Alnico II Pro vs. PATB-3 in terms of tone

[Rex_Rocker]

Re: Alnico II Pro vs. PATB-3 in terms of tone

Haven't had a big chance to check out the PATB, but I can tell it's a little hotter, but also the highs are more pronounced. I have not been able to try it with my amp turned up much at all, so it's hard to make a good comparison. It certainly doesn't sound bad, but I don't know yet if I like it better than the AP2...too soon to say.

Interesting. I have read reviews that point to the PATB-3 being too smooth and round. It's nice to know the Alnico 5 still does its thing in that pup.

 

[T-Bone-BBQ]

Re: Alnico II Pro vs. PATB-3 in terms of tone

I had a good chance to try out the PATB-3 tonight and decided it wasn't what I wanted for this guitar, so I put the AP2 back in. Not that the PATB-3 sounds bad, it's just that it's a little more aggressive than what I wanted and the AP2 sounds so sweet. Now the only thing I'll probably change is to go back to a normal tone control and take out the one with the grease bucket tone circuit.

 

[T-Bone-BBQ]

Re: Alnico II Pro vs. PATB-3 in terms of tone

Interesting. I have read reviews that point to the PATB-3 being too smooth and round. It's nice to know the Alnico 5 still does its thing in that pup.

It is pretty smooth, but still more aggressive than the AP2. While it's not what I want in THAT guitar...I'm seriously thinking of keeping it to put into another guitar that I want to be a little more aggressive.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Alnico II Pro vs. PATB-3 in terms of tone

It is fun to experiment to distill down what we like. Now you know how the PATB will sound for another guitar.

 

[T-Bone-BBQ]

Re: Alnico II Pro vs. PATB-3 in terms of tone

It is fun to experiment to distill down what we like. Now you know how the PATB will sound for another guitar.

Yes, and I have another guitar that I'm thinking of putting the pickup in when I get ready. Still a good PAF-ish tone, but a bit more aggressive. It did sound good, but for that guitar I liked the AP2 better, so it went back in.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Alnico II Pro vs. PATB-3 in terms of tone

patb3-a2

 

[T-Bone-BBQ]

Re: Alnico II Pro vs. PATB-3 in terms of tone

patb3-a2

I thought about that, but I just don't feel comfortable taking a pickup apart and changing the magnet. I do have a couple of A2 and A5 magnets, but I've never tried to do it yet. Did you lose a lot of output? Other than gaining more mids what other tone changes/output changes did you notice?

 

[gregory]

Re: Alnico II Pro vs. PATB-3 in terms of tone

I'm sure you can find some videos demonstrating how to swap a magnet. Since there are no long screws protruding out of the bottom plate, a magnet swap should be extremely easy with a PATB.

http://guitarism-tr.blogspot.com/2016/07/humbuckermagnetswapping.html

The link above was chosen for the photos of the PATB internals. I don't remove the tape if I can help it, rather I use a blade to relieve the tape from just the flange of the base plate.

 

[T-Bone-BBQ]

Re: Alnico II Pro vs. PATB-3 in terms of tone

I'm sure you can find some videos demonstrating how to swap a magnet. Since there are no long screws protruding out of the bottom plate, a magnet swap should be extremely easy with a PATB.

http://guitarism-tr.blogspot.com/2016/07/humbuckermagnetswapping.html

The link above was chosen for the photos of the PATB internals. I don't remove the tape if I can help it, rather I use a blade to relieve the tape from just the flange of the base plate.

Ok, thanks.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Alnico II Pro vs. PATB-3 in terms of tone

the top is warmer and less sharp, the bottom isnt as big or tight (not flubby though) and the mids are full and vocal sounding. you might lose a bit of output but i didnt notice a huge difference

 

[T-Bone-BBQ]

Re: Alnico II Pro vs. PATB-3 in terms of tone

the top is warmer and less sharp, the bottom isnt as big or tight (not flubby though) and the mids are full and vocal sounding. you might lose a bit of output but i didnt notice a huge difference

Cool, thanks. I've got an A2 magnet, so I may think about trying this. Did you re-heat the pickup after changing to help re-seat the wax?

 

[gregory]

Re: Alnico II Pro vs. PATB-3 in terms of tone

The windings are all that really need the potting and so long as you don't have a pickup cover to remove, there is no risk of losing wax in the area where it counts. Even though you'll likely need to pry the magnet out from the wax, the amount you'll lose is trivial and will have no bearing on the performance of the pickup.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Alnico II Pro vs. PATB-3 in terms of tone

nope. i loosened the screws, carefully pushed the magnet out enough to pull it the rest of the way, carefully slid the new one back in (make sure to keep the polarity the same), tightened the screws and bam. done. i didnt even unsolder the pup when i did it.

 

[T-Bone-BBQ]

Re: Alnico II Pro vs. PATB-3 in terms of tone

Thanks. I may end up trying it.