Pickup selection vs adjustment

[Alissarr]

Hi all,

Have an MF1 that was modded to add a Seymour hot rails at the neck. Really happy with that pickup but the stock JB at the bridge just isn't doing it for me. Tried adjusting the height but it still picks up way more of the low range tone and doesn't scream the way I am hoping for when I play harmonics (natural or artificial).

Anything else I should try before swapping out for something else?

[AngelDeVille]

Not much is going to balance the hot rail in the neck.

You need an other hot rail in the bridge or some thing even hotter.

[Axewielder]

My main axe has a Duncan Distortion with two Hot Rails and they play nicely together.

[Vass]

100% agree on the Duncan Distortion if you're looking for something that pops harmonics. They'll keep up easily with the hot rails.

[hairy-dude]

I would suggest my favorite humbucker, the Seymour Duncan Full Shred. I've paired it with a Hot Rails in the neck position, and they worked together well.

Full Shred's don't have that boomy bottom end you describe. I replaced a Duncan Custom (SH5) in one of guitars with a JB. The Custom was ok, definitiely not the worst pickup I've had, but the JB was terrible in comparison, absolutely lifeless in my opinion. It lasted about two weeks, and got replaced with a Full Shred.

[Alissarr]

Cool. Feels like I might need to grab a couple of them and play them to see what I like best. This is probably gonna put me down a rabbit hole with all my guitars isn't it? My wallet's starting to hurt.

[Newc]

Another option is the Duncan PATB-2 Parallel Axis Distortion. It's not as "fizzy" as the Distortion, but is more articulate, like the JB.

Alternatively, you can replace the magnet in the JB with a ceramic from either a Duncan Custom or an EMG HZ-3 if you have one lying around. That makes the JB a Distortion Lite, or JB+.

It's funny you mention the JB being boomy - most people find they don't have enough low-end. A Distortion will have roughly the same "voice" as the JB, just "more" of everything (except mids), so I don't know if a Distortion will work for you.

You might try a Dimebucker. I've found them to be shrill and to have no low end to speak of, while the JB didn't have enough low-end for me. You might be "one of those people" who can make the Dimebucker sound good.

[xenophobe]

It's not that the JB doesn't have bottom end, it does, but it's midrange makes it sound nasal to me. It's great for playing slow chord progressions and solos over them, but it doesn't do a whole lot well, IMO. It's kind of a one trick glam pony to me. I just don't like it's natural voicing.

If you want to keep a SD in there, I'd suggest the SH-5, but that suits my doom/gloom/tech/brutal/DM tone tastes and might not be what you're looking for. I prefer pickups that sound better when tuned down and the SH-5 does that decently whereas the JB sounds like muddy shit with lower tunings.