This is a very nice pickup for a variety of music, to include pop, rock (think ZZ Top, Journey, and older Aerosmith), jazz, even some gritty country. You get a LOT of of highs and mids out of this thing, helping you cut through the mix at any gig. Harmonics leap off the fretboard, and this is a wonderful pup for playing clean (very sparkly clean tone). The problem is, all the music I listed above is only half of what I play. I do alot of heavy rock and metal, and this pup is only barely able to achieve anything close to the tone I want for that kind of music. You HAVE to have the absolute right effects and amp to do it, and even then, you will be pushing your effects to the max to get a decent metal tone. I noted that even after achieving this I had to jack up the low EQ on my effects, because pushing gain into this thing makes the already powerful highs and mids seem overbearing. This left me with something of a muddy tone in the lower strings, and not the tight low-end chug-chug I like in a high gain pup. This pup is in my Jackson DK2M Dinky (along with a SH-2N jazz in the neck), and I'm going to replace it with a Seymour Duncan SH-6 Distortion, keeping the jazz in the neck for some tonal variety.

This JB came on my Jackson DK2M and I was rather happy about having it there, initially. I frequently heard and read how great Seymour Duncan pickups are so I bought a guitar that had some on it.

I play Metal music the majority of the time and the sound I look for in a bridge pickup is a nice crunch, somewhat tight bottom end, decent amount of mids and highs that aren't too overbearing. Sadly, the JB succeeds in only some of those departments, at least for me with the gain engaged. The bottom end is put aside by somewhat overwhelming amounts of highs. It's very unfocused, way too loose for my tastes and quite muddy. Mids aren't a problem; they are very well balanced. Now, the treble is where my issue lies because there is just too much. Even with strings gauge 10-52 and the added bass they provide. It makes my overall sound a little too bright when I rather have it sounding a little darker. Detuning helps only a little.

The JB works good with cleans though. If you're into that bright glassy tone, then they work well for that only with the right amp. They aren't the best, but good.

There's a reason why this is the number one selling humbucker in the biz. It just sounds great! Sure there's other boutique makers like Lindy Fralins, Tom Holmes, Motor city, WCR, and many others. I've owned Dimarzios....good pickups as well but they are made more for shredders and Rio Grande which are nice as well especially the distorted tones but he cleans are very bland. Over all the JB really stands out for tone and versatility. It sounds great clean and distorted. The low mids really beefs up the tone and the highs really helps cut through the mix. I'm done trying out and paying more money for other pickups. The JB does it all and does it well!

My guitar is a whole new instrument because of this pickup. I put in on a bridge of a Washburn SB-20 and the difference blew me away. It's bright and clear but not twangy. It's full and balanced. Really balanced. I'm an acoustic guitar player, so in that line of work it's more about the guitar itself than the electronics. But for electrics, pickups make a huge difference. Want to upgrade but are on a budget? Try these pickups first. They will re-invent your old guitar, allowing it to venture into a professional voicing without breaking your bank.

I recently bought a 83 Gibson Les Paul Custom. Whoever had it last put a SD SH-1 in the neck (awesome) and a SD Dimebucker in the bridge (not awesome). Not sure if there is something wrong with the Dimebucker or if it just doesn't suit the guitar but it really sounded bad, very tinny, no mids, very little bottom. Height adjustment did no good, plus I'm not a metal maniac anymore so I wanted a replacement that was more in line with what I like to play, classic rock, old school metal, that sort of thing. So after much research I went with the SH-4 JB. The difference is incredible. The guitar really sings now, can get all sorts of tones with it (as opposed to what I had- "bad" or "worse"). I'm thinking of picking one up for my Ibanez, now.