I meant to give it 5 stars

This is the best, simple as. I'm a Death Metal fan and need the clarity of the EMG 81, but I've got to admit this is a dirty, sexy sounding pickup. It begs for more and more gain to be piled on and when you do so, just sounds so rorty ! Harmonic overtones leap out of the speakers for screaming leads and Thah Metal riffs are delivered with maximum aggression. Yes, it can be backed off for blues or less extreme styles of rock, but there are better pickups for this such as the 'Screamin' Demon' George Lynch signature (HUGE, open sound, even with a practice amp, but gets harsh with high gain) or 'Custom Custom' (slightly warmer PAF sound). The EMG sounds nasal and compressed compared with the JB, but has the all important extra definition when using high gain and drop tunings. I'm a picky F**ker and have been through many different pickups and worked on even more guitars than I've owned, but the JB is a favourite

Possibly the most versitile pickup around. You can get some nice easy clear sounds out of this, or overdrive it to metal. <br/> <br/>The JB model has the same output as the distortion, apart from the JB has a higher mid range. So play it as it is for 90% of rock styles, or use an EQ pedal (1st on your pedal board in this case) to cut the mids and play sludgy death metal! <br/> <br/>I use this pickup on my Epiphone Les Paul at the bridge position, with it coil tapped to allow me to play both humbucker and single coil. I have to say that the tone I get is phanominal. Bare in mind that it is only an epiphone into a Fender 212 R solid state amp. <br/> <br/>Oh yeah, and check out the seymour duncam website to see how many famous artists use this (inc Kiss, Incubus, Kurt Cobain, Foo Fighters, Jeff Beck (obviously), Moterhead ect....). By the way, they are just the loud bands, a whole load of jazz guys use the JB too, thats how versitile it is!

hey, i've considered getting on of these for my squire strat - like Dave i want to `brighten` it up. Some people say that the string spacing`s are different... and was wondering if anyone had any probs using it with a strat b4 i go and buy it. <br/> <br/>thanks, and when i get one i'll post a real review :) - but im sure its a fantastic bit of kit!!

I have a gibson les paul, which is obviously a very nice guitar, and a squire stratocaster. I wanted something that would make my squire comparable to my gibson instead of just being a dust collector. I didn't expect this pickup to make my squire sound great, just to brighten up its sound a bit. <br/>I installed the pickup and coil-split it so that i could still get a single coil sound by flicking a separate switch. I plugged it in on a clean channel, my first impression was... WOW! It was so clear and had a lovely trebley sound with just enough bass to prevent it sounding harsh like some pickups. Then i switched it onto the distortion channel, gorgeous! I could solo away all night on it now!!

im in a grunge band and this pickup is great. plenty of sustain and a good amount of distortion. if u like grunge this is the best

About my guitar's third bridge pickup and it didn't dissapoint! Does all I want it to and more. It's real middle of the road but seems to have a trebly punch that a lot of humbuckers seem to lack.

I play alot of nirvana, ac/dc and red hot chili peppers, all of these sound genuine with this pick up. Gives good crunch not too much bass not too much treble, however it is more on the trebley side. As soon as you switch on a distortion pedal whilst using it, it hits you. THIS IS GREAT CLEAR CRUNCH, AND ANYBODY WHO DOSEN'T USE IT IS MISSING OUT ON SOMETHING GREAT!!!

If u wanna rock, this is the only pickup for the job. It is the only pickup this loud and still not muddy sounding. Great value!