JJB pickups

Started by unclerufus, January 14, 2011, 09:21:58 PM

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Anyone here know anything about these? I've read a few things about them and they're supposed to be similar to K&K for less $$.

I put one in my resonator since I didn't want to spend a lot of money. The pickup works great and the customer service was excellant. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another one.

I just put a jjb 330 in my L-03 the other week. finally got to try it out with a full band at church, and sounded great. sounded just like the Larrivee... only louder. which we all want our pickups to do in our acoustics.
i was also a few mm's off from perfect with the installation, and i was worried how it would affect the sound. no problems, even jessie sent me an email stating its a pretty forgiving pickup and i can hear that.
great sound, didn't have any feedback, and would highly recommend. great pickup for a great price.


I put one in my Retler acoustic a few weeks ago.  Great pickups!  I've never gotten better acoustic tone through a PA before, and I've gotten a ton of comments on how good it sounds. 

Just for the record, Jesse is awesome to work with as well.  A friend of mine liked the tone so much that he decided on the spot that he wanted one for his Taylor.  The tricky part though, is that he wanted it to run it through the Fishman Prefix Plus on his guitar that has been disconnected for years (it's currently running an after-market undersaddle pickup).  Jesse not only agreed to do it and modify the wiring to fit the preamp, but he did some research, figured out the difference in impedance between the pickup and preamp, and is soldering in a resistor to take care of any issues that might arise from that.

Also, I just got a custom violin pickup from him a week ago made with a carpenter back.  Stuck it on a friends violin, and it sounds amazing through the PA now, and it cost less then half of anything else I've found.  It's been enough of a success that I've ordered a second, and he is thinking about making it an official product.

Reading back, I just realized that this looks like an advertisement.  I promise it is not - I'm just a very satisfied customer.

I put oa JJB Prestige 330, 3 transducer model in my Taylor 110 Sapele and run it through a Fishman Loudbox Mini. The loudbox sounds great and I have received several compliments on the sound of this setup. I can use the Mini stand alone or as a DI out to the pa and use it as a monitor. The preamp in the Mini is worth the price of the amp. I think JJB pickups are very good at any price. :+1:

Quote from: jared on January 18, 2011, 08:49:20 AM
I just put a jjb 330 in my L-03 the other week. finally got to try it out with a full band at church, and sounded great. sounded just like the Larrivee... only louder.

Can you run the JJB directly into the PA without a preamp?

I have just ordered one for my L03 and I will report back when received and installed.
Michel

First time I've heard of them. I saw on their web site that the pick-up elements are rather large though (20mm) and a smaller version (15mm) which are still relatively large compared to K&K's Pure pickups.

That suggests there might be potential mounting problems on certain Larrivee bridge plates.
Jared, were there any mods done to your L-03 for the installation?

I recall reading on this forum that there had to be a spruce extension made to accommodate a K&K Pure installation on a certain Larrivee model. I can't recall what specific model it was though and whether it was different than other (standard) models.
"To me...music exists to elevate us as far as possible above everyday life." ~ Gabriel Faure

From what I understand Krazy glue gel is how these JJB's are mounted. Has anybody used double sided tape or some other, less destructive glue to mount these? I'm thinking of mounting them via hide glue. Anyone know if that might not work?
Let me just say, I'm growing better.

Quote from: Dannyg1 on June 11, 2011, 03:46:00 PM
From what I understand Krazy glue gel is how these JJB's are mounted. Has anybody used double sided tape or some other, less destructive glue to mount these? I'm thinking of mounting them via hide glue. Anyone know if that might not work?


I can't see why not. I reckon the only challenge would be to apply clamping pressure in a rather awkward place.
That is mainly the reason why tape and that nasty Crazy stuff is used - to let it stick instantly.
"To me...music exists to elevate us as far as possible above everyday life." ~ Gabriel Faure

Quote from: Zohn on June 11, 2011, 03:15:41 AM
First time I've heard of them. I saw on their web site that the pick-up elements are rather large though (20mm) and a smaller version (15mm) which are still relatively large compared to K&K's Pure pickups.

That suggests there might be potential mounting problems on certain Larrivee bridge plates.
Jared, were there any mods done to your L-03 for the installation?

I recall reading on this forum that there had to be a spruce extension made to accommodate a K&K Pure installation on a certain Larrivee model. I can't recall what specific model it was though and whether it was different than other (standard) models.

That was with my F-III install of the K&K, lots of info to be had in this thread.
Roger


"Live simply so that others may simply live"

 :+1: Yep, that's the one, thanx Roger.

So Jared, do the JJB's fit, or did you have to fit an extension too?
Also, what are their rating - and would they work (passive) with the same pre-amps as the K&K?
"To me...music exists to elevate us as far as possible above everyday life." ~ Gabriel Faure

My understanding is that the JJB are pretty much direct uhm...  borrowed designs from K&K.  All of the impedance ratings are pretty much the same as the corresponding K&K.  That is, a single element JJB is the same as a single element K&K, etc.  So far, I've been happy supporting the actual research K&K does to come up with good designs.

Ed

Are these AST's (including K&K) feed-back prone? I read some online reviews and am considering getting myself some for two of my guitars. It seems the JJB's are great value with excellent service.
"To me...music exists to elevate us as far as possible above everyday life." ~ Gabriel Faure

I have installed the JJBs on one of my guitars and they sounded great through an acoustic guitar amp as well as an electric guitar amp.  I also at the time had another guitar with the K&K pickups and imho there was no difference between the two in terms of sound quality....both guitars sounded natural and crystal clear.
I used crazy glue for both installations....the key is to read the instructions fully before attempting to instal, and also practice putting the pickups in place before gluing.
Randy
Larrivee L-02
Guild F212XL

No mods needed for my L-03. I used the 15mm JJB 330. I think the 20mm will be too big. The volume and tone from the 15mm is way enough. I followed the instructions here to do my install and everything went smooth sailing:

http://www.frettech.com/kk/

If you're a few millimeters off in getting them pefectly lined up between each string pair, it doesn't matter. This pickup is very forgiving. I usually play mine with a DI. Just straight into the board. Even with a loud band I've never had feedback and I can still be heard in the mix. I have used my LR Baggs Paracoustic DI a few times, but to me thought it muddied the tone a bit, but it was probably my fault, maybe the gain was set too high on the box. I have a Fishman Aura Sprectrum that will arrive in a few days and I will give that a try with the pickup and see how it favors.
I like Jesse, great customer service and always answers my questions within hours by email. He makes great products, and recommend his pickups over K&K anyday.



Quote from: Zohn on June 11, 2011, 03:15:41 AM
First time I've heard of them. I saw on their web site that the pick-up elements are rather large though (20mm) and a smaller version (15mm) which are still relatively large compared to K&K's Pure pickups.

That suggests there might be potential mounting problems on certain Larrivee bridge plates.
Jared, were there any mods done to your L-03 for the installation?

I recall reading on this forum that there had to be a spruce extension made to accommodate a K&K Pure installation on a certain Larrivee model. I can't recall what specific model it was though and whether it was different than other (standard) models.

No extension needed. 15mm fit fine in mine. As far as rating, I have no clue, but I'm sure they're about the same as the K&K, as the products are very identical to each other.



Quote from: Zohn on June 19, 2011, 04:13:32 AM
:+1: Yep, that's the one, thanx Roger.

So Jared, do the JJB's fit, or did you have to fit an extension too?
Also, what are their rating - and would they work (passive) with the same pre-amps as the K&K?

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