Seymour Duncan JB vs Gibson Burstbucker Pro - Gibson Les Paul Studio

Jb sh4

Great guitar playing! I think for the money, I'll always look for a Burstbucker rather than the JBs

JB Humbucker my preference brings out the maple top in that guitar, bright and spanky. You can do some country riffin' with that too!

BB Pros

BBP all the way for me

BB PRO

Again, still going with the BurstBucker Pro. JB sounds a bit muddy for me.

Great video! You did a great job capturing the difference between the pickups. I recently bought a 60’s standard and the pickups are microphonic at gig volumes with high gain. I’ve always been a fan of the JB and it’s gonna get an upgrade. Great job! Thanks for posting this.

Great job comparing the two pups. I like the Burstbucker pros! Decided to leave mine in my Studio Deluxe! Thanks!!

Some metal would have shown the true bite of these

I like the burstbucker just a little better on clean and edge, its a bit mire present. With gain I dindnt realy notice much difference

This video made me leave the BB Pros in my Studio. Now I know the sound is there - I just need to setup the guitar properly ;) Right now, it's all messed up, so it doesn't sound 'Pro'.

Great video! Pretty cool the way mix the tracks. You can really hear the differences, for low gain i liked the SB but for lead n more gain the gib are my fav. Cheers> best regards.

Both are great pickups. I have both of them. I feel the BBs have a brighter, more vintage tone while the JB has a tighter, compressed tone. Both are good for different things and sound great blended.

JB's!

The Burstbucker Pro is a hot PAF. It's more like a '59 Bridge model. JB is it's own thing.

I've got my Gibsons with their Burstbuckers (two Les Pauls and an SG), and three guitars with the SD Hotrodded set.

I'll put it this way - there's nothing that would motivate me to replace my BBs. I absolutely love them.

However, I also absolutely love the SD sets. They have the added bonus of splitting really well.

For a Gibson with BBs, I'd leave them be. For guitars that come with the SDs, they're awesome. For a guitar in need of an upgrade, the SD set is hard to beat. I also think they're more versatile, given how well they coil split.

Tones? That's just so subjective and so dependant on the guitar, your end goals, but at the end of day, I think the Seymour Duncans are a bargain for not just what they deliver, but especially when compared to the cost of Burstbuckers.

I see so many comparisons between the BB pro and JB but nobody does the regular Bb2 compared to them. I think the Bb1/2 is more popular in general than the pros.

I got a free JB and I’m considering throwing it in the bridge and leaving my BB1 in the neck, because it sounds so smooth and sweet.

Great video. I just found this channel. Looks like alot of my kind of content. I'm looking forward to checking out some of these other videos. Subscribed

great video dude.

More zesty with the BBP. Less zest, more compressed, with JB.

Liked your last vid - very clean & helpful…
I have multiple guitars with different pickups & for different reasons… I watched your last vid because I recently just bought an LP with Burstbucker pros in it & had never heard them before….
I have watched countless vids over the years trying to decide on different pickups for different guitars etc….
& I think people lose sight or possibly don’t look at it this way when they are researching… No pickup is better or worse than another generally - they are all different sounding & have different qualities , & also sound slightly different in each guitar…
Two pickups can be compared as a better or worse if you are after a particular comparison of of one has more gain, or more bass, or pick attack etc….
But it all comes down to what YOU want… Thats the part I think people lose sight of.
If you like the particular sound of the BB say, but want more gain, then look at another similar sounding Humbucker with similar tonal characteristics but hotter ….
A lot of the manufacturers put out specs on output high/ mid/ low etc etc….
The JB is a good pickup, it’s been used by many over the years, & so is the the BB pro….JB’s & Seymour’s can be very compressed in the mids , just like many EMG’s I have in my guitars…
Great for rock & metal etc.
Then there’s the Passive vs active thing….
Not meaning to rant here but trying to add, coz myself I am a bit of a gear / tone junky so she. Gone down the rabbit hole quite a few times…. I would say, find the sound you like - (Metallica, or Van halen, ZZ-Top) whatever, then research that guitar pickup sound / combo, then find out what about that ‘sound’ that works for you (scooped mids), or (maybe chimey highs), then go down that route of choosing pickups from various manufacturers that suit that…. Hope that helps man.
As an example - I have a LP with BB pros coz of the versatility of sound & clearly defined pickups. I have an ESP Edwards ‘LP SUPREME’ with a Slash Seymour in it for fluid solos due to a nice mix of mid/ high, but compression. I have another guitar with EMG hetset due to the active bite & higher output…etc etc… the choice was made based on the characteristics of the pickup (what I wanted out of that pickup)to that guitar, not as a comparison from one pickup to another.

Looking to upgrade my Les Paul Tribute as im not the biggest fan of its 490T. It sounds ok but lacks some oomph and power compared to these two pickups. I have another LTD EC 1000 with the SD JB in the bridge which I am currently selling. I really love that pickup though, but I guess I will go with the BBP for my Les Paul as I like them a little better in this video. Great comparison mate!

I've never had luck with stock pups in any Gibson I've owned, although I've played plenty of Gibsons with terrific stock pups. In any Gibson I've owned I've changed the pickups numerous times till I settled on the JB/Jazz set which is perfect. The JB is made for a Gibson style guitar. Sounds great in strats too, but the real magic happens with mahogany setneck solidbodies.

I consistently preferred the BB Pro here, but the differences were less obvious the more gain that was added.

Burstbuckers by a mile

wow. burst buckers pro sounded great. nice and open and perfect high end

The pro buckers and burst buckers are one in the same..both are better than the Duncans and the real deals

As someone that has always used high output pickups... I think i've been going about it all wrong. those burstbuckers sounded great to me

JB for metal

Could easily love with either, but I preferred the BB almost every time.

I bought a Les Paul in 2009 . I remember i that time, i wanted more output from the pickup. I was playing ozzy, maiden, guns music with my band. I did put some SH-4 in my Les Paul and now, i think i will put back the BurstBucker in it . I just like the more open sound of it. Didnt remember how they sounded compared to the SH-4

Jb for me!

I just have seen two twins with the same eyes color, same hairs, same, same ,same. I have both of them.

BB Pro all day long. The JB sounds muffled by comparison.

BBP sounds better to me

I was expecting to prefer the JB but to my ear the Burstbucker has better clarity and definition and the JB is a bit muddier

Great comparison of the two pickups! Also a shout out for the video you did on the 490/498's. Both were informative, listening through a headset. Nice work!

Burstbucker for the win- clearer- brighter, stands out

Kudos for a stellar comparison! Wow those BBs sound damn good!

Sh 4. . Better.. more defined

They sound very similar. I wouldn't bother changing pickups unless you want a much hotter pickup. Really, they are very close. I have a great ear for sound, and I play a GLP too. Maybe try the Slash 2 pickups. They are hotter than both. Otherwise the stock burstbuckers sound great. GL!

no doubt i'm going to buy the burstbucker pro :P

i prefer Gibson`s pickups.

Sounded to me like the bb was maybe a bit better on the less active examples, but as soon as you put the beans to them the jb walked off and left the bb in the dust. This is why ive got the jb in the bridge of my strat. I mostly only use the bridge humbucker for high gain and overdriven sounds, then use the neck and middle for bout everything else.

I junked the BBs as they lacked upper mids, dropped the JB in and boom upper mid glory JB all the way

Burstbucker Pro was better altogether for this level of gain. Incredible tone, grit, clarity, etc. Great pickup.
JB seems would have been better (less muddy) with higher gain.
Bottom line: if you have a Gibson with stock pickups, there's no real reason to "upgrade" pickups. If you have an Epiphone or something else, then Burstbuckers or Seymours are both good options.

Pro!

I'm planning to add the JB in my strat in a HSS config. Trying to achieve that 90s, 2000s pop punk style.