First magnet swap in a while - SH-6N with Alnico 5
- Thread starter Rex_Rocker
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Rex_Rocker
Well-known member
OK... I need you guys' opinion, please.
Right now, I have a roughcast A5 in there. I like it... but I kinda want to fine tune it just one last time.
I like that it's tamer than with the Ceramic. The High-end is bitey rather than raspy. The low-end is full rather than dry. I like that.
But I still don't think it's enough. I was thinking about changing the baseplate to brass. I might somewhere along the line, but for now, I think it's more trouble than what it's worth. The pickup is already 95% of the way there.
I've come to realize I don't want it fatter... but rather, narrower. I want the high-end smoothet out, but also the low-end brought a bit up in the frequency spectrum. I want more high mids rather than highs and more low mids rather than lows. But I also don't want to loose too much output.
So I've got three routes I can go, right? UOA5... though will this be lower output than the A5 I have in there? Honestly, I barely noticed a difference from going polished to RC A5 in there. Will UOA5 be like that too? How about A4, then? I fear I will lose even more output that way. Or then A8. But at that point, I feel the high/high mids will be even more clanky and will take me back to how they were with Ceramic.
So... what should I do? I could experiment with all those magnets, but honestly, removing the strings, unscrewing the guitar, disasembling the pickup, and then putting it all back together, while it's not difficult, is not something I want to do three times to find what's best for a pickup that I don't really love but I want to make the most of.
Opinions, please?
Right now, I have a roughcast A5 in there. I like it... but I kinda want to fine tune it just one last time.
I like that it's tamer than with the Ceramic. The High-end is bitey rather than raspy. The low-end is full rather than dry. I like that.
But I still don't think it's enough. I was thinking about changing the baseplate to brass. I might somewhere along the line, but for now, I think it's more trouble than what it's worth. The pickup is already 95% of the way there.
I've come to realize I don't want it fatter... but rather, narrower. I want the high-end smoothet out, but also the low-end brought a bit up in the frequency spectrum. I want more high mids rather than highs and more low mids rather than lows. But I also don't want to loose too much output.
So I've got three routes I can go, right? UOA5... though will this be lower output than the A5 I have in there? Honestly, I barely noticed a difference from going polished to RC A5 in there. Will UOA5 be like that too? How about A4, then? I fear I will lose even more output that way. Or then A8. But at that point, I feel the high/high mids will be even more clanky and will take me back to how they were with Ceramic.
So... what should I do? I could experiment with all those magnets, but honestly, removing the strings, unscrewing the guitar, disasembling the pickup, and then putting it all back together, while it's not difficult, is not something I want to do three times to find what's best for a pickup that I don't really love but I want to make the most of.
Opinions, please?
Clint 55
OH THE DOUBLE THICK GLAZE!
You're in the ballpark with UOA5 and A4. Neither will drop the output much and they will focus the eq more in the middle like you described. UOA5 is less drastic so you might start there. A4 evens the eq drastically.
A9 is insane for high mids without being clanky, but the bottom and top are about the same as A5.
A9 is insane for high mids without being clanky, but the bottom and top are about the same as A5.
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freefrog
Well-known member
The last time I've put a pair of UOA5 magnets in a set of PU's, they got louder and grittier than with other AlNi(Co) alloys. Reason: as shown by our lab Teslameter, this pair had the strongest magnetism among the sample of mags that I had at disposal this day.
That's why I'm reluctant to think that "AlNi(Co) this does this and AlNi(Co) that does that". IME/IMHO, there's way too many/too much variation(s) between magnets of a "same" alloy according to their age, to the foundry where they come from, to how they were magnetized and so on. Not to mention how identical mags can give vastly different things in different PU's.
On this basis, I use to swap magnets until it sounds good, period. Of course, I take note of the alloys used and it decides of the order of my attempts but I don't rely on a predefined idea of what the tone will be. YMMV.
That said: for what you need, apparently, you want less magnetism and more inductance. Maybe it would be useful to keep in mind that inductivity and magnetism rise in reverse order with AlNi(Co) alloys: inductively, A3>A2>A4>A5>A8... Magnetically, it's the contrary: A3<A2<A4<A5<A8...
But that's with all other parms being equal. An A2 with more mass might bring more inductance than a lighter A3 and a fully loaded A3 might exhibit a stronger magnetic field than a less gaussed A2...
FWIW. Do what you want and be happy.
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Rex_Rocker
Well-known member
They sell those? Longer than the stock Duncan ones? Those are already longer than DiMarzios. Where can I get longer ones and what would they do to the tone?
Other things being equal, longer screws should make the pickup sound a little warmer and less zingy. I'm not sure offhand where to find them with a nickel plating longer than 3/4", but you can get them in shiny zinc and black oxide longer than that from a bunch of places online. 5-40 machine screws.
Rex_Rocker
Well-known member
What kind of alloy should they be?
Sounds like a question for freefrog, I just swap parts around.
freefrog
Well-known member
Well, as I've been invited to answer, here is a page where alloys of screw poles are evoked. It will avoid to fellow members one of these long tedious explanations that I use to post. 
https://guitar.com/guides/diy-workshop/diy-workshop-easy-affordable-humbucker-p-90-pickup-mods/
https://guitar.com/guides/diy-workshop/diy-workshop-easy-affordable-humbucker-p-90-pickup-mods/
marcello252
Well-known member
I don't want to ruin the game, but, apart the fun in changing stuff , is all this worth the megawork you're doing?
I mean, you got a lot of information but the feeling this is just the wrong pickup for your guitar is tangible
I mean, you got a lot of information but the feeling this is just the wrong pickup for your guitar is tangible
Rex_Rocker
Well-known member
Yeah. That's what I'm feeling as well.
But at the same time, I just kinda want to make the most of it. I mean, it's not bad. It's just that I want to spend money on a neck pickup when this one works perfectly fine.
I mean... it's just a neck pickup. It's not like I use it all that much anyway.
I'm starting to feel like I just don't like passive neck pickups. I feel like they're either too low output, plinky, and/or scooped. Or the hot ones are too bland, bloated, and/or raspy. Kinda hard to find a middle ground. Like they either sound good clean or they either sound good distorted, but not both. Never.
I do have an Evo Neck lying around that I remember liking. Maybe I'm going to try it. But at the same time, I'd rather just swap magnets for now. I hate soldering, LOL.
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