Alternative 8 - Am I doing it wrong?

[Jack_TriPpEr]

Yep, i missed that detail about "ceramic" 8 vs "alnico" 8. Sorry.

Interesting that the ceramic 8s in the Apocalypse pups I had, had the same "fizzy" characteristic that the OP was describing with the Alt 8 pup, which the SD product page says is Alnico 8.

[Demanic]

The Alternative 8 has a very small sweet spot as far as distance from the strings go. It won't sound it's best if its either too close or too far. But I think that it sounds very good when its there. It just might take a bit of back and forth to get it there.

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[dave74]

Try adjusting the height by fretting each string at the highest fret. (22nd or 24th)
Pick each string lightly and raise the pickup until you get a slight warble in the notes, then very slowly lower each side of the pickup just barely enough to make the warbles go away and the notes ring clearly.
IMO it's much easier to hear any slight warbling when you have some gain going through the amp.

[vera_gemini]

Thanks for all the help.
Will look into it when I get home.

What about a Mag Swap? What would Some thing like an A5 or an A4 sound like in a Sh-15?
Total noob. Never tried anything like a Mag Swap...

//Vera

[EmiAba]

Thanks for all the help.
Will look into it when I get home.

What about a Mag Swap? What would Some thing like an A5 or an A4 sound like in a Sh-15?
Total noob. Never tried anything like a Mag Swap...

//Vera

Swapping magnet is an easy job. On YouTube there are many videos with guys explaining all the step to successfully change a mag. Pay attention to the magnet orientation, that is the only recommendation. Don't know how an Alt 8 could sound with different magnet. It's hard to say. I think the wind of that pickup was developed with the A8 tone characteristics in mind. But if you try a different magnet in it, please let us know the results

[vera_gemini]

Update.

I might have figured "it" out....

The issue I had with the Alt8 is that is was hot - waaay hot. I figured the best solution was to go lower (from the strings). This only resulted in sounds ranging from "not good" to "bad".
One day out of desperation or a last ditch effort to maybe salvage some thing from the PUP, I raised it pretty much all the way up to where it (almost) touched the strings, and from there lowered it in small increments.

To my surprise I found that the optimal position is a lot closer to the strings than the standard/default/recommended setup.

Conclusion:
I still don't really like the Alt8 as it is ridicoulusly loud - loud to the point where it clips the input of my audio interface even with the gain at zero.
But properly setup (1.8-2.0mm distance from the strings) , it sounds pretty good...

//Vera