ALNICO 4 Pearly Gates, Has Anyone Try It???

[eclecticsynergy]

sorry to necro this thread, but should the A6 magnet be polished or rough cast?

I've never seen a roughcast A6. But that doesn't mean they don't exist.

 

[JamesPaul]

I've never seen a roughcast A6. But that doesn't mean they don't exist.

On the other side of that street, Lewguitar, blueman335, LtKojak and GuitarDoc (almost) always specify roughcast, or unoriented, when needed, in their posts. I too would think polished.

 

[hamerfan]

I own about 50 humbucker magnets. Short, long, roughcast, polished, new, vintage, american made, chinese, you name it. And i use a gaussmeter. In my book the difference in the gauss levels is audible, but the difference between polished and roughcast with the SAME gauss level is not.

 

[eclecticsynergy]

On the other side of that street, Lewguitar, blueman335, LtKojak and GuitarDoc (almost) always specify roughcast, or unoriented, when needed, in their posts. I too would think polished.

Not sure anybody specified roughcast A6 though. It - and A9 - are pretty uncommon.
Though no longer exotic - A6 is coming into much broader awareness these days, like A8 did ten or fifteen years ago.

I too am a fan o.f roughcast mags; IMO it's almost more of a texture thing than actual frequency response.
When things get that subtle, it's hard to say whether you're hearing real change or just what you expected.

IME the SH-1s with polished A5s do seem a tad brighter and maybe a little less complex than the original black-magnet ones.
Pretty sure the mags are from a different foundry too, though. The difference might be in alloy formulation rather than surfacing.

Throbak used to offer A5 mags from two sources, claiming they sounded different. Jon knows humbuckers and has good ears.

I'm also a big fan of unoriented A5, thanks to blueman335 who brought them to my attention before they became well-known.
Have tried it mostly in bridge pickups (so far). It's been great in 59B, PG Plus, and Custom. Screamin' Demon may be next.

I love the old Shaw PAFs that had UA5 as a secret ingredient. Fantastic tone - but they squeal at volume. So do real PAFs, of course.

I've even heard speculation that the "Dun-aged" mags in Antiquities may actually be UA5 rather than degaussed regular A5,

 

[JamesPaul]

Not sure anybody specified roughcast A6 though. It - and A9 - are pretty uncommon.
Though no longer exotic - A6 is coming into much broader awareness these days, like A8 did ten or fifteen years ago.

I too am a fan o.f roughcast mags; IMO it's almost more of a texture thing than actual frequency response.
When things get that subtle, it's hard to say whether you're hearing real change or just what you expected.

IME the SH-1s with polished A5s do seem a tad brighter and maybe a little less complex than the original black-magnet ones.
Pretty sure the mags are from a different foundry too, though. The difference might be in alloy formulation rather than surfacing.

Throbak used to offer A5 mags from two sources, claiming they sounded different. Jon knows humbuckers and has good ears.

I'm also a big fan of unoriented A5, thanks to blueman335 who brought them to my attention before they became well-known.
Have tried it mostly in bridge pickups (so far). It's been great in 59B, PG Plus, and Custom. Screamin' Demon may be next.

I love the old Shaw PAFs that had UA5 as a secret ingredient. Fantastic tone - but they squeal at volume. So do real PAFs, of course.

I've even heard speculation that the "Dun-aged" mags in Antiquities may actually be UA5 rather than degaussed regular A5,

Misinterpretation on my end.

The reviver's ask was polished or roughcast A6 within the context of this thread. I interpreted your post as, although we have never seen roughcast A6, it could exist, and therefore the A6 in this thread could be either.

The intent of my post was it is polished, because these Bros would call out if otherwise. I definitely could have phrased my post much better. I feel I should apologize for poor inference and post etiquette.

There is some good info above and I appreciate the education.

 

[hamerfan]

Not sure anybody specified roughcast A6 though. It - and A9 - are pretty uncommon.
Though no longer exotic - A6 is coming into much broader awareness these days, like A8 did ten or fifteen years ago.

I too am a fan o.f roughcast mags; IMO it's almost more of a texture thing than actual frequency response.
When things get that subtle, it's hard to say whether you're hearing real change or just what you expected.

IME the SH-1s with polished A5s do seem a tad brighter and maybe a little less complex than the original black-magnet ones.
Pretty sure the mags are from a different foundry too, though. The difference might be in alloy formulation rather than surfacing.

Throbak used to offer A5 mags from two sources, claiming they sounded different. Jon knows humbuckers and has good ears.

I'm also a big fan of unoriented A5, thanks to blueman335 who brought them to my attention before they became well-known.
Have tried it mostly in bridge pickups (so far). It's been great in 59B, PG Plus, and Custom. Screamin' Demon may be next.

I love the old Shaw PAFs that had UA5 as a secret ingredient. Fantastic tone - but they squeal at volume. So do real PAFs, of course.

I've even heard speculation that the "Dun-aged" mags in Antiquities may actually be UA5 rather than degaussed regular A5,

I am a big fanboy of both UA5 and A6.

Both of my Ant sets have an UA5 in the bridge, but the 59B and the PGB have an A6 now.

 

[eclecticsynergy]

I am a big fanboy of both UA5 and A6.

Both of my Ant sets have an UA5 in the bridge, but the 59B and the PGB have an A6 now.

I've long wanted to try an A6 in the BB Pro bridge that came in my '07 LP. It's a bright guitar and the BB was very harsh & scratchy.
Creme Brulee bridge from Rewind sweetened it up nicely, but I'd rather use the CB elsewhere and put the Rewind back in, but with A6.
Still deciding whether or not to get a double thick A6 for it though.

Question: in your Ants, was the UA5 a pretty significant difference - tonewise and volumewise - from the degaussed A5s?
Have often wondered about that; I love UA5 everywhere I've tried it, but have never compared it to aged A5 in the same pickup.

My own Ants are in a fairly mid-heavy PRS (surprisingly middy for a core model) and the Ant bridge is just too honky there.
Might move them to a Les Paul.

But I'm quite curious about how UA5 compares to the degaussed A5.
(Unless, as some think, the Ants actually use UA5 instead.)


EDIT: hamerfan, just realized you're the one who felt the Dun-aged mags were unoriented.
I assume you tried regaussing 'em with your neos, and got no change.
Which would indicate they were fully charged already, presumably UA5 rather than A5.

I thought my Ants sounded a bit more immediate after treating them with my neo disc.
Still, I was using Zhang's wave-by technique, not direct contact. Might've just been hearing what I expected.
It also could be that the Brobuckers' "aged" are degaussed A5 while the Ants' "aged" are actually UA5.

You meant aftermarket UA5s in your own Ants though, right?

Hey, we can now edit a post with a quote in it again! Yay!