Re: Pickup Magnet Questions
i have been reading posts relating to pickup magnets and how they affect the character of your overall tone - the more i read the more confused i get ... some guys seem to prefer brighter mags in the neck position and warmer mags in the bridge, especially fender type guys ... other guys prefer the same mag in both positions ... and i have noticed most 'calibrated sets' of pickups for gibson types have warmer mags in the neck and brighter mags in the bridge
From the old threads, you get an idea of what each magnet's EQ & output is. Take notes on that. How they react on different guitars is subjective, especially since these people play so many styles of music on so many kinds of guitars. Now...what kind of music do you play? Blues & classic rock guys (like me) like a limited amount of effects and prefer the warmth of alnico magnets. Metal heads love massive distortion & effects, so they usually prefer ceramics & active PU's as they're bright & sterile, making them cut through better. These are not absolutes, but general guidelines.
If you have Asian PU's yank them as they're junk; doesn't matter what the brand is, they are muddy & you're wasting your time with them. Get a set of American-made PU's in the ohms range that you want (neck usually 7,500 to 8,500 ohms to avoid darkness & woofiness - bridge can be from 8,000 to 16,000+ ohms; generally the higher the ohms the more mids & less treble). From there you can tweak the EQ with magnets if the ones in it don't give you the desired sound. Every piece of wood is different. From your notes, you can see which direction each magnet will take you. Need lots of mids & rounded highs, use an A2. Need a little more sparkle, go with an A3. Need a balanced EQ, A4. Bright with scooped mids, A5. High output like a ceramic but with more warmth, A8. This is easy. Get a few of each, and experiment. You'll learn very quickly which ones work best for you, and you'll soon be as opinionated as they rest of us.
Here's an example of magnet swapping: I sometimes pull the A5's from bridge PU's (when they're too bright) & put in A4's for more mids & warmth. A3's are low output, so I'm not a big fan of them in bridge PU's, but some guys love them. Depends on you guitar & music style. A2's usually work better in a bridge PU as the low end can be loose & flabby, which is accentuated on a neck PU.
In the neck, I always end up pulling the A2's out of any Gibson PU's, as they add darkness to a dark position (but they can work well on bright wood, just not my LP's, SG's, & 335's). In their place I usually put in A5's. On brighter guitars I occasionally use an A3 or A4 in the neck. My goal is a bright neck & a warm bridge so that I can use one amp EQ setting that sounds great for both PU's (they're not total opposites in tone). Whatever you choose, make sure that Both PU's sound good, so you don't end up playing just one, like many guys do.
Now other guys have their own magnet preferences. But you get the idea. Think about what you want to change about each PU's tone, and what magnet will get you closer to your goal. None us knew anything when we started. To quote an old post "Tone is a journey, not a destination."
