Alnico 3 in 59's . PHEW!

B

Bakuna

New member
i'm gonna say . I'M STUBBORN. i never rested until got that sound back.
few month back i had to part with Ibananez as200 and ( super 58's-A3) along with it' i found 1992 Korean Aria Pro II TA80 for very no£ing . as soon as i played it i recognized it's tonal ability ( all maple) . got 59's . didn't like A5's . too strong for my
taste. tried weak magnets . first A4 which is little stronger then A3-Weakest(there's ongoing dispute A4 VS a3 strength-wise ) both A3 and A4 i have are rough cast , tested them both A3 clearly is weakest .


first threw a4's in 59's -very articulate , i thought i'd keep them in for long time...
after a month of playing them, before confirming that that's it ... decided to test extensively A3! I cant find words to describe how sweet and articulate they are. mids are especially sweet in very particular way. awesome MIJ Ibanez. as200 vs MIK Aria ta 80 ? i'm not sure which one sounds best now. i always record test samples before part with my axes.

A3 CONSIDER ME HUGE FAN!
 
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Re: Alnico 3 in 59's . PHEW!

I can see softening the low end of a '59N via A3's; they can be boomy in some guitars. Did you find the '59B a little bright or weak with an A3? I think the reason why A3's aren't used very often in bridge PU's is their low output, which can be an advantage in the neck slot when trying to balance outputs.

BTW, the ongoing 'dispute' about which is the waekest magnet is between A3 and A2, not A4.
 
Re: Alnico 3 in 59's . PHEW!

let me say this ... i play Jazz / Jazz Funk and Mr Scofield is the reason i picked
as200 up . i was particularly attracted to his ways of using B - Super 58 a3
i play B a lot too. A3 in bridge has very sweet rounded tone which bites nicely and i like it a lot . i know A3 is not not used much in bridge position but i like the way it sound particularly in B. low output ? nice , weak magnet - nice too it makes wood to come through a lot . not for every type of guitar i will agree.

i never tried A2 so can't say much about it's strength but A3 is little bit weaker
then A4 that's clear
 
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Re: Alnico 3 in 59's . PHEW!

I'm a fan of A3 too. First tried one in the 59N in the epi dot, and got the sweet tone I was looking for (my dot is quite full tonally, so the neck always sounded thick and a bit dull until the A3).

I've also got a PGn with an A3, which is just incredible, plus some neck P90's with them as well.
 
Re: Alnico 3 in 59's . PHEW!

having tested A3 in 2 different pups ibanez 1982 and other SD
current day and being able to hear same tone from 2 absolutely different pup maker is a testimony of A3's sweet distinguished tone . A3 will sound special in any good paf's.

ibanez used A3's in their most successfull pups 4 or 5 years then they started using A5 . why they switched to A5 ?, my guess would be that they did it for commercial reasons . A5 is more of a jack of all trades mag. it can do hi and low gain well and of course the wanted to sell their top of the line semi to as much people the could but you know what happens when you try to do everything well? you'll probably manage to be good at everything to an extend but will lose individuality.

A3 is special
 
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Re: Alnico 3 in 59's . PHEW!

I've made an A3/UOA5 combo with a '57 Classic/'57 Classic Plus set.

Didn't like'em for Jazz in my Gibson L-5 CES copy but they Rock wonderfully in a 335.

HTH,
 
Re: Alnico 3 in 59's . PHEW!

I have an A3 in a 59N in 1 of my LP`s and love it, may try bluemans advice and get 1 for my PGn in my other LP. If you want something to get rid of the A5 thinness try a unoriented A5, a little output and more mids. IMO the best bridge pup magnet going.
 
Re: Alnico 3 in 59's . PHEW!

ItsaBass said:
Anyone out there that makes a scatter-wound A3 Strat pickup?
Click to expand...

Chris Klein!

I have the S7 set. vintage output, heavy formvar wind with A3 mags on the neck and middle. Bridge is a5. 5.85 K, 5.95K, and 6.85K bridge.

They're very "late 50's early 60's". They have a smooth and warm midrange, almost like an A2 pickup, with crisp attack, and a chimey high end but not TOO glassy. There's a warmth to these pickups that is hard to describe, and it certainly sits in between the A2 thickness and mid-scooped A5 sound.
 
Re: Alnico 3 in 59's . PHEW!

Bakuna said:
let me say this ... i play Jazz / Jazz Funk and Mr Scofield is the reason i picked
as200 up . i was particularly attracted to his ways of using B - Super 58 a3
i play B a lot too. A3 in bridge has very sweet rounded tone which bites nicely and i like it a lot . i know A3 is not not used much in bridge position but i like the way it sound particularly in B. low output ? nice , weak magnet - nice too it makes wood to come through a lot . not for every type of guitar i will agree.

i never tried A2 so can't say much about it's strength but A3 is little bit weaker
then A4 that's clear
Click to expand...

i have 59/a2 set in my 335. its superb for jazz thru clean fenders.
 
Re: Alnico 3 in 59's . PHEW!

FuseG4 said:
Chris Klein!

I have the S7 set. vintage output, heavy formvar wind with A3 mags on the neck and middle. Bridge is a5. 5.85 K, 5.95K, and 6.85K bridge.

They're very "late 50's early 60's". They have a smooth and warm midrange, almost like an A2 pickup, with crisp attack, and a chimey high end but not TOO glassy. There's a warmth to these pickups that is hard to describe, and it certainly sits in between the A2 thickness and mid-scooped A5 sound.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion. He has some great looking pickups. Really up my alley.
 
Re: Alnico 3 in 59's . PHEW!

I think I'm going to bite the bullet and mod a set of 59's to drop into my ES335.

I'm going to do A3 59N, and UOA5 59B.

Unless anyone here can convince me otherwise... hehehe.
 
Re: Alnico 3 in 59's . PHEW!

RockStarNick said:
I think I'm going to bite the bullet and mod a set of 59's to drop into my ES335.

I'm going to do A3 59N, and UOA5 59B.

Unless anyone here can convince me otherwise... hehehe.
Click to expand...

buy a bunch of mags, and dont make your final decision till you have tried a few.
 
Re: Alnico 3 in 59's . PHEW!

gibson175 said:
buy a bunch of mags, and dont make your final decision till you have tried a few.
Click to expand...

i would take Gibson175's advice . A3/59 N - very interesting but mugs are so cheap. A2(never tried) A3 A4 they all have their own character . if it was possible to have 2 different mags. in a same PU i'd have A3/4 both . A4 sounds very interesting too in N -Jim Hall type of sound
 
Re: Alnico 3 in 59's . PHEW!

blueman335 said:
Did you find the '59B a little bright or weak with an A3?
Click to expand...

missed your Question Blesman335. A3 B is much thicker then A5. balanced highs i wouldn't desecrate it as particularly bright. i don't think sound would be thiner or thicker because of magnet strength though. just listen to John Scofield " Works for me " most of the album he plays A3 B clean . its like big thick punch in you face. sound is in your fingers too of course
 
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