« Not a good fit for a 7 string »

The Seymour Duncan JB is one of the most popular pickups offered by them.  Put this in just about anything and it will really wake it up. There is no wonder why so many guitar makers put these pickups in their guitars. From ESP to Jackson you can find models that use the Seymour Duncan JB usually paired up with its buddy the Jazz in the neck. It can do just about anything but when they made a 7 string version of it they are really pushing the design beyond its limits. The pickup does not have the low end response needed to work well in a 7 string guitar. The JB is more at home in Les Paul type guitars. The vintage voicing in this pickup is what makes it not good in the 7 string guitars.. The low end on this pickup has a bit of sag to it. This is what you want when you want an old school sounding pickup. You want something that sits well with a nice old combo and works well for your blues licks. With a 7 string pickup you want something with super output but super tight low end. The JB has decent output but the low end isnt nearly tight enough for a 7 string. There arent many 7 string players looking for vintage tone. 7 string players want a aggressive razor sharp tone for their aggressive razor sharp riffs. Because of the loose low end a good application for this pickup in a 7 string would be if you had a super bright guitar like something made of all maple or a similar wood. If you have a 7 string and are trying to tame the high end for some reason this pickup could do that fairly well. For 7 string and extended range applications I would strongly recommend a set of active pickups. Most passive pickups being old school or traditional in design are not designed to handle the frequencies extended range guitars put out.