Tried a 59 with Alnico 8 last night.

[Zhangliqun]

It's not a 100% true 59. I'd damaged it somehow years before and had taken it apart so the parts were bouncing around my parts box and it's pretty scuffed up now.

Last summer I also used the coil wire on adding turns to my Strat singles.

I thought it was completely dead and was going to use it to practice making my first humbucker, but I discovered the coils were still pretty much alive. After the removal of several hundred turns, one was 3.7k, the other 3.9k, for a total of 7.6k even though the baseplate I have says "59N". Maybe I junked more than one and don't remember.

Anyway, I put it back together and put an Alnico 5 in it and put that in my LP Std. 7.6k is pretty thin for a bridge pu but it wasn't too bad. Then I put an Alnico 8 in it and that improved it a lot in terms of overall output, but it still has that characteristic hollowness in the mids. I was able to compensate for that some by lowering the poles pretty much flush with the bobbin surface and then raising the pickup, but still not quite right.

Anyway, depending on how full you want your mids, Alnico 8 will help a lot with a vintage output bucker, but may not be quite the cure-all for thin mids I had thought.

FWIW, this Les Paul has a really balanced tone, traditional Les Paul beef but with plenty of air and clarity.

 

[Artie]

Re: Tried a 59 with Alnico 8 last night.

Where does the A8 stand relative to the 2 and 5? (Gauss-wise.)

 

[gripweed]

Re: Tried a 59 with Alnico 8 last night.

At 7.6k, I wonder how it would sound as a neck pickup? Close to a Jazz??

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: Tried a 59 with Alnico 8 last night.

Where does the A8 stand relative to the 2 and 5? (Gauss-wise.)

Don't have exact numbers but at full magnetization, definitely a stronger field than 5.

 

[Artie]

Re: Tried a 59 with Alnico 8 last night.

Don't have exact numbers but at full magnetization, definitely a stronger field than 5.

So, it might work to tone-down a ceramic? I've temporarily put an A5 in a Distortion, and it took it down a notch too far. An A8 might be interesting in there.

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: Tried a 59 with Alnico 8 last night.

At 7.6k, I wonder how it would sound as a neck pickup? Close to a Jazz??

Wouldn't work, too strong. Alnico 8 fully magnetized is too strong for a neck pickup, both tonewise and especially string-pull-wise. A partially degaussed A8 might work in the neck pu.

When I had the Alnico 5 in it, it was probably at its closest to a Jazz.

Also, a true bridge 59 might have worked at 8.1k, though I suspect that's still not enough given the 59 scoop character.

I bet a bridge Seth, Antiquity or Alnico 2 Pro would sound great with an Alnico 8, but these three pickups have pretty satisfying mids to begin with. A8 would accentuate these a bit more and give them more output. True "vintage with balls"...

 

[fab.regnaut]

Re: Tried a 59 with Alnico 8 last night.

I don't think you should put a pickup at 7.6 k in the bridge , it won't work with any kind of magnet .
I thought a 59 b with alnico 8 could be good tho .

 

[Fusion1]

Re: Tried a 59 with Alnico 8 last night.

Artie the Distortion with an Alnico 8 will sound the same as a JB 8 and someone on here did just that and has a few sound clips. It's in the thread started by Wicked Lester. I think you'll be pretty impressed with a Distortion/Jb 8.

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: Tried a 59 with Alnico 8 last night.

So, it might work to tone-down a ceramic? I've temporarily put an A5 in a Distortion, and it took it down a notch too far. An A8 might be interesting in there.

Probably -- give it a try!

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: Tried a 59 with Alnico 8 last night.

UPDATE:

Last night I pulled that bastardized 59 back out, pulled out the screw coil and re-wound it. I crammed that coil with as much #42 wire as I could and got it up to 4.4k (for a total of 8.3k with the slug coil).

It was loose and sloppy, in part due me not having small enough wire for the leads coming out of the coil (which then distorted the shape of the coil some), and partly because I was impatient and wound it faster than I should have (makes for looser coil because the wire tends to kind of bounce of the ends).

And it would probably be too microphonic because of the looseness, BUT....

In combination with the 59 slug coil, it ACTUALLY SOUNDED REALLY GOOD. With the Alnico 8 still in it, the hollow mids were filled right up. Somebody looking for a more purist VWB (Vintage With Balls) would probably love this thing. For myself, I'd rather get it up to 9.0-9.5k so the mids would be just a little bit "harder", but it still sounds really good.

I just need to get some smaller wire for those leads -- I went to Radio Shack last night and was shocked to find out they didn't have anything close!