Custon 5 Magnet Swapping - A5 vs Rough Cast A5 vs UOA5 vs Rough Cast UOA5

B

Bo-Hawk

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What are the tonal differences?

I got a les Paul with a Custom 5 in the bridge and a Screamin Demon in the neck. It sounds good but a bit too much mid scoop in it. I tried a ceramic and I find the mids good, but too harsh. A2 doesn't have enough high end or output.

Your thoughts on what to try next.
 
Re: Custon 5 Magnet Swapping - A5 vs Rough Cast A5 vs UOA5 vs Rough Cast UOA5

RCUOA5. It's got all the mids that you probably want, plus the complexity in the top end.

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Re: Custon 5 Magnet Swapping - A5 vs Rough Cast A5 vs UOA5 vs Rough Cast UOA5

There is little to no difference between polished and roughcast......assuming you get them from the same foundry. You will find often more differences between suppliers.....such that A5's can sound different from one another.

UOA5 is like taking the top-end sparkle from an A5 and mating that to an A2 mag.......but once again, different suppliers will often lead to different results.
 
Re: Custon 5 Magnet Swapping - A5 vs Rough Cast A5 vs UOA5 vs Rough Cast UOA5

If you liked the ceramic except for the harshness, you might consider A8.

I favor the UA5 myself; it's worked well for every bridge pickup I've tried. But my tastes run towards a looser vintagey feel.
 
Re: Custon 5 Magnet Swapping - A5 vs Rough Cast A5 vs UOA5 vs Rough Cast UOA5

eclecticsynergy said:
If you liked the ceramic except for the harshness, you might consider A8.

I favor the UA5 myself; it's worked well for every bridge pickup I've tried. But my tastes run towards a looser vintagey feel.
Click to expand...

Definitely leaning towards the vintage feel with the Les Paul, just louder.

I got an A8 in my Strat and it is perfect for that guitar.
 
Re: Custon 5 Magnet Swapping - A5 vs Rough Cast A5 vs UOA5 vs Rough Cast UOA5

I agree with others here - IMO the UA5 is a perfect compromise between the characters of A2 and A5.

Some UA5s can have reduced field strength which will result in a drop in output compared to A5. I got mine from addictionFX and didn't notice much volume loss at all - it isn't louder than A5 but it has richer mids and I do think it's a bit stronger than A2.
 
Re: Custon 5 Magnet Swapping - A5 vs Rough Cast A5 vs UOA5 vs Rough Cast UOA5

UOA5 is my favorite version of a Custom.
 
Re: Custon 5 Magnet Swapping - A5 vs Rough Cast A5 vs UOA5 vs Rough Cast UOA5

The UOA5 mag is really a great compromise between A2 and A5 and I have that mag in many of my guitars.
But I really like the little bit of added punch and mids, clear but rounded highs, and solid bass that the Custom has with an A8. The C8 is one of my favorite pups, especially in an SG or a kinda bright LP.
 
Re: Custon 5 Magnet Swapping - A5 vs Rough Cast A5 vs UOA5 vs Rough Cast UOA5

It sounds like the an un-oriented A5 fits the bill. My question is, what is the differences between an UOA5 and a RC UOA5 with output, lows, mids, highs
 
Re: Custon 5 Magnet Swapping - A5 vs Rough Cast A5 vs UOA5 vs Rough Cast UOA5

A RC A5 smooths out the high end a little, takes off some harshness, but seems to leave the rest of the magnet's characteristics intact. It's a subtle change from a polished A5.

A UOA5 is a big change from a polished A5, moving towards A2 territory, but with a little more high end and a bit less midrange than an A2. Being unoriented, it's lower output, like the other unoriented magnets (A2, A3, & A4). UOA5's and A2's have rich and complex tones, more so than the other alnicos. There are times A2's high end is too rounded and warm, and UOA5's are a way to fix that without giving up the good qualities of an A2.

If you want a smooth, warm, high-output sound with a lot of mids and a firm low end, than an A8 works. But A8's can be too in-you-face for some players, especially in an overwound pickup. Whereas all the other alnico magnets can work well in bridge & neck slots, I'd never consider putting an A8 in the neck slot of any pickup.
 
Re: Custon 5 Magnet Swapping - A5 vs Rough Cast A5 vs UOA5 vs Rough Cast UOA5

GuitarDoc said:
The UOA5 mag is really a great compromise between A2 and A5 and I have that mag in many of my guitars.
But I really like the little bit of added punch and mids, clear but rounded highs, and solid bass that the Custom has with an A8. The C8 is one of my favorite pups, especially in an SG or a kinda bright LP.
Click to expand...

Was the 8 much more powerful than the 5?
 
Re: Custon 5 Magnet Swapping - A5 vs Rough Cast A5 vs UOA5 vs Rough Cast UOA5

I love A4's to tame shrill/boomy tone of regular A5's. To me my A4 (from Fralin) sounds almost the same as the degaussed A5 of my Brobucker. Unoriented A5's, I think, are too A2 for my tastes.

B
 
Re: Custon 5 Magnet Swapping - A5 vs Rough Cast A5 vs UOA5 vs Rough Cast UOA5

Yeah, don't let the name fool you, unoriented A5s sound closer to an A2 than an A5.
 
Re: Custon 5 Magnet Swapping - A5 vs Rough Cast A5 vs UOA5 vs Rough Cast UOA5

I never tried A4 in a Custom. But I have some A4 humbuckers that I really like.
 
Re: Custon 5 Magnet Swapping - A5 vs Rough Cast A5 vs UOA5 vs Rough Cast UOA5

The UOA5 was the way to go. I went with the polished one and it works great. Definitely noticed a drop in volume when paired with the screamin demon. I'm going to try a 1 Meg ohm volume pot to get a slight output boost.
 
Re: Custon 5 Magnet Swapping - A5 vs Rough Cast A5 vs UOA5 vs Rough Cast UOA5

Don't know that you'll see an output boost going to a 1 meg pot, but you may notice more highs which can be perceived as higher output.
 
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