Question About Allan Holdsworth Pickup (and UOA8 Magnets)

[Chistopher]

So it's fairly well known that the Allan Holdsworth SD pickup is just a double screw JB. But what I was wondering about was his other pickup, his double screw 59n that he played in the bridge.

One of my buddies has one and he was complaining that it was too scooped in the mids. I suggested that he could either switch it with an A2 or A8. The only problem with the A2 is that it would be really low output, especially considering that it is a neck wind, so I was willing to give the A8 a try.

But before we put it in, he said he heard of unoriented A8 magnets that sound like an A5 with more mids or a more aggressive A4.

Does anyone have experience with UOA8? It's a neck-through Strat that he plays on, so I don't want to waste a set of strings on a magnet swap if UOA8 doesn't fit the bill.

 

[LtKojak]

Re: Question About Allan Holdsworth Pickup (and UOA8 Magnets)

he heard of unoriented A8 magnets.

*I* have never heard about'em and I deal with custom-made batches obtained by cloning actual old alnico magnets.

My actual mag supplier list its 4 grades of Alnico 8, which are A8, A8H, A8HC and A8B as anisotropic, aka ORIENTED.

HTH,

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Question About Allan Holdsworth Pickup (and UOA8 Magnets)

Interesting, I guess maybe the guy meant to say "UOA5". I guess I'll go with the A8 then. As a side note, how big are the differences between grades in magnets? I get mine from Mojotone and they don't even list the grades as options.

 

[thebingopete]

Re: Question About Allan Holdsworth Pickup (and UOA8 Magnets)

What exactly is meant by unoriented? Hadn't heard of that before. Found this in SD archives

http://www.seymourduncan.com/blog/tag/unoriented-alnico-5

Explained tonal variances between the magnets. Still didn't explain what is meant by unoriented.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Question About Allan Holdsworth Pickup (and UOA8 Magnets)

I think LtKojak could explain that better than I could, but it has something to do with the direction of the grain of the magnet. If I remember correctly, a unoriented magnet can have the polarity flipped with a strong enough magnet, but it would be a lot harder to do the same thing with an oriented magnet.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Question About Allan Holdsworth Pickup (and UOA8 Magnets)

I think LtKojak could explain that better than I could, but it has something to do with the direction of the grain of the magnet. If I remember correctly, a unoriented magnet can have the polarity flipped with a strong enough magnet, but it would be a lot harder to do the same thing with an oriented magnet.

The internal 'grain' is in one direction with most guitar magnets, but in unoriented it's natural and random. Orienting magnets gives them more focus and strength. But unoriented magnets tend to have a richer tone as their magnetic field doesn't 'read' string vibrations as uniformly. The common unoriented alnicos are A2, A3, A4, and UOA5. There's also an A1, which I assume is unoriented, but I haven't seen it cut into guitar PU size.

 

[LtKojak]

Re: Question About Allan Holdsworth Pickup (and UOA8 Magnets)

Google "isotropic" and "anisotropic"

And WIKI > Alnico

All your questions will be answered.

HTH,

 

[blueman335]

Re: Question About Allan Holdsworth Pickup (and UOA8 Magnets)

Kojak, my man, have you ever run across A1's? I'm curious what they'd sound like, seeing as A2, A3, and A4 are so different from each other tonewise.

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Question About Allan Holdsworth Pickup (and UOA8 Magnets)

And what about them A7s? I've heard A6s in lipstick tubes, but I ain't heard scratch about A7s.

 

[Masta' C]

Re: Question About Allan Holdsworth Pickup (and UOA8 Magnets)

So it's fairly well known that the Allan Holdsworth SD pickup is just a double screw JB.

Ugh, it's not "just" a double screw JB. I know this doesn't answer the OP's questions, but...

The Holdsworth is overwound similar to how the Suhr SSH+ is an overwound SSH or an Aldrich is an overwound SSH+. Actually, the most even comparison would probably be a Suhr SSH and a DSH+, since the Suhr "D" series feature the same winds, but use the double screw arrangement. Look up reviews on those and see if they sound the same

First the "JB with an A2" myth and now the "just a JB with double screws" myth.

Gotta keep the record straight for future generations!

 

[Davii]

Re: Question About Allan Holdsworth Pickup (and UOA8 Magnets)

Google "isotropic" and "anisotropic"

And WIKI > Alnico

All your questions will be answered.

HTH,

These things frazzle my bwain... Especially when Cermag offer unoriented versions of A2 and 3 - can those grades be oriented?

 

[Demanic]

Re: Question About Allan Holdsworth Pickup (and UOA8 Magnets)

A2 A3 and A4 are all unoriented. A5 can be either. Don't know about the higher grades but I suspect that they are all oriented. I have seen an unoriented C8 offered by AddictionFX, but last I checked it was out of stock.

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[Mincer]

Re: Question About Allan Holdsworth Pickup (and UOA8 Magnets)

I think any of his modern pickups (except his Keisel versions) were the double screw neck 59s in the bridge. His playing later in his life was a lot more dynamic than the 'JB-based' version in the mid 80s would allow.

 

[LtKojak]

Re: Question About Allan Holdsworth Pickup (and UOA8 Magnets)

Cermag offer unoriented versions of A2 and 3 - can those grades be oriented?

Seems that Cermag is well familiar with the cluelessness of their customer base...

 

[Davii]

Re: Question About Allan Holdsworth Pickup (and UOA8 Magnets)

Seems that Cermag is well familiar with the cluelessness of their customer base...

Hey, I just wondereded I dids, 'cos they have them in both catagories they does!

 

[LtKojak]

Re: Question About Allan Holdsworth Pickup (and UOA8 Magnets)

Hey, I just wondereded I dids, 'cos they have them in both catagories they does!

Boy, tell me about it...