Pickup suggestions

[Devotee]

Well, embarrassingly, I got the pickups a bit closer to the strings, and voila...much more articulation. Like a different pickup. Technical passaged were much more clear, and trem picked notes sang. I'd still not mind a different pickup though. I'll definitely let ya know what I find. Amazing what a couple mm can do for tone.

Just goes to show you how weird subjectivity can be, i actually had to move the pup away from the strings to get more articulation out of it.

[Dannibal Corpse]

High output pups or something?

[Devotee]

No i'm talking about the JB before i replaced it.

[guitarsjb]

DiMarzio X2N kicks ass

[hunter1970]

Bareknuckle Warpig and adjust the amp and try moving the pickup closer/farther from the strings til you find the sweet spot. There are so many factors, I hated JB's with my old amp and love it with my last two amps.

[xenophobe]

No i'm talking about the JB before i replaced it.

Yeah, I always had them backed off almost enough to fit a finger between the pickup and strings.

I can always find a few things that I like to play on a JB, but overall I hate where the tone takes me.

[Dannibal Corpse]

Yep. This^^^ I'll be switching as soon as possible, unless I buy a whole new guitar first. :>

[Devotee]

Yeah, I always had them backed off almost enough to fit a finger between the pickup and strings.

I can always find a few things that I like to play on a JB, but overall I hate where the tone takes me.

Pretty much. The JB is OK for some things like Rock, Heavy Metal and maybe even Thrash and Speed Metal, but when you're tremelo-picking Black/Death Metal at anywhere between 260bpm to 360bpm it just doesn't cut it.

[Mazrim]

Well, it might not be your pups. JB shouldn't really lack clarity although there are better pups for low cut. SH6, SD3, BKP Aftermath, Miracle Man or Painkiller.
Or Blackouts if you want to go active.

Two other suggestions though:
- Your strings are possibly too thick, try a lighter gauge low string.
- Put a low frequency shelf EQ in your AFXII (Parametric EQ). Maybe around 150Hz. Mess around with your amp settings there.
Maybe roll some drive off to sharpen it up.