First magnet swap in a while - SH-6N with Alnico 5

Rex_Rocker

Rex_Rocker

Well-known member
Just figure I'd share my thoughts for anyone thinking about doing it.

As I posted before, I wasn't digging the SH-6N matched with the 500T in my Les Paul. Or I more or less was, but I wasn't 100% happy. I first planned on ordering an A8 attempting not to lose too much output. But I have a donor P-Rails that I grabbed one fo the Alnico 5 magnets from.

So first impressions... not bad! I expcted the output to drop, and it did. But it did not drop nearly as much as I thought it would. And I could easily solve it by just raising the pickup just a tad. I could do that because now the string pull is less, and by doing so, I fattened up the pickup, which was my biggest gripe with the Ceramic magnet.

I have to spend more time with it, but regardless of the output and the EQ shift from being closer to the strings, I do notice the low-end and low-mids have a bit more of a soft feeling. It's not muddy, it's not darker, but it is slightly less scratchy and raspy.

So... is this basically supposed to be the unofficial SH-4N now?

:)
 
^ Heck yea. The Distortions with alnico are tits.

Rex_Rocker said:
I expected the output to drop, and it did. But it did not drop nearly as much as I thought it would.
Click to expand...

It's friggin 13k.

So... is this basically supposed to be the unofficial SH-4N now?
Click to expand...

No foo. The JB and Distortion are separate winds. Don't make me get you.
 
Clint 55 said:
No foo. The JB and Distortion are separate winds. Don't make me get you.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I know your stance, LOL.

But even if they're not the same wind, they're close enough that it would make sense that if they decided to ever make a neck pickup that really matches the JB (unlike the Jazz, IMO), it would more than likely be just a tweak on the SH-6N, much like, if it isn't the same wind, the SH-6's wind is a tweak on the SH-4's.
 
Last edited:
Also if we want to get into pedantics, the SH-6N is a completely different pickup from the bridge model, they just (allegedly) sound nice together. I have never used one and if I did it would not wind up in the neck.
 
Chistopher said:
Also if we want to get into pedantics, the SH-6N is a completely different pickup from the bridge model, they just (allegedly) sound nice together. I have never used one and if I did it would not wind up in the neck.
Click to expand...
I take it you're more of a Jazz in the neck kinda guy?

While I wasn't a big fan of it in stock form, they are a set that makes sense, IMO. In stock form, it's got kind of an EMG 60 or 81 vibe (just passive, of course) in the neck. EQ is sterile-ish, but the output actually matches, and that's imporant to me.

I remember the first time I tried a Black Winter, I didn't have anything else to match it with but a DiMarzio 36th Anni. I love that pickup when matched with the right bridge pickup, but on that set, no matter how much I kept spinning those adjustment screws to bring it closer to the strings, it just would not keep up. Like not even close.

It wasn't as bad, but I had a similar experience with the JB/Jazz.

JME.
 
Last edited:
Chistopher said:
Also if we want to get into pedantics, the SH-6N is a completely different pickup from the bridge model, they just (allegedly) sound nice together. I have never used one and if I did it would not wind up in the neck.
Click to expand...

right. the sh6n was originally a bridge pup, the sh7. ive only briefly tried it in the bridge but it sounded good. kinda like a more aggressive custom with a bit less scoop? dunno its been a long time, but i remember it sounded good into my 2205
 
From the clips I've heard, I don't know why SD doesn't push for people to try them in the bridge too. They could at least put a blurb on the box that says "Also try in the bridge position!" The clips I've heard of it in the bridge are much better than I've heard from the neck, but I have no first hand experience
 
I love A2's in the neck too, just not with blazing hot Ceramics in the bridge. Or at least not A2's wound in the range of the Jazz/A2P.

Although, TBH, for how little I use the neck pickup, I'm guilty of overthinking it. But since I had the A5 magnet lying around, I figure I'd try it. I could've lived with the SH-6N the way it was. I would've been more contempt with it in stock form that I would've been with any of the vintage-output neck pickups I've tried. It may not be as good as my favorite neck pickup choices (PAF 36th Anni or Phat Cat), but it mached the 500T better, I felt.
 
Last edited:
When I tried the DDn in the bridge it sounded like a lighter wound DD to me. It's a good bridge pickup regardless.
 
jeremy said:
right. the sh6n was originally a bridge pup, the sh7. ive only briefly tried it in the bridge but it sounded good. kinda like a more aggressive custom with a bit less scoop? dunno its been a long time, but i remember it sounded good into my 2205
Click to expand...
i only tried it briefly, but it has some mid push, yes. tight and bright too
 
I have a Les Paul clone with interchangable pickup sliders. I had an intense session with a Custom, JBJ, a Distortion bridge and Distortion neck and some others (Lollar Imperial, SH-1 with an A6, a Gibson 500T in another guitar). What should I say? most of time I come back to the SH-6n - slightly growly but not too much, still a bit vintage. The best ceramic pickup I tried.
 
Last edited:
hamerfan said:
I have a Les Paul clone with interchangable pickup sliders. I had an intense session with a Custom, JBJ, a Distortion bridge and Distortion neck and some others (Lollar Imperial, SH-1 with an A6, a Gibson 500T in another guitar). What should I say? most of time I come back to the SH-6n - slightly growly but not too much, still a bit vintage. The best ceramic pickup I tried.
Click to expand...

how would you compare it to a Custom?
 
The SH6N Alnico5 would read Perpetual Burn or Pegasus territory. I once lobbied to get the SH7 and SH9 back in the lineup to no avail. Dunno why SD doesn't want to make the SH7/TB7 as a standard pickup. Would totally slay imho. But not my call.
 
orpheo said:
The SH6N Alnico5 would read Perpetual Burn or Pegasus territory. I once lobbied to get the SH7 and SH9 back in the lineup to no avail. Dunno why SD doesn't want to make the SH7/TB7 as a standard pickup. Would totally slay imho. But not my call.
Click to expand...

Totally agree with this...would love to see a proper TB-7 bridge model
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

O
Double thick ceramic 8 magnet vs regular alnico 5
Replies
2
Views
55
SweetClyde99
S
S
Possible to tell Alnico 5 magnet from a Ceramic magnet visually?
Replies
3
Views
116
strattyguy
S
cris_hendrix
I've flipped the magnet in a pegasus...
Replies
6
Views
112
freefrog
freefrog
IMENATOR
JB with Alnico ii Pro
Replies
11
Views
102
orpheo
O
W
Help with magnet swap
Replies
12
Views
189
jeremy
jeremy
Back
Top