? Magnet swap in Duncan Distortion pickup?

[54stratlover]

I recently bought a charvel so cal pro mod for a good price and am starting to mod it. It came factory with the Mayhem set. The pickups are fine in their own way, but I am not really falling in love with them. I was considering a magnet swap before buying different pickups. I looked over the specs and see they are hotter pickups. What I’m thinking of doing is throwing an alnico 2 magnet in the bridge and either an alnico 3, 4, or maybe 5 in the neck. I’ve put an alnico 2 in a JB in the past and found my favorite pickup in the world. I just really like Alnico 2 HBs.

has anyone swapped out the ceramic for alnico in the Duncan Distortion? It worked in the JB, but is this a decent pickup to swap magnets in.

lastly, where do you all buy bar magnets from

thanks!

[Demanic]

You'll get a different flavor of Distortion.
I would suggest putting an A4 in the neck and adding ceramic spacers to the bridge.
That would give you a unique and powerful set to work with.

[54stratlover]

You'll get a different flavor of Distortion.
I would suggest putting an A4 in the neck and adding ceramic spacers to the bridge.
That would give you a unique and powerful set to work with.

Can you explain ceramic spacers for the bridge. I’m not familiar with that.

[Rex_Rocker]

I recently bought a charvel so cal pro mod for a good price and am starting to mod it. It came factory with the Mayhem set. The pickups are fine in their own way, but I am not really falling in love with them. I was considering a magnet swap before buying different pickups. I looked over the specs and see they are hotter pickups. What I’m thinking of doing is throwing an alnico 2 magnet in the bridge and either an alnico 3, 4, or maybe 5 in the neck. I’ve put an alnico 2 in a JB in the past and found my favorite pickup in the world. I just really like Alnico 2 HBs.

has anyone swapped out the ceramic for alnico in the Duncan Distortion? It worked in the JB, but is this a decent pickup to swap magnets in.

lastly, where do you all buy bar magnets from

thanks!

Many people suspect the Distortion and the JB are the same wind. That has not been confirmed. But even if they're not, they're, at the very least, similar winds. So expect something similar to your JB-2.

I would go for A2 or 3 in the neck. A5 has more brightness, but also more bass. I personally prefer A5 bridge pickups with A2 neck pickups, but I'm kinda weird.

[Clint 55]

The Distortion and JB are different pickups, they are not identical minus a mag swap. The Distortion set takes mag swaps very well. It's a nice set and takes very well to alnico. A2 in the bridge and something else in the neck is a good plan. The neck being super hot, it will get really warm if you change to a warm alnico, if that is what you want. A3 is the weakest like A2 but snappier, A4 is kind of rigid and even, A5 is scooped. I buy the magnets on ebay.

[Chistopher]

I'd say just buy two A2s and A5s, an A8, and an A4. It's not a crazy amount of money, and you can experiment as you want. An A8 is more suited towards bridge and an A4 more suited towards the neck (though it won't be bad in the bridge).

[Clint 55]

Why not get all the mags? :P Including A3, UOA5, and A6. I haven't seen A9 for sale. Would probably have to contact a dealer.

[hamerfan]

I recently bought a charvel so cal pro mod for a good price and am starting to mod it. It came factory with the Mayhem set. The pickups are fine in their own way, but I am not really falling in love with them. I was considering a magnet swap before buying different pickups. I looked over the specs and see they are hotter pickups. What I’m thinking of doing is throwing an alnico 2 magnet in the bridge and either an alnico 3, 4, or maybe 5 in the neck. I’ve put an alnico 2 in a JB in the past and found my favorite pickup in the world. I just really like Alnico 2 HBs.

has anyone swapped out the ceramic for alnico in the Duncan Distortion? It worked in the JB, but is this a decent pickup to swap magnets in.

lastly, where do you all buy bar magnets from

thanks!

Go for A2! The ceramic mag in the DD Bridge is thicker than standard sized Alnico. The spacer is too big and the screws are too long. Or get a double A2 from Clint

The side magnets are ceramic mags in the size of the spacer. If you want to use two side mags, you have to change the internal wiring to make room for the second side mag. Ceramic side magnets push the mids and volume but also compress the overall sound.

[Rex_Rocker]

Go for A2! The ceramic mag in the DD Bridge is thicker than standard sized Alnico. The spacer is too big and the screws are too long. Or get a double A2 from Clint

The side magnets are ceramic mags in the size of the spacer. If you want to use two side mags, you have to change the internal wiring to make room for the second side mag. Ceramic side magnets push the mids and volume but also compress the overall sound.

I believe you can just flip the spacer on its side, and that will make a standard-sized magnet fit. That's what I remember I did with mine, but that was many years ago.