Hybrid Magnet recommendation

[Blille]

Changed a bunch of things in my gear and the only thing I don't love is that a standard bridge Custom/59 is sounding a bit honky when clean. Tried playing with height.

Yes, I can try EQ pedal but the other positions work so I'd rather go for a magnet swap.

What should I try first to remove honkiness? A4?

[Adieu]

Re: Hybrid Magnet recommendation

I suspect that honk is an intended "feature", not sure if mags will cure it

Alsp your choice of amp and speaker may be a big source of honkey

[Chistopher]

Re: Hybrid Magnet recommendation

I don't really find the 59/C honky in the slightest. It has an A5 magnet and the comb filtering effect of the coil mismatch thins out the mid range, so the mids are rather scooped. I define "honk" as unnaturally obtrusive mids, so we might have a slightly different definition of the term.

[Blille]

Hybrid Magnet recommendation

Don't get me wrong, it's my favorite bridge pickup. I have it in several guitars and I never thought of it that way but in this guitar with this setup for whatever reason it gets there.

If I had to guess EQ it would be around 900.

It's not the end of the world and I love it dirty which is what I tend to use it for. I think with a slight push of a magnet swap it might get there. I have a mid heavy main amp, a 5e3.

I also thought about turning it around to see what happens since the coils are mismatched.

[Mincer]

Re: Hybrid Magnet recommendation

Yeah, I never got a honk from these pickups, so I am not sure which magnet would change what you are experiencing. I love the Hybrid as is, so I don't know if a magnet swap would improve on what I like about it.

[Jeff_H]

Re: Hybrid Magnet recommendation

I think an A4 will even out the frequencies like you said, or maybe even an A3 for something a bit more tame. The nice thing is they're cheap and easy mods, reversible in minutes. Try some different magnets out and let us know what you like.

I'm going to have to buy more guitars so I can try the Custom/59'.

[Blille]

Re: Hybrid Magnet recommendation

Thanks guys. I get this at home volume ( my reignmaker at full attenuation and with low volume in the dial) I'm going to crank it tomorrow to see if the extra brightness of the speaker without attenuation helps. I'll also play with the rest of the settings to see if I can get the clean bridge to work without losing what I like about the rest of the sounds of not I'll give an A4 a try.

How can one capture the EQ you get from one's setup? Is there an app for that? It would make things so much easier

[beaubrummels]

Re: Hybrid Magnet recommendation

A3, but it will also turn the volume down on you.

A4 filled in some fat mids on my pickups that previously had A5s in them. They were even, but switching from scooped A5 to even A4 sounded thick in the mids to me.

[beaubrummels]

Hybrid Magnet recommendation

Thanks guys. I get this at home volume ( my reignmaker at full attenuation and with low volume in the dial) I'm going to crank it tomorrow to see if the extra brightness of the speaker without attenuation helps. I'll also play with the rest of the settings to see if I can get the clean bridge to work without losing what I like about the rest of the sounds of not I'll give an A4 a try.

How can one capture the EQ you get from one's setup? Is there an app for that? It would make things so much easier

ProTools has a plug-in I used to use, can’t remember the name. ‘Something’Analyzer?

Edit: PAZ Analyzer. Not sure what PAZ refers to though.

[Shooweri]

Re: Hybrid Magnet recommendation

In my experience switching A5 to A4 fills out the mids and give more reduced, yet much more detailed high end. Give it a try and if you don't like it swap to A3 or UOA5. Looking forward to hear the results.

[eclecticsynergy]

Re: Hybrid Magnet recommendation

The Hybrid does have something special going on in the mids. I can't think of a viable mag swap that would give you less mids than an A5. Well, maybe the extra lows & highs of ceramic could mask the honk but I'm not recommending that to anyone. I guess you could try A4 or even A8, though A8's feel stiff to me. The good news is, both the Custom and the 59 take various magnets extremely well and the Hybrid shares that quality with them. I love UA5 in mine, but it's somewhat less scooped than regular A5.

I think rotating the pickup 180° is worth trying; the Custom coil is a bit dominant and would be brightened by being closer to the bridge.

Definitely see how it sounds through your amp without the attenuator first, though. That should go a long way towards mitigating the honk.

[Discharged]

Re: Hybrid Magnet recommendation

I'd rather go for a magnet swap

Depending on the tonal task ahead, the '59/Custom Hybrid sounds excellent with ANY Alnico magnet but the stock.

The choice should be made considering the necessity of tone-matching the neck p'up as well.

So, what is it?

[Blille]

Hybrid Magnet recommendation

Thanks all for your common sense and patience. So this morning I played the regular Church gig, 4 services. The guitar has SSL-1s. Well, I cranked the 5e3 to the max and the honkyness was gone, at least in the mix. The SSLs were actually a bit thin but that's an easy fix IME with height.

Lesson learned. Never make opinions on new setups based on bedroom volume.

Edit: I'm still going to turn it around out of curiosity. The split sounds should definitely change.

[Blille]

Hybrid Magnet recommendation

ProTools has a plug-in I used to use, can’t remember the name. ‘Something’Analyzer?

I should check in Ableton.