2 pickups (same model) sound different?

[Carl Mustaine]

I recently bought a TB4 ( Seymour Duncan JB with floyd spacing) for my jackson PS-4 and then noticed that another guitar I also have had the same pickup but is marked TB4J. As an experiment I swapped it with the other pickup and ......it sounds different!

Anyone know why this would be? It seems to have a bit more treble on the top bass strings and harmonics seem easier. Would the pickup sound change as it ages?

I am curious to understand this! Does this mean that ALL pickups sound different to each other?

Regards

Carl

[Norton]

The "harshness" of a pickup reduces with time because the magnets get weaker.

[Carl Mustaine]

The "harshness" of a pickup reduces with time because the magnets get weaker.

That makes perfect sense! The older one (15-20 years old) sounds great clean with the volume backed off (and also great with full volume and distortion!)

I think I will keep the older one in the jackson and see what the other one sounds like in the other guitar (it took me nearly two hours to prep an area in the kitchen with everything I needed and then to swap them over!) I have fitted the other pickup back in the other guitar but have yet to wire it in.

I always soldered stuff in my bedroom when I lived alone, but am now banned from soldering in the bedroom (where I play my guitar) because my other half said all her clothes and the bedding stank of soldering (the last pickup change!). Guess who wears the pants in my house. - Pants that smell of soldering, he added!

Regards

Carl

[MartinBarre]

I'm not sure about magnets getting weaker, but if the pole pieces are adjusted differently, or the pickup height is set differently, there will be a difference in the sound.

I just realised, the pickup is the one you bought off me right?!

It's very possible I adjusted the pole pieces on the bass side a bit higher, which would account for the extra treble. If you don't like it so much, screw them back down a bit, and lower the pickup.

[Carl Mustaine]

I'm not sure about magnets getting weaker, but if the pole pieces are adjusted differently, or the pickup height is set differently, there will be a difference in the sound.

I just realised, the pickup is the one you bought off me right?!

It's very possible I adjusted the pole pieces on the bass side a bit higher, which would account for the extra treble. If you don't like it so much, screw them back down a bit, and lower the pickup.

Nope - The bass side with more treble is on the other pickup! I messed around with the setup of the one I bought from you. I couldn't believe the difference in sound when I went from the stock jackson to the TB4! Night and Day.

It was a bit harrowing changing the pickups so I will leave the "wrong" one in the Jackson for now. It has got me thinking about using spade terminals for a "quick release" solution. The old pickup is nice, but it may not be heavy enough. A few days playing will tell!

Did you notice much difference with the Zebra pickup you installed? I would love to be able to try loads out, but it gets expensive very quickly!

Regards

Carl

[charvel750]

The letter "J" is the initial of the winder who made that pickup. The JB uses alnico magnets, so over time they lose some of their magnetism. That would not be true of a ceramic magnet pickup, like the Invader.

[Matt_B]

Modern magnets (i.e. ones not made in the 50s or 60s) lose very, very little magnetism over time assuming they aren't exposed to something crazy like a demagnetizer.

Read this for yourself.

There is no mojo here, only science so whatever difference you hear between the pickup in two different guitars is something else besides the pickup.

[Hellbat]

It's not just the different guitars. The JB is kind of notorious for having differing performance. Some sound like god, some like ass. The god to ass ratio used to be higher I think. I know I had one in a Japanese Kramer in the 80's that was amazing. I wish I put the stock pu back in the Kramer before I traded it in for my Charvel Model 5 and kept that JB, but I just figured I could buy another one that would sound the same.

[j4vice]

good stuff

[MartinBarre]

Did you notice much difference with the Zebra pickup you installed?
Regards

Carl

Not really, just exactly what I expected. It was a Distortion I put in to replace the JB, so I got tighter bass response and a wee bit more gain, just as I had wanted.
What I do is sell a pickup on ebay, and buy another around the same price, that way you don't lose too much on the deal.
There was a '59 that went for £31 last week which I wanted - £31 for a Duncan is a steal, the prices right now are pretty good.

[Deadlock]

I remember reading that one of Steve Vai's techs removed (and threw out) a broken DiMarzio Breed from one of Steve's guitars and replaced it with a new one. Steve didn't like the tone from the new one (even though it was the same model) and made his tech go through the dumpster to find the old one so it could be repaired and put back into his guitar.