Alnico II Pro Magnet Swap

[Shane28462]

Anyone here did a magnet swap on an A2P specifically
the bridge? If so what magnet did you end up going with and why and what style tunes do you play? As some of you may already know i installed the A2P set which replaced the BB Pro's in one of my Gibson LP's which were great pickups all around but the upper mids and highs irritated me and nothing seemed to resolve it. The A2P have turned out to be some amazing pickups and i love everything about them but i wish the bridge had a little more bite like the BB Pro bridge. Blueman basically opened my mind to the idea of fine tuning the A2P bridge with magnet swapping to see what i could come up with and im loaded with a set of alnico 2 - 5 magnets and plan on trying them in set ups but was just curious if anyone else had a similar issue!

 

[blueman335]

Re: Alnico II Pro Magnet Swap

Anyone here did a magnet swap on an A2P specifically
the bridge? If so what magnet did you end up going with and why and what style tunes do you play? As some of you may already know i installed the A2P set which replaced the BB Pro's in one of my Gibson LP's which were great pickups all around but the upper mids and highs irritated me and nothing seemed to resolve it. The A2P have turned out to be some amazing pickups and i love everything about them but i wish the bridge had a little more bite like the BB Pro bridge. Blueman basically opened my mind to the idea of fine tuning the A2P bridge with magnet swapping to see what i could come up with and im loaded with a set of alnico 2 - 5 magnets and plan on trying them in set ups but was just curious if anyone else had a similar issue!

A3's have a little more treble & may give you some bite, but probably not a lot. I like A4's for their balanced EQ (not everyone does), which makes them useful as they have more treble with less mids than an A2 or A3, but less treble than an A5 and not as scooped.

I'd start with an A3 and proceed to an A4, then A5. An A5 will get you close to a '59B sound, which may be brighter than you want. You can always shave off some treble with a 250K pot or two. To get PU's & wood to blend right for the sound you want, sometimes it takes a bit of tweaking. You may get what you want on the first attempt, or it may take two or three. But it's worth it, as you'll play better with your ideal tones.

 

[Shane28462]

Re: Alnico II Pro Magnet Swap

A3's have a little more treble & may give you some bite, but probably not a lot. I like A4's for their balanced EQ (not everyone does), which makes them useful as they have more treble with less mids than an A2 or A3, but less treble than an A5 and not as scooped.

I'd start with an A3 and proceed to an A4, then A5. An A5 will get you close to a '59B sound, which may be brighter than you want. You can always shave off some treble with a 250K pot or two. To get PU's & wood to blend right for the sound you want, sometimes it takes a bit of tweaking. You may get what you want on the first attempt, or it may take two or three. But it's worth it, as you'll play better with your ideal tones.

Thanks for your help again lol ! Im changing the bridge over to an alnico 3 as we speak and im going to play it that way for awhile to get the feel of it and if its not their ill be moving up to the A4. While i got this thread open do you generally change the neck magnet on set like this so they have the same voicing i guess you would call it or it depends? I ask because like i have already stated i love the neck pickup.

 

[Shane28462]

Re: Alnico II Pro Magnet Swap

Just got the A3 magnet installed in the bridge pickup and im pretty happy with the results. It seem to add just the right amount of top end to the bridge and it seem to work well with the stock neck. Im gonna play it awhile tomorrow when i can crank my amp up and see how well it works. I may try the A4 & A5 magnets anyway just to know what kinda tone i get with all the different A magnets but from what i got a chance to hear, the A3 may be the solution....:yourock:

 

[blueman335]

Re: Alnico II Pro Magnet Swap

do you generally change the neck magnet on set like this so they have the same voicing i guess you would call it or it depends? I ask because like i have already stated i love the neck pickup.

A $5 magnet sure beats speding $100 on a new PU. And with a new magnet, you really do have a new PU. Because there's 7 common guitar magnets, every stock HB is hiding 6 other personalities. I don't anyone should give up on a PU until they're tried a few of those.

Becuase the bridge & neck positions are so different in EQ & output, you really should look at them individually when it comes to PU's, magnets, pots, & caps. While the neck position is powerful, smooth, & dark, the is bridge bright, sharp, and weak. This is why bridge PU's have more windings & a higher resistance (ohms). But why stop there? The same magnet in both positions will sound very different, so there's a good chance you may end up with either different magnets in each PU, or different pot values. Since I try to get the two PU's to have similar voicings (so one amp setting works well for both), I try to brighten the neck as much as possible (often with A5's), and warm the bridge with 250K's or A4, A3, or A2 magnets. No matter what, the neck is always fuller and richer, but the two PU's are no longer complete opposites. Not everyone has this approach, but it works for me.

While any magnet can work in any position, an A5's treble & scooped mids can be ideal on the neck, but the bass can be overpowering with in some guitars (and for some player's tastes). A2's strong mids & rounded top end can be great for the bridge, but it's loose bottom is sometimes a problem in the neck. In between these two magnets you have A3's & A4's to give you more EQ options.

Even more flexible are Phat Cats & P-90's, where you can blend the EQ's of two magnets & get many more tone options (7 x 7 = 49). Since a Phat Cat starts with two dark A2's, you have many ways to add increments of treble.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Alnico II Pro Magnet Swap

Just got the A3 magnet installed in the bridge pickup and im pretty happy with the results. It seem to add just the right amount of top end to the bridge and it seem to work well with the stock neck. Im gonna play it awhile tomorrow when i can crank my amp up and see how well it works. I may try the A4 & A5 magnets anyway just to know what kinda tone i get with all the different A magnets but from what i got a chance to hear, the A3 may be the solution....:yourock:

Love the approach of an open mind, "can do" attitude, & the curiosity to experiment. This is what gets you your ideal tones. Another youth set on the road to a brighter tomorrow.

 

[Shane28462]

Re: Alnico II Pro Magnet Swap

Swapped the alnico 3 magnet for an alnico 4 and i like it a more than the alnico 3. Its kinda transformed the alnico II pro into what i always wished the burstbucker pro's were and it cleans up nice and works well with the stock alnico II pro neck. The alnico 3 sounds good at lower volumes but the more i pushed the tubes in my DSL it seemed to loose what i liked about it, it would most likely work for someone who gets their OD from a pedal or who use a S.S. amp. I noticed it was surprisingly clean and worked well with a distortion pedal as well.. The A4 seems to offer more note definition and is more of an classic LP tone. Im going to play it a little while then move up to the alnico 5 and see what that does but i have a feeling im going to step back down to the A4 and stick with it for a while as see if i still like it a month from now...

 

[blueman335]

Re: Alnico II Pro Magnet Swap

Most of the replacement magnets I use in bridges are A4's. Just seems to be a good fit between a bright scooped A5, and a warm loose A2.