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I've just purchased (and am impatiently waiting delivery) of a JB Jr pickup for the bridge of my strat.
I've tried to enjoy the texas special single coil in the bridge, but it's too thin and harsh to my ears.
In trying to keep the asthetics of the guitar I've opted for the JB Jr being a single coil sized humbucker.
Tonally speaking will it be any different to the full size JB ?
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IMO, the critical factors are the physical size of the coils, the distance between them, and the fact that the Junior has a small ceramic magnet underneath it rather than a regular size alnico 5 one.
How a Fender Texas Special pickup sounds depends on many factors - not least, how closely it is adjusted to the vibrating strings. When I first tried a Seymour Duncan Twangbanger pickup, I was royally disappointed. No amount of adjustment improved matters. Finally, since I was about to unfasten the pickup anyway, I decided to try it set low. Hey, presto. There was THE sound.
I really like it - in fact for a while I owned a Suhr Pro Series with a full size bridge HB - back-to-back I thought the JB Jnr sounded better.
I don't know if it's the physicality of the pickup, but the smaller, stacked version still has some single coil character to it despite it being a HB and being more powerful and fuller than a single coil. I prefer them
This recent thread might interest you or the users' experiences on it -
http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/121770/bridge-humbucker-on-a-strat#latest
I'm in the same boat. I have a wonderful Fender Robert Cray Strat with aged pickup covers and a mint green scratchplate and the pickups are excellent, even the bridge one (not harsh) but it lacks some singy oomph for leads. Despite putting a baseplate in the bridge pickup (it did improve the fullness of it), it's not giving me what a HB can and I've been trying to find a stacked one that matches the look but also delivers.
Let us know how your one works out.
I had a jr for years, and also had another guitar with the full size.
It's a classic pickup for a reason, sounds really good and is versatile, I agree they don't sound the same - the humbucker sounds like one frankly whilst the jr, is very similar - I agree with others here that I remember it as a little single coil sounding, bit tighter, bit more focussed etc.
Very much enjoyed it, eventually changed the pickup set out because it didn't sound strat enough - they really don't, but for a hot-rodded strat sound, it's a cracker.
Finally got round to having the pickup installed.
Sounds brilliant - what's really nice is how nice it compliments the single coils when changing pickups.
I also agree it's not the same as a full on humbucker, it retains a little bit of the strattyness to it compared to my sambora strat where the PAF Pro is full on humbucker.
Can't wait to use it in anger next week.
The difference is far more because one is a good pickup and the other isn't than because of the angle .
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
I wanted the same and bought a Cool Rails off @martinw which was wedged hard into a tortoiseshell pickguard. It went on my Strat "temporarily" to see if I liked the idea. It did exactly what I wanted and ten years later, is still there.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein