How to tell Al II or Al V in my repaired Custom Custom?

[ibis]

Here's a story for ya...

Back in the day (very early 90s) I bought a Custom Custom. It never sounded right and I always wondered if the magnet was fully charged. I sent it to Kent Armstrong, who put a new magnet in it, and it has sounded fantastic ever since in various guitars through the ages.

I've never known whether the Alnico II was replaced like for like or if an Alnico V might have been put in. Never thought about stuff like that back then, so never asked! It came back fixed and I rocked on! Now I'm a little older, wiser, more curious and the interwebs exist, I'm thinking, is there any way of telling?

The tone samples comparison page on the SD site is no use as there are no samples of the Custom V to compare against the CC, otherwise I could make an educated guess.

Any tips, apart from playing a guitar with a CC or CV and comparing it to mine? Chances of that happening are pretty slim I'd say! JB loaded guitars are easy to find, not so the Customs varieties.

Anyhow, thanks for looking.

PS, I now have the pickup in a Hamer Studio, along with its contemporary, a Jazz neck (boil coil tapped) and it sounds great!

 

[jeremy]

Re: How to tell Al II or Al V in my repaired Custom Custom?

does either magnet have a mark on it? black or blue by chance? if not and you dont have a gauss meter then listening to one then the other is your best bet. the brighter one with more bottom is a5, the middier one is a2.

you can see which one sticks to metal stronger but that isnt the best method

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: How to tell Al II or Al V in my repaired Custom Custom?

Ordinarily, A2 mags have a rough cast finish and A5 mags have a polished finish.

 

[Aceman]

Re: How to tell Al II or Al V in my repaired Custom Custom?

Just get one of each and do the Swap yourself.

Kent probably put a ceramic in there! Custom :headbang: That's why it sounds so good!

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: How to tell Al II or Al V in my repaired Custom Custom?

If it REALLY sounds good, e probably put an A8 in it!

 

[hamerfan]

Re: How to tell Al II or Al V in my repaired Custom Custom?

Ordinarily, A2 mags have a rough cast finish and A5 mags have a polished finish.

What???

 

[LtKojak]

Re: How to tell Al II or Al V in my repaired Custom Custom?

Ordinarily, A2 mags have a rough cast finish and A5 mags have a polished finish.

Sorry doc, this is simply not true.

Any grade of Alnico can be had either roughcast or polished. You just have to ask your supplier, that's all.

HTH,

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: How to tell Al II or Al V in my repaired Custom Custom?

Sorry doc, this is simply not true.

Any grade of Alnico can be had either roughcast or polished. You just have to ask your supplier, that's all.

HTH,

You are correct Pepe, but so am I. Notice I even underlined the word "ordinarily". An A5 mag is polished. But yes, you can get an unpolished (or roughcast) A5. You can also get an unoriented roughcast A5 (I love that mag for certain aplications). But the typical A5 that you buy is polished.

The typical A2 mag is roughcast, but here again, you can order one polished.

 

[cardinal]

Re: How to tell Al II or Al V in my repaired Custom Custom?

Is there a Kent Armstrong sticker on the back of the pickup? I ended up with a set of Kent Armstrong-rewound Blaze pickups, and each one had a sticker on it with cryptic markings. I emailed Kent Armstrong UK and they responded with an explanation of the markings. Maybe if your pickup has a sticker, it explains what was (and therefore wasn't) done.