How To Install Seymour Duncan JB Jr Pickup (SJBJ-1) Into Fender Strat

How to install a Seymour Duncan JB Jr Pickup into a Fender Strat Guitar. The guitar I am installing the pickup into is a Fender Squier Stratocaster, but it's the same exact process even if you have an American Standard Fender Strat. Years ago I had a Peavey Falcon Custom Strat copy, and had a Seymour Duncan Jeff Beck humbucker type pickup installed in the bridge position which involved routing out the body. I loved the sound. I didn't want to do route out the body this time. But now they have the JB Jr pickup which fits into same space as a single coil pickup. So I bought one. I thought about installing it my American Standard Strat, but decided instead to install it into my Squier Strat.
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[@BekkerGuitar]

this is from the instructions guide from seymour duncan : "If two pickups sound thin and nasal when used together, chances are, they’re out of phase with each other. If you’re combining your Seymour Duncan pickup(s) with Fender® pickup(s) in the same guitar, you’ll need to reverse the black and green wires on the Seymour Duncan. In other words, solder the black wire to ground and the green wire to the selector switch."

[@benasslick67]

I gotta try that. I have a hot rails installed in my fender and the second position sounds so thin and nasal like. I never knew why.

[@freddyfox500]

Thanks! I couldn't figure out why my Little 59 bridge pickup sounded bad. So I resoldered it: bare and black wire together then grounded, then green wire to switch. Now my Stratocaster sounds good 👍

[@anthonygrieco5790]

I'm about to do this and this was exactly what I was thinking about. I read that in the instructions

[@LemonMeIon]

My SD bridge replacement happened to be in phase with normal wiring because my middle pickup was reverse wound. Now that's got me thinking about my position 4 sounding dull...

[@weslester5150]

I just installed the same humbucker into my Mexican Strat. I really appreciate your video. Thank you for making it.

[@jaywells5283]

Taken from the SD pages...the Jeff Beck...I mean Jazz/Blues Tele-Gib story... After sending his favorite Les Paul® to a shady repairman who switched out the P.A.F.’s for newer, squealing, pickups, Jeff came to Seymour for help and advice. Seymour repaired Jeff’s Les Paul, and then set about creating a special guitar for Jeff with a pair of pickups that would capture Jeff’s amazing ability to coax a wide range of tones out of his axe. The result was a guitar that Seymour gave to Jeff as a gift. The body and neck were clearly Telecaster®. But the pickups were two re-wound humbuckers made from broken P.A.F.s Seymour rescued from Lonnie Mack’s Flying V®. Seymour called the guitar a “Tele-Gib,” and nicknamed the bridge pickup “JB” and the neck pickup “JM,” after the hot rod racer, “John Milner,” in the classic film, American Graffiti. (Eventually, “JM” would change to “Jazz Model,” which is what it’s called today.) Jeff used the Tele-Gib on his amazing 1975 release, Blow By Blow, where it gained notoriety for the haunting volume swells heard on “Cause We Ended As Lovers,” which Jeff dedicated to Roy Buchanon. Interestingly, it was Seymour who introduced Jeff to Roy a few months prior. The JB bridge pickup became very popular, very quick. Soon, many of England’s top guitarists, including more than a few legendary names, sought out Seymour’s “JB Mod” for their guitars. They found that the JB gave increased output (16.4K Ohms) without sounding harsh or dark, like other high-output pickups of the mid-‘70s. When Seymour returned to the USA the next year, his reputation as a pickup designer and the JB’s reputation as a great pickup preceded him. And the rest was history.

[@BekkerGuitar]

hi RJ thank you for the clear instructive video. I just bought a little 59 bridge pickup for my new fender deluxe. your video helped me crossing the bridge, doing it myself. I've read the schedule and seymour duncan advices to solder the pickup "out of fase" when installing it next to fender single coil pickups. if not.... when using the SD pickup in combination with the middle pickup it will then be out of fase and together will sound thin... so instead of soldering the black whire to the 5 way switch, you solder that to the volume pod.... and the green whire is then soldered to the 5 way switch :) thanks for the help, great video!

[@tommytwotacos8106]

I admire your soldering technique. My hands shake too much, and my fine motor control has never really been anything to write home about.

[@paulmoose979]

Thanks for the instructions. Your video helped me install this pickup earlier today.

[@mykedrought]

thanks for making this video! About to upgrade my frankenstrat with your helpful guide

[@heyimjoshnicetomeetya]

thank you so much on showing how to do this. Installing a full sized JB into my strat clone soon

[@peterdvideos]

You play guitar too! You’re my double hero, bikes and guitar.

[@angusorvid8840]

Excellent, practical pickup for beefing up a strat.

[@markpreston8611]

Buddy, thanks for this ... I was having some real problems with old 'Hot Rails'.

[@ninjacheckmate]

Thanks for the video, I'm putting a JB Jr. in a Squire strat.

[@claudiobarrientos9467]

Great tutorial, very helpful

[@joshhackney4734]

Thank you, amazing video!

[@dondanzig]

Hello, do you know how to wire this pickup in parallel? Any diagrams? Thanks!

[@GabePerson]

Soldering irons work just fine for the pots. I've used at 40 watt to desolder pots several times.

[@OBrien1982]

Great video - looked at a lot before this and could not get my head around it. Can anyone tell me if the wiring for this would be the same for a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails in the bridge position. I have a 1996 Squier Strat Affintiy. I see a few people having to wire the green and black in different ways so the pickups are not out of phase. I would rather not have to do all the soldering twice.

[@jemini7353]

hi, what pot value you are using? and how would you split the coil of the pick up?

[@rcol1325]

Whoa!!! Scolling way down through your vids and found this. Didn't know you played. We've got some very similar interests, especially the fixing/tinkering/building thing. I just need to ride my bikes a little more...

[@RJTheBikeGuy]

I used to play poorly. Now I just play badly. My guitars are better than I am. LOL

[@MachineLevene]

@@RJTheBikeGuy I know this is so late, but same for me! I’ve watched like 100 of your bike vids, and I just bought a JB jr and searched a tutorial. I was like, I KNOW that voice. And wow, IT’s RJ the bike guy LOL

[@karlocvitic4859]

Does this wiring and soldering all work for seymour duncan sh-4 jb

[@LouieLouie66]

After you were done did you find that duncans are wired differently that fenders? and that you had to reverse the black and green wires? because it sounded like crap in the notch position google it

[@miharitzah]

reverse the black and green wires of the seymour duncan? do you remember? i have the same issue.

[@MrOnurAkgul]

Hey this may be a stupid question, but how do you know which cables go to the switch and which go to the pot?

[@marquis01able]

Thanks

[@larrymaugh1439]

it should also be noted that certain guns cause a field to demagnetize your pickups,so id go for a higher watt iron.,or gas .

[@davbud6609]

Hello, it's the black cable on the selector or the green? For strat Thanks

[@MarkSchuster-ym3iy]

The JB jr is a little more square than the single coil, I’ve found a small rat tail file to re shape the hole helps.

[@timmocnik3458]

I did the same exceot they were invader pickups from sd but they wont work

[@onzkicg]

Hi, this JB Jr.- is it considered as humbucker (in a single coil size), on wiring diagrams? The reason I asked is, I got a super strat style guitar (HSS), now I will upgrade the middle to Seymour Duncan Duckbucker, and the neck to SD JBJr. like in this video. Does it mean that the wiring diagrams that I should be referring to now is HSH, and not HSS anymore- is my understanding correct? Thanks!

[@RJTheBikeGuy]

Yes.

[@SynZ777]

I see the routing for the pickups. My Squier is the same. Could I fit an HH setup with the same routing?

[@RJTheBikeGuy]

Yes.

[@jeremyrebelka]

Should be carefull with this type of soldering pistol - they emit a strong magnetic field which can demagnetize the pickup magnets in some cases

[@krismichalsky]

I think someone said it below, but the JB in Duncan's pick ups means Jazz/Blues and does not mean Jeff Beck. Not being mean here, just trying to clear up the confusion if there was any. Oh and BTW, I've modded the crap out of my Squier strat, so much better than it was when it was stock.

[@JeppiBoolr]

would this be the same for a dimarzio x2n?

[@andrejs1828]

Jesse Buehler No the wire color differs, for Dimarzio Red is hot connection and green + bare is ground and black and white get soldered together. Im also going to get the X2N

[@GdLjazzguitar]

Sorry if want to install the full humbucker model i had to do same thing?

[@RJTheBikeGuy]

Pretty much the same if you have the slot for a full humbucker model.

[@GdLjazzguitar]

But i had to solder same cables??

[@RJTheBikeGuy]

It should be something similar. Since I don't have one of those, I can't say for sure that the colors of the wires will be the same.

[@sunnys3325]

J.B. stands for Jazz/Blues...Beck jus happened to use them among many others🙂

[@zolwikwkurwik]

I always thought it stands for Jeff Beck :D

[@MegaLetsplay10]

When did Bill Murry start a KZbin channel.

[@jamesfoo8999]

Not sure tapping a metal screwdriver on the pickup is a good idea?

[@RJTheBikeGuy]

It works to tell if the pickup is active.

[@jamesfoo8999]

@@RJTheBikeGuy Yeah but won't it scratch them? I guess if you're careful it'll be ok.

[@BekkerGuitar]

@robo rocker, wiring instructions for coil splitting can also be found on SD Website :) and if you think you can make a better video, do so! instead of talking c#@p about someone else's videos.

[@jimmygrant3151]

Skip to 4:50 for the wiring.

[@maxy4545]

Can I do this without soddering? Like with electrical tape

[@RJTheBikeGuy]

It would a crap job likely to lead to a crappy sounding guitar. Your call.

[@maxy4545]

+RJ The Bike Guy thanks!!

[@benasslick67]

No

[@LouieLouie66]

don't they make them in cream color?

[@RJTheBikeGuy]

Yes they do. They come in black, white, cream and parchment.

[@marquis01able]

Do you not have to replace the pot to a 500k pot?

[@RJTheBikeGuy]

You don't have to. I might try it though.

[@benasslick67]

Seymour Duncan made those to be drop in pickups that work well with 250k

[@user-qj6lj5fi8o]

your guitar produced by Fender?

[@RJTheBikeGuy]

+용호김 Yes, it is a Fender Squire Stratocaster.

[@user-qj6lj5fi8o]

+RJ The Bike Guy thank you

[@joeMW284]

Looks like in this case you wouldn't have had to route your body to install a full sized humbucker.

[@RJTheBikeGuy]

No I wouldn't have had to route it out. Though I didn't know that til I got in there. I would have had to get another pick guard. An HSS style or fat strat. I looked into those after the fact. Found some, but most had different screw hole patterns. I may still go they way. Don't know.

[@MDC249]

It's not a "Jeff Beck".... JB stands for "Jazz/blues" according to Seymour Duncan.

[@fannyshmeller7344]

jazz blues pickups not jeff beck

[@davidmusselwhite547]

I wonder. you must not need to change the pot from 250 to 500

[@vinceanthony7046]

I installed seymore duncans single coils and changed the pots to 250k and cap to .047microfarads. it takes off like a jet.

[@hellomynameisEJ]

you didn't have to change the pots to 500k?

[@TheGuitardedOne1338]

+hellomynameisEJ Seymour Duncan's Strat humbuckers are designed to go with standard 250k pots.

[@onzkicg]

+TheGuitardedOne1338 what will the 500k do to this type of pickup? I have ready to install SD Duckbucker in middle, JB Jr. in the neck. How to make it split?

[@benasslick67]

Seymour Duncan made those to be drop in pickups that work well with 250k

[@benasslick67]

@@onzkicg you could use 500k it'll sound hotter it's mainly preference

[@jaywells5283]

jb does not stand for jeff beck it stands for jazz blues! jeff beck said himself "i have never really used humbuckers for long enough to have my own!"

[@Dream-Academy]

he might have said that way later when he is sponsored by Fender....... it was a pickup made for Jeff Beck and he used it on Blow by Blow arguably his bets album.

[@jaywells5283]

ITS FUCKING JAZZ BLUES, NOT JEFF BECK! Jeff and Seymour have both said they never had a signature humbucker for him and he hasn’t used humbuckers since the sixties!

[@RJTheBikeGuy]

Officially it's Jazz Blues. But everybody knows JB stands for Jeff Beck!

[@Dann1303]

JB is Jazz/Blues not Jeff Beck

[@gorgedeharo164]

It's actually Jeff Beck.

[@Dream-Academy]

idiot

[@RoboRocker69]

I am guessing you never bothered to install it with the ability to split the coils mainly because you don't know how to wire it for such a configuration.

[@RJTheBikeGuy]

I could have but that would have been more involved and would have gone beyond what I intended in this video.

[@JohnJohn-cs6if]

+RoboRocker69 Or maybe he just didn't care about splitting the coils, and was only interested in the standard humbucker sound.

[@RJTheBikeGuy]

Exactly.

[@JohnJohn-cs6if]

RJ The Bike Guy I know man, some people just try so hard to seem clever...like it's so damn hard to wire pickups to be split-able. Your video was nice and explanative by the way, definitely helpful for everybody out there wanting to put a humbucker or a stacked single coil in their strat and not knowing how to solder. Rock on!

[@RJTheBikeGuy]

I just wanted a fat sound in the bridge pickup and more harmonics.

[@MarkSchuster-ym3iy]

Oh man while you have that open, for about 5 bucks ea it 15 bucks get some real pots and throw those Asian dime sized pots . Those don’t last long they get noisy, b wow lots o hum.