Alnico 6 magnets – full, fat, and ballsy

[zizyphus]

Alnico 6 magnets – full, fat, and ballsy

Hey all

I've spent WAAAY too much time doing mag swaps with my quaranTime, and have now tried the A6 in a few winds and loved it!

Much like the UOA5 is often described as a cross between an A2 and an A5, I think the A6 is a cross between an A8 and an A5.

It has a thick, full midrange, but enough treble to keep it from becoming too dark. The bass is tighter than the sponginess of an A2 or UOA5, but not as tight and aggressive as an A5 or a ceramic. To me, they sound great, and make for a ballsy bridge pup.

I typically like A2s and UOA5s because I love mids and a bit of smoothness / sponginess. In some pups, I find that the A2 just doesn't have enough treble response, while the UOA5 has a little bit too much. Also, while some sponginess is nice, depending on the pup, either the A2 or UOA5 can have too much of it at times. For me, the A6 seems to sit right in the middle with respect to the treble and sponginess issues.

I'm an upper-midgain type rocker - classic rock and early metal, and occasionally, I've also got the blues. Right now, I think I've found a home for two A6 magnets - in a Dimarzio Transition (11k) in the bridge of a double humbucker tele, and in Duncan Perpetual Burn (12k) in an HSS strat. For the genres I play, the A6 sounds great! The magnets that came out of each pup were UOA5s. It fattened up the sound of both guitars in the best possible way, but kept enough treble response to still have the gritty bite that I love. In comparison, an A8 in these pups had too much bass, which caused a lack of clarity to my ears.

I sent an A6 to Christopher earlier this week. Hopefully he'll enjoy it as much as I have (if you're reading this, what are your thoughts?)

Anyway, I just wanted to share. Maybe some of you guys should try them!

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Alnico 6 magnets – full, fat, and ballsy

Re: Alnico 6 magnets – full, fat, and ballsy

A6 rulez. It's an equally valuable alternative to A5 in my view. Same response as A5 in that it is oriented and has round, defined bass. Not squishy like UOs or aggressive like A8. But it differs in that it has some smooth mids like A2 or UOA5 and the top is rounded off a tad.

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Alnico 6 magnets – full, fat, and ballsy

Re: Alnico 6 magnets – full, fat, and ballsy

I sent an A6 to Christopher earlier this week. Hopefully he'll enjoy it as much as I have (if you're reading this, what are your thoughts?)

I haven't gotten a chance to try it out yet, but I'm testing a theory. I currently have an A6, but what I'm hearing from it doesn't line up with other accounts of how they are supposed to sound. The one I currently have sounds like a darker A2 with stronger midrange.

I'm going to A/B the two magnets when I get the chance. I figure I'll put them in an Epiphone Probucker I have laying around.

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: Alnico 6 magnets – full, fat, and ballsy

Re: Alnico 6 magnets – full, fat, and ballsy

Did you de-magnetize the remaining pickups parts while the magnet was out of it and before swapping in the new one? Or did you let the pickup sit for a few days before auditioning the sound? Try letting it sit for a few days, maybe a week, then listen to it.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Alnico 6 magnets – full, fat, and ballsy

Re: Alnico 6 magnets – full, fat, and ballsy

Chirp chirp with the A6 lol!

 

[zizyphus]

Re: Alnico 6 magnets – full, fat, and ballsy

Re: Alnico 6 magnets – full, fat, and ballsy

Yea... I guess not many people have tried them?

Either that, or we’re alone in our enthusiasm, but these guys sound so good that I doubt that’s the problem

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Alnico 6 magnets – full, fat, and ballsy

Re: Alnico 6 magnets – full, fat, and ballsy

Did you de-magnetize the remaining pickups parts while the magnet was out of it and before swapping in the new one? Or did you let the pickup sit for a few days before auditioning the sound? Try letting it sit for a few days, maybe a week, then listen to it.

Yeah, it was sitting for a while as I couldn't quite find the right guitar to put it in.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Alnico 6 magnets – full, fat, and ballsy

Re: Alnico 6 magnets – full, fat, and ballsy

Yea... I guess not many people have tried them?

Either that, or we’re alone in our enthusiasm, but these guys sound so good that I doubt that’s the problem

Dude it's the only similar alternative to the most popular mag of A5. And it sounds really good! It's just funny to me.

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Alnico 6 magnets – full, fat, and ballsy

Re: Alnico 6 magnets – full, fat, and ballsy

Dude it's the only similar alternative to the most popular mag of A5. And it sounds really good! It's just funny to me.

See this specific claim your making is why I'm not quite sure that the A6 I have on-hand is going to sound similar to the one I got from zizyphus. I know there are a wide range of different sounds you can get from A4 depending on the source, so I'm thinking that the same might hold for A6.

I just recently tried it again in my Custom in a Strat, and my best description is like an A8 with less treble, less midrange congestion, and less overpowering bass.

The new A6 is supposed to come in the mail tommorow, so I'll do some experimenting with them in the next coming days.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Alnico 6 magnets – full, fat, and ballsy

Re: Alnico 6 magnets – full, fat, and ballsy

That's about how I perceive the eq as well. I don't compare it to A8 tho cuz when you put it in the neck it's the same bouncy thing as A5 with some added soft mids and little bit of a rounded top. No aggressive mids or color.

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Alnico 6 magnets – full, fat, and ballsy

Re: Alnico 6 magnets – full, fat, and ballsy

Interesting, I may have to try it out in the neck then.

I received zizyphus's A6 today and I was shocked as to how different it sounded then the one I had already in there. It wasn't a night/day difference, but it was bigger than I was expecting. The old one was like a A8 with certain inclinations towards an A5, but the new one was just the opposite.

More testing will follow...

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: Alnico 6 magnets – full, fat, and ballsy

Re: Alnico 6 magnets – full, fat, and ballsy

That would make me wonder if one of them wasn’t marked correctly.

 

[zizyphus]

Re: Alnico 6 magnets – full, fat, and ballsy

Re: Alnico 6 magnets – full, fat, and ballsy

I received zizyphus's A6 today and I was shocked as to how different it sounded then the one I had already in there. It wasn't a night/day difference, but it was bigger than I was expecting. The old one was like a A8 with certain inclinations towards an A5, but the new one was just the opposite.

More testing will follow...

Yea – I have to say that I was presently surprised that they weren't too bassy, and that they were noticeably brighter than an A8.

Where did you get your prior A6s from? Mine were from AddictionFx

As far as the possibility that they're mislabeled, if that's what happened, the guys at Addiction are at least consistent in their errors :jester: . I had 3 A6s – the once I sent to Christopher, and two that I currently have installed in medium-hot bridge humbuckers. Both of the ones i'm currently rocking had the same, bright-but-fat kind of tone that I described above. I'm not sure what magnet would have been mislabeled to create this tone though – it doesn't have the bossiness of an A8, there is way too much midrange for an A5, and they're too hot to be 2, 3, 4, or UOA5. Moreover, the magnets I replaced were a UOA5 and an A5, and the tonal difference was substantial...

I'd bet the tolerances at a given magnet forge are big, let alone between different forges...

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: Alnico 6 magnets – full, fat, and ballsy

Re: Alnico 6 magnets – full, fat, and ballsy

My addFX mags are all correct and as expected. I’ve read others on here that had issues at some point. Just surprised the difference could be “night and day”.

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Re: Alnico 6 magnets – full, fat, and ballsy

Re: Alnico 6 magnets – full, fat, and ballsy

Very much an overlooked mag, even more so than A3 I think.
Glad they're both seeing some more attention in recent years.

A6 in a Perpetual Burn is a great idea. I always felt the PB was sort of like an underwound JB with better detail and nuance, but I never was really able to love it myself. I bet A6 would fatten it nicely and take off some of the harshness.

I have an A6 on hand that I wanted to try in a Burstbucker 2 which is thin & scratchy at the bridge in a bright-voiced Les Paul. Haven't got around to it yet. Maybe I'll drop it into the PB instead...

 

[zizyphus]

Re: Alnico 6 magnets – full, fat, and ballsy

Re: Alnico 6 magnets – full, fat, and ballsy

Very much an overlooked mag, even more so than A3 I think.
Glad they're both seeing some more attention in recent years.

A6 in a Perpetual Burn is a great idea. I always felt the PB was sort of like an underwound JB with better detail and nuance, but I never was really able to love it myself. I bet A5 would fatten it nicely and take off some of the harshness.

I have an A6 on hand that I wanted to try in a Burstbucker 2 which is thin & scratchy at the bridge in a bright-voiced Les Paul. Haven't got around to it yet. Maybe I'll drop it into the PB instead...

Do it! The Perpetual Burn was made for an A6 magnet!

It's a pickup that has amazing individual note clarity, e.g. you can play high-gain cowboy chords and hear every note. I just wanted it to be a bit fatter in the mids, and to have a tiny bit less treble. I tried an A2 and a UOA5, and it got too thin. The A6 worked wonderfully!

 

[krovatron]

Hmm I may need to swap in an A6 in my PB. Wondering about it for lower wind PAFs.... I have both rough and polished

 

[hamerfan]

Hmm I may need to swap in an A6 in my PB. Wondering about it for lower wind PAFs.... I have both rough and polished

The A6 burns in a Pearly Gates bridge!

 

[krovatron]

The A6 burns in a Pearly Gates bridge!

I just put a RCA6 in a BKP True Grit neck reading 9.3k and trying it in the bridge of my LP.

 

[Securb]

I have a custom wind Lindey Fralin did for me with an A6. It is thick but very articulate and has enough output to topple a brick wall.