JB alnico 2 lost easy pinch harmonics

[Zheddar]

Re: JB alnico 2 lost easy pinch harmonics

I wonder if one could take a 1/2' rare earth magnet with north pointing toward the south of the pickup, and wave it around above the bridge at an angle to help get that field in there sooner. It may overload the field for a little bit though. Or maybe since alnico 2 has less magnetism then an alnico 8 I could touch the north end of the alnico 8 to the south end poles of the pickup to help get the field in sooner?

 

[Masta' C]

Re: JB alnico 2 lost easy pinch harmonics

Agreed on letting pickups "settle" for a few hours to a day or so after a magnet swap.

I didn't used to believe it was a thing, but there are a large number of first-hand accounts and info out there from respected pickup builders that suggest small changes occur as the magnet settles in. I've come back a while after a mag-swap and preferred the response to what it was immediately after the swap was done, also.

In the JB, I typically prefer a roughcast A5 or a UOA5 if moving away from the stock polished A5. A2 just saps too much of the overall punch and bite for me. UOA5 is a nice mid-way point.

If you're looking for A2 character in a JB and haven't checked out the "Antiquity" JB, you should! It uses a custom degaussed mag to bring out the midrange and tame the top without losing the "JB" voice!





On the higher priced end of the scale, the Warren DeMartini RTM is a relative of the JB that DOES use an A2 and a special coil wire not found in most other Duncan designs. It's great!

 

[Zheddar]

Re: JB alnico 2 lost easy pinch harmonics

Yeah, it's getting pretty muddy and losing all it's sparkle/sass in the high register now when clean. I really wanted to give it a try for fun, but it looks like it's not going to stay that way. Not to mention it's also in a all mahogany guitar with ebony fingerboard, and 24 3/4' scale. I had to try the warm to the max thing though, lol.

 

[gregory]

Re: JB alnico 2 lost easy pinch harmonics

I wouldn't discount the idea that the human brain also requires settling time; and the stronger your beliefs, the longer it takes.

 

[gregory]

Re: JB alnico 2 lost easy pinch harmonics

Yeah, it's getting pretty muddy and losing all it's sparkle/sass in the high register now when clean. I really wanted to give it a try for fun, but it looks like it's not going to stay that way. Not to mention it's also in a all mahogany guitar with ebony fingerboard, and 24 3/4' scale. I had to try the warm to the max thing though, lol.

Yeah, maybe in Alder.

I prefer my Duncan/Ibanez HB-103B with an A2 and 500k pots over my JB with 250k pots in an undersized basswood body with a 25.5" scale and original Ibanez Edge, but not by much. I liked the JB with 500k pots the least.

 

[Zheddar]

Re: JB alnico 2 lost easy pinch harmonics

I tried the JB in ash with maple neck, rosewood board, and 25.5" scale with 250k x2, 500k volume and 250k tone, and 500k x2. I really prefer at least 500k with humbuckers, or just 250k volume only. But I can see the appeal in each setup. Anyway I ended up with a Pegasus and Sentient in that guitar.

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Re: JB alnico 2 lost easy pinch harmonics

I wonder if one could take a 1/2' rare earth magnet with north pointing toward the south of the pickup, and wave it around above the bridge at an angle to help get that field in there sooner. It may overload the field for a little bit though. Or maybe since alnico 2 has less magnetism then an alnico 8 I could touch the north end of the alnico 8 to the south end poles of the pickup to help get the field in sooner?

Won't help; strong magnets will tend to degauss a weaker one permanently. In fact a neo can be used deliberately to partially degauss/regauss your humbucker's bar mag. Here's an interesting post from forum member Zhangliqun (maker of Zhangbucker pickups), talking about taking advantage of this effect:
https://forum.seymourduncan.com/sho...w-to-degauss&p=1539808&viewfull=1#post1539808

 

[AlexR]

Re: JB alnico 2 lost easy pinch harmonics

I wouldn't discount the idea that the human brain also requires settling time; and the stronger your beliefs, the longer it takes.

And yet our OP had no belief. And still it took time.

People of strong preconceptions somewhat ironically find it hard to believe that others don't suffer the same thing........maybe their own problem blinds them, and they just assume everyone must be the same.

 

[gregory]

Re: JB alnico 2 lost easy pinch harmonics

...which is why it only took him a matter of minutes to accept that pinch harmonics require more effort from a JB2 than they do from a JB5 rather than a matter of hours or even a day.

I changed from a double ceramic to an A2 and whatever settling time was required must have occurred while I was putting the guitar back together. Final changes in tone were caused by pickup height adjustments, amp adjustments and alterations in technique. ...and then I grabbed another guitar with a different pickup and had to alter my technique and then reached for the amp controls. Normal stuff.

 

[Mincer]

Re: JB alnico 2 lost easy pinch harmonics

I think it is the magnet, as well as technique. Practice for a month (or 6) with the gain on half of what you have now. By the end of that, you will be used to getting harmonics, and it won't depend on the pickup or amount of amp gain.

 

[gregory]

Re: JB alnico 2 lost easy pinch harmonics

Learning how to walk the edge with volume and tone somewhere in the middle is also extremely rewarding.

I forgot to mention that in addition to moving from a ceramic to an A2, I had also changed the polarity of the coils. That should require even *more* settling time, no?

 

[Zheddar]

Re: JB alnico 2 lost easy pinch harmonics

Pshh, I can get pinch harmonics in crystal clean. It definitely was a strange happening. I have also observed magnets taking time to settle in, and this happened without having ever read that it was a thing when swapping them. I started at ground zero in relation to preconceived notions of what a magnet swap will or won't do. I noticed that over the course of 48 hours, there seemed to be change (without messing with pickup height). At first when I did pickup height more by ear then not, I would end up having to adjust the bass or treble side 1/12th of a turn back and forth every couple of hours with some magnets due to the tonal changes and "settling" of the magnet. Even going back to the same guitar every couple of hours, I would notice tonal changes and difference in response. I noticed most of these changes in relation to palm muting and pinch harmonics. I am pretty sensitive to how percussive muted tones are in high gain, hell I can hear the difference in how much sizzle a gain has and how much a humbuckers tone changes with 1/12th of a turn on their screws (mostly in high gain). Which honestly sucks because it makes tone chasing a chore sometimes.

 

[zenmindbeginner]

Re: JB alnico 2 lost easy pinch harmonics

The JB's easy and effortless pinch harmonics are due to the resonant peak being in the almost upper midrange.

When you swap the A5 out for an A2, you shift the resonant peak of the pickup downward as well as lose some output... shifting the resonant peak downward and losing some output usually means that the pinch harmonics will be more difficult to obtain. A fully charged roughcast A2 yields more of the fundamental compared to the polished A5 which produces more harmonic content... the roughcast A2 JB is more like a darker and thicker Seth Lover bridge than a warmer JB IMHO.

You also get some of that "honk" that the Seth Lover has... no pronounced JB wah-like formant sounds either... better cleans... and a more useable low gain on-the-edge-of breakup tone where the A5 JB usually sounds sort of thin.

 

[Zheddar]

Re: JB alnico 2 lost easy pinch harmonics

So, what had happened here is that the magnet I got from Addiction FX had a low enough gauss that the pinch harmonics blended strangely. I charged this magnet and tried it again later and it squealed plenty. The lack of magnetic power really made things sound terrible. So the moral of the story is that you may not want to always trust that the magnets from there are fully charged, and the sound you are getting from a mag swap (provided it's an Addiction FX magnet) may not be the actual sound you would get from a fully charged magnet. Which for many could toss a ton of extra variables into things, like why some people may not like a certain pickup with a certain mag swap that others love, you could have a weak magnet.

 

[gregory]

Re: JB alnico 2 lost easy pinch harmonics

How exactly did you go about recharging your magnet, if I may ask?

I made a couple spacer magnets through questionable means and am concerned they may have been compromised. I've also bought some magnets through AFx as if they are the only game in town in these parts. Of course it isn't true, Philadelphia Luthiers is another vendor.

 

[Zheddar]

Re: JB alnico 2 lost easy pinch harmonics

I use rare earth/neodymium magnets to charge other magnets.