nofearfactor

I play modern metal in one band and industrial/metal in another band. I play superstrats and LPs or LP shapes w/EMG81s into rack rigs with Fractal AX-FX Ultra and Digitech GSP1101 preamp/effects processors into Marshall 9200 Dual MonoBloc and Peavey Classic 50/50 power amps into multiple cabs.

I'm getting ready to do a big trade deal on some gear with a budd and will be getting another ESP,an LTD EC-1000, in the trade but instead of my usual EMG actives that are in my other ESPs this model comes with a SD JB in the bridge and a 59' in the neck. The only experience I have with any of SD pickups are with the active Blackouts. Most of my guitars,including my 78' LP Standard Ive had for 20 years,all have EMG81/81s in them. The only guitars I have that have passives in them are my 2 87' Charvel Model Twos that have DiMarzio ToneZones. When I play those guitars in the same rigs that I play my guitars with actives in them I dont ever have to change any EQing.

Is the JB any good for metal? Everything Ive read so far on a few other forums and in reviews says that theyre not good pickups for metal,rock yes. Any info or experiences would be helpful. I more than likely will just install some EMGs but if I dont have to I wont.

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rockinr0ll

If you are use to EMG pickups than the JB may not be enough for you. For me it is fine but I really don't like EMG pickups.

JB: think Jeff Beck, Kurt Cobain, Avenged Sevenfold etc...

EMG: think Zakk Wylde, Between The Buried And Me etc...

Buggs.Crosby

whoever said they are not good for metal has no clue.....but with that said i agree with rockandroll....the will not sound lie EMG's....but to my ears half the people that use EMG's sound exactly the same

luekemeyer

Here's a JB... I have played with other setups that are able to get pretty close to a heavy metal sound..

core

The JB/Jazz setup was and is still the standard for a lot of metal players as far as passive pickups go. Dave Mustaine didn't use them since the 80's for nothing! Can't get any more metal than Megadeth!

Listen to Rust in Peace. Those are JB's through a Jackson King V and Marshall amps. The Jazz will be a nice clean pickup for the neck to do classically clean parts. I had a '59 in one of my old Jackson V's and I didn't like it as much as the Jazz, it was a little gritty/bluesy. But for the bridge the JB was a killer for metal!

BTW with your amp setup (Love the GSP 1101!) and JB's in the Les Paul you'll get a very metal sound and comparable to a lot of metal old and newer. I think you'll like 'em.

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jerryjg

Jb's and EMG's are both the definitive '80's heavy metal sound with EMG's having more of that punchy tight ripping chainsaw sound. . If you want something a littel more over the top but in a passive design., go with a Duncan Custom or Dimebucker or a Dimarzio X2n or D-activator/X.

Marshall Mann

+10 Core

They will work for metal. Possibly, sightly more metal than Mustaine - Bill Steer (Napalm Death and Carcass) used them exclusively in his RG's. One of my favorite Guitar Tones.

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core

He may like the Dimebucker but I got rid of mine as it doesn't sound so good for me through tube amps.

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luekemeyer

The Dimebucker sucks, sold it on e-bay... Replaced it with an EMG 81, much better. I have D-Activator, that one I like.

luekemeyer

I think that is the key, the Dimebucker is great through a solid state amp, not made for a marshall..

nofearfactor

Wow,cool. I'm just a lazy ****er and if I dont have to change those pickups out I aint. I was plannin on puttin a ToneZone in the bridge and a Norton in the neck if I stayed with passives instead of rewiring the guitar for the EMGs. If the JB does sound good I will probably just keep it in there.

core

Yes indeed Lueke.

Was looking at an Exodus video the other day and we was rattling off gear. The Duncan Custom was a pickup he uses quite a bit.

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eljeffebrown

I like the Duncan Distortion better. seems like it has more bite!

check out the differance in tone

Duncan Distortion W Ceramic Magnets

JB Model W Alnico V's (standard)

JB Model W Ceramic Magnets

EDIT: I use EMG 81's in both my stage guitars and I love them. I am waiting for my custom P.U's to come in and I might be switching out to passives completely, don't know yet anyway, I just put a Duncan Distortion (sounds great) in my Samick which is a place holder for my Madhouse Designs Custom pickup (their winder broke down so my pickup has been delayed) but now I'm getting a hand wound 8.5k single coil for the neck out of the wait so I can't complain.

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core

Oh man you don't know how many lonely nights I spent listening to all those clips!

Glad you brought them in to the mix ElJeff.

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Marshall Mann

Oh yeah, me too! My wife came down and said "WTF is wrong with you! How many times do you need to hear that!"

I have SD distortions in 2 of my LP's, and I love them.

But I think nofearfactor is asking if the JBs that are already in the Eclipse will do metal. And they will.

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luekemeyer

I just put the Tone Zone and Norton in my Epi LP.. They would sound better in a brighter guitar..

Xx DBENC xX

Almost all of my guitars have a JB and I play metal. Just go to Guitar Center and play a ESP with a JB and it'll answer the question for you. In fact ESP is known for metal and most of there guitars have either a EMG or a Duncan JB.

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jerryjg

Tone Zone is the greatest pickup for the power chord "Wall of Sound".

jerryjg

How do you think they compare to the Duncan Custom w/ ceramic magnet?;

http://anonymouse.org/cgi-bin/anon-w...er/Track35.mp3

eljeffebrown

I like the tonal structure of the custom but the gain isn't quite there ya know?

EDIT: still like the distortion better (00:04 in the tune) out of them all tonally and gain!

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psphill27

Great pickup. I have them in a couple of my guitars and I love them. In the 80s I had two Kramer Berettas that had JBs in the and they freakin' rocked. As mention earlier in the thread, Dave Mustaine used them for years until just recently when he switched to his signature SD active pickups. BUT...I don't really notice a difference in his tone. It's still killer...but it was killer when he used JBs.

Xx DBENC xX

Also consider the versatility of the JB. As apposed to the EMG being more one dimensional.

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zslane

I am curious about this. Could you elaborate?

I have never had the opportunity to try a JB, so I don't know anything about its versatility, or how I would go about experiencing it. I do have one guitar that came with EMGs, and so far I haven't been able to discern any particular tonal deficiencies, but it could be that I just don't know what to listen for.

My amps are all-tube Marshalls for the most part; how would you recommend I go about demonstrating (to myself) that the EMGs are one-dimensional and that a JB is versatile? I am considering putting a JB in one or two guitars down the line, and would like to know how to assess its strengths, so to speak.

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nofearfactor

Thats mainly what I'm after with my sound any ways,as well as flat EQ'd, digital,cold and sterile. I have no need for warm,organic and toneful and I dont really need any versatility. I'm not now or ever going to be a versatile player. I play one type of music in 2 different bands- metal. I run into a digital preamp/effetcs processor then into either a 200watt or a 100watt stereo tube power amp into stereo or multiple mono cabs. The only difference in the 2 bands I'm in is that I'm more out front in the metal band and basically just a side player in the industrial band mixing with the synth/keys/samples/DJ guy. EMG actives are perfect for my playing style and sound and have been for a long time,no need to mess with my tone now at this point of my playing. When I do use a guitar with a passive pup I like it to be high output with alot of harmonics and alot of crunch and drive. Not that the JB doesnt sound good,it just didnt have the sound I am looking for. I will be changing out the Duncans for actives today. I spent all last night putting EMG81's in a Schecter Damian FR that I got in the trade and took the EMG HZ-4's from the Schecter and replaced the HZ-1's that were in an ESP-LTD EC-300 that I got in the trade also. I like the 4s better than the 1s,theyre closer to the sound of an 81. I dont know if the JB was more powerful than the HZs,just a different sound than I'm used to.

I got the EC-1000,the EC-300 and the Schecter Damian in exchange for a Peavey 5150 EVH block letter head and an old Peavey MS412 cab. I think I came out pretty good on the trade. I already had copies of the same guitars but I can always use backups,and I had 3 of the 5150 heads from back when I used 5150s. I'm keeping my other 2 5150s w/ Eds signature.

Xx DBENC xX

Well if you only play metal and nothing else than active pickups are for you. There's a reason EMG endorses Kerry King and not David Gilmour. That said, you could play both through a JB. Now you can play anything you want through EMG's but the JB can play Metal, Blues, Classic Rock you name it. Just my opinion EMG's are like solid state amps whereas the JB is a tube amp. But your question is "can the JB do metal" and the answer is yes. But it seems that you already made up your mind that EMG's are for you.

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Xx DBENC xX

R

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ESP LTD EC1000 Deluxe Seymour JB/59
<--- Pictured

Xx DBENC xX

Reading your signature you say you have 5 Les Pauls and 2 Marshall tube amps. I seriously doubt you don't understand what versatility means in regards to the JB.

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zslane

I have numerous guitars with numerous pickups, and other than the very obvious difference between single-coils and humbuckers, all the pickups sound more or less the same to me. The EMGs in my RR-1 sound no better or worse, no more or less "versatile", than Alnico II Pros or 490/498 pups or DiMarzio D-Activators or SD Blackouts I have in other guitars. I mean, they all sound great to my ears and I have no reason to believe I couldn't use any of them for blues, rock, metal, or whatever.

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siav

Mann! I grew up between G'n'R and Carcass

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psphill27

Well...I guess I can weigh in here. I have guitars with EMGs ZW signatures in them, guitars with SDs (JB, '59, SH-6) and LPs with the stock Gibson pups...and can notice a big difference. The only time I can use the EMGs is if I'm playing full on metal. I don't even like them for playing '80s era hair band metal. Let alone stepping back to the '60s or '70s stuff. Try playing some Zepplin on EMGs...it sounds terrible.

Now...I'm 41 and been playing guitar for 30 years, so I don't know, maybe I just pick up on other tonal difference than some people do. But you don't get that nice warm organic tone out of EMGs...I don't care what amps and effects you put it through.

With that said...I love EMGs and I also love passive pups...especially SDs. They all have their place in different genres of music. If I want to bust out some Black Label Society or Slayer (yes...I play that stuff too), I totally reach for my LP loaded with EMGs. However, classic rock, 80s metal, blues, or my bands originals...I have to use passive pups.

You have to use the right tool for the right job.