Stag Mag with cover? anyone?

[Inge Malmstein]

No, i'm not looking for a stag mag witha a cover, i simply would like to know if anyone ever tried it with a cover, and how it sounds?
I there a noticeable difference in the sound?
One of the reason is the following:
My Stag Mag is black/pink and this looks terrible in a black Explorer.
(It also looks different because its not a usual humbucker)
Beside this i'd like to change the look of it, with some chrome parts.
So i have the idea to put a cover on it.

Unlike other humbuckers the stag mag has staggered pole pieces, like the name says.
Should i use a closed chrome cover (but then some pole pieces would be too far from the strings) or a standard chrome cover where the pole pieces go through the hole for the screws? (Then i would need to make holes for the pole pieces of the other coil)

 

[Inge Malmstein]

Re: Stag Mag with cover? anyone?

Anyone? Maybe some tele players?

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Stag Mag with cover? anyone?

I would recommend getting a closed cover and then drilling out the holes yourself. Make sure you wax pot it very well. The cover will make the pickup warmer, I don't know if that's desireable for you or not.

 

[Inge Malmstein]

Re: Stag Mag with cover? anyone?

I would recommend getting a closed cover and then drilling out the holes yourself. Make sure you wax pot it very well. The cover will make the pickup warmer, I don't know if that's desireable for you or not.

Thanks,
well that's not exactly what i want, but i think i'd like it.
What i want to keep is the true single-coil sound when the stag mag is splitted - that is the main reason for my question.

But on humbucker mode the stag mag could be a bit warmer.
I like the splitted sound of the stag mag, but i wish it would be more paf-ish on humbucker mode, because i'd like to have a versatile neck pickup.

(ok, for this an EMG-89 set would be very versatile, but i already used one and was not satisfied. It really sounded like a single coil and on full mode like a PAF, but it didn't sound "organic")

Actually i have an A-II pro, but the split tone is too weak and not straty enough.

I have the idea to use a standard humbucker cover and raise ONE coil (the one where the rods go through the holes (for the screws of reg. Buckers)
OR to push the rods of the other coil, so that the rods of this coil would be flat and all close to the cover (if that would not damage the coil!)

 

[Jester700]

Re: Stag Mag with cover? anyone?

You can push the poles down in one or both coils without hurting the windings; the wire is isolated from the poles by the plastic bobbin. I did this on mine, since I prefer non-staggered poles.

As for the sound, well - that's the sound of the pickup. Best advice I can give is this: the only pickup IMO that does the split/single compromise as good or better than a stag mag is having one side made like a stag mag and the other like a bucker. I have a custom SK dualtone like this, and it rocks - splits as well as the mag, but has a better bucker sound (well, a more typical sound, anyway. I actually like that stag mag sound - in the neck position). I tried the same idea on an IBZUSA pickup by replacing one row of screws with A5 poles. Did the trick just as well (in fact, I can't decide which I like better). You could do the same thing by replacing a row of poles with steel slugs and a magnet of your choice in the stag mag.

 

[hamerfan]

Re: Stag Mag with cover? anyone?

Another thought: The first version was The Mag with flat poles, try to get one of these on ebay.

 

[Jester700]

Re: Stag Mag with cover? anyone?

True, but I'd watch my pickup height with that one. 2 rows of A5 in the neck position is a recipe for stratitis. I suspect that's one reason they went to A2. That's another argument for using only one row of A5 poles, BTW.

 

[Inge Malmstein]

Re: Stag Mag with cover? anyone?

Thank you for the suggestions!

Another thought: The first version was The Mag with flat poles, try to get one of these on ebay.

I actually got one of ebay and very cheap (25€!) and made my thoughts if i should use this under a cover, but

True, but I'd watch my pickup height with that one. 2 rows of A5 in the neck position is a recipe for stratitis. I suspect that's one reason they went to A2. That's another argument for using only one row of A5 poles, BTW.

as this comments says (and as i found out) "The Mag" has A5 rods.
It has also a good single-coil tone, but i prefer the Stag Mag with A2 rods.

One reason is that the difference between split and series is in my "feel" bigger on the A2 Stag Mag than on the A5 Mag.
Compared to the splitted tone, as a humbucker the Stag Mag sounds fuller and closer to a traditionals humbucker.
Anyway both pickups sound unusual, but the Mag sounds stratier, brighter and sharper than the Stag Mag.
I found the Mag too sharp and not warm enough for a humbucker.
The Stag Mag is right.
I thought THAT would be the reason that the Stag Mag has now A2 rods instead A5, especially when it is recommended as a bridge pickup, The Mag was too shrill.

You can push the poles down in one or both coils without hurting the windings; the wire is isolated from the poles by the plastic bobbin. I did this on mine, since I prefer non-staggered poles.

My first idea, i just wanted to be shure, because i damaged a lot of pickups in the past.

As for the sound, well - that's the sound of the pickup. Best advice I can give is this: the only pickup IMO that does the split/single compromise as good or better than a stag mag is having one side made like a stag mag and the other like a bucker. I have a custom SK dualtone like this, and it rocks - splits as well as the mag, but has a better bucker sound (well, a more typical sound, anyway. I actually like that stag mag sound - in the neck position). I tried the same idea on an IBZUSA pickup by replacing one row of screws with A5 poles. Did the trick just as well (in fact, I can't decide which I like better). You could do the same thing by replacing a row of poles with steel slugs and a magnet of your choice in the stag mag.

The reason is that i only want to own ONE guitar and while i like the stag Mag i'd miss a traditional neck humbucker tone.
I still have one Coil of a PAF humbucker (and magnet bar) layin around here, so i also thought about a Stag Mag/PAF hybrid.
But wouldn't the magnet bar have influence on the magnet rods (even, if they don't almost touch them?) and the single-coil tone?

 

[Jester700]

Re: Stag Mag with cover? anyone?

I thought THAT would be the reason that the Stag Mag has now A2 rods instead A5, especially when it is recommended as a bridge pickup, The Mag was too shrill.

Good point; that may well have been the biggest reason.

The reason is that i only want to own ONE guitar and while i like the stag Mag i'd miss a traditional neck humbucker tone.
I still have one Coil of a PAF humbucker (and magnet bar) layin around here, so i also thought about a Stag Mag/PAF hybrid.
But wouldn't the magnet bar have influence on the magnet rods (even, if they don't almost touch them?) and the single-coil tone?

I like the idea of ONE guitar too (though I have "a couple backups") and the idea of compromise doesn't bother me. Mostly because I don't see the Stag Mag bucker sound as "lesser" than a PAF or think that the "classic" sounds are some kind of "holy grail" - plus I think a normal neck bucker is usually too muddy.

Anyway, I dunno about the bottom magnet affecting the field of the poles. I SUSPECT it won't matter if it's touching - in my IBZUSA I let it touch, and it sounds fine. But I'd love to see a field comparison on the AMPGE site...

 

[g_h]

Re: Stag Mag with cover? anyone?

hey people! i just bought The Mag on ebay. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7379174688&sspagename=ADME:B:AAQ:US:1
what would you recommend on which position to put it? I have fender squier super-sonic and want that strat sound. on which position will work better?
oh and does it mean if its written MGJ on the bottom of that hum that its The Mag and not Stag Mag. or both versions have that?
thanks

 

[Inge Malmstein]

Re: Stag Mag with cover? anyone?

Hi! NO matter what stands on the stamp, this must be a stag mag, because it has staggered pole pieces. It would be "The Mag" if it would have FLAT pole pieces, which is not the fact.
The right position depends on your taste and on your setup.
With single-Coils? Put it on the bridge. With another humbucker? Then you could use it as a neck pickup (or as a bridge pickup with a low output humbucker)

 

[g_h]

Re: Stag Mag with cover? anyone?

hm i see. but this one is as you see pretty old. he says its from '80s and isnt the Stag Mag new pickup?
btw. i have another humbucker on my guitar. so I'll try to use it on the neck position

 

[g_h]

Re: Stag Mag with cover? anyone?

ok today my pickup arrived. and i need some help from you guys... well i never installed pickup. so i'm a beginner... well i dont know which wires to use. i only need to replace my old duncan designed humbucker with sh-3. so which wires to use? only white and that bare one? please help! thanks in advance

goran

 

[sonnyblu]

Re: Stag Mag with cover? anyone?

red and white for tap... green and bare for ground... black is hot, goes to switch.