URGENT: Magnet stuck in the pickup while swapping. What to do?

[Diego]

MODS: I know this is pickup talk, but this is properly urgent.
I posted it in the Pickup Lounge but nobody's here...

I'm replacing the A5 magnet in my Screamin' Demon with a A8 (Thanks, Rick!)

Took the cloth off, loosened the bronze screws... and the magnet won't come off the baseplate. I've applied enough pressure, way beyond comfort while in front of a myriad of tiny wires, to know that something's wrong.

What's going on? I've read two tutorials and it should come out easily, no?

[cakire82]

Re: URGENT: Magnet stuck in the pickup while swapping. What to do?

it might be stuck due to wax. Get a hair dryer, set it to hot and use in on the pickup for a few minutes at a time and try to move it again.

[Diego]

Re: URGENT: Magnet stuck in the pickup while swapping. What to do?

You were right. Fixed and fitted. Man was I worried. First time ever swapping magnets.

Thanks! I've now got a Demon 8 waiting to roar.

[cakire82]

Re: URGENT: Magnet stuck in the pickup while swapping. What to do?

You were right. Fixed and fitted. Man was I worried. First time ever swapping magnets.

Thanks! I've now got a Demon 8 waiting to roar.

Cool. Let us know how it sounds.

[oilpit]

Re: URGENT: Magnet stuck in the pickup while swapping. What to do?

Glad it all worked out...my first may swap was stressful as well.

I'll be very interested to see what you think of it, an A8 seems perfect for the Demon's EQ/output

[Diego]

Re: URGENT: Magnet stuck in the pickup while swapping. What to do?

Ok! I've played it a bit now.

The output got a reasonable bump. If I had to quantify, I'd say 25%.
The EQ got an interesting shift. The bass, low mids and mids are more pronounced.
The highs seem to have shifted a bit towards lower frequencies, but it's still a bright, clear pickup.
Leads just got a lot fatter too, they almost compete with the neck pickup.

The result is a fatter, yet tighter and more aggressive Demon.
The mids add fat, but they also add crunch when distorted. It's insanely crunchy now.
It's got the same Demon character, just bigger.
The cleans I haven't judged yet.

I can't put the guitar down! Man does it sound unbelievable.

[oilpit]

Re: URGENT: Magnet stuck in the pickup while swapping. What to do?

That all sounds really fantastic except for the crunchy part...I can't stand crunch.

I've wanted to put a Demon 8/Jazz combo in something made of mahogany for a while now, do you think the crunch could be EQ'd out? Or is it too insanely crunchy?

[Diego]

Re: URGENT: Magnet stuck in the pickup while swapping. What to do?

Well, I actually spent most of the time with some pretty aggressive sounds, which I wasn't fully convinced with before.

If you're looking for a pickup with 'rounder' sound qualities so to speak, I'm not sure the Demon's the best start,
BUT I think it could be dialed out nicely with the pots, it's got a moderate punch of mids and low mids to fill with and it might deliver a nice fat sound too.
Keep in mind I'm using it with 500k pots too.

I'll try and tell you tomorrow after some testing how's it like for other sounds.

[oilpit]

Re: URGENT: Magnet stuck in the pickup while swapping. What to do?

It's not so much that I want roundness, I just don't really want a lot of crunch or hair so to speak. The Demon is very appealing to me in that it sends a clear articulate signal to the amp. I dial my amps for a VERY fat, round tone, so pickups that are also fat and round don't really work for me. Essentially what I want is something bright, clear and smooth with lots of punch in the low mids and tight bass. A pickup that lets the amp do most of the work while just adding harmonics and a little midrange kick. it sounds like the Demon 8 has everything but the smoothness, which, unfortunately, is quite important to me.

But I don't want to interrogate you about a pickup you have only had for a few hours, play around with it, learn what it does and doesn't do before you let me browbeat you into reviewing it.

Congrats on the new pickup!