Magnet gurus......will I like A4 magnets?

Soulcrusher_X

Soulcrusher_X

New member
So, I pulled apart my Bustbucker 2 and Burstbucker 3. I swapped out the stock A2 magnets for some A5U roughcast bars. WHile I like how aggressive they got, I think they sound better with A2 magnets. The crunch was better, the leads sounded sweeter, they weren't so stiff and they just sounded better.

So, I was thinking about just putting in a polished A2 in the bridge BB3 for a bit more bite and an A3 in the neck to brighten up the BB2 a tad. Or would a pair of A4s be good to bring out just a little more bite and maybe a tad more low end?
 
Re: Magnet gurus......will I like A4 magnets?

burstbuckers are really great sounding pickups. I think they sound great with A2 mags. A4s are good mags but very neutral. they let the pickup shine how it sounds naturally. good amount of gain but no boost or cut anywhere. they are completely flat in eq compared to other mags. this may be your thing. it is in some applications it is for me. And for me, A2's do really good for aggressive music but have no low end. they sound really good but the low end is a bit flabby and weak compared to other mags.. especially the A8 mag. If you want better low end, The A8 is great and sounds like A2 but better bottom end much more aggression.. on all frequencies. but... with that said, I think thats why Jb2 is popular here. Still aggressive and hot but has a great sound because of the A2 mag
 
Re: Magnet gurus......will I like A4 magnets?

Yeah, I initially liked the A5U, but I really missed the "sweetness" of what the stock Burstbucker had. The A5U just got so stiff and I even think the bit of A2 compression had better clarity than the A5U. I wish I had thought of swapping an A2 into my JB before selling it. Probably would have been glorious. I don't think I mind the lack of low end that the A2s have. To me, it's like the reason why I like Greenbacks so much. When you really start to push them hard, the low end sags just enough to let the mids come out more and get raunchier. It's an inherent quality that helps them cut through a little better.
 
Re: Magnet gurus......will I like A4 magnets?

dvanburen said:
burstbuckers are really great sounding pickups. I think they sound great with A2 mags. A4s are good mags but very neutral. they let the pickup shine how it sounds naturally. good amount of gain but no boost or cut anywhere. they are completely flat in eq compared to other mags. this may be your thing. it is in some applications it is for me. And for me, A2's do really good for aggressive music
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+1. BB's are at their best with A2's and UOA5's. They lose some character with any other magnet.
 
Re: Magnet gurus......will I like A4 magnets?

If you like A2, but want more bite (which comes from more clarity), try A3's. They have the same basic tone as A2's, but they are weaker in terms of output. So they give you a good deal of the juiciness that A2's have, but they don't hit the amp as hard. The result is that you get the basic tonal balance of A2's, but with less mush. You will have to turn your amp up louder to make up for the lost volume, but the end result will be a more clear, cutting, and aggressive (in the bright way) tone (although a bit noisier). Because of this, they are hands down my favorite magnets that I've tried (with A4 coming in second place).
 
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Re: Magnet gurus......will I like A4 magnets?

Fun fact: A4 was actually used most commonly in the 58-60 les pauls compared to any other alnico magnet.
 
Re: Magnet gurus......will I like A4 magnets?

Lindy Fralin's a huge A4 fan. It's the stock magnet in his PU's (HB's and P-90's). I've always thought they were useful. Because of their flat EQ, some guys here don't like them, but that can also be a virtue. We're used to magnets that have big EQ pushes in certain directions, and sometimes it's nice not to have a PU color the tone so much.
 
Re: Magnet gurus......will I like A4 magnets?

Soulcrusher_X said:
So, I pulled apart my Bustbucker 2 and Burstbucker 3. I swapped out the stock A2 magnets for some A5U roughcast bars. WHile I like how aggressive they got, I think they sound better with A2 magnets. The crunch was better, the leads sounded sweeter, they weren't so stiff and they just sounded better.
Click to expand...

From your description, seems that you expected'em to sound "the same but better" after the swap? New magnets mean new p'ups, so you need to EQ'em from scratch, also to wait at least a week for the new magnetic field to stabilize, THEN you can judge the outcome.

Soulcrusher_X said:
So, I was thinking about just putting in a polished A2 in the bridge BB3 for a bit more bite and an A3 in the neck to brighten up the BB2 a tad. Or would a pair of A4s be good to bring out just a little more bite and maybe a tad more low end?
Click to expand...

I, for one, don't like the BB2/BB3 pairing. To my ears, the A3 BB1/BB2 or the A3 BB1/UOA5 BB3 are much better pairings.

HTH,
 
Re: Magnet gurus......will I like A4 magnets?

ItsaBass said:
If you like A2, but want more bite (which comes from more clarity), try A3's. They have the same basic tone as A2's, but they are weaker in terms of output. So they give you a good deal of the juiciness that A2's have, but they don't hit the amp as hard. The result is that you get the basic tonal balance of A2's, but with less mush. You will have to turn your amp up louder to make up for the lost volume, but the end result will be a more clear, cutting, and aggressive (in the bright way) tone (although a bit noisier). Because of this, they are hands down my favorite magnets that I've tried (with A4 coming in second place).
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I've heard of people using a3 in single coils with good success.

I've got a neck h/u in a tele that needs to balance with a (weaker) single coil bridge p/u so I just might try that. I'm curious as to how the split tone sounds. And parallel.

The clarity is pretty good as is, but output is too much even at low 7k.
 
Re: Magnet gurus......will I like A4 magnets?

LtKojak said:
I, for one, don't like the BB2/BB3 pairing. To my ears, the A3 BB1/BB2 or the A3 BB1/UOA5 BB3 are much better pairings.
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I like BB's, but would like to see 1 and 2 used more often. They're usually paired as 2 and 3, which makes the neck a bit warm for me. I've wired almost all of my neck HB's to spin-a-split, so I can add treble and thin out mids. A neck HB that's a little warm isn't an issue for me anymore (finally!). Prior to my recent spin-a-split campaign, I swapped some A2's out of neck HB's and put in magnets with more treble. I really like the rich texture and dynamics of A2's, the challenge has been to get the inherently-rounded high-end dialed in.
 
Re: Magnet gurus......will I like A4 magnets?

LtKojak said:
From your description, seems that you expected'em to sound "the same but better" after the swap? New magnets mean new p'ups, so you need to EQ'em from scratch, also to wait at least a week for the new magnetic field to stabilize, THEN you can judge the outcome.



I, for one, don't like the BB2/BB3 pairing. To my ears, the A3 BB1/BB2 or the A3 BB1/UOA5 BB3 are much better pairings.

HTH,
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I played them immediately after the swap, but then let them sit a few days before giving them more of a shot, and have played them for a week or two after the swap. So, they have been in there for a few weeks. I tried different EQ, swapped around tubes and junk. I just like the A2 mags better.

I would like to pick up a BB1 at some point to try out. I just happened to pick these two pickups for pretty cheap and they work very well. I had previously tried the BB2 in the bridge, and it IS really nice. A bit tighter and grindier than the BB3. Both are nice, though.
 
Re: Magnet gurus......will I like A4 magnets?

The Mule and Riff Raff have been on my radar for a while. I'm thinking I would really like the Mules.
 
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