Pickup mods: Magnet-Swaps and the "Half-Air" mod demystified

[ashstralia]

yes mate! one caveat though; when you solder the coil wires back onto the baseplate, use a very low wattage/heat setting on your soldering iron.

[jhale667]

Decided to up my options choice-wise one more...in addition to the A8 and A5s I have on hand, picked up a UOA5 on Evilbay this morning...which is supposed to have the best qualities of the A5 and A8...

[jhale667]

Soon there will be mass tonal fun...

The UOA5 showed up yesterday...I'm SERIOUSLY tempted to spend the day swapping it and a A8 out for the A2 in the Custom Custom I have in my Koa Warmoth, but being that's my primary recording guitar, I don't want to change my rhythm sound until I'm totally through tracking rhythms with it. Guess it'll have to wait until the KnE body comes back from RCA guitars and make it the swap-o-rama guitar.


In other news, got a pic of my Porter Pickups Custom-wound set that shipped yesterday...



I'm going to try the bridge pickup in the Charvel/KnE for giggles, but the set is going in my Kramer when it's done.

[Diamondjimi]

Fuckin A bro. Looking forward to some audio samples...

[jhale667]

Meawhile...

Figured this was the best place to post this, wasn't really worth a separate thread, and is pickup-variation related... Here's a shootout of Duncans (newer stuff like the Alt 8, their active Blackouts as well as the Dimebag pickup, the Invader and the venerable Distortion) some guy did that's pretty cool:



In other news, the (Boogie Bodies) neck has been ordered for the Kramer I'm going to use to check out the Porter pickups...think I still need to order a set of black tuners, but otherwise pretty much ready to go when it shows up...



Looks pretty cool with the Charvel neck on it too...

[Seshmeister]

Figured this was the best place to post this, wasn't really worth a separate thread, and is pickup-variation related... Here's a shootout of Duncans (newer stuff like the Alt 8, their active Blackouts as well as the Dimebag pickup, the Invader and the venerable Distortion) some guy did that's pretty cool:

Is it just me or are those surprisingly similar sounding?

Left me thinking you get good pick ups and shit ones and there isn't much difference between the good ones.

[Nitro Express]

The sound of a pickup is based on how many coils, the strength of the magnet, and the how many windings of wire you have and the guage of that wire. When people tell me different magnetic materials sound different I have a good laugh. It's the strength of the magnetism and the shape of the field that make the difference. You get higher output with a stronger magnet and/or more coil windings. There is a lot of hocus pocus to get you to pay more. It's like the wine industry.

[Nitro Express]

Is it just me or are those surprisingly similar sounding?

Left me thinking you get good pick ups and shit ones and there isn't much difference between the good ones.

I would have to sit in a dark room and concentrate to tell the difference. So just skip buying the signature model and buy the boring one and save some money.

[jhale667]

The sound of a pickup is based on how many coils, the strength of the magnet, and the how many windings of wire you have and the guage of that wire. When people tell me different magnetic materials sound different I have a good laugh. It's the strength of the magnetism and the shape of the field that make the difference. You get higher output with a stronger magnet and/or more coil windings. There is a lot of hocus pocus to get you to pay more. It's like the wine industry.

To quote John McLaughlin - WRONG!

While all the factors you mentioned are important, you simply cannot say the magnets don't make a difference - particularly when one of Seymour Duncan's biggest lines is the Custom series - each one the exact same coil wind, wire gauge etc - the SAME F*ing pickup - with different magnets (ceramic, A2, A5 + A8 and UOA5s being all the rage in the DIY circles). Each magnet has a distinctive character.

To Sesh's point, the one that sounds DRASTICALLY different to me is the Alt 8 (A8 mag, shocker)...definitely different sounding on the low notes. The Blackouts and Dimebag didn't sound that different from the good ol' standby Distortion model IMO...

[Nitro Express]

That's because each magnet has a different magnetic field and level of magnetism. Magnetism is magnetism period. It's the shape of the field around the coils and how strong it is. What the magnet is made of determines that but also how the magnets are positioned. You have all those factors. Seymour is a smart marketer. He makes what people want and also promotes some of the hype himself. It's marketing. You could play around with various magnetic designs and have a ceramic sound close to an old aged alnico.

Want to have some fun? Get an old sewing machine and turn it into a bobbin winder and make some of your own pickups and play around. Pickups are way overhyped. It's the magnetic field in relation to the coils and the stings. Not what the magnets are specifically made of. Magnetism is magnetism it's just that a modern ceramic magnet is stronger than an old aged alnico magnet.

[Seshmeister]

To Sesh's point, the one that sounds DRASTICALLY different to me is the Alt 8 (A8 mag, shocker)...definitely different sounding on the low notes. The Blackouts and Dimebag didn't sound that different from the good ol' standby Distortion model IMO...

Yeah that's the only one that I could really pick out.

I had put it in the shit category though...

I do obviously notice a big difference between say a stock Epiphone even Ibanez verses a Dimarzio or Seymour Duncan.

Seems to be a real diminishing returns thing once you get to the upper end though and much less important compared to the amp, effects or how you play.

[Nitro Express]

Years back I played around with making my own pickups. I made a real cool bass pickup that actually has only one winding in the bobbin and it's passive. Then you use a selective transformer to change how much it puts out.

The windings have the most to do with the drive and tone of a pickup. Also how that pickup is positioned on the guitar. Magnets don't really have that much effect unless of course you go from a high powered one to a low powered one and vice versa. The problem with too powerful of a magnet is it will dampen your strings so I always found it was better to overwind the bobbin if you wanted a hotter sound. I think it sounds warmer as well. You can mellow out a sharp sounding pickup by moving it a tad from the bridge.

[Seshmeister]

It's the kind of thing I would do if I was marooned on a desert island with only an ACME consignment of 'make your own pick ups' equipment.

Around about year 3.

[Nitro Express]

What would you plug your amp into? A coconut?

[Nitro Express]

So I take it Shesh doesn't want a pickup winding machine for Christmas.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Special_tools_for_Electronics,_pickups/Schatten_Pickup_Winder.html?actn=100101&xst=2&xsr=i-1465