Pickup recommendation needed. Alternative to SH4 JB?

[Greazygeo]

Any of you guys know how a JB or a Duncan Custom compares to a SH-6 Distortion?? I've got a cheap guitar I want to put a new pickup in and it's gonna be one of the three. I've only got real experience with the SH-6... and i kinda want to try something new.

I used to have a SG with a Custom Custom, and that was a great pickup. I'm guessing the Custom is much like that??

Gainwise the Distortion then JB then Custom. Custom Custom is a looser version of the Custom.
Distortion is pretty bright and doesn’t clean up much with the vol knob. Bottom end is tight like the Custom

JB is alittle looser on the bottom end and less bright. Cleans up well with the vol knob. My favorite overall pickup.

Custom is similar to the JB, bit less output. High end about the same, bottom end is tighter.

Custom Custom more midrangy than Custom with a much looser bottom end than the custom.

I used to use the Distortion years ago, but now always go with the JB.

 

[PSGuitar]

SH-5
HolyDiver or Alnico Nailbomb.
Suhr Aldrich definitely has tighter bass response than a JB but is still JB-ish
I have a Rio Grande BBQ in the bridge of my Les Paul and I love it , I don't play metal with that guitar, just classic 70's, 80's rock but it brought my Les Paul to life.

Have you tried the Wolfetone Timbrewolf?
Great pickup. It's considered modern but not sure what that means? What's a modern pickup?
It was great in an LP I had.

I also love the Rio Grande BBQ and Suhr Aldrich.

The BBQ does metal well, as well as my other pickups.

BBQ does modern just as well as any other pickup I've owned yet it's said to be a 50s style pickup with more muscle.

I ordered a nickel covered BBQ for my LP Standard. I also have a Suhr Aldrich for that LP, in there now but I want variety since my PRS Singlecut also has an Aldrich.

I may order another Timbrewolf. It's slightly scooped, sort of a Duncan Custom type.

 

[PSGuitar]

What d

Personally I’d go for the Wolfetone Timbre Wolf instead of the alnico Duncan Custom. The latter is too scooped for someone wanting something related to a JB. I’ve always liked the alnico Custom but wished it didn’t lose so much of the midrange push and the Timbre Wolf solved that to me.

Do you find the Timbrewolf sounds full with good low end push?
I had on eyears ago in an LP.
Wolfe says it's a modern pickup but not sure what that means.
They also say the Suhr Aldrich is considered a modern pickup.
Wherasethe Rio BBQ they says is old school, but not sure what any of this means.
PRS Tremonti is one of my favorite pickups along with the original Dragons in my CE22.
My PRS Singlecut has a Suhr Aldrich.
My LP has had lots of pickups and right now has an Aldrich but I miss the BBQ in this LP. It's so far and harmonically rich.
Great for any style.
I wish I could remember how the Timbrewolf compared to all of these. I may have to order another. I recently gave one away with a McCarty I sold and regret it. I may have to spend another $120 and get one.

This may sound odd but I find the Suhr Aldrich, Wolfetones, Rio Grande and so on, sound richer than Duncans. They sound more expensive, if that makes sense. Hard to explain. Clarity, richness, livileness, etc.

 

[Bardagh]

What d

Do you find the Timbrewolf sounds full with good low end push?
I had on eyears ago in an LP.
Wolfe says it's a modern pickup but not sure what that means.
They also say the Suhr Aldrich is considered a modern pickup.
Wherasethe Rio BBQ they says is old school, but not sure what any of this means.
PRS Tremonti is one of my favorite pickups along with the original Dragons in my CE22.
My PRS Singlecut has a Suhr Aldrich.
My LP has had lots of pickups and right now has an Aldrich but I miss the BBQ in this LP. It's so far and harmonically rich.
Great for any style.
I wish I could remember how the Timbrewolf compared to all of these. I may have to order another. I recently gave one away with a McCarty I sold and regret it. I may have to spend another $120 and get one.

This may sound odd but I find the Suhr Aldrich, Wolfetones, Rio Grande and so on, sound richer than Duncans. They sound more expensive, if that makes sense. Hard to explain. Clarity, richness, livileness, etc.

Yeah I like Duncan pickups but the Wolfetone models I have tried have more complexity to them and just offer something that Duncan doesn’t, whether its where their output and frequency response sits or whatever.

I think when he says the Timbre Wolf is a more “modern” pickup he just means its higher output and of course more compressed than the models he’s most known for like the Marshallheads and Dr Vintage.

To me the Timbre Wolf has a good amount of low end, it sounds balanced. I have it currently in a US Peavey LTD (essentially a humbucker equipped strat, very similar to the Wolfgangs except it has an alder body and vintage style hipshot trem) and it really filled this guitar out tonally in a way other pickups couldn’t without being mushy or dark (ahem, DiMarzio). Compared to the Aldrich, the Timbre Wolf’s mids are pulled back, so if you want that real forward midrange focus it’s not the right pickup.

It’s really one of the only pickups that bills itself as a higher output PAF that I think actually delivers on what I imagine that to be.

 

[PSGuitar]

Tha ms for your comments on modern pickups. He must be referencing what you said as it related to his pickups.
My Rio BBQ is rather compressed, maybe more so than my Aldrich and does metal well. It even feels higher output than my Aldrich, yet the Suhr I believe is technically hotter.

My LP has a lit of mids and is rather bright. I'm using a Rio BBQ for now. Also used an Aldrich. Iay give the Timbrewolf a try in it.

I had the TW for years in an old LP I sold. I need another one. I can always sell if it doesn't work for me. My main guitars are singlecuts except my PRS CE22.

My primary bridge pickups are PRS Tremonti, Dragon, Suhr Aldrich and Rio Grande BBQ. Ordering a Timbrewolf.

 

[Bardagh]

Tha ms for your comments on modern pickups. He must be referencing what you said as it related to his pickups.
My Rio BBQ is rather compressed, maybe more so than my Aldrich and does metal well. It even feels higher output than my Aldrich, yet the Suhr I believe is technically hotter.

My LP has a lit of mids and is rather bright. I'm using a Rio BBQ for now. Also used an Aldrich. Iay give the Timbrewolf a try in it.

I had the TW for years in an old LP I sold. I need another one. I can always sell if it doesn't work for me. My main guitars are singlecuts except my PRS CE22.

My primary bridge pickups are PRS Tremonti, Dragon, Suhr Aldrich and Rio Grande BBQ. Ordering a Timbrewolf.

I think he’s still doing 25% off on his website, so it’s not a bad deal at all to get them new through him.

 

[PSGuitar]

I think he’s still doing 25% off on his website, so it’s not a bad deal at all to get them new through him.

I agree,
But if I am really happy with the BBQ in this LP, I may hold off.
I do see the TW going used for about $85-90.

 

[Rex Rocker]

Any of you guys know how a JB or a Duncan Custom compares to a SH-6 Distortion?? I've got a cheap guitar I want to put a new pickup in and it's gonna be one of the three. I've only got real experience with the SH-6... and i kinda want to try something new.

I used to have a SG with a Custom Custom, and that was a great pickup. I'm guessing the Custom is much like that??

The JB has a softer top-end, and and the low-end seems to be shifted up more towards the low mids rather than deeper lows compared to the Distortion. This might give the illusion that it's looser. I don't find that to be the case. Stuffier, yes. Looser, well... objectically, it has less low-end. The JB is lower output (still pretty hot, though, especially for Alnico), and overall feels "narrower" and more mid-focused in the frequency spectrum, I find. Kinda like a Distortion some softness thrown in. Still gets plenty grindy if you need, though.

The Custom is ever so slightly lower output than the JB, I find. It's bright and bold like a Distortion, but it's overall more scoopy. It has A TON more low-end, and less overall mids. I don't find it to be a tight pickup at all, personally. It's very big-sounding (too much, for my taste) and kinda broad-sounding.

 

[Subsonic73]

Any of you guys know how a JB or a Duncan Custom compares to a SH-6 Distortion?? I've got a cheap guitar I want to put a new pickup in and it's gonna be one of the three. I've only got real experience with the SH-6... and i kinda want to try something new.

I used to have a SG with a Custom Custom, and that was a great pickup. I'm guessing the Custom is much like that??

I actually love the Duncan Custom (SH-5), I know it's got less mids in it than the JB or Distortion but I don't really think it's all that scooped like some are saying here.
Unless you're talking about the Custom 5 (SH-14) which definitely has a prominently scooped midrange and feels like it's got a lot of low end.
I can't get on well with the Custom 5 personally, but the regular Custom I think works great in most guitars I've tried.
The Custom is going to have more low end than the Custom Custom you mentioned (SH-11) and not quite as warm, but similar in output.
So honestly if you like the Distortion and you like the Custom Custom, in my experience the Duncan Custom is probably a good one to try.
JB is a good "all around" kind of pickup, meaning it tends to work in a wide variety of situations, styles and guitars, though personally for me I've had as much or more luck with the Duncan Custom than the JB. But again, it's very subjective.