A8 users have you found them to feel slow?

[Bowtomecha]

I swapped an A8 in my Pegasus 7 and I’m wondering if anybody has found an a8 swap to make the attack feel a bit slow? When playing palm muted and staccato riffs, I’ve noticed a very slight laggy feel. It’s a great magnet change up. Stronger midrange, tighter lows, rounded treble... my only complaints are that maybe it’s a touch too chock full and the high end can get clangy but that’s pretty doable. But I feel like it doesn’t “track” quite like the A5 in it before or many ceramic pickups I’ve tried. Is it just me or is this really a thing?

I’m wondering if changing the polepiece screw length can fix this. I have shorter ones I can swap in. If it can’t, then I’m thinking about putting the original a5 along with one or two ceramic flanks I got the other day. Which way will get me the results I want?

 

[Clint 55]

Re: A8 users have you found them to feel slow?

If you like ceramic, alnico middle plus ceramic flanks is great. Because you get organic from the alnico plus the ceramic bite.

 

[Demanic]

Re: A8 users have you found them to feel slow?

I have an Alternative 8 in one of my guitars and have never heard it to have a slow attack.

Sent from my Alcatel_5044C using Tapatalk

 

[AZ Picker]

Re: A8 users have you found them to feel slow?

I don't think it's slow, I think the massive low mid push has something to do with it. As usual it depends on the guitar, I had a custom 8 in an early 90s Les Paul, which was naturally a little thin and bright and it was perfect. The same pickup in an all mahogany PRS CE 22 was unusable, all low mids, no cut and felt sluggish as heck, it literally lasted 30 minutes in that guitar. I'd put the A5 back in and give it another shot. The shorter pole pieces might help a little if you want to keep the A8.

 

[BluesIsBlood12]

Re: A8 users have you found them to feel slow?

I never tried A8 in an all mahogany, but I dislike A2 in those, which is a similar EQ. You really need a maple cap or some other body wood for that, otherwise it tends to be pretty muddy. I don't know about "slow" though. My very limited experience with A8 in a Les Paul was that it felt really stiff. I liked the tone, but I hated the feel. It came right out.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: A8 users have you found them to feel slow?

"Slow"? Absolutely not. Just a figment of your imagination.

As far as the shorter screws...why did you even ask? You say you already have shorter screws, you could have put them in and tried them out yourself in less time than it took you to even ask about them. And ultimately, that's what you will have to do anyway.

 

[Despair]

Re: A8 users have you found them to feel slow?

Short polepiece screws tends to give more treble/presence bite, and a hair less and tighter low end. It's perfect under wound strings for giving more string separation and clarity (has same effect under high strings, but I often like a rounder sound on them). If what you are perceiving as slowness is the low end without enough presence, it could well help. Whether it's enough will depend on the guitar, amp, and player...

Clangy sounds like too much upper mid focus, a bit of sparkle/bite from shorter screws might distract from that, as well.

Definitely worth a try if you like the pickup with A8 otherwise. It's easily reversible.

 

[Discharged]

Re: A8 users have you found them to feel slow?

No. The opposite.

/Peter

 

[Bowtomecha]

Re: A8 users have you found them to feel slow?

I changed all the pole piece screws from 3/4 fillisters to 5/8 hexes and everything is definitely tighter and leaner. A touch brighter because of the slight reduction in bass. It didn’t actually bring up the treble like I thought and didn’t fix the perception that the a8 feels slower in response compared to the a5 from before. I’m going to try the a5 again and add a ceramic spacer for some output and tightening. Hopefully itll work out the way I want.

 

[Masta' C]

Re: A8 users have you found them to feel slow?

Is your magnet making good contact with the poles/spacers? Are you sure it's fully charged?

 

[Bowtomecha]

Re: A8 users have you found them to feel slow?

I got it from addictionfx this past month and made sure it was touching both the spacer and making contact with the slugs. It’s a 2.5 inch bar while the end slug centers are 2.4. Just makes it with a bit to spare.

 

[Masta' C]

Re: A8 users have you found them to feel slow?

Odd that it would feel "slow". That hasn't been my experience at all.

My few A8 swaps and all of the A8-based pickups I've tried have been rather ceramic-like in their tracking speed/response, though the final character differs between various winds, obviously.

Don't know what to say. People have made 2.5" magnets work in 7-string pickups before.

:dunno:

 

[Ascension]

Re: A8 users have you found them to feel slow?

You have it to close to the strings. A8 has a very high pull if fully charged and I have had the weird over tone laggy feel a couple times with them when I had them to close to the strings so drop the pickup some then get back to us. A8 all things being equal will track faster not slower than A5 but does have a sweet spot it needs to live in on the string distance and is unforgiving.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: A8 users have you found them to feel slow?

You have it to close to the strings. A8 has a very high pull if fully charged and I have had the weird over tone laggy feel a couple times with them when I had them to close to the strings so drop the pickup some then get back to us. A8 all things being equal will track faster not slower than A5 but does have a sweet spot it needs to live in on the string distance and is unforgiving.

Good observation. The greater magnetic pull on the strings could very well be the culprit. Moving the pup further away from the strings should fix it.

 

[Bowtomecha]

Re: A8 users have you found them to feel slow?

You have it to close to the strings. A8 has a very high pull if fully charged and I have had the weird over tone laggy feel a couple times with them when I had them to close to the strings so drop the pickup some then get back to us. A8 all things being equal will track faster not slower than A5 but does have a sweet spot it needs to live in on the string distance and is unforgiving.

I wondered about that. I’ll tinker with the height. I thought I had it at a moderate distance but it does seem to have these problems. I guess it’s the same as stratitis. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Gtrjunior]

Re: A8 users have you found them to feel slow?

I have an A8 in a LP, Kramer with alder body and Ibanez with Basswood body. I have never noticed what you are describing in any of these guitars. All 3 sound massive.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: A8 users have you found them to feel slow?

I happen to be one who really likes A8 mags, and I probably have 6-10 guitars with A8 pups in them. When adjusted properly, I have never encountered a "slow response". In fact, just the opposite!

The A8 is a very strong magnet so adjust that pup down a bit away from the strings. Actually, start out by adjusting the pup WAY low, adjust your amp accordingly, then slowly raise the pup until you just bring it in to its sweet spot without getting so close to the strings that it creates that excessive "pull". Then re-adjust your amp settings.

 

[Ascension]

Re: A8 users have you found them to feel slow?

I wondered about that. I’ll tinker with the height. I thought I had it at a moderate distance but it does seem to have these problems. I guess it’s the same as stratitis. Thanks for the tip.

It is worse and took me a little while to get the grip on this with the first A8 pickup I used. Don't know that wind but have a Alt 8 in one right now and have done the JB, Custom swaps to A8 and also owned 2 Crazy 8's so been using A 8 for a while now. They have a sweet spot that is narrower than normal on every one but dial it in and they really do work well. Feels a lot like a tighter meaner A2 with a quicker response.

 

[Aceman]

Re: A8 users have you found them to feel slow?

I have a JB 8. You may be confusing a thicker envelope for slow...

 

[Bowtomecha]

Re: A8 users have you found them to feel slow?

I’m beginning to think that my action and neck curve might be influencing it. My 7 string was rattling with string buzz so I adjusted the truss rod and raised the action to clear it. Everything is the same as when I had the A5 in the bridge. But the pickup height distance when the strings are held down at the 24th fret versus the middle or low end of the neck is pretty noticeable. It sounds fine on the low end below the 5th fret or so. Maybe the a8 is picky enough as the string distance lessens as I go up the neck? If it’s that sensitive to respond differently with something as small as a millimeter or two of pickup height, then my action across the neck probably exceeds that and needs to be redone. I heard that a little fret buzz is okay if it’s not audible through the signal path, but I set it up so there would be virtually none acoustically.