Winning Pickup Magnet Combinations

[Funkysmell]

Howdy folks,

With all the time I've got on my hands recently I decided to do a bit of tinkering with my pickups so I bought a whole slew of Alnico magnets. AII, III, IV, and V unoriented. I have done a bit of reading on the characteristics of these various magnets, but I'm far from an expert on the whole thing. I have a set of tonerider alnico II classics in my Epiphone Les Paul custom currently. It seems that I'm not a fan of AII in the neck. Too soft and mushy for my tastes (great for some high gain leads but besides that a bit lacking imo.) I'm wondering what some of the fourm members favorite combinations are. I tend to play mostly 70s and 80s rock, with some late 60s stuff sprinkled in too. Early Van Halen, Page, and Mick Taylor in his stones era are some of the sounds that I'm after. I also have a 59b sitting around that I could play with, and a JB. I'm feeling adventurous so if anyone has any winning combinations I'm all ears!

 

[David Garner]

Re: Winning Pickup Magnet Combinations

For classic rock, A2 in both (Custom Shop Pearly Gates). For heavier rock A5 in both (JB bridge and 59 neck).

For a compromise between the two, UOA5 in both.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Winning Pickup Magnet Combinations

I've always liked the squishy feel of the A2 mags. Let us now what conclusions you might come to in your experiments.

 

[playas]

Re: Winning Pickup Magnet Combinations

How about the 59b with an A4 in the neck position?

JB A2 is quite popular too. I have one in my Hamer currently. It tames the mids a little without straying too far from the JB's inherent characteristic sound, which I like. To me the character of the pickup does lose a little of the definition it has with the A5 though. Most likely I will check it out with A3 & A4 over the next while just for comparison.

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[Clint 55]

Re: Winning Pickup Magnet Combinations

They're all great depending on your taste. 2 unique mag options I do are I put A2 spacers in my (A5) 59 neck for my jazz guitar and it sounds friggin epic. It has the gloss of the A5 and the lushness of the A2. The other thing I really like is double thick magnets for bridge position. It really helps for vintage output because it boosts the output and fills them out so they're less clanky. So it has the fullness of a hotter wound pickup but retains the openness of the vintage wind.

 

[Funkysmell]

Re: Winning Pickup Magnet Combinations

Mincer: I can see how people would enjoy them, in my LP it was a good sound for the bridge position, but just a bit too soft and squishy for me in the neck.

Playas: Your recommendation is what I've currently got in my guitar! First I tried the 59b with a roughcast A2 polished A4 in the neck. Sounded good but I wanted to see what a V would sound like with the 4. So far I'm digging it. Plenty of bite in the bridge, and the neck keeps up well too without being overpowering. I Liked the JB in a Strat that I built some years ago. I tried it in my Les Paul and it wasn't bad but perhaps my tastes changed a bit and I favor lower output hum buckers. An A2 in there sounds like an interesting idea though. I might play around with that idea. Perhaps the unoriented AV would be worth a shot too. If I understand things correctly apparently the unoriented V is in between an AII and an AV. Might be a best of both worlds for you.


Clint: Sounds like an interesting idea you're proposing. You've got me wanting to to give the AII spacer idea!




Thinking about trying a U0A5 in the bridge next, and polished A5 in the neck. I've heard good things about AIII neck pickups as well so I think that'll be somewhere on the horizon.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Winning Pickup Magnet Combinations

Yeah, if I used anything with more gain than a Plexi, I'd hate A2 mags, but I play dead clean most of the time, with the only overdrive about as saturated as a Klon or Tube Screamer. Higher gain, I like A5.

 

[PDC]

Re: Winning Pickup Magnet Combinations

I absolutely love the rough cast unoriented A5 in the ‘custom’ wound pickup. Think of the characteristics you like best of each of the stock ‘custom’ offerings - ceramic, A2 and polished oriented A5. The rough unoriented A5 seems to bring the very best qualities of each to the table. The power of the ceramic, the clarity of the A5 and the organic ‘chewieness’ of the A2. Sounds good in darned near any wood body.

 

[Demanic]

Re: Winning Pickup Magnet Combinations

I absolutely love the rough cast unoriented A5 in the ‘custom’ wound pickup. Think of the characteristics you like best of each of the stock ‘custom’ offerings - ceramic, A2 and polished oriented A5. The rough unoriented A5 seems to bring the very best qualities of each to the table. The power of the ceramic, the clarity of the A5 and the organic ‘chewieness’ of the A2. Sounds good in darned near any wood body.

I think the same with it in a JB.
That and a smooth A4 in a 59n. It's my favorite take on the 59n/JB pair.

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[ItsaBass]

Re: Winning Pickup Magnet Combinations

In general, I like A2 in the neck position, and A3 too. They are lower powered magnets, so they keep the output reasonable so it doesn't overly distort the amp. With those in the neck position, a wide variety of stronger magnets can work well in the bridge position.

I prefer weaker magnets in the neck position to underwinding. And I prefer stronger magnets in the bridge position to overwinding. Underwinding instead of weaker magnets usually results in a neck pickup that isn't juicy enough sounding – not full enough in the midrange – for me. Too stiff. Overwinding instead of stronger magnets in the bridge position results in a bridge pickup that is too congested and not bright enough sounding for me.

 

[metlking]

Re: Winning Pickup Magnet Combinations

What has worked best for my needs after much experimentation is a 59n with an A3 or UOA5, and a Pearly Gates bridge or 59b with an UOA5. YMMV.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Winning Pickup Magnet Combinations

I absolutely love the rough cast unoriented A5 in the ‘custom’ wound pickup. Think of the characteristics you like best of each of the stock ‘custom’ offerings - ceramic, A2 and polished oriented A5. The rough unoriented A5 seems to bring the very best qualities of each to the table. The power of the ceramic, the clarity of the A5 and the organic ‘chewieness’ of the A2. Sounds good in darned near any wood body.

I use a roughcast A5 in a 59/Custom Hybrid, and I am loving that sound.

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Winning Pickup Magnet Combinations

An A8 can be used to turn just about any neck pickup into a bridge pickup.

 

[Funkysmell]

Re: Winning Pickup Magnet Combinations

Well I moved onto phase 3, tried the jb in the bridge with a roughcast A2 swap. Thought it might be to my liking but I was wrong. It's not that it sounds "bad" but to me the pickup doesn't sound very alive. I had the JB in a single pickup Strat and some years ago I enjoyed it in that guitar, but I never liked it in my Les Paul, thought the a2 might fix that problem but to me it just sounds lifeless. better than it did with the A5 but other than taming a few things that drove me crazy about the pickup it wasn't much of an improvement. Sorry to any of the big JB fans out there, just not my cup of tea I guess. Think I'll have a go at an unoriented A5 in the 59 or the original tone rider pup. As a side note the Tonerider in the neck position with the a4 swap sounds fantastic. I might have a go with an a5 or uoa5 in it next to see how that sounds.

 

[Masta' C]

Re: Winning Pickup Magnet Combinations

Un-Oriented A5 (UOA5) is typically a much better match than A2 in the JB. There have been a lot of misconceptions about the A2 and the JB with many suggesting over the years that it's the poor-man's "RTM" or that the original Allan Holdsworth model, which was based on the JB, used an A2, neither of which are true. It's simply not a wind that favors the A2. On the other hand, UOA5 curbs the intensity of the JB, but keeps it clear and lively. If that doesn't work for you, try the A3...I like A3 in naturally hotter winds personally.

 

[Funkysmell]

Re: Winning Pickup Magnet Combinations

Un-Oriented A5 (UOA5) is typically a much better match than A2 in the JB. There have been a lot of misconceptions about the A2 and the JB with many suggesting over the years that it's the poor-man's "RTM" or that the original Allan Holdsworth model, which was based on the JB, used an A2, neither of which are true. It's simply not a wind that favors the A2. On the other hand, UOA5 curbs the intensity of the JB, but keeps it clear and lively. If that doesn't work for you, try the A3...I like A3 in naturally hotter winds personally.

Ah I see! I am one of those who fell under that misconception, maybe not specifically about Holdsworth but just that an A2 would really make up for any shortcomings a jb has in a Les Paul. I might give that a go, although I suspect that I might do better with using a lower output/differently wound paf as my starting point. Still might be a hidden gem to my ears.

 

[Funkysmell]

Re: Winning Pickup Magnet Combinations

Additionally, what are the opinions of folks on here that a SD Jazz bridge could pull off convincing 70s or 80s rock sounds? Someone I know offered me a good deal on one and doing some poking around on here it seems like it has quite a following among some members. I hear a lot about how it's great at high gain and cleans.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Winning Pickup Magnet Combinations

Additionally, what are the opinions of folks on here that a SD Jazz bridge could pull off convincing 70s or 80s rock sounds? Someone I know offered me a good deal on one and doing some poking around on here it seems like it has quite a following among some members. I hear a lot about how it's great at high gain and cleans.

If you need a bright sound (or have a dark guitar), and have a pedal to boost the signal after the guitar, I see no reason why a Jazz bridge couldn't do hard rock. You don't see many used Jazz bridge models in the wild.

 

[Demanic]

Re: Winning Pickup Magnet Combinations

I'd love to hear a Jazzb with a smooth UOA5.

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[Gtrjunior]

Re: Winning Pickup Magnet Combinations

How about the 59b with an A4 in the neck position?

JB A2 is quite popular too. I have one in my Hamer currently. It tames the mids a little without straying too far from the JB's inherent characteristic sound, which I like. To me the character of the pickup does lose a little of the definition it has with the A5 though. Most likely I will check it out with A3 & A4 over the next while just for comparison.

Sent from my Redmi Note 8 using Tapatalk

I’m curious to try an A8 in my JB.