Anyone try these 2 options- JB Jr. vs. Hot Rails

[alanfc]

Anyone try these 2 options- JB Jr. vs. Hot Rails?

 

in the bridge of a Strat?

 

What can you say about their clarity and their output? I know the Hot Rails is massive output, the JB is less.

I loved the sound of my Custom Custom in my Carvin, would the Hot Rails give me that more than the JB JR?

 

thanks

[Guitarzan]

i don't know much about the smaller SD hums like the JBjr.

but they are supposed to be like the big guys.

so a JB (or JB jr) in the bridge of a strat should sound sweet.

how do you like the custom custom? i am considering one for my Kramer project.

i had a hotrail in the bridge of my pacifica tele and it was definately a hot pickup. nice crunch.

[alanfc]

I loved the Custom Custom !

the minute I heard it on the SD site I knew that was it. Its just has this throaty growl to it. To my ears it was almost like a human voice.

 

I'm going for HOT in a pickup because my amp sounds best with the gain =down= and the pickup Hot.

The Hot Rails has the closest output and EQ sig to the Custom Custom.

I'm almost sure I want that.

I've read a million posts on these two and for every positive for one or the other , there's a negative !

[Guitarzan]

the hotrail uses a ceramic magnet and that is the only negative i can say. i can hear brittleness in ceramics. but that may be just me.

i was on the kinman site the other day and he explains how a ceramic or a samarian cobalt magnet can't sound like a good alnico5. he even had soundclips. but then he was refering to a "single coil" pickup.

check this link out for your ammusement.

seeing you have alnico2 magnets in the sh11, i don't know how helpfull this is in explaining the brittleness i hear in ceramic.

this is all sbjective seeing i use a DG100 digital amp and not tube.

 

Kinman site with magnet info

[alanfc]

Yes I remember when I switched to the CustomCustom I was taking out a Scramin Demon (ceramic). I definitely became a believer in magnets effect.

My trouble now is that all the SC sized humbuckers are ceramic.

 

here's the long version that outlines my quest:

 

=========

 

OK after full band volume trial last night, I found the Texas Special single coil bridge in my Strat is totally not my thing. Harsh ! Regardless of treble and presence settings. Too dry, no give...Back on the hunt for SC humbucker for the Bridge.

 

I like my amp (Rivera 55w) with the gain about 4, 4.5.

I learned with my Carvin, using a full sized Custom Custom, I could get the sustain and distortion I wanted, and could keep the amp gain knob down. I like it this way.

 

When I look at the Seymour Duncan Tone chart, the Custom Custom has mids rated at '7', output "high". The Hot Rails also has mids at '7', output "high". I hope/expect that this output on the HotRails will allow me to keep the gain down on my amp yes?

 

I had a good experience with the Lil 59 on a Tele copy, but that was before I realized that my amp sounds best and still rocks hard with the gain low. I only discovered this while using the Custom Custom.

 

The JB Jr. output is rated at "moderate/high"

 

The question now is,

for those of you who've tried all three of these in your Strat bridges (hot rails, JB Jr, Lil 59)-

is the the JB Jr. closer in output to the Lil 59? Or the Hot Rails?

 

To define my core tone, I 'd say its a bit of old school 80's and striving for a little bit of that New Steve Stevens tone. No position 2 on the Strat, all pure bridge only.

[Blue Strat]

I've got a JB jr. in my Strat (bridge) and have had a Seymour Duncan Performer series Scorcher (a cheaper foreign made version of the Hot Rails) in the bridge of a Rogue ST-3 strat copy. I like the JB jr. better. It's lower output, but the tone is more like a classic humbucker. The Scorcher is very hot, and it will overdrive your amp quicker. It's got less treble than the JB jr., and more bass and midrange. The Scorcher has a bit of mud, the JB jr. is crystal clear.

 

Listen to Iron Maiden's Brave New World for the sound of the JB jr. The sound of the Hot Rails/Scorcher is closer to System of a Down's Ariels

[alanfc]

OK thanks

 

I think I'm getting the JB Jr.

 

especially since talking to our other guitar player who thought his hot rails were "harsh and trebly" I don't know how much of this is due to his solid state amp or not

thanks

[Bejeeber]

For what it's worth, I've had both the full size and the JB Jr. loaded in the bridge position on strats before, and although I didn't compare them side by side, my feeling was that the JB Jr. did in fact sound smaller, thinner and more shrill, which I guess shouldn't be too surprising.