Topic: Best Magnets For Swap?

I am thinking about swapping different magnets into the burstbuckers in my les paul. the burstbuckers in there both have A2 magnets, but they sound unbalanced, when i set my amp to sound good with the neck pickup, the bridge pickup sounds too thin, and when i set the amp to sound good for the bridge pickup, the neck pickup sounds muddy, and i cant really set the amp to sound good with both. I have tried adjusting the pickup heights and it hasnt really worked. Im reluctant to do this mod, but If i do, what magnets should I swap in. Im looking for nice mellow, balanced jazz tones, when I play clean, and then Anything from JB (solo band and RCFP) tone, to al di meola (return to forever), jimmy herring, and other sort of fusion tones. I am thinking possibly A4's possibly a combo of an A4 in the neck and an A3 in the bridge, or an A4 in the neck and an A2 or A5 in the bridge. I already have all the magnets, they are rough cast long magnets.

Re: Best Magnets For Swap?

A2 - warm, rounded high end, lots of mids, not much treble, loose low end, lots of vintage dynamics, low output.

A3 - like an A2 but with more treble and less bass.

A4 - flat EQ, medium output. no big EQ push, which lets the PU's and wood's tones come thru.

A5 - bright, sharp high end, scooped mids, lots of bass. firm low end, relatively high output.

UOA5 - unoriented A5 - will sound like the middle ground between an A2 and A5, warm but with a little more treble than an A2, lots of dynamics, medium output.

A8 - warm, lots of mids, some treble but not an excess, firm low end, high output.

All A2's, A3's, and A4's are unoriented, along with UOA5's. A5's and A8's are oriented, which means the inner 'grain's in the metal have been magnitized and aligned in one direction when the metal was being formed, which makes a stronger magnet and a more uniform magnetic field. Unoriented magnets have random 'grain' and a more complex and varied magnetic field.

Polished magnets have a sharper high end. Roughcast magnets have a slightly smoother high end. Not a huge difference.

Alnico mags are numbered by output, more or less, so A2's and A3's are low output, A8's are high.

Ranked in order of warmth: RC A2, A2, UOA5, A8, RC A4, A4, RC A3, A3, RC A5, A5.

So if you know what magent is in your HB or P-90, and you want to change the EQ, choose a magnet that will move it in the direction you want.

Some common swaps are:
JB - can be bright and harsh. Has an A5. An A2 adds mids and takes away some treble.
'59N - can have a boomy bass in mahogany. Has an A5. An A4 or A3 takes away some bass.
'59B - bright and scooped. Has an A5. An UOA5 or A8 fixes both issues.
490R, '57 Classic, PGN - can be dark in the neck slot. Have A2's. An A5, A4, A3, or UOA5 add treble.
498T and Custom 5 - bright and midscooped. Have A5's. An A8 or UOA5 add mids and dials down the treble.
490T, PGB, '57 Classic - bridge PU's that can have an overly rounded high end. Have A2's. An UOA5's and A8's add some bite.

3 (edited by NPB_EST.1979 2014-04-17 12:58:53)

Re: Best Magnets For Swap?

I have had the best luck with unpolished A4s. They look like crap but I've had good sounds out of them. Most bar magnets are polished.

I like A5's in the neck, and A2 in bridge. but had luck with both in either position.

Hot hot are the pickups?

- Nic from Detroit... posting on JB's Forum since 6-2-2006
Ask me about my handwound Great Lakes Guitar Pickups
Since 2010, Bonamassa fans have taken advantage of my JB friend discount = my cost + shipping. cool

Re: Best Magnets For Swap?

Thank you spider, that was a very helpful post, so after that I'm thinking maybe an A3 in the neck and an A4 in the bridge, and NPB the pickups read, 7.89 in the bridge, and 7.46 in the neck. like i said im just looking for jazzy clean tones, and then anything from Mike Bloomfield/BB King to JB's Solo/RCFP to Jimmy Herring/Al Di Meola when dirty. so i think if I swap the stock A2s for rough cast A3 in the neck and A4 in the bridge that should get me where I want to be. and for someone who has never done this, how easy/safe is this procedure, I have a good understanding of how pickups are constructed, and am actually in the process of making my own, but I love this guitar and i dont want to change the pups unless I have to, i wanna keep it as stock as possible, and i think this magnet swap should get me where I want to be.

5 (edited by NPB_EST.1979 2014-04-17 14:04:37)

Re: Best Magnets For Swap?

Ok... yeah those should be nice, clean sounding pickups.

For those I'd recommend A2 or A4. They came with A2, so if you're unhappy with the tone swapping a magnet could help, and is easy enough to do.

As and FYI, A5 would make it too bright. Usually, the higher resistance the stronger magnet you'd need to drive it. I've even had A8's in an 11k pickup that sounded awesome. Your pickups are under 8k, so A3 or A4 sound like they could make a difference.

Do some research on A3's before you try one. I hear the magnetism decays quicker than other alnico magnets over shorter time, and is among the weaker low memory magnets out there. If you go this router, please let me know what you think of them, since it's the only magnet I don't offer or carry when I make pickups for my friends.

- Nic from Detroit... posting on JB's Forum since 6-2-2006
Ask me about my handwound Great Lakes Guitar Pickups
Since 2010, Bonamassa fans have taken advantage of my JB friend discount = my cost + shipping. cool

Re: Best Magnets For Swap?

Will do, I probably won't perform the mod until my next string change which should be 2 weeks- a month from now, which is good, because I need to consider alot of things, first off If i want to alter the guitar in that major way, because so far all the electronics are stock, and the only changes on the guitar are the addition of grover tuners, taking off the pickgaurd, dunlop dual design straplocks, pointers for the knobs, taking the wire off of the abr, and replacing the stock amber knobs with gold ones. so the only real major change is the grovers. Do i decide to go this route, I will make sure I inform you of the results with the A3 magnet. I have heard similar things with A3's that they are the weakest since they contain no cobalt, from what little reading material I have found on their tonal descriptions and the one youve just provided, it seems like it would be a good candidate for the neck pup, for Jazz/Fusion/Blues stuff.

Re: Best Magnets For Swap?

The magnets are only a couple bucks. I would suggest grabbing two or three sets to swap and see what works best for you. This is a cheap easy fun swap that most overlook. Have fun with it and enjoy the tones.

Stay safe y'all
me

Re: Best Magnets For Swap?

yeah i already have a bunch of magnets, all rough cast, long (2.5") magnets, I have A2, A3, A4, A5 (im not sure if the A5, is oriented or not tho), and i have about 4 of each of these. so ill probably do it in about 2 weeks, and report my findings back here haha

9 (edited by Django2013 2014-04-20 15:32:11)

Re: Best Magnets For Swap?

I decided, rather thank go through all the trouble im just gonna put a pair of Throbak MXV's or OX4's in the guitar, along with a Martin Six String Custom Holy Grail wiring harness. So the question now becomes MXV's or OX4's I don't have experience with either, and it's worth saying I'm looking for Jazz/Fusion tone, so they have to be very articulate and sensitive, as well as have a tight bottom end, full mids, and a detailed high end that isn't shrill

10 (edited by NPB_EST.1979 2014-04-21 10:20:27)

Re: Best Magnets For Swap?

even with a "shrill" bridge pickup, you can calm it down with a 300k vol pot, rolling the tone to "8", and any speaker that doesn't say Vintage 30 on it. big_smile

- Nic from Detroit... posting on JB's Forum since 6-2-2006
Ask me about my handwound Great Lakes Guitar Pickups
Since 2010, Bonamassa fans have taken advantage of my JB friend discount = my cost + shipping. cool

Re: Best Magnets For Swap?

My cab has vintage 30s in it haha, and yeah I can get the highs not to be shrill, but it's just thin sounding, not a lot of depth to it