Anyone ever swap magnets in a Fender humbucker?

[Tone Meister]

I have a newly-acquired MIM Standard HSS with maple fretboard. I actually like the two single coils a LOT - enough that I plan to keep them, but the humbucker is just too brash even when lowered down low.

Before I swap it out, I wondered if a magnet change would smooth out the highs? I'd like to tame and sweeten the highs, if possible. I have rough cast A5, rough cast UOA5, and both polished and rough A2s on hand.

Has anyone dealt with these MIM pickups, and if so, are they worth some minor tweaking?

 

[AlexR]

Re: Anyone ever swap magnets in a Fender humbucker?

That sort of humbucker is just the same as any other, so barring the magnet being glued in you should find a swap just the same process as any Duncan or Gibson humbucker.
As to tone......Well that's an experiment you'll have to do yourself. MIM is often ceramic mags but could equally be A5. What you have on hand should help, the A2 being the most effective on paper.

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Anyone ever swap magnets in a Fender humbucker?

I agree to start with the A2 (RC or polished shouldn't make a major difference) but if you find that's too far in the opposite direction, go to UOA5.

 

[Tone Meister]

Re: Anyone ever swap magnets in a Fender humbucker?

Thanks Alex and Christopher. I wasn't sure how they are constructed, so knowing that mags can be swapped easily is the main thing.

And yeah, I had planned to start with an A2. I'll report my findings back here.

 

[Tone Meister]

Re: Anyone ever swap magnets in a Fender humbucker?

OK, installed a rough A2 this morning and it sounds a good bit better to my ears.

All three pots are 250K audio taper.

Specifically, it now has more bass that's surprisingly firm, and the upper mids are less strident, and the highs are somewhat smoother than before. The annoying presence peak is pretty much gone now, which is an improvement all by itself.

It has a tad less treble than a Pearly Gates bridge, but there is still plenty of high end left for clean rhythms and crunchy power chords to cut through. Single notes under gain are much improved with the upper midrange now in check. The #2 notch position (Br split + middle) sounds pretty much the same, so the ceramic MIM middle pickup must be the major contributor there.

I can't tell what magnet was in it before, so I've attached a picture of it just in case some of you can ID it (no markings on the ends). The construction is pretty flimsy, and wax potting was minimal. Overall, it was simple to do and can be done without unmounting the pickup from the pickguard.

No idea whether I'll keep it like this or swap pickups, but I'm pretty certain I won't "go the other way" and install some kind of A5. If I do swap it out, it'll almost certainly be an APH-1 or Dimarzio 36th, but I won't know that until I use it on stage a few nights.

Here are a few pics.

 

[Tone Meister]

Re: Anyone ever swap magnets in a Fender humbucker?

It came wired stock with neck and middle tone controls, no tone for the bridge pickup. The comparisons above were the same as with the unmodified pickup, no tone control for the bridge pu.

FWIW, all pots are 250K audio taper.

Just rewired it for neck and bridge tone controls and no tone for the middle pickup, and achieved another level of improvement just doing that. The upper mids are even less harsh and the annoying 6KHz presence peak is completely gone just by loading the pickup with the tone pot.

Again, time will tell whether I keep it like is or swap bridge humbuckers, but this info may help someone else who might want to tweak the el cheapo MIM Fat Strat humbucker.

It really sounds good, certainly an improvement over stock, IMO.