BJB floating pick

['46 ES 300]

Hello everyone!

 

I am a jazz style player and my main axe/daily player is my 1946 ES 300N, all maple with a single P-90 and no cutaway. It is awesome looking, playing, and sounding, but I am wary of taking it out to gig. So, I am having a Gibson ES 165 (Light-Burst finish) made for myself and it will be here in a week or two and I am totally psyched to get it!

 

The new 165s have the BJB floating pickup. I have searched the web a lot to see exactly what is a BJB pickup, and I have found nothing about it. What does the "BJB" stand for, and can anyone tell me any specs of this pickup? Thanks!

 

 

 

 

Here's a pic of my 1946 es 300

[jimmyl51]

BJB = Bruce Bolan who was one of Gibsons guys who would go out and introduce their new guitars to the public in the late 1970's.......nice guy, met him in Chicago years ago when he was doing his thing! I don't know if you will be very happy with the 165........NO comparison to an ES-175 in regards to quality of build IMHO. Why Gibson went to a floater on that guitar is beyond me. They should have stayed with a set-in humbucker.... jim in Maine

[Danny W.]

 

 

The new 165s have the BJB floating pickup. I have searched the web a lot to see exactly what is a BJB pickup, and I have found nothing about it. What does the "BJB" stand for, and can anyone tell me any specs of this pickup? Thanks!

 

 

 

The BJB was a revised version of the Gibson Johnny Smith pickup, and as Jim has mentioned, it was designed by Bruce Bolan. Unlike the Smith, it doesn't have adjustable slugs, and has somewhat more mid-range; it's punchier overall, but not as "hi-fi."

 

Since it's not adjustable, installation and string choice are more critical than with the Smith--it's got to be level and electrically centered under the strings. Despite that limitation, I generally prefer it to the Smith, and have it on most of my floater-equipped guitars, all of which have T-I Benson roundwound .012's.

 

Here's what one looks like:

 

 

Hope this helps,

 

Danny W.

[L5Larry]

Though no BJB's here, but I do have a couple of archtops with "floaters", a '47 L-7 with a Benedetto S6 pickguard mount (made by Seymour Duncan), and an old Silvertone with a Kent Armstrong fingerboard mount.

 

Compared to My L-5CES (soundboard mounted humbuckers) the floaters give a VERY different sound. It is a much woodier traditional jazz sound, with more of an true acoustic sound, kind of like an mic'd acoustic.

 

Although the 165 with the BJB will be a very different sound than your ES-300, I think you're going to very pleased, especially to have both.

[sok66]

BJB = Bruce Bolan who was one of Gibsons guys who would go out and introduce their new guitars to the public in the late 1970's.......nice guy, met him in Chicago years ago when he was doing his thing!

 

Bruce is one of my old northwest Indiana homeboys, went to work for Gibson in the mid-60's. Became President of Norlin Gibson in the early 80s. A fabulous player, Les Paul referred to hm as his "illegitimate son". Not true, of course. His son, Bruce Jr. is Fender's artist relations guy in Nashville. Not sure where Bruce Sr. is these days.

['46 ES 300]

Bruce is one of my old northwest Indiana homeboys, went to work fro Gibson in the mid-60's. Became President of Norlin Gibson in the early 80s. A fabulous player, Les PAul referred to hm as his "illegitimate son". Not true, of course. His son, Bruce Jr. is Fender's artist relations guy in Nashville. Not sure where Bruce Sr. is these days.

 

 

Thanks for all the excellent info!

['46 ES 300]

Thanks for the info! Nice axe you have there! I play the TI GB 14s on my es300. I am hoping that the es 165 can handle the TI GB 14s because they are the best playing and sounding strings I have yet tried on my es 300.

 

 

Well, even though I am investing in a new 165 in hopes of, and planning on, using it for my gigging guitar, I can tell all of you that I already know NOTHING could ever replace my 1946 es 300N. It has the fat profile neck which I prefer, the playabilty is just amazing (the neck is true and the string action is low strung with TIGB14s), and the P-90 tone is the epitome of a classic Gibson jazz guitar sound. I currently play through a Fender tube amp, and that amp and the es 300 are all I really ever wanted or needed, but friends of mine have reasonably talked me out of taking the 300 to gigs, even though the 300 is really what I want to use on gigs; the sound of it is that good, and it is so smooth playing.

 

 

But hey! Another Gibson fat-body jazzbox in the house is a welcome addition and I am really looking forward to the single pickup 165, with no holes cut into the top.

['46 ES 300]

The BJB was a revised version of the Gibson Johnny Smith pickup, and as Jim has mentioned, it was designed by Bruce Bolan. Unlike the Smith, it doesn't have adjustable slugs, and has somewhat more mid-range; it's punchier overall, but not as "hi-fi."

 

Since it's not adjustable, installation and string choice are more critical than with the Smith--it's got to be level and electrically centered under the strings. Despite that limitation, I generally prefer it to the Smith, and have it on most of my floater-equipped guitars, all of which have T-I Benson roundwound .012's.

 

Here's what one looks like:

 

 

Hope this helps,

 

Danny W.

Man great photo! What kind of camera are you using? My camera does not do justice at all to my es 300's butterscoth color patina and I'd like to be able to get good photos of my guitars like you seem to be getting with your camera of your guitar here. very crisp clean photo.

[Danny W.]

Man great photo! What kind of camera are you using? My camera does not do justice at all to my es 300's butterscoth color patina and I'd like to be able to get good photos of my guitars like you seem to be getting with your camera of your guitar here. very crisp clean photo.

 

Your seemingly innocent question earns you a lecture:

 

I am, in fact, a very skilled photographer, and I use top-quality equipment.

 

However, the photo in question evinces non of those traits. It's a completely artless, straight-on shot using on-camera flash, (causing the ugly bright reflection) and required no skill whatsoever. Furthermore, it was taken over nine years ago with a Nikon Coolpix 990, a camera from the paleolithic era of digital cameras--it would be hard to imagine a camera made in recent history (except maybe in a cell phone) that would not produce better results, if properly used.

 

Which brings me to my point: unless your camera is actually defective, the problem is operator error. Either you have it set wrong or you need to learn the basics of photography, or both. Over the years I have found that anyone who has to ask if better equipment would improve their photos needs to learn more about photography. Once someone knows how to take photos they can usually figure out whether equipment is limiting their technique.

 

Danny W.

[SamBooka]

but you have to admit.. guitars can be hard to photograph.

[Danny W.]

but you have to admit.. guitars can be hard to photograph.

 

No, I don't, but in any case, it's a lighting problem rather than a camera problem.

 

Danny W.

[pawlowski6132]

Guitars are hard to photographs and the better the camera, the easier the job. The right tool makes all the difference.

Edited March 3, 2021 by pawlowski6132

[pawlowski6132]

that's why pros use expensive gear.

 

[pawlowski6132]

Is the BJB a single coil pickup? I assume so but, just thought I ask to confirm.

[BRM]

On 5/27/2021 at 7:54 PM, pawlowski6132 said:

Is the BJB a single coil pickup? I assume so but, just thought I ask to confirm.

No, it is hum canceling.  It is the same basic pickup as the original designed firebird pickup.  Has bar magnets for the pole pieces with a steel plate on the bottom that widens the magnetic circuit and and probably knocks off some highs due to added eddy currents.  The coils are not necessarily wound the same as the firebird (not necessarily the same amount of winds) but both use 42 ga. wire.  Both the original firebird and the BJB are unpotted.  The original firebird pickup has a metal strip from one coil to the other on the top side over the B string.  The BJB does not.  The magnets (pole piece) on the BJB is flat across the top.  It is just a regular bar magnet.  Some pickups that use a bar magnet in the coil are notched to provide some sort of balance between strings.  The BJB has no compensation for strings except to tip the pickup up or down on either end when mounting it on a pickguard.  All that to say it is a good sounding pickup.  It has a single coil quality somewhat.  The magnets in the coil for polepieces (like fender) probably helps with better  clarity.  Also the coils themselves are smaller than a PAF style pickup.