I feel a lot of people don't realize how much of a game changer the JB was... Formerly the Dimarzio Super Distortion was the king of heavy lead guitar sounds but despite its higher output they didn't have enough of a "scooped EQ" with high mids to cut through a lot of thick 80's mixes for pop music like the JB did.
Was the Duncan JB the signature 80's lead sound?
- Thread starter Mad_Hater
- Start date
BFT Gibson
Ambassador of Originality
Thing i like about JB is rolling back has such a fat rythym tone then dime it for slice & dice....such a versatile pickup.
No. It's not about the pickup. It's about what you plug the guitar into.
gball
Ambassador of Boogie
A Duncan Distortion or JB results in something very different from, say, a T-Top when you plug into the amps du jour of the era, like a JCM-800. They made a huge difference in the days before gain was cheap, just as the sound of the '70 was a DiMarzio Super Distortion into a JMP.
Sapient
Ambassador of Vocal Inspiration
Not sure the exact pickups but I'd define the '80s guitar sound regarding rock/metal starting from a high gain Les Paul sound to an even higher gain but less bodied Jackson sound. In both cases the use of tubes was always obvious - we didn't hear compressor smashed liquid metal simulators back then yet, thank God. Guitar always had "Tube Chunk" to it back then.
I never pickup swapped too much ...or at least kept them in - somehow I always ended up liking the originals better. Had a set of DiMarzio Fred pickups with magnets as big as manhole lids once but the gain was too high and the feedback was horrible.
From what I know of the Duncan JB pickups they could come right in the middle of the sounds I pointed out and do both pretty well.
I never pickup swapped too much ...or at least kept them in - somehow I always ended up liking the originals better. Had a set of DiMarzio Fred pickups with magnets as big as manhole lids once but the gain was too high and the feedback was horrible.
From what I know of the Duncan JB pickups they could come right in the middle of the sounds I pointed out and do both pretty well.
RobinS
Well-Known Member
For me the sound of the ´80s was what Gary Moore, Vivian Campbell and Matthias Jabs used (some others as well) - a JCM800 with a BOSS DS1 in front and of course on (almost)full volume, Matthias used a 1979 Superlead but that was very close to the JCM800.
Vivian used the DiMarzio Superdistortion on Holy Diver, Matthias used a Bill Lawrence in his black Strat and the stock Gibson with his Explorer, Gary Moore used some EMGs in the mid 80s.
I think it is more the player than the pickup.
You can make some serious sounds using a T-Top and a BOSS DS1 plugged into a JCM800.
Back in those days I used a Rockinger Strat with a DiMarzio X2N pickup into a JCM800 or Laney AOR (and my Hoyer V of course - a Seymour Duncan 59 in the bridge position).
I have the JB in my Charvel San Dimas (MiJ) it has a solid tone but a bit muddy in the midrange, not as clear as a Duncan 59 or the T-Top.
The Duncan has more bottom end and the T-Top has more bite.
Life is good,
Robin
Vivian used the DiMarzio Superdistortion on Holy Diver, Matthias used a Bill Lawrence in his black Strat and the stock Gibson with his Explorer, Gary Moore used some EMGs in the mid 80s.
I think it is more the player than the pickup.
You can make some serious sounds using a T-Top and a BOSS DS1 plugged into a JCM800.
Back in those days I used a Rockinger Strat with a DiMarzio X2N pickup into a JCM800 or Laney AOR (and my Hoyer V of course - a Seymour Duncan 59 in the bridge position).
I have the JB in my Charvel San Dimas (MiJ) it has a solid tone but a bit muddy in the midrange, not as clear as a Duncan 59 or the T-Top.
The Duncan has more bottom end and the T-Top has more bite.
Life is good,
Robin
Yeah, Gary Moore definitely had "the 80's" sound and I love it. Photos of him always seem to show him playing an old LP or Gibson semi-hollow but the actual tone on those songs sounds like a mid heavy Super Strat with some gain boost and a ton of lush chorus, delay, and reverb.
I had no idea Vivian Campbell played on Holy Diver! I wouldn't really consider that a quintessential 80's sound though as in the early 80's metal guys were still rocking the older sounds... Metal-wise, I'd consider more like Jake E Lee's tone to define the period.
Funny you mention the Duncan '59 and JB in different guitars, I actually have a Charvel with both pups and they blend really well together!
Was solid state. GK.
100% depends on what you plug it into and how you set it up.
This is a T-Top.
Guitar is a 71 Les Paul Custom.
Same guitar...same pickup. Different setup.
It's what you put (or don't put) after the guitar. Always.
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Headache
Ambassador of all that is Heavy
Viv had a wine red Les Paul deluxe that he sanded and had it repainted black. It was equipped with a DiMarzio X2N and that's what he used to record the first 2 Dio albums with.
Go to about 3 minute mark
I tried putting an X2N in my Les Paul and hated it ha ha ha. I do like that pickup in my Jackson Warrior though..
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Headache
Ambassador of all that is Heavy
This exactly.