Seymour Duncan SH-4 JB Humbucker Pickup Black

Comments about Seymour Duncan SH-4 JB Humbucker Pickup:

Guitar is a Schecter C-1 Standard. The literature on the guitar reads that the pick-ups are "Duncan designed HB-102(bridge)/HB-101(neck) humbuckers." I was not happy with the stock neck pick-up. Stock bridge pick-up was fine. Decided to get real Duncan pick-ups (neck and bridge) reference in the literature. Installed myself, it was easy. Huge improvement in tone. Absolutley recommend.

Comments about Seymour Duncan SH-4 JB Humbucker Pickup:

What can I say JB is the king of hard rock, 80's rock, grunge, metal, anything where you need some serious high output, that will kick other pickups tail. I know there's a lot of other active and passive choices out there, but nothing is as good as the JB. Love it way better than Custom 5 and APH-1B. This pickups sounds exactly like 80's rock, metal, heavy sounds, Nivrana, etc., that you are trying to achieve. Its a little trebly, but hey you want that that in a high-output bridge pickup to cut through. I played Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, AC/DC, Judas Priest, etc., all sounds good on this pickup. I started years ago on this pickup, tried many others (including EMG) in between, now I'm back baybe and i'm lovin it. You can try the rest, but then come back to the best, nothing compares.

Comments about Seymour Duncan SH-4 JB Humbucker Pickup:

The PU in humbucking, esp if you want choices when you're actuallly playing ... this will do it all .. someone mentioned a viocal quality .. very true with the right setup
Works great rolled off, cranked and 'pedal enhanced' ... I use these in Strats/bridge and esp split for pos 2, its the most versatile of any SD ...
Never had an issue with the many SD's I've ourchsed
Price is competitive ...

Comments about Seymour Duncan SH-4 JB Humbucker Pickup:

Overall I couldn't be more pleased with this pickup. Installation as a snap. Compared to the stock bridge Burst Bucker pickup, which in it's own right, is a decent sounding pickup, the SH4 JB is a superior bridge pickup for rock and modern hi gain tones. I use a marshall as my main rig, but also have a Goldtone GA30RS and a Deville 4x10. The SH4 JB definitely does not get away from that traditional les paul sound, just gives you more of it. Comparing the SH4 JB to the 498T in my other LP Standard, the JB does have noticably more bite, clarity and output.
Easy to instsall, the Duncan site has all the necessary diagrams as well as includes them in the packaging and the build quality is excellent. Duncan really does take this to another level than the major makers like Fender/Gibson, etc)
Compared to the cost of USA Gibson pickups, the Duncan SH4 is a great buy. I bought a SH4 (and an SH1) to replace the pickups in a 2002 LP Standard with the original Burst Buckers. The only other pickup I would have opted for from Gibson was the more expensive 498T, which are good, but I already have a set of 498s in another Les Paul,

Comments about Seymour Duncan SH-4 JB Humbucker Pickup:

I bought an epiphone les paul standard, and liked the guitar, but the bridge pickup wasnt bright enough, it was good but just didnt have the striking, juicy, saturated tone, that i was looking for. i bought this little bad boy, and man, it sings. the mid range is hot and juicy and very vocal. the tonality is very slash-esque, bluesy, hot and expressive. roll back the volume and little settle down and add a little verb and delay and the pick up takes on a whole new dimension.

Also i played in a little deathcore band for a little while, when i scooped out the mids and took the gain up, it managed to stay very articulate, while still aggressive and thrashy.

Incredible pick-up, smooth, aggressive, articulate, and sexy. definately a great pickup that i would reccommend for any genre that likes a dynamic responsive pickup.

Comments about Seymour Duncan SH-4 JB Humbucker Pickup:

This pickup is not extremely articulate and scooped out, so if that's what you want, then try the Sh-6, but if you need a vocal mid hump and an otherwise more balanced response, this pickup will do wonders for your solos AND metal rhythms.
The 4-conductor wiring is a pretty standard feature, but is also a very nice feature to have.
The Sh-4 replaced an Sh-6 in my RG. What I didn't like about the Sh-6 is that it was especially articulate... almost harsh on the top end and the smoothness I generally need out of a bridge pickup for solos just wasn't there. The JB has much more of a vocal quality, but needs some very careful height adjustments to get the best sound. Contrary to popular opinion, I find that the JB is perfect for metal and nabs artificial harmonics with ease. I get plenty of tight low end chug and the highs are shimmering without being harsh or overbearring. In my overall opinion, this pickup is much more versatile a pickup than the Sh-6.
It's a standard price, but it does seem a little high for such a popular product.

Comments about Seymour Duncan SH-4 JB Humbucker Pickup:

Fuzzy! Brittle! Harsh! These are the words I use to describe the SD JB. I have tried so hard to like Duncans.....but I don't. I think they sound good when others play them but not when I do. I personally like Dimarzios. I get compliments every gig I play about my (Dimarzio) guitar tone.

Comments about Seymour Duncan SH-4 JB Humbucker Pickup:

Title really sums it up. I have it in my Schecter C-1 classic and it sounds awesome. However I don't think it beats the Custom SH-5. Just saying.

Comments about Seymour Duncan SH-4 JB Humbucker Pickup:

I've tried various bridge pickups in order to get that perfect heavy sound for rock. I've tried everything from EMGs to Dimarzios to other Seymour Duncans. This is so far the clearest and punchiest bridge pickup I've tried. Just sounds perfect. Also has a surprisingly good clean sound, for a humbucker. Note that I have the model with the nickel cover. I do believe that affects the tone to some amount.

Comments about Seymour Duncan SH-4 JB Humbucker Pickup:

This pickup was a great addition to my line up. I have it in an Epi les paul and am very happy with the sound. Its more defined than some of the other duncans and dimarzios I use in my instruments. It does have a tendency to get a bit flabby if the gain is turned up too high on my JCM 800, but thats pretty easy to compensate for. It is warmer than most of my other pickups and the harmonics just jump out effortlessly.Very articulate sounding pickup giving each note a defined sound. It doesn't have that high gain push that you get from a dimarzio SD so I would'nt depend on this pickup to do heavy metal. But for that classic rock crunch, this is the one. Easy to see why its such a standard as a replacement unit.I'm playing it straight thru the JCM without any pedals at all. I just love the pure tone of this pickup on its own. I knocked off half a point because of the breakup at higher gain but wouldn't hesitate to recommend this as a classic rock type pickup. For metal, I'd go with something higher gain. For that classic les paul sound,this is the one.