Talk to me about the Stag Mag

joesatch

New member
Looking into putting these in my Big apple strat. What pickups do each mode ( single, and humbucker) most resemble? I fear that the humbucker mode wont be full enough for me.
 
Re: Talk to me about the Stag Mag

I'm interested in this too.
Do they work best with 250k pots ??
 
Re: Talk to me about the Stag Mag

Works best with 500k pots.

The humbucker is a very good sounding, full tone pup. Doesn't sound like any other hummer that I'm familiar with, but it is very versatile. I don't have enough experience with single coils to say what it compares to when split, but I can say that it is a very rich sounding single with nice warm mids...not thin and wimpy.
 
Re: Talk to me about the Stag Mag

Pretty much what the Doc said. In humbucker mode, it sounds full, very warm and clear. I agree that it doesn't really sound exactly like any regular humbucker that I've used, but those qualities remind me a little of the PATB-1n. I don't have enough experience with good single coils to liken the split tone to any current Duncan offerings or anything, but I like the sound from it a lot. It sounds like a fairly traditional Strat pickup and doesn't suffer from any weak, thin tones. There is a noticable volume drop when splitting it, though (as is to be expected).

I have it in the neck of a Tele with 250k pots and it sounds a little dark, but not muddy. It blends really well with the Tele single coil bridge pickup in either of its modes (though, to be fair, my bridge pickup is a 10k bruiser of a thing).
 
Re: Talk to me about the Stag Mag

Fitting these pickups in a Fender Big Apple/Double Fat Stratocaster will improve the realism of the neck and bridge single coil tones. The inside coils selection will still suck but not as much as with the stock PG+ and '59n pair.
 
Re: Talk to me about the Stag Mag

What will the humbucker mode sound like? A 59 APII or what? Guess im gonna have to try em.
 
Re: Talk to me about the Stag Mag

What will the humbucker mode sound like? A 59 APII or what? Guess im gonna have to try em.

It doesnt sound at all like any other full size humbucker. Cause really its not. Its 2 single coils tied together. It has a glassier top end than most hums the tones are bell like with less mid range. But when used as a full humbucker has better lows than a single coil does. Its cool cause it fits in the middle and does it better than most

RioGrande makes a line of pickups that are done the same way if the idea of the stag mag you like but want a different flavor the Rio's are the way to go.
 
Re: Talk to me about the Stag Mag

i love the humbucker sounds on it; neither series or parallel mode sounds like a traditional humbucker with a bar magnet and separate poles, but it does everything else.
yields a surprising amount of KERRANG once you get the hang of it, and the dirty lead tones are coked-up blues lawyer heaven
 
Re: Talk to me about the Stag Mag

I wonder if it sounds similar to the bridge/middle in series sound on my green Strat. I believe that the Stag Mag uses 43 gauge wire at about 16KOhms, while my Custom Shop '54 pickups use 42 gauge, and those two end up between 12 and 13 KOhms when in series. Those two in series is a smooth, yet loud, sound without much high end definition.

I do wish they had not discontinued The Mag. I'd prefer to have this type of pickup with flat poles.
 
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Re: Talk to me about the Stag Mag

"the mag" = A5 poles, flat
"stag mag" = A2 poles, radius'd
 
Re: Talk to me about the Stag Mag

I didn't even know there was once a pup called "the Mag". Are the poles/mags the only difference? Wind/wire is the same?

Flat poles sounds good. I'm not so sure I would like A5 instead of the A2 poles. I like the fullness that the A2 gives the Stag Mag.
 
Re: Talk to me about the Stag Mag

It doesnt sound at all like any other full size humbucker. Cause really its not. Its 2 single coils tied together. It has a glassier top end than most hums the tones are bell like with less mid range. But when used as a full humbucker has better lows than a single coil does. Its cool cause it fits in the middle and does it better than most

Well described.

I do wish they had not discontinued The Mag. I'd prefer to have this type of pickup with flat poles.

Same here. I really like the sound of mine, but I would love to hear it with A5 mags.
 
Re: Talk to me about the Stag Mag

I like the Stag Mag, it's my favourite humbucker sized pickup.

As others say, it doesn't really sound much like a traditional PAF type, the closest thing I can think of to compare it with is a Firebird pickup, but with more bass and low mids, and a lot more overall output.

I'd really like to try "The Mag" as my one criticism of the Stag Mag is that the staggered poles do seem to make the string-to-string balance a bit wonky, especially when playing arpeggios.

I'd like to try the Rio Grande pickups, but they're too expensive and too hard to get in the UK.
 
Re: Talk to me about the Stag Mag

I wonder if a flat-poled Stag Mag (i.e. just a "Mag") would fall into shop floor custom territory, or if it would move it to the Custom Shop ($$$, probably not worth it).
 
Re: Talk to me about the Stag Mag

IIRC you can take the stag mag and push everything flat. Still the stag mag is a great pickup. I put 2 in a Jaguar HH sounded killer.
 
Re: Talk to me about the Stag Mag

Can you replace the poles without risk of ruining it?

yes, I just checked mine out. The bobbin form encloses the magnet [ No contact with the windings ] They can easily be removed. I just removed one magnet [ G positioning on the inner coil ]. I extracted it with a pair of pliers. The inner part of the bobbin can be easily seen with the magnet removed. [ The B would probably have to be pushed out. ]:)
 
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