Alnico 3 vs Alnico 4

[EET_FUK]

Curious as to how these two magnets roughly compare in their EQ, attack, etc. specifically when in the neck. Compared to say, an A5.

Also, what magnet in the bridge would pair up best with either of these. I know a lot of people like the A4n and A8b combination.

Thanks.

 

[Christopher Caruana]

Re: Alnico 3 vs Alnico 4

I know the A4's have a flat eq

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Alnico 3 vs Alnico 4

A4's are like slightly laid back A5's. Not so peaky on the high end or overbearing on the low end as A5.

A3's are quiet (by far the quietest common pickup magnet), and sound like a very reined-in A2. They're inherently cleaner, but still warm.

IMHO, in most cases, A4 is preferable to A5, and A3 is preferable to A2. A2 and A5 are both rather "exaggerated" sounding in some ways, while A3 and A5 are like the toned down versions of A2 and A5, respectively.

I've got A4's in my Burstbucker V's and A3's in my 496/500 set. In both cases, the mag swaps resulted in better clarity and responsiveness/dynamics and took away the exaggerated aspects of the pickups with stock mags. For instance, the ceramic to A3 swap took away the loudness and honkiness of the 500T and 496R, and the A5 to A4 swap took away the clattery mid scoop and overly hot output of the BBV's.

All this said, who knows if the differences are due to strength or due to alloy...and who knows how consistent the alloys are year to year, or even batch to batch.

 

[Falloffthebonetone]

Re: Alnico 3 vs Alnico 4

My buddy has an alnico 3 in his esp actually. It also actually doesnt have any cobalt in it so its technically alnicu so you'll see that around. They're right it is the weakest magnet of the alnicos, the original strat pickups have alnico 3s too but they switched to the 5s for more volume and treble. They make killer neck pickups and were on some of the most famous les paul 59 models. Alnico 4 on the other hand is more of an even sounding pickup magnet like a sweet spot between a a5 and a2. And according to bareknuckle, alnico 4 was the MOST common magnet used during 1958-1960 on the humbuckers from gibson. These a3 and a4 pickups are around but the magnets are seldom used because manufacturers are usually able to degauss an a2 or a5 to get it to have the same effect, duncan included. And they will also argue that the a2 and a5 are actually MORE efficient at providing the tone, and doing so more consistently while reducing costs. But yes the a3 is very soft sounding. like an a2 but weaker in the mids and with a more sparkly top end, while the a4 usually has a more balanced tone, and even eq.