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JBE P90's


NighthawkChris

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http://www.guitarcen...L4GC-adType^PLA

 

I am curious to know what these JBE P90's are like... I have wired in a JBE mini-humbucker and single coil into my Epiphone Nighthawk ST3 replica, and they sound awesome. Higher output, very clear, and completely noiseless as advertised. Anyhow, any thoughts or experiences regarding JBE pickups would be nice to hear about. This pickup set I gave a link to indicates a cost of nearly $300 for a set which is not cheap for pickups (let's say $150 each). I pretty much expect them to be non-traditional sounding, but that doesn't mean they don't sound great... Danny Gatton called these the Mercedes Benz of pickups and put these (not the P90's of course, but some single coil JBE's) in his Telecaster. I thought just pose this question and see what comes back. Thanks!

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I had Bardens in 4 teles and a strat, 20 odd years ago. They were their own thing for sure, not quite a single, not a humbucker. More like a HiFi pickup. Really crisp cleans, hard to drive over. I used a Fender Prosonic and no pedals, so I could get some good grind out of them with that amp. All in all it lasted probably two, three years at most for me, and I moved on.

 

I also used Fralins in a couple other guitars at that time. If was to go back to singles it would be Fralins for sure.

 

rct

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I had Bardens in 4 teles and a strat, 20 odd years ago. They were their own thing for sure, not quite a single, not a humbucker. More like a HiFi pickup. Really crisp cleans, hard to drive over. I used a Fender Prosonic and no pedals, so I could get some good grind out of them with that amp. All in all it lasted probably two, three years at most for me, and I moved on.

 

I also used Fralins in a couple other guitars at that time. If was to go back to singles it would be Fralins for sure.

 

rct

 

Cool man, thanks for the tip! Those Fralins look pretty interesting to check out. I have no personal experience with these but I am curious as to how have these affected your tone of the guitars you have had these installed in for the better or worse? I wonder how the Fralin P90 compares to the Gibson P90... I just don't think that many people replace their Gibson P90's for anything else because the Gibson P90 sound is so good!

 

And I agree with your suggested classification of the JBE's as a Hi-Fi pickup... Definitely a thing of their own. I personally have been into more clean tones (jazz guitar style) so these have done me good in my Epi-Hawk. The stock pickups sounded like poo, so anything I suppose would have been an improvement. They were some OBL Asian knock-offs. They said OBL on the plastic rail cover, but they were weak! I wasn't impressed with them after 20 years. I gladly welcomed an upgrade as the real NH stock sounded so much better than the Epi-Hawk stock.

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It is my experience that if you seek a sound normally associated with Gibsons use their pickups. I don't have any replacements in any of my Gibsons ever, even the dreaded 490s things are stock.

 

Fenders I replace with their version of noiseless and I also like Duncan Vintage Stacks for Tele/Esquire.

 

rct

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rct,

 

Agreed with Gibson guitars not being modified unnecessarily. I never would buy an expensive guitar to modify it - such as a Gibson. This doesn't make sense to me. The only guitar I own that has modifications (pickups) is my (1996 MIK) Epiphone Nighthawk which I have owned since 2000 or 2001. And these pickups like I said were pretty sad compared to the real deal Nighthawk. It's not really a collectible guitar, and I still have the original pickups and electronics. I have done more modifications on guitars for other people - since I am fairly skilled with a soldering iron, this is a service I can provide. I always like finding out how these guitars sound after the pickup change.

 

I haven't any experience with Fender mods (never owned a Fender guitar), but watching others modify 3 pickup single coil Stratocasters, it looks pretty easy to take out the stock electronics. If you disconnect the bridge common and the input jack wires, then all the electronics are screwed into the pick guard and can be easily returned to the guitar if necessary. If I were to modify a Stratocaster, I'd get a new pick guard and build my own configuration with new pots, switch, and of course pickups.

 

Overall, you got me pretty interested in those Fralin pickups... I would like to see what they can do one day.

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It is my experience that if you seek a sound normally associated with Gibsons use their pickups. I don't have any replacements in any of my Gibsons ever, even the dreaded 490s things are stock.

 

rct

I feel the same.. When I buy a guitar its because I like how it feels and sounds.. And even though I am capable of doing, well what ever :) Ive never ever messed with any of my Gibsons that I bought new... Ive never even had to adjust a truss rod on any of them... The ONLY thing I have ever done (with a new one) is replaced white plastic with black...

 

Just the other day I re-strung my Classic.. Checked the neck just cos I had the tool with me and there was a tiny bow but not worth messing with... I put new strings on, went from 9s to Hybrid Slinkies and adjusted the bridge by eye... When I strung it up I didn't even have to change the intonation... Love that guitar its never given me a single problem since I bought it new in 2002 (actually none of my Gibsons ever have). I even like the ceramic twins....

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