A8 PG still too scratchy... Anyone tried an A8 in a SNS?

[WDeeGee]

A 59b with a double thick A5 will fix you right up!

https://www.cermagmagnets.co.uk/alni...125mm-39-p.asp

Thanks!

Thanks everyone!

[eclecticsynergy]

I concur. Aggressiveness in the upper mids seems to be in the wind of the Pearly Gates. Magnets wouldn't change that much.
The same way a JB always sounds like a JB, even with an A2. Subtly altered, maybe, but it still has its distinctive inherent tone.

59B would be my recommendation too - and a double thick A5 probably would put it squarely in the slightly-hotter-than-PAF category.

[AdrianSD]

Yeah, in my rather limited experience the voice / character of certain pickups won't change dramatically after a magnet swap. In 2 of my guitars JB still sounds like a JB either stock, or with a rough cast A5, or A2 or A8. OTOH, Custom is different in this respect, its EQ is kind of more neutral and different magnets in the same pickup will alter its voice to a higher degree.

[WDeeGee]

59B would be my recommendation too - and a double thick A5 probably would put it squarely in the slightly-hotter-than-PAF category.

Q: would a double thick A5 not make the 59b sound super-scooped? It already leans a bit towards a scooped sound (compared to other PAF brands).

[Clint 55]

No, it keeps the same basic tone but bumps up output a bit and makes it fatter and less harsh.

[WDeeGee]

No, it keeps the same basic tone but bumps up output a bit and makes it fatter and less harsh.

A few questions popped up in my mins, I hope you can help...

What about the metal spacer? Do I add another one? Won't this affect the tone and how?

Also I'd like to know if the double thick magnet will make the sound more compressed?

[freefrog]

I concur. Aggressiveness in the upper mids seems to be in the wind of the Pearly Gates. Magnets wouldn't change that much.

+1. The sonic character of a Pearly Gates is largely due to its higher Q factor, giving a narrower and sharp resonant peak. No mag swap can solve that.

[Clint 55]

A few questions popped up in my mins, I hope you can help...

What about the metal spacer? Do I add another one? Won't this affect the tone and how?

Also I'd like to know if the double thick magnet will make the sound more compressed?

Adding a metal spacer is optional. Duncan pickups that use double thick magnets only use 1. No, a double thick magnet won't add compression. The opennes of the vintage wind is maintained, with the positives that I explained earlier.

[jeremy]

+1. The sonic character of a Pearly Gates is largely due to its higher Q factor, giving a narrower and sharp resonant peak. No mag swap can solve that.

does the jb have a similar higher q factor? ive always heard some similarity between the eq curve of those two pups

[WDeeGee]

+1. The sonic character of a Pearly Gates is largely due to its higher Q factor, giving a narrower and sharp resonant peak. No mag swap can solve that.

Yeah I don't mind the Pearly Gates character it's just that the guitar's own upper "resonant peak" coincides with that of the PG's so it's a little much. It needs a bit of taming, that's all. I'm not against the PG's voicing. In fact, I really like its clarity and great note definition. The guitar also has a low frequency bump that gives the PG a lot of balls, while being absolutely not muddy at all.

I wired a resistor in parallel with the vol pot so the PG sees 350k ohms and I must say we're getting close. 250k loses too much sparkle.

[freefrog]

does the jb have a similar higher q factor? ive always heard some similarity between the eq curve of those two pups

Hi Jeremy,
If memory serves me, no, the JB has not quite the same kind of narrow pointy resonant peak than the PG. But it has a resonant frequency typically located in the "lower upper mids", so to speak. Hence a similar "insistent" effect on our audition, in my understanding / IMHO. :-)

[freefrog]

Yeah I don't mind the Pearly Gates character it's just that the guitar's own upper "resonant peak" coincides with that of the PG's so it's a little much. It needs a bit of taming, that's all. I'm not against the PG's voicing. In fact, I really like its clarity and great note definition. The guitar also has a low frequency bump that gives the PG a lot of balls, while being absolutely not muddy at all.

I wired a resistor in parallel with the vol pot so the PG sees 350k ohms and I must say we're getting close. 250k loses too much sparkle.

I certainly understand your approach, since I often tend to "tune" a wiring harness according to the guitar hosting it. Looks like your guitar wants a 300k vol pot. :-))

BTW, is your PG covered? Eddy currents due to covers are another simple way to mellow annoying prominent frequencies IME/IMHO - a "bad" cover has sometimes a good effect. :-)

[WDeeGee]

There's a nickel cover on it now, so it should have little effect.
Still, I feel a brass cover would kill the sparkle more than the upper mid spike...

[Clint 55]

A simple A5 swap would reduce the mid spike.

[freefrog]

There's a nickel cover on it now, so it should have little effect.
Still, I feel a brass cover would kill the sparkle more than the upper mid spike...

FWIW, all "bad" covers are not created equal: some are thicker than others, with the related effect in terms of Foucault currents. Golden covers have their own influence too, as chrome covers - which add inductance to pickups and change their harmonics...

Reason why I admit to go by trial and error rather than by "known material". Then I measure resonant peaks with a lab rig and am often surprised by what I see or hear.

It's a bit the same with magnets: we have a lab teslameter here and I tend to base my choices on the measured magnetic field, rather than on the alloy supposed to compose a mag. And the results are sometimes surprising too.

Regarding what you asked about "metal spacers", a.k.a. pole shoes / keeper bars: like any part containing iron added to the circuit, a double thick keeper bar would slightly increase the inductance and eddy currents. But it would also introduce a risk of high pitched feedback due to mechanical vibrations...