Seymour Duncan JB-7
When I got my new Schecter 007 Blackjack, this was the stock pickup in the bridge position. I was actually quite curious to see how it sounded, as the JB is a very well known pickup that I had not previously had the opportunity to play on. Especially since I had been playing with the Dimarzio Blaze neck, PAF-7 combo for a long time.
I was fully anticipating some buyers remorse until I got used to it. You know how it is, you play a certain pickup for a long time and you really get used to it then you get a new guitar and it just sounds...funny. And you start to think, "Was I just thinking the grass was greener on the other side of the fence? Is this guitar really any better than my old one? What was I thinking? I'd better take this back, it sounds awful!"
Then you play it for a while, get used to it, and start to see it's good points, and realize you didn't make a huge mistake. Whew!
Well, I was prepping myself for that before I picked up the Schecter. So I plugged into my PODxt and set it to my favorite Soldano SLO-100 patch, and started playing.
"Hmmmmmmm...this sounds pretty good...wow...this sounds DAMN good...holy crap, this thing ROCKS!!!"
The Bad: According to the Seymour Duncan website specs, the JB has almost double the treble frequencies than it does mids or bass. I would agree with this asessment. It is a VERY trebly pickup. Personally, for distorted rhythm playing, I keep my tone knob rolled back about 3/4 of the way with this pickup. But I much prefer having the response that I can roll off to not having the response no matter what I do.
The pickup is also quite a bit hotter than I'm used to, which makes for a more aggressive sound, but I'm also having some trouble with picking up hum from my power system. It was quite obtrusive in the signal, and drove me nuts. I eventually shielded the entire control cavity with aluminum tape and tack solder, which brought it down significantly, but it is still there. I suppose this is just something you have to accept with higher output pickups, but my Ibanez is virtually silent compared to this.
The Good: I am amazed by the tightness, clarity, and utter freaking BALLS of this pickup. (I should mention that the Schecter has an extended 26 1/2" scale which no doubt added to the clarity and tightness, but still...) It doesn't speak, it shouts. Notes just jump off of the guitar, and it growls with authority. I can understand why so many people use this pickup, it really sounds professional. It truly takes you one step closer to sounding like a pro.
I believe that Schecter chose it for the Blackjack series in part because of it's extreme treble response. The Blackjack series are all solid mahogany bodied guitars, and particularly on the seven strings, I know there is concern about things becoming muddy due to that choice of body wood. I can't say for sure that mahogany will always work for a seven string, but I can say that a solid mahogany body, combined with the crisp, clear treble of the JB-7, is an amazing combination. I've heard some guys talk about the JB in mahogany just being some kind of magic combo, and I agree.
One other thing to mention, is that the JB has amazing harmonics. The Evo 7 I tried on my Ibanez had lots of harmonics too, but they seemed out of control to me. The JB squeals and screams with harmonics, but it is very controllable via the way you play.
The JB-7 is an amazing bridge pickup for a mahogany bodied seven string. I can't speak as to how it would work in basswood, but for mahogany I strongly, STRONGLY recommend it. I wouldn't use anything else in the bridge of a mahogany seven.