The Great Cream Color Uprising (And Vintage White)

Re: The Great Cream Color Uprising (And Vintage White)

according to the machinists I work with,
A2,A3,A4,etc... are grades of tool steel with different proportions of alloys
and each holds its magnetism in a different way, ( some weaker, some stronger )

as for magnet swaps here is a post I made with pictures that I incorrectly called an Air Mod
 
Re: The Great Cream Color Uprising (And Vintage White)

according to the machinists I work with,
A2,A3,A4,etc... are grades of tool steel with different proportions of alloys
and each holds its magnetism in a different way, ( some weaker, some stronger )

as for magnet swaps here is a post I made with pictures that I incorrectly called an Air Mod

Yes there are tool steels labled as A2. A3, D2, T1 They are all variations of different alloys the letter A actually refers to air hardening. O refers to oil hardening D is high carbon T is high speed tungsten. Then within these types there are the sub grades that you get the 1,2,3 from.

BUT none of this has anything to do with magnets. The A in A5 comes from Alnico, a combination of Aluminum Nickle and Cobalt.

Thinking about it im not aware of magnets made of tool steel. In a lot of ways you wouldnt want the steel to magnetize. Having a magnet tool bit collect shavings while your working could suck in terms of gunking your machine up.
 
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Re: The Great Cream Color Uprising (And Vintage White)

The A in A5 comes from Alnico, a combination of Aluminum Nickle and Cobalt.
Thinking about it I'm not aware of magnets made of tool steel.

Ok, so which elements are enhanced to produce the different variations of Alinco magnets; Alinco 2's, Alinco 5's, 8's and etc?
 
Re: The Great Cream Color Uprising (And Vintage White)

Ok, so which elements are enhanced to produce the different variations of Alinco magnets; Alinco 2's, Alinco 5's, 8's and etc?

They all have different ratios of the metals and alnico III (if I'm not mistaken) actually has no cobalt but has some iron in it (please correct me if I'm wrong).

The ratios of those metals, plus the way in which they are manufactured and magnetized produces different sonic qualities and EQ tendencies. A2 is the weakest and each number up is stronger. Alnico 8 actually has a gauss potential higher than most ceramic magnets (very strong) and creates the most output of all the alnicos.

Alnico 2, 3 and 4 are "unoriented" which means that the field pattern of the magnet is more erratic and not as strong. Alnico 5 and 8 are "oriented" and have a more consistent and powerful field. There is also a grade of Alnico 5 that is unoriented which has less output than a standard A5 and has a sound that falls between an A2 and A5.

Simply swapping out the stock magnet and putting in a different grade creates a totally new pickup; tone and output-wise. We call this practice "magnet swapping". This way you can fine-tune the EQ and output for any guitar.
 
Re: The Great Cream Color Uprising (And Vintage White)

Your correct in that A3 has no cobalt in it but not sure on its iron content my info doesnt list iron but not saying it doesnt.

Just as an FYI the big words for the differences in manufacturing are cast vs sintered and anistropic vs isotropic

A VERY general rule of thumb is the lower the A rating the more aluminum the higher the A rating the more copper. But this is a very general rule as there are many more differences than that.
 
Re: The Great Cream Color Uprising (And Vintage White)

They all have different ratios of the metals and alnico III (if I'm not mistaken) actually has no cobalt but has some iron in it (please correct me if I'm wrong).

The ratios of those metals, plus the way in which they are manufactured and magnetized produces different sonic qualities and EQ tendencies. A2 is the weakest and each number up is stronger. Alnico 8 actually has a gauss potential higher than most ceramic magnets (very strong) and creates the most output of all the alnicos.

Alnico 2, 3 and 4 are "unoriented" which means that the field pattern of the magnet is more erratic and not as strong. Alnico 5 and 8 are "oriented" and have a more consistent and powerful field. There is also a grade of Alnico 5 that is unoriented which has less output than a standard A5 and has a sound that falls between an A2 and A5.

Simply swapping out the stock magnet and putting in a different grade creates a totally new pickup; tone and output-wise. We call this practice "magnet swapping". This way you can fine-tune the EQ and output for any guitar.

Ok, hold on a minute. I understand metallurgy and all that, but what I'm tripp'in on is how do you guys find this infomation? :eyecrazy:
When I think about it, I have to chuckle, because there are Kats out there, right now, playing and have no idea that the pick-ups are whats transferring their sound to the amp. And then I got you guys, and it's like, "Where no man has gone before!" You learn something new everyday.
 
Re: The Great Cream Color Uprising (And Vintage White)

Ok, hold on a minute. I understand metallurgy and all that, but what I'm tripp'in on is how do you guys find this infomation? :eyecrazy:
When I think about it, I have to chuckle, because there are Kats out there, right now, playing and have no idea that the pick-ups are whats transferring their sound to the amp. And then I got you guys, and it's like, "Where no man has gone before!" You learn something new everyday.

google
wikipedia
etc....


oh and when I got the uncharged magnets from Mojo Musical supply
I took em to work the machinist there explained what they were
and we charged them on the magnetic base of a grinder
the base is a huge electromagnet to hold the work in place
while the table sweeps the work under the rotating grinding wheel
EC
you can believe what you want
 
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Re: The Great Cream Color Uprising (And Vintage White)

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Re: The Great Cream Color Uprising (And Vintage White)

google
wikipedia
etc....


oh and when I got the uncharged magnets from Mojo Musical supply
I took em to work the machinist there explained what they were
and we charged them on the magnetic base of a grinder
the base is a huge electromagnet to hold the work in place
while the table sweeps the work under the rotating grinding wheel
EC
you can believe what you want

Um ok. Sorry but your machinist is wrong. The magnet are made of alnico and when talking about magnets the A2,A5 mean something different than if your talking about tool steel. The fact that he charged them on a grinder doesnt prove they are steel only that they are chargeable. Unless your referring to my comment about machining bits which a grinder doesnt have it uses various coarse media to do its job not bits made of tool steel.

But hey dont take my word for it use the same wikipedia you linked and look up tool steel

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tool_steel

It explains in there what the A2 etc mean when talking about tool steel. Sorry but they are 2 seperate materials.
 
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Re: The Great Cream Color Uprising (And Vintage White)

Um ok. Sorry but your machinist is wrong. The magnet are made of alnico and when talking about magnets the A2,A5 mean something different than if your talking about tool steel. The fact that he charged them on a grinder doesnt prove they are steel only that they are chargeable. Unless your referring to my comment about machining bits which a grinder doesnt have it uses various coarse media to do its job not bits made of tool steel.

But hey dont take my word for it use the same wikipedia you linked and look up tool steel

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tool_steel

It explains in there what the A2 etc mean when talking about tool steel. Sorry but they are 2 seperate materials.

And with that note Ladies and Gentleman, I think IMO we should say a fair ah-do to this thread, cause it's getting like a $2.00 whore. "It's seen a whole lotta men, and it's getting old and ugly." Good night everybody... :)
 
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