mine distorts a little with my PRS Singlecut that has a Duncan JB. Not a big deal. I use it for my high gain main rhythm tones anyway.

 

[Sigma.Xiria]

I used to use the JB/Jazz combo, an 81/85 combo, a PRS 59/09 combo and now my Seymour Duncan custom shop combo.

The JB on paper is not SUPER hot, but in play and through the amp it is pretty high output. The other thing is it has a very weird mid hump which also can cause the breakup you are experiencing. Mine did it with my VH4 and always did even with my gain down and the pickup slightly lowered.

The 81 had more "gain" but I would say is maybe only a little hotter than JB.

The PRS 59/09s are low output in play and on paper (I think around 8-9k; JB is over 16k on paper).

My custom pickups are designed around my ideal tone and my VH4 (prefer low output). They are not high output at all, but you would maybe think they are medium-high if you looked at the specs. So, the numbers on the spec sheets give you an ideal, but sometimes you are surprised.

 

[Me]

Yeah, still clips with my noticeably lower output dimarzio humbucker too. Not exactly the renowned super-clean "piano" sound (or crystal clear as you put it) with the single coils in that other guitar either. The JB isn't exactly "very slightly distorted" either, it's nearer "unusable" with the volume knob open. I've been discussing it with Peter and we have a solution, so don't worry long term! It's just that I'm still really curious as I swear it was totally clean with that Fly mojo with the JB/Jazz in my Avatar and my first Herbert (my main guitar and the one I tried it in the shop with 7 years ago). I always play with my volume knob fully open as I traditionally always was in bands with lots of clean and distortion changes so all my amps handled the JB in that Fly (or the JB in my old Jackson) clean, without having to tweak my volume pot to a different un-repeatable volume every time I went in or out of a chorus/verse/etc. Hence why I wondered if I was going mad. I was even running it with a 5751 in V1 and lowering my pickup height to lower than normal distances, and still a bit distorted. I figured I'd ask the question with the JB since that's my usual pickup for the last 10+ years, a popular model standard in lots of guitars, and the one I used with the first Herbie I owned and the one I was first amazed by how good the Herbert clean sounded. Maybe there was something wrong or the far end of component tolerances with that?!?!