Alnico 8 in P90

[martilloseductor]

My main guitar has a pair of Kent Armstrong P90s custom made by the man himself. They're both identical, except for the magnets (neck has Alnico Vs and bridge has Ceramics). I know he used 42 AWG Magnet Wire (he mentions it's 0.063 mm) and the DCR is arround 10K (my multimeter measures arround 8.2K, though). I've never really worked with pickups before (other than installing them), but I'm an electronic engineer eager to learn.

Anyway, while I love the sound of the guitar, i think the bridge pickup could be warmer. It also has these mildly annoying highs when I play clean. I'm pretty sure it's because of the ceramic magnets, because I wasn't really much of a fan of the Duncan Custom and Distortion either. They're great distorted, but the cleans are kinda lifeless compared to the Air Norton or the JB (yes, I'm a JB fan).

I'd like to know if a pair of Alnico 8 magnets are a good idea. I've read they are hotter than the other Alnico magnets (and even ceramics), and that they possess higher magnetic pull... but, are they as warm as Alnico 2 and 5? I want the bridge P90 to be muscular, but warm at the same time.

[metlking]

Re: Alnico 8 in P90

Ironically I swapped magnets in Gibson Les Paul Jr with a dogear P-90 for a few hours tonight! After trying A8/A2, A8/A4, A8/C8, A8/UOA5 I settled on a pair of A8's. It had the push I was looking for but was still somewhat smooth on the top end. I expected it to be shrill but it really wasn't. The pair seemed to work together better and be more "linear" than the combos. I've heard string pull would be an issue but it sustains forever (Might be a bad choice for the neck though) Make sure you orient the magnets in the correct manner. They should repel each other as you butt then up against the keeper.......

[eclecticsynergy]

Re: Alnico 8 in P90

I put one A8 in a bridge P90 that originally had two A5s and it was a huge improvement, even with one of the A5s left in. I imagine two of them would be warmer than the ceramics. You may also find it responds more naturally to your picking dynamics when the volume control is rolled back. For me, that seems to be ceramic's Achilles' heel: most ceramic pickups just don't feel right to me when I back off the volume knob.

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Alnico 8 in P90

I am a real P-90 fan. Your choice is good and I would highly recommend the two A8 mags instead of the ceramics. To me, ceramics have a very brittle, piercing high end, while the A8 is very smooth and warm without losing the nice treble bite that is so much a part of the P-90 tone.

I recommend either two A8s or one A8 and one A5 (UOA5).

[martilloseductor]

Re: Alnico 8 in P90

I ended up liking the A8 + A5 combination better. It retains the warmth of an alnico p90 while also having that exta omph I was craving for. The dual A8 configuration was just too much...

[eclecticsynergy]

Re: Alnico 8 in P90

Yah, I favor that combo for bridge position. Glad it worked well for you. If you're interested in warmer tone and a more vintage feel from your neck P90, replacing one of the A5s with an A2 is worth trying too. Two A5s is plucky and has nice bite, but I like the slightly softer feel that one A2 gives.

[Mpcoluv]

For those who have mixed an A5 and an A8 in the bridge, was the A8 on the neck side or the bridge side?

[GuitarDoc]

It doesn't really matter...the pole pieces are still in the same place.