How much does Alnico 8 boost a pickups output?

[natelc1979]

Just wondering if anyone knows how much of an output boost by putting an a8 or a double thick a8 in a pickup vs the original a5 magnet?

 

[jeremy]

itll be noticeable for sure, never tried a double thick a8 but id assume that would add a bit more output and thickness

 

[Chistopher]

An A8 is going to be louder, not really because it's a stronger magnet, but more so because you are going to get a lot more mids. If right now your mid knob on your amp is set to neutral, and then you find out the A8 is too middy so you scoop to compensate, you are going to have roughly the same volume on your hands

 

[Ascension]

It will punch it up a decent amount. Also you MUST lower your pickup some as the stronger magnetic field of the A8 in particular a double thickness A8 will play havoc with your harmonics and sustain if you don't. That's one of the keys to running A8 finding that sweet spot on pickup height as in my experience A8 is much more sensitive to pickup height than most other mags.

 

[natelc1979]

Thanks guys!!

 

[Rex_Rocker]

An A8 is going to be louder, not really because it's a stronger magnet, but more so because you are going to get a lot more mids. If right now your mid knob on your amp is set to neutral, and then you find out the A8 is too middy so you scoop to compensate, you are going to have roughly the same volume on your hands

No, yes. I'm pretty sure it's a stronger magnet as well as being less scooped. It's about as strong as Ceramic. So it's a combination of both.

 

[Demanic]

A lot.

 

[freefrog]

AFAIK, a normally charged A8 bar is almost as strong as a similar ceramic magnet but gives more inductance than Ceramic + eddy currents. Hence the idea of more mids / less scooped tone.