Can You Make The Seymour Duncan JB Sound Better? (Yes you can) - Magnet Swap Video!

When I was building my Warmoth "Partscaster" Strat during the COVID lockdown of 2020, I wanted to experiment with different types of Alnico magnets to find out how they'd sound in my Seymour Duncan JB. This video will compare the following magnets in a variety of clean, crunch, lead and Overdriven lead tones:
Alnico 2 (Polished)
Alnico 5 (Polished)
Alnico 5 (Unoriented, Polished)
Alnico 5 (Roughcast)
Alnico 8 (Polished)
The Signal Chain:
Warmoth Strat w/JB Trembucker
Abasi Pathos/Horizon Devices Precision Drive
PRS Archon 25 w/Emperor 1x12 extension cabinet
Celestion Vintage 30
Audix i5 Dynamic Microphone
Focusrite Scarlett Solo Interface
Video Guide!
0:00 Intro
3:16 Magnet Walkthroughs
6:55 Gear we're using today
11:45 Clean Tones
12:33 Crunch Tones
14:21 Lead Tones
16:36 Lead Tones Part Two
17:16 OD Lead Tones
18:43 Initial Thoughts
19:38 Thoughts on Stock JB
21:08 Thoughts on Roughcast A5
22:52 Thoughts on Alnico 8
25:21 Thoughts on UOA5
27:02 Thoughts on A2
29:13 Final Thoughts

[@FHC2002]

The. JB with a Alnico 2 is basically the poor mans Duncan Custom Shops RTM.

[@hendrixlp1970]

Adam, Comparing that JB Alnico II vs that Custom Custom would be an amazing comparison.

[@robinparkinson7117]

Good to see you do something interesting during testing times. I like playing with Alnico V or Alnico II humbuckers as there is a marked difference. Well done 👍

[@klasewiberg]

Great vid Adam!

[@tarekaly7587]

Thanks for the video, It helped me alot! I'll go for A2.

[@arnulfoparra9498]

Very very interesting video very well done. Thanks

[@kzarog]

Awesome video, thank you! Finally a point of sonic reference :)

[@romusromulus]

Great video 👍

[@EvLoutonian]

Thank you for making this video ! Liking the A2, maybe most particularly

[@TVoltG]

A2 JB is great. Been doing this for years on JB's.

[@alexanderfedorovich5107]

For what type of guitar? What type of body&wood?

[@TVoltG]

@@alexanderfedorovich5107 I have one JB A2 in a Alder Strat with a Kahler trem, maple neck with rosewood board that is monstrous sounding. I also have a JB A2 in a 90's Les Paul Custom, all Mahogany with an ebony board. Once again very huge sounding. I am also using 3 Custom Customs with A2's wound at the custom shop by MJ a little hotter than their standard 14k. They are wound at 16.1k each. I have two in 2 custom Tele styles guitars I made. Both single bridge pickup guitars. Both are Korina bodies with maple tops. Maple necks with Rosewood boards. They are amazing sounding as well. A little deeper than the JB's, a little less high mids. The other custom 16.1 is in another LP Custom and it kills in their too.

[@TVoltG]

@@alexanderfedorovich5107 I got the idea for the A2 JB's from Warren of Ratt. That is his custom pickup he uses in his guitars.

[@alexanderfedorovich5107]

@@TVoltG It is amazing! It seems like you are true Master of Alnico 2! Wow! Brilliant!

[@TVoltG]

@@alexanderfedorovich5107 😂.. don't get me started on the A4's and 5's.. I love those too with different types of pickups.

[@dcbluez4883]

Changing magnets not only changes the magnetic field strength but it also can move the resonant peak due to slight inductance changes.

[@LukeCannotSkate]

I got back into magnet swapping after watching your video and I remember how I like all Duncans better with rough cast magnets. Stock modern SD magnets seem to be pretty strong. Alot of low end and kinda harsh highs. Rough casts usually fix that

[@SalvoStrat]

Great video man! Thanks for posting.. And.. I agree with you.. I prefer the UO Alnico 5!!!maan..what a particular sound! I own a jb, and I heard that magnet before I change to another pu.. So, probably (even if I could find some dealer) I would try to switch magnet on mine! Thanks again

[@deltarider99]

Completely with you! The UOA5 has stayed in the Strat since the video. Although, I'm interested to see what the UOA5 roughcast will sound like in the upcoming video. Stay tuned!

[@stillpist]

To add another one to muddy the waters some builders make jb clones with a short A5 which supposedly smooths out some of those harsh spikes.

[@pass_the_flask]

Haven't tried a JB8 yet but I've put an Alnico 8 in a Suhr Aldrich before which has a similar sound to the JB. I'd say this magnet has a lot of that "bark" sound in the midrange. In this video though I liked the mid presence of both the "5" magnets which no doubt cut through the mix. My experience with A2 is they're usually a bit flubby on the low end which you can't really hear in the riffs played, sounds good strumming though. I'd be interested to hear Alnico IV which are know to have a very flat EQ profile

[@heavymetal11]

Is a good video. And its amazing That how those magnets make such a huge differences in tone. It will be great if you can share where you bought those magnets? At least we know it is working

[@deltarider99]

Thank you!! Most of the magnets came from Ebay (Addiction FX store) and Philadelphia Tools/Luthiers. There was one mag that came from StewMac as well.

[@SapperRJMorgan]

I liked that A2 w distortion.

[@TanksFaves]

I really liked the JB w/ the UOA5 the best. A little smoother than the rough cast A5

[@GabeHelma]

My favorite magnet. Ive swapped into many different pickups with great results!

[@destinydonut]

I liked the stock a5 the most. Is there something wrong with me? Because when you say that the stock JB has an upper mid spike, I just cannot hear the spike.

[@deltarider99]

Haha - that's the beauty of the JB - different folks hear (and prefer) different qualities of the pickup w/different magnets. Thanks for the comment!

[@LockRocker]

Does it matter how you orient the unoriented magnet? Seems like there would be four ways to install it. Or does it get "deciphering" as to polarity and put in a certain direction?

[@seanmackay6739]

And If you put a ceramic magnet into one of those JBs you would have a Duncan Distortion, and if you put three ceramic magnets in plus changed the screws and pole pieces you’d have a Duncan Invader!

[@deltarider99]

Haha, yep! Some things never change :)

[@SapperRJMorgan]

Really great video and I love tinkering too but I wonder why not just get another pickup?

[@scottdunn2178]

No. I've talked to Maricela Juarez about that. She said although they both use the same 42 gauge wire, the Distortion has slightly more turns and is more random scatter wound compared to the JB which has each coil more balanced... hence the better 2nd order harmonics you get out of the JB compared to the Distortion.

[@These_go_to_eleven_1959]

I have always wanted to try the A4 in my JB but never got around to it. The A4 is a very balanced/neutral tone magnet i hear? it was said it does not really accent any of the frequencies like the 2 and 5 does.

[@deltarider99]

I have A4s I've been meaning to try in the JB. Hopefully there will be a future video where I can showcase it!

[@leftygtrplr6184]

@@deltarider99 I'd love to hear that! I have a Saturday Night Special with the A4 and it is one of my favorites. More vintage hot, definitely not like a JB. BTW, I leaned towards the A2 and Roughcast A5 in your comparison.

[@TheMickyAngus]

Nice video. What pots do you use in your partcaster 250k or 500k? I tried JB8 (Roughcast) in the past, but it was too much for me. I am building a HSS strat, I swapped the JB8 to JB2 I will give it a try. I also have roughcast UOA5 in stock, but I fear the drop of output (but it may be interested in the HSS configuration...)

[@deltarider99]

Thanks for watching! I gotta tell you - my favorite mag in the JB (even a year later) is still the UOA5 - it's amazing - still has the soul of the JB but with ultimate versatility in HSS configuration. The partscaster has 500k pots. I'm with you - the 500s on the stock JB, the JB8 and JB ceramic are wayyyyyy too much.

[@TheMickyAngus]

@@deltarider99 I have a old JB in my LP (with 500k of course) that I really appreciate. I will use 250k in my strat, because that's the way I like single coil... Maybe JB2 will be too dark with 250k. Only IRL test will be judge.

[@pputra914]

Funny I found the stock JB to be my favorite. I was surprised the RCA5 sounded harsher than stock, Everywhere I read says it should be a bit warmer than polished A5. Now I’m curious the impact of magnet (gauss) strength on the sound.

[@therifflair724]

The video seems pretty much the same as my experience with JBUOA5, except maybe not quite as much volume and compression drop as in the video. Surprisingly the A2 sounded hotter than the UOA5. In this video, the A2 and RCA5 were my favorite. I tend to use A8 in DD & JB, wired in series/parallel with PP pot. Balls out in series, more PAF in parallel. Covers everything I need in my cover band.

[@therifflair724]

Did you think the A5 had more output than UOA5? Seems so on my side of the screen.

[@deltarider99]

Sorry I missed these great comments! I agree - A2 had a snarl to it that gave it unexpected aggression.

[@deltarider99]

It definitely seemed that way during the playthrough. I remember thinking that the stock A5 was the "loudest" of them all because of the mid spike. A8 right behind it just due to the boost across the board in frequencies. UOA5 was subdued but in a beautiful way.

[@WDeeGee1]

I wonder whether the pickups were set to the exact same height. It matters.

[@ericv7720]

As a one-time JB owner, I'd say that the UOA5 was the biggest improvement, with the RCA5 second best.

[@user-rj3oq2gp4i]

I have a production jb in a USA charvel so cal and an antiquity jb in an old Ibanez. The guitars are identical in construction and features, except for maple board on one and ebony on another, tone pot on the Ibanez, no tone on the Charvel. The antiquity JB wins, hands down. It has a beautiful smoothness in the midrange compared to the stock JB. The awesome crunch and midrange is still there but I don’t hear the honking, nasal quality to the mids. Harmonics are effortless with the antiquity. It just feels perfectly balanced and not as notchy or boxy as the production model. I was considering trying A2 in the stock one, I like A2. I rotate these guitars for gigs and home playing in different tunings, maybe to make them more identical, I’ll go rough cast 5 which the antiquity has. I use 500k pots in both, I tried a 250 in the Charvel but it was dark , boomy and not as open, even without a tone pot on that guitar. In this video, I liked A2 and roughcast 5 best. I liked stock better than 8 or ua5.

[@scottdunn2178]

Did the Alnico 8 clear up the muddy tone of the JB?

[@carlosg4537]

Great comparison. Missing only A2 roughcast and ceramic. Supposedly George Lynch used JB with ceramic, so people called it dokkenbucker :)

[@deltarider99]

I've got a whole bunch of roughcast and ceramic mags for a future video. Should be up this month! I'm excited to hear what the ceramic mag does :)

[@bucknasty69]

A JB with a ceramic is a Duncan Distortion. The coils in the JB and the Distortion are the same, only their magnets differ.

[@timbuk1126]

@@bucknasty69 I think the Distortion model has a slightly different wind and it has an extra thick ceramic magnet.

[@scottdunn2178]

​@@bucknasty69No, the JB is 16.4k with the two coils balanced... the Duncan Distortion is 16.8k and the coils aren't balanced. Similar but not the same. Interestingly, the RTM is 17.1k... but with an Alnico ll

[@bucknasty69]

@@scottdunn2178 I’ve put ceramic magnets in a JB, and it sounded the same as a Distortion. I’ve also put alnico 2 in a JB, and it sounds very similar to the RTM. All these pickups might be wound slightly different, but it’s not enough to make a big difference. Different magnets make more of a difference than coil windings in these pickups in my opinion.

[@scottdunn2178]

I have a TB-4 "J" wound by Maricela Juarez that came stock in my '94 ESP M-ll Deluxe. Best sounding JB I've ever owned. The harmonics just fall out of the guitar.

[@GTX1123]

The tone wood of the body and bolt neck vs set neck are also considerations in which magnet to use. Whereas bolt neck guitars have a brighter, snappy attack but lack resonance, set neck mahogany guitars have a darker, smoother attack but gobs of resonance. So theoretically you want to use a magnet that fits in with those factors based on what you're going for in your desired tone. The diff in volume pot value between a 250k pot vs a 500k is another factor.

[@andrewbecker3700]

The JB in my LTD '87 Eclipse NT was borderline raspy and just needed the cheap factory "green chicklet" tone cap replaced with a Mojotone paper&oil of the same value. I chose the Seymour Duncan TB-14 in my HSS guitar and prefer an Orangedrop capacitor with that combo. Every guitar should have specific components that surpress unwanted frequencies and accentuate the ones you prefer. Why guitars don't have more options for the electronics you can get in each model is beyond me?

[@jarrusjenkins]

I just roll the tone control down.... that way I can still have the high end cut when I need it

[@BryanClark-gk6ie]

👏

[@MyLifEcademy-sr4hy]

A4 or A3 bar would have been a bonus...

[@timbuk1126]

I like the original

[@riccardococcia]

UOA5 almost sounds like the mic was not in the same position :/

[@deltarider99]

I was quite surprised too by how the sound shifted with the UOA5. Almost a 'cloudy' sound?

[@hellstrings2379]

JB Harsh upper mid spike? What?

[@deltarider99]

lol

[@lb2696]

I was really surprised how dark the UOA5 is.

[@deltarider99]

It is still my favorite of all the JBs!

[@lb2696]

@@deltarider99 it’s weird though. Online it is usually described as being between A2 and A5 in character. But here, it was way darker than the A2, and just seems to be its own thing entirely.

[@deltarider99]

@@lb2696 Totally agree. It has this "cloudiness" (for lack of a better term) that I love. Super strong tonal character.

[@iOnRX9]

the jury is out on a8 for me

[@JONNIE_ROCKER]

👍👍 a2

[@chief8269]

A5 rough cast all the way! Sounds grittier, the A2 was my least favorite.

[@carlosg4537]

What is the specific of this strat?

[@deltarider99]

Hello! It's a hardtail "partscaster" strat - the body is alder and from Warmoth. Neck is roasted maple, 12" radius and from Fender. 10-46 strings, HSS configuration obviously. Hope this helps!

[@angusorvid8840]

@@deltarider99 Hardtails add so much tone and resonance. I've owned a number of hardtail custom strats. Jake E. Lee sure is right about hardtails. They've really caught on over the last decades. You see a lot of metal/djent players using them, but they have more to them than being good for metal. They give you more punch and sustain and just make each note and chord sound bigger.

[@carlosg4537]

palm mutting 15:38 - a5 roughcast 14:32 - a5 14:54 - a2

[@sebsefyu]

Best sound to me was A5 Rough and A2. Close call between those two. I was rooting for A8 but it sounded too muddy. Bass would need to be rolled off in amp. A8 had most drive. Also UOA5 sounded the most muddy. Worst of bunch in my opinion. Polished sounded worst then Rough casts. That was suprising to me cause i thought polished would sound better then RC. BTW there is also A6 rough cast magnet out there. 59 A2 RC in neck and Paf clone with A5 RC in bridge.

[@cdnpunk2270]

Needed to hear ceramic :(

[@deltarider99]

Ceramic will be featured in an upcoming video!!

[@bucknasty69]

A JB with a ceramic magnet is a Distortion. The coils of both pickups are identical.

[@godsinbox]

its still too dark. maybe the antiquity version is the answer

[@jeffallen3382]

The magnets need to sit in the pick up for a certain amount of time? What are you smoking and who was the fool that told you that? LMAO!

[@SociopatheAssume]

Probably a KZbin comment