A3 single-coil sound?

[Artie]

I just dug out my Squier Classic Vibe 60's Strat, and did a little research. Apparently, the pups are A3 mags. What tonal character should they have? They just sound like a Strat to me, but possibly with a bit more pronounced midrange. Almost too much. I'm a little torn between keeping this original, or changing the pups. It was new in 2018, so it's not like it's a vintage piece.

Looks cool though with the color matched headstock, with gold "Squier" logo, and tinted maple neck. Odd color too. Sort of a teal-ish Lake Placid Blue.

 

[Clint 55]

A3 is just between A5 and A2. There are A2 strat pickups. A3 will just have a bit more midrange and softness than A5 but will still spank for a strat pup.

 

[Demanic]

If you change the pickups I'll take the middle off your hands. I have the bridge and neck in my Squire. I like the A5 that I have in the middle, but would be happy to replace it with an A3.


Sent from my SM-A115A using Tapatalk

 

[Artie]

If you change the pickups I'll take the middle off your hands.

If I do, (and I probably will), it's got your name on it.

Edit: Sorry man. I shouldn't have jumped so fast to say that. If I do decide to swap these out, I probably shouldn't break up the set. Again, sorry for being wishy-washy.

 

[freefrog]

I just dug out my Squier Classic Vibe 60's Strat, and did a little research. Apparently, the pups are A3 mags. What tonal character should they have? They just sound like a Strat to me, but possibly with a bit more pronounced midrange. Almost too much. I'm a little torn between keeping this original, or changing the pups. It was new in 2018, so it's not like it's a vintage piece.

Looks cool though with the color matched headstock, with gold "Squier" logo, and tinted maple neck. Odd color too. Sort of a teal-ish Lake Placid Blue.

Nice guitar!

Regarding A3, which was the alloy used in the very first Strat PU's if memory serves me: same thing than with humbuckers. Since it contains no cobalt and more iron, AlNi3 is still magnetically weaker and inductively stronger than any AlNiCo alloy. So, A3 rods should imply more inductance and a softer / flatter response with a lower Q factor.

I'd expect less string pull than with regular Strat PU's and something like 3H of inductance per pickup if they have a normal DCR (while a 6.5k SSL1 measures 2.6H or a 5.8k CS69, 2H).

These difference could be compensated by pots of higher resistance & pickups slightly closer to the strings + a cable with lower capacitance - or a LC filter: in a comparable situation, I've already mounted a kind of super Bill Lawrence Q filter made of a 6H choke in series with a 24k to 39k resistor; the whole in parallel with the PU's gave them the inductance and DCR of underwound A5 PU's without really harming their output level; they could be set closer to the strings anyway thx to their low string pull effect...

FWIW. :Enjoy with this nice instrument. -)

 

[DCikes88]

I just dug out my Squier Classic Vibe 60's Strat, and did a little research. Apparently, the pups are A3 mags. What tonal character should they have?

Hey Artie, love the CV. I have a 2009 CV50s and the pickups are like on the image below.


Do you know what your set says on the back? I ask because there was a lot of confusion regarding the name/parts numbers. I guess Duncan aren't the only ones with misnomer issues.

Anyway, my "research" has led me to conclude that CV50s had A3 sets named STA5, and CV60s had A5 sets named STA3. Yes, immediately unintuitive and confusing. To add to the confusion, later on (last couple of years) I think they changed all of the CV strats to A5 sets.

Check out this link for more info https://www.strat-talk.com/threads/s...pickups.22166/

Regardless, I love the sound from these, a punch in the mids, controlled but spanky treble, and the CV is the only guitar I left bone stock (except aesthetics). The DCRs are 5.5-5.8-5.9, respectively.

EDIT: that neck flame though! Sweet!

 

[Artie]

Nice guitar!

Thanks, and thanks for the great info. Your posts always provide useful tech info.

These have a definite midrange accent that I'm not sure I like. Need to mess with it a bit more and play with pup height, as you suggest.

Hey Artie, love the CV. I have a 2009 CV50s and the pickups are like on the image below.

Regardless, I love the sound from these, a punch in the mids, controlled but spanky treble, and the CV is the only guitar I left bone stock (except aesthetics).

EDIT: that neck flame though! Sweet!

I'll open mine up and post pics a little later. Definitely a midrange punch. I've got a pre-wired Duncan pickguard with DD SC-101's that might be a drop-in replacement. I want to play with pup height first.

That neck is what drew me to that guitar. My photo skills don't do it justice. I spotted it hanging on the wall from across the music store showroom. Grabbed it and bought it back in 2018. But haven't messed with it much 'til this week.

P.S. I'm not absolutely sure if it's a CV 50 or CV 60. The sticker only says "Classic Vibe." I assumed CV 60 because of when I bought it. You don't see many pics of these with the color matched headstock.

 

[DCikes88]

That neck is what drew me to that guitar. My photo skills don't do it justice. I spotted it hanging on the wall from across the music store showroom. Grabbed it and bought it back in 2018. But haven't messed with it much 'til this week.

P.S. I'm not absolutely sure if it's a CV 50 or CV 60. The sticker only says "Classic Vibe." I assumed CV 60 because of when I bought it. You don't see many pics of these with the color matched headstock.

The thing that stood out to me was the maple fretboard. IME only the 50s had those (and A3s). 60s were rosewood (later laurel) and A5.

Mine was 50s with A3, olympic white with gold anodized pickguard, maple fretboard, skunk strip and some light flaming but nothing like your lottery wood.
So I think you actually have a 50s. Here's one on reverb in the same color as yours, matching headstock and flamed neck like yours.

https://reverb.com/item/3023880-squi...hing-headstock

If they have STA5n/m/b fender (vc) written on the back, then it settles it. It's a 50s with A3s.

 

[Artie]

If they have STA5n/m/b fender (vc) written on the back, then it settles it. It's a 50s with A3s.

It does. And that thread you linked to reinforces that. So, they are Tonerider A3's and it's a CV 50. Suweeet!

 

[Artie]

It's also an 8-hole pickguard. I think my Duncan pre-wire is 11. (Lost in a closet somewhere.)

 

[DCikes88]

That flame of yours probably comes with the matching headstock and metallic color.
For comparison, here's my accidental "flame" on 2 inches of the neck under the headstock. I had to emphasize the location because it's reeaally easy to miss.

Don't care, still love it.

:chairfall

 

[Artie]

That flame of yours probably comes with the matching headstock and metallic color.

Yup. It does.

Don't care, still love it.

That's what counts. I originally got this to put my Red Devils into, but now I think I'm going to go a different direction. I want to keep it more "vintage-y." Maybe Antiquities or SSL-2's.

 

[DCikes88]

It's also an 8-hole pickguard. I think my Duncan pre-wire is 11. (Lost in a closet somewhere.)

I don't remember if mine came with an 8 or 11 hole, but it's replacement is an 11 hole. Fits, so who cares.

​​

That's what counts. I originally got this to put my Red Devils into, but now I think I'm going to go a different direction. I want to keep it more "vintage-y." Maybe Antiquities or SSL-2's.

I vote Antiquities, but either would be awesome. Enjoy some A3 sexyess before the swap.

 

[Artie]

Enjoy some A3 sexyess before the swap.

Yup. :beerchug:

 

[Mr. B]

I still like the Hot A3 Strat Single Coils that came in my post-2007 Highway One HSS Strat better than any of the other Strat pickups I have owned over the last 30 years, and I have tried a LOT of boutique Strat pickups. Sounds like a great Strat single coil clean and with a little overdrive, and then still holds up when you throw high gain at it. Never found another Strat pickup as versatile.

 

[Mr. B]

To my ears, Unoriented A5 sits neatly between A5 and A2 tone/feel, but A3 has a completely different character.

 

[Artie]

I'll definitely give these some time before I start swapping things out. I need to play with my amp settings too. It's dialed in for my humbuckers now.

 

[Archer250]

I've had a set in one of my strats that I used to own.

Didn't like it. Much preferred A5. They were more chimey than the early 60s repros I use now, but were also much weaker in output. I had to set the neck pickup up to where I got wolf tones to get usable output when playing with an underwound PAF in the bridge

 

[jeremy]

great lookin guitar! i always tend to gravitate towards a5 vintage output single coils. its what i hear in my head when i think strat. plenty of good a2 and a3 pups out there but, especially in the neck and middle, i almost always end of with a5

 

[Artie]

I've had a set in one of my strats that I used to own.

Didn't like it. Much preferred A5. They were more chimey than the early 60s repros I use now, but were also much weaker in output. I had to set the neck pickup up to where I got wolf tones to get usable output when playing with an underwound PAF in the bridge

Pretty much every Strat I've owned, including the cheap Johnson's with EMG Designed singles, sounded like a Strat. I swapped in Duncan pups because I wanted to.

This Classic Vibe is the first one where I don't care for the sound. Just a little too mid-range pierce. It's like in mid-range, what many people don't like in ice-picky bridge pups. This afternoon I'm going to run it through my BBE preamp, which has both a parametric mid control AND a parametric mid notch filter, and see if I can find where the mid-pierce is. I'll go from there to decide what to do with this.

On one hand, it would be nice to keep it original. On the other, it's not like it's an actual 50's Strat.