Talk to me about an A3 in a Jazz.

[Artie]

I love my Jazz set, but I also wouldn't mind "softening" them a little. I know A2 mag's will make them A2 Pro's. But I've had an A2/A3 set, from AddictionFX, sitting here for a long time.

What would the A3 do to the Jazz, and would you do it in the neck or bridge? And while I have your ear, remind me what cutting the pole piece screws shorter do to the tone?

Thanks all.​

 

[Seashore]

Can't speak to A3, but cutting your poles shorter will brighten the sound.

 

[Artie]

Can't speak to A3, but cutting your poles shorter will brighten the sound.

Ah, thanks. The opposite of what I'm going for.

Now I'll wait for the A3 info.

 

[jeremy]

id go a3 neck, a2 bridge. i really like a3, its warm but clear. the antiquities in my lp have a3 neck and polished fully charged a2 bridge and its great.

 

[Artie]

That's jogging my memory. I ordered an A3 / A4 set for a set of 59's as per a Lewguitar recommendation. I didn't notice 'til much later that they sent me an A2 / A3. (I've got A2's stuck all over my file cabinet.)

So I'll try the A3n and the A2b. I'm thinking of moving these over to my Ibby AK80.

 

[idsnowdog]

I went with an A4 and short poles for my Jazz neck. The A3 was too bright.

 

[Artie]

I went with an A4 and short poles for my Jazz neck. The A3 was too bright.

So, is A3 stronger than A2? I seem to remember reading that the number is based on the date it was developed, rather than magnet strength.

 

[idsnowdog]

So, is A3 stronger than A2? I seem to remember reading that the number is based on the date it was developed, rather than magnet strength.

A3 is a weak and bright magnet. A2 has more midrange and softer highs. A3 is crystal clear, percussive, and glassy.

 

[freefrog]

So, is A3 stronger than A2?

No, not at all. A3 is the only alloy without cobalt so it's the weakest (and should be named "alni3" or "alnicu3", certainly not "alnico3").

At the same size and weight than "real" AlNiCo bars, it slightly increases the inductance since there's more iron in it... but as it's magnetically weaker, it reduces a wee bit the output level and sounds "flatter" than other alloys, because bass and high frequencies are not promoted as much as with more powerful mags.

This stance is true only for REAL A3, BTW. I've read online Gauss measurements making me think that people had confused A3 with something else (a magnet clocking at 650G can't be an 3 and is most probably an A8, for instance; an A3 would typically measure almost 3 times less).

 

[Artie]

Great info guys. So if I put this all together, I should just do A2's in both pups, (making them A2 Pro's), and leave the A3 mag for another project?

Edit: I just reread all the comments. I think you all mean that the A3 is brighter than the A2. But how does it compare to the A5? (Which is what's in there now.)

 

[idsnowdog]

Great info guys. So if I put this all together, I should just do A2's in both pups, (making them A2 Pro's), and leave the A3 mag for another project?

RCUO A5 has more midrange warmth than a polished A5. If an A5 is a raw Jalapeno a RCUO A5 is chipotle. The highs are rounded, the midrange is complex, and the bass is full but not boomy. A4 is muscular but almost flat EQ wise. The treble is fat, the midrange is clear, and the bass is tight.

 

[Artie]

I'll have to check the side of my file cab. I think I have an RCUO A5, but not sure. If I do, I'll have to post a pic so you all can identify it for me.

 

[Clint 55]

I'd highly recommend A3 neck, A2 bridge like jeremy suggested if you at all don't want a wooly neck. It maintains warmth like A2, but increases snap a bit. Plus it's weaker so the set will balance better.

 

[HM_Stratocaster]

The A3 in the neck really has some great spooky magic to it from my experiment using a ‘59 humbucker, but you’ve really got to be committed to that Brian May AC30 kind of vibe. It isn’t extremely versatile. I was much happier with a rough cast A2. It’s close to the A3, but can cover more ground in terms of output. There’s also this great effect of having a weaker magnet in the neck position that allows some of the sweet upper harmonics to sing that I noticed coming from a double ceramic. This can be observed even when you’re on the bridge pickup.

 

[freefrog]

Edit: I just reread all the comments. I think you all mean that the A3 is brighter than the A2. But how does it compare to the A5? (Which is what's in there now.)

At similar weight + dimensions and if magnetized in the same conditions, A5 is less inductive (since the A5 recipe basically contains less iron) and magnetically stronger.

Regarding the sound... I totally understand why our fellow members described the typical effect of A3 as they did but personally, I wouldn't define it as "brighter": it's more inductive and inductance promotes warmth... but it's also weaker and because of that, I has a kinda wider bandwidth. That's why I've evoked it as "flatter" - than A2, at least.

Wondering how I could help with something else than my clumsy words, I've searched in my archives and found a file (175 pages!) where various pickups are compared to each other with various magnets, in a same semi-hollow guitar.

The pics below involve a neck pickup of +/- 7.1k & 3.65H and therefore similar to a Jazz neck albeit with a lower Q factor, unpotted and wound with PE insulated wire.

It should still give an "idea" of what is going on.

Guitar was played direct to the board through the same cable capacitance in a 1M input.

Left column stacks single notes played from unfretted low E to 22th fret of high E. Until above 1khz, it's all fundamental notes. Beyond that, it's all harmonics.

Right column show chords on the six strings altogether, played from unfretted to 12th fret.

Orange lines translate what a RC A3 does. Blue lines translate the tonal shaping due to RC A2 (upper row) or to a short and slightly degaussed RC A5 (bottom row).

Limitations of these pics: they tell nothing about dynamics, which is also different. I'll dig again in my archives in order to see if I've something to share about that.

FWIW. HTH.

[I can' help to add that guitars, rigs and ears might react differently to magnets of a given alloy, depending on settings but also on the exact level of magnetization of each bar... While magnets of a "same" alloy from various eras / foundries might give rather different tones. Vintage A3's don't shape the tone in the same way than recent one, for example. Sorry for this tedious geeky parenthesis due to my anal side. ]

 

[Artie]

Well thanks all. I'm definitely going to try the A3n / A2b first. Then I can go from there. I'm also considering putting these over into my "new" Ibby AK80 hollow body. But I'll try them in the Cort first.