JJB pickup

[Paul C]

I can't decide on which pickup to put in my second build . The jjb sch 200 or the fishman matrix infinity. I have the fishman in another guitar and it sounds good. The person I'm building for definately wants the thumb control but is worried the jjb without battery could be an issue. The jjb is 30 bucks cheaper but I'm not being cheap!. Fear of the unknown I suppose. Any thoughts welcome

[Bob Dill]

I just put the SCH-200 in a L-00, I had the pick up on hand before I closed the box so I could make sure the volume and tone plate would fit. It is a tight fit with the plug ins really close to the upper bout, the wires have to bend 90 degrees to clear the side, all said, the system did fit. How does it sound? We'll the first volume and tone control had some problems but Jessie sent me a new plate that is working fine. The control wheels are pretty small and are not that easy to get too, they are effective and do a good job though. It sounds good, not as bass heavy as a K&K pure mini which is similar to The JJB. It's nice to not have to deal with a battery, I run mine through a Baggs Venue PA and it is working fine.

[Kevin in California]

I've put 4 of these JJB 3 transducer pickups in without the controls and all the guitars sound great. Being passive is a plus in my book and going straight into an amp works fine. No preamp eq just allows the guitar to sound like your guitar only louder.

[Paul C]

Thanks for replys. I was also wondering about when the best time to install this pickup would be. I read the install manual from website and it shows to put the 3 transducers near the bridge pin holes but I wont have any holes until the box is closed up and the bridge is located and holes are drilled. Then it seems it would be harder. Any suggestions?

[Kevin in California]

Paul,
I've always put them in when the guitar was finished. Easy to do with a little jig you can make from cardboard and some doweling.
You can find a tutorial for this on the K & K site, it is quite easy to put the transducers and the end pin jack in. The control module I would think is pretty easy too, but that could be put in before you glue your top down, and then the cables plugged in later.

Kevin

[Bob Dill]

If you are still in the construction stage, I would suggest that you have the pick up on hand and check to see that you have enough room to plug in the plug ins to the volume and tone plate, on a L-00 it was tight. The area around the sound hole needs a bit of modification, the plate needs a flat surface to double stick it too, if you use a common sound hole brace you'll need to remove it for the plate to fit. Doing this after the box is closed is not a fun job. The JJB pick up is a nice pick up and if one knows that it is the pickup that's going to be used, adjustments around the sound hole are a easy thing to do.

[Paul C]

Thanks for the heads up on that