Pickup recommendation needed. Alternative to SH4 JB?

[fearhk213]

The SH-6 wouldn’t be a bad option at all. It still has squish, but it’s tighter than the JB. It would be good if you aren’t wanting to stray way off course tonally from what you already have.

I played some Fishman Fluence Classics recently, and those would easily do what you want. They are very immediate and much firmer. Still very “active” sounding and feeling imo, but I thought they sounded and played great.

Another potential option, though more modern sounding, would be the Lundgren Black Heaven. It also has that upper mid thing, but it’s more modern. Definitely tighter and more percussive.

 

[BesaMoogie]

Reason I ask is I went from EB nickel plated Slinky 11-48’s to Fender pure nickel 150R 10-46’s and it tightened the bass up a ton. Same tension as the 11’s! Ed used these and that is probably why he played 9-44’s. TOTALLY changed the bass to the degree I could dime my tone stack. Ymmv but worth a shot. Highs will be more musical too since you’re running twice the load the JB is designed for with 500K pots.

Good advice. I will keep that in mind and grab some of those strings next time I order new ones.

 

[BesaMoogie]

Anyone ever swap mags in a sh6

For my understanding, the SH4, SH6 and alternative 8 all have the same winding but used different magnets.

 

[1984_5150]

Dean Baker Act pickup

 

[Ben Waylin]

Dean Baker Act pickup

I have a box full of those.

Anyone know what magnets they have in them ?

 

[1984_5150]

I have a box full of those.

Anyone know what magnets they have in them ?

BAKER ACT​

Pat Baker is the driving force behind the DMT pickup line. As a player, Pat is perhaps the finest shred/rock player you will hear. His signature pickup The BAKER ACT has the output, guts, and grit that players of his stature are entitled to.
What to expect: High output • Great low & mid response • Very dynamic

Position	Bridge / G&F-Spaced
Bobbin/Cvr Color	Black/Black, Cream/Black
Cable	4 Conductor
Magnet	Alnico 5
DC Resistance	17.3K

 

[scottosan]

Anyone ever swap mags in a sh6

A JB is the same wind as a JB, just different magnet. All of the custom series are the same except magnets. The jazz and aph1n are same, just different magnets. It's all marketing for $4 and some cloth tape and some carefully hands and you can easily do this yourselves

 

[anomaly]

Seymour Duncan Distortion would be a good choice. I'm a EMG guy, but when I gotta use passives I generally go for a Duncan Distortion, i've also got good tones from the Duncan custom custom. Very tight and well balanced pickups.

Maybe try a boost for your dual rec? A maxon od808, or ts9 works great with those amps. I really don't think you need to swap the pickup to be honest, just a good boost will do the trick IMO.

 

[JohnnyGtar]

After falling down the pickup rabbit-hole over the past couple of years, I have found that for hard rock to heavy stuff, the off the shelf SH/TB 5 Duncan Custom with the Ceramic mag is a zero disappointment choice. Absolutely - there may be better choices for specific guitar / amp combos or tastes, but it’s to find anyone saying that a Duncan Custom flat didn’t work or sounded ‘bad’ in any guitar.

This. I once bought a guitar that came stock with a JB. It was meh so I planned on changing it. Slapped a Duncan Custom in there and my search was over.

 

[Searay]

I've tried most of the Duncan line and a couple of Dimarzios in the same old Fender Contemporary single p/u body and have formed the opinion that I'd rather deal with the alleged shortfalls of the JB than change again. I think its still the best all around best sound best value pickup out there after all these years.

 

[Racerxrated]

If you want to stay Duncan, Custom is my fav. The RTM is like a perfected JB if you want that JB thing but better.

Tone Nerd Pups slay them all though, imo. Even the Wagners which are also great-id still go Sunset Strip over anything else for what you are going for. Roxy is very good as well.

 

[Rex Rocker]

For my understanding, the SH4, SH6 and alternative 8 all have the same winding but used different magnets.

I don't think the JB and Distortion have been either confirmed or denied, but bottom line is, if they're not the same wind, they're very close. I've swapped magnets on both, but even before the magnet swap, I find them both to be similar in many ways.

The Invader falls in the same family, I think. Just different polepieces and magnet structure.

I´m pretty sure the Alternative 8 is a different wind altogether. The wire poking through the hole on the bobbins is a different color (different insulation), and the DCR is higher on the Alt 8 than the JB/Distortion.

 

[Searay]

Regarding the RTM, I got one and tried it in two instruments with production JB's in them. They do tame the highs a bit, and maybe a bit more grindy in comparison. I guess I like the sound of the plain old production JB best and tame the highs with the amp rather than the pickup. I have not heard of some of the suggested pu's, I just wonder what the new builders are doing different with the same components to make them unique.

 

[Spaceboy]

I might be the only person on this board that likes the JB more than the Aldrich. Aldrich is very similar but sounds like a more polite JB.

 

[scottosan]

Regarding the RTM, I got one and tried it in two instruments with production JB's in them. They do tame the highs a bit, and maybe a bit more grindy in comparison. I guess I like the sound of the plain old production JB best and tame the highs with the amp rather than the pickup. I have not heard of some of the suggested pu's, I just wonder what the new builders are doing different with the same components to make them unique.

Wind patterns and wind counts all affect inductance and capacitance. Together those things determined resonant peak of a pickup. No 2 pickup winders are going to create an identical combination of those 2. While I may be able to come up with the same resonant peak by adjusting one of those 2 parameters, you'll end up with the pickup being a different inductance/DCR and the q factor (steepness of the slope) of the resonant peaks will be different.

 

[BesaMoogie]

All my PU swaps boil down to replacing a cheap PU in a not so expensive guitar with something after market. So usually it sounded better after the swap, but I never really went into the whole rabbit hole.

After so much praise for ToneNerd PUs, I decided to go with the SunsetStrip. If I ever decide to look any further, I guess this PU will become the benchmark.
Meanwhile I got some different magnets for the JB, so I can do some experimentation with it.

 

[fearhk213]

I might be the only person on this board that likes the JB more than the Aldrich. Aldrich is very similar but sounds like a more polite JB.

I wasn’t a huge Aldrich fan. Sometimes the “improved” JB types end up too soft or polite when they tame the upper mids too much.

 

[johnny q]

I might be the only person on this board that likes the JB more than the Aldrich. Aldrich is very similar but sounds like a more polite JB.

No, I am the other guy. I had the Aldrich set in both my LP Custom and PRS Custom 22 (which both previously had the JB/Jazz combo.) I went back to the JB/Jazz in both guitars. The Aldrich is great, but to your point it lacks the charm of the JB.

 

[Searay]

I have JB’s because I gave up on everything else.

 

[anomaly]

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??