All user reviews for the Seymour Duncan SH-4 JB Model

Mounted on my Charvel San Dimas Style 2 by a bridge with 59 'in neck.
The sound is very rich and gives a big part of his character in my Charvel.
A full ball, on any amp lamp, it reeks of Slash. I also love playing the big Texas blues.
In middle position with 59 ', it leaves the big eye on the funk that his Red Hot.
Most is stored by the Sustain Jumbo guitar and harmonics much fat coming out of everywhere.

For the sound, and beautiful harmonics
http://www.myspace.com/485502828
All the guitars of the song "West" out live on an AC30, a hot rod III and a simulated dual grinder.

So HSH configuration, it makes SH4-SSL4-SH2neck. On a guitar Ibanez Prestige S2075W modern mahogany-rosewood fingerboard with zero-Floyd. Skyscraper designed to be versatile. Very nice violin, excellent mechanics and a round of the prestigious (love). But nothing in his level.

Since yesterday, I have these new pickups (installed with my little fingers), I DO NOT FEEL MORE SHIP ... I told myself before that was versatile scraper for amateur and now she is versatile with a pro sound and stage.

If you have the same type of guitar and you want to do everything in one, micro adopt this configuration. With SH2n one makes Django or Hendrix or a prelude to Beethoven, I SSL4 with Gilmour and Chris Rea Blues to then I Fenderise in intermediate, and finally with SH4 i am born to be wild. The SH2 is downright beautiful and SSL4 surprised by her presence as a single coil as a prince among the 2 doubles.

No parasites.

The JB pickup! One of the most standardized duncan pickups on the market today! Comes stock in the bridge in almost every decently made guitar. Let me just clarify one thing before I go on, JB doesn't stand for jeff beck. It does NOT. A lot of people have confused this for some reason, I don't even know how it began but it's not for jeff beck. Jeff beck doesn't even use this pickup as far as I can remember! It stands for jazz/blues.

Ok back to the pickup review. It's a decent pickup, and can be used for many applications. This review will be one for the JB as a bridge pickup, which is what it's famous for. A lot of artists used the JB pickup for a lot of their recordings, so many I can't even begin to name them it'll just take forever!

Cleans: As a bridge pickup it's not bad, it's nothing to write home about either, it's relatively clean, doesn't break up and is definitely a usable clean. But the distortion is where it's at.

Dirty: This is what made it WORLD famous. It's sharp but not too sharp, and clear, I'd say it's high output, though it's not as high output as other pickups out there today. Depending on the amp you can get some very tight metal sounds out of this pickup. Again it is tight, and sharp, not flubby. Which, for some people is or isn't good. It depends on the guitar, I think for the majority, most players prefer it in a mahogany-bodied guitar to balance out the bright/sharpness that the JB offers. This is highly famous due to it being a rock or heavier tastes of music type of pickup. I don't personally know anybody that uses the JB for anything else. Andy Timmons used to use this pickup for years and his tones have always been great, and yes I would consider him rock.

I've also owned a guitar that had the JB coil tapped, and was not impressed with the tones either. I don't know what it is but it wasn't very musical to me, sort of just flat and lifeless.

Overall as i've stated it's a decent pickup, the cleans are good and the distortion is tight and sharp. The harmonics don't fly out compared to other guitars as the gain structure of this pickup seems to be a little different it seems. When I palm mute, the mutes don't come out as strong as if i strummed chords even with the same amount of strength put into it. I noticed this over years of playing different guitars with different pickups. I don't know what it is about the dynamics of this pickup that makes it so, but that's what I disliked about it. But then again it's in almost every guitar from the factory now so it must've worked for a lot of other players before me! It cleaned ok decently with the volume rolled down but of course you'd need to do the treble-bleed mod, I do it on all my guitars now just out of principle. I give it a 7. It's good but it's not perfect, but it's very usable and versatile for rock and heavier music, but not for anything else, even though it's labeled as a jazz/blues pickup.

The Seymour Duncan JB is, without a doubt, the most popular pickup in the Seymour Duncan lineup. It has been one of the pinnacle pickups in the ‘80s, and it’s still extremely popular today. It features slugs on one coil, adjustable screw heads on another, four conductor wiring and an Alnico 5 magnet.

The JB is an extremely love or hate pickup. It has such polarizing opinions that it’s crazy. The biggest reason is that it’s very picky when it comes to what guitar it mates to. It’s also very picky when it comes to pickup height. Both of these can lead to either an amazing sound or an awful sound, depending on what it was mated with.

The low end on this is fairly vintage sounding. It’s not terribly tight, but it’s just tight enough to work for metal. The midrange is a bit “stringy” at times, and the treble has a bite to it. This helps it really cut through the mix, and it generally doesn’t get too harsh. Split coil and parallel tones are great, too.

I find this pickup to sound best in mahogany. Most of the time, when I try it in alder, it sounds a bit too bright. However, it totally depends on the guitar in question. In my alder bodied Strat, this pickup just screams like crazy. The same went for my alder bodied ESP M-II. It’s really a pickup you have to try for yourself to see if you like it, and be sure to spend some time with it adjusting the pickup height. Some people use the JB in the neck, and while it does work, I find there are better pickups out there for the neck.

Given how popular the JB is, it’s worth at least trying one time in your life. They’re so plentiful that they’re very cheap on the used market, so there’s no reason to avoid it. If you don’t like it, just sell it or maybe swap in a ceramic magnet to have a baby Duncan Distortion.

Seymour Duncan's JB pickup has been burning up stages, studios and bedrooms for over 30 years now. It has become one of the most popular all-around blues/rock/metal pickups in existence. Many guitar companies such as Schecter and ESP install the JB in the bridge position of many of their upper level guitars stock.

The JB is built around an Alnico V pickup which delivers exceptional harmonics and overtones, as well as juicy overdrive and chimey clean tones. The strong point of this bucker is its versatility. It is literally equally at home playing blues, classic rock, modern hard rock or heavy metal. It may not be the best choice for modern, ultra aggressive metal tones, where a ceramic pup with an extreme tight low end is preferred, but plenty of modern bands use the JB for aggressive metal tones.

I currently have the JB in two of my guitars; a Schecter C-1 Classic and a G&L Invader. The Schecter has a mahogany body with a maple top and a neck thru design with rosewood board. This is a very dense and warm guitar, and the JB sounds very good in it. It may not be the absolute best choice for this guitar, but it delivers good note separation and an addictive airy quality that I love. At first I felt that the high end was too shrill in this guitar, but I've grown to like the detail in the highs.

In the Alder bodied G&L, the pickup delivers perfect rock distortion sounds. The G&Ls are known for their "snappy" response and tone, and the fact that it has a bolt-on maple neck adds to this spanky, snappy sound. The JB is a near-perfect fit in this guitar, producing rich and warm overdrive, that cuts through with a nice airy sizzle, but doesn't get harsh.

As great as these pickups are, I am always searching for something better. I've recently spent a fair amount of time on the phone with several custom pickup builders and when they ask what I'm looking for, I catch myself saying "something like a JB, but better". After several years of tone searching, I'm beginning to wonder if there really is a better pickup for rock. I still want to try some of the boutique pickups that are becoming popular, like Motor City and Bare Knuckles, but I don't have several hundred dollars to drop for a set of pickups.

The JB is a time tested workhorse that suits most styles of electric guitar playing. If you haven't yet, check one out.

For how long have you been using it?

Purchased in December 2009 for 99 euros in the corner store.

Did you try many other models before getting this one?

I tried emg 81/85 mounted on a deluxe ltd viper 1000. I much preferred the sound duncan, emg because the lack of heat, too cold for my taste.

What thing do you like most/least about it?

Most: its power and precision! but pinaise! I love this microphone

The least I do not know, I fell in love with this microphone

What is your opinion about the value for the price?

This mic is worth its price! it is EXCELLENT.

Knowing what you know now, would you make the same choice?

Yes eyes closed and doights in the nose =)

I use it for 6months

I is not tried the other models since microphones is virtually impossible to try for various obvious reasons ....

with this microphone we can play all the classics of rock. placed on a copy of Les Paul quality correct (Hagstrom Deluxe for me) we find immediately what his history ...
While there will be less than a gibson Personalities 57 but will always be more versatile. it made want to, I think it is warm and clear, so good in clear and full.
My favorite sounds are the sounds of Stratocasters, but when I want a Les Paul sound of "classic" with this mic I have is exactly what I wanted.

the ratio Q / P is good since we can find new for less than 80th, for a mic of this quality is very interaissant.

(Originally written by lemondedejef/translated from Audiofanzine FR)
Originally mounted on a Fernandes Monterey Elite (Les Paul-like) with mahogany body, set mahogany neck, maple top.

I added a pickup housing connected to the shield so I have no noise problems. No need for "wax potter" with modern pickups.

Sound: I had to do lots of tests to find the perfect height. I can't say it enough: height dramatically changes the response of a pickup!

The pickup produces a singing sound with superb overtones. With the housing and an average height it sounds fat and has a wide dynamic range.

Clean sounds are precise and crystal-clear but not sharp or aggressive.

With distortion it's very versatile and it sounds good from light crunch to heavy metal.

The SH-4 is quite unique because it has a strong character but also a great versatility!

Using this on and off for like... 15 years? I have always had one of these in one guitar or another.. lol. I like this pickup overall. It is pretty balanced.. pretty hot.... but backs off nicely. Not scorching like a Gibson 500T for example, but still has enough gas in the tank to rock.. without the spikey trebles. Things I like least about it..hmmm. Well, it could have a bit more character.. I would not call it a bland pickup per se, nor would I call it a blank canvas. The overall characteristic would be the fact that it is balanced.. probably a good choice for a studio guitarist.. an inoffensive tone that can do heavy or clean. Ultimately, the benefit of this is versatility.
I've had this in basswood, alder, mahogany, alder with maple tops, mahogany with maple tops, etc, etc. guitars. It has a different character with all of them, but you always know it is a JB. There is always speculation, and reference that this is a "Jeff Beck" signature pickup... it has never been. Not sure, but there was some controversy regarding this as to Seymour trying to pass it off as a a signature model.. not sure how the legend goes. LOL! It actually stands for "Jazz Bridge". Hence, the fact that it is very balanced... good for fusion.

As I mentioned.. I have always had this in one or more of my guitars for over a decade. I would say I am fairly sold on this pickup. I think this is a good value given the prices for Gibson pickups for example... which are no better than this. I would make the same choice.... owning this pickup does not stop me from owning other pickups... if I could only own ONE pickup, I might reconsider .. then again.. I might not! It covers a lot of bases.. it could be considered an all-in-one solution.