Anyone else trying A3?

[ShannonH]

Hi all,
I'va not been about for sometime, and have accumulated some questions? Is anyone else using Alnico 3 magnets? I have tried them out, and have had some good tone thus far. I almost get the feel that they are not liked. not that I am worried, as we all like what we like, but was just curious. I wound a neck PU to about 8.3 and really balanced the wind to the screw bobbin and it sounds lovely.

TIA

Shannon

[Spence]

Tried and trusted. But they are a little weak in a bridge position.

[Stan H]

I use them in one of my "P-90" models and have had very good results.

[madialex]

Fender 54 strat PU's and some tele models were A3

[SkinnyWire]

I use A3 in buckers from time-to-time. As mentioned, they are a weaker grade but can help out really dark toned guitars, IMO. I think some of the guys use them in high resistance winds too.

[JGundry]

I've tried A3 in humbuckers and find it way too weak. It just sounds anemic to me. A4 is a better choice if you want clarity but not too strident a tone.

[soundmasterg]

I've got an Epiphone Dot with a Duncan Alnico 2 pro in the neck and a Pearly Gates in the bridge. The PG was way too bright with it's stock A2 magnet, so I put a fully charged A3 in and it is the perfect lead pickup now for jump blues, and works well for rock things too. I really like A3 in the bridge personally. The PG is around 8k btw.

Greg

[ShannonH]

cool...

Thanks for all the replies guys. I intend to keep working on a decent Neck pu With an A3. It's funny, but I had the idea of a Pearly Gates in mind when I started on the pickup, without quite so much sting on the high end. There is another thread about polepieces and tone shaping, so this could go there too. I wound the Screw side about 1.5 k hotter than the slug, and it is pretty rockin'. I always noticed that the big boys like to wind their "hot" pickups with all screws rather than slugs, and figured that was primarily becasue of the focus and power of a screw based bobbin. If you look at Steven Kerstings site about replacing strat poles with screws, he kind of alludes to this phenomenon. I just am trying to get it to work with a neck pickup that is smooth and punchy at the same time. Thanks again for your input and experience!

Shannon

[David Schwab]

I've got an Epiphone Dot with a Duncan Alnico 2 pro in the neck and a Pearly Gates in the bridge.

The Alnico II Pro is one of my favorite pickups. I out a set in a PRS for a customer once and it went from sounding like toneless cardboard to getting a cool Mick Ronson vibe. It was like taking a blanket off the amp.

[Possum]

screw poles...

Screw poles aren't "more powerful". Take your gaussmeter and you'll see that the screw pole side is weaker, the short slugs have a more direct magnetic path than the screws which are thinner and longer protruding out the bottom of the pickup. The reason pickups use two screw poles is usually for hot pickups because the screws are thinner and sense less of the string than a fat slug does, it helps to cut through the mud that hot pickup coils are.

[ShannonH]

I can't argue with the gauss readings, (which I don't own, as I can't afford one just yet), but it seems to me to be a matter of focus rather than power. Why does a P90 rarely sound muddy, even when really wound up? I always figured that the screws were creating a more focused sensing area, but i could have that wrong. This would come at the expense of rapid sound decay when bending with a single coil, but not so much with a hum. What do you think?

[David Schwab]

The screws likely create less induction than the slugs, so they sound brighter, but have less output.

This is also probably why DiMarzio went with the hex screws for the SDHB, to balance out the extra turns with the high end.

Inductance increases approximately with the square of the number of turns, while the signal level increases linearly. The more metal you have in the coil, the higher the inductance.

I'd imagine you can come up with the right pole piece/winds/magnet combination for the tone you want.

[Possum]

...

yeah screws are a thin pole, slugs are a fat short pole, so slug poles are a thicker sound, and yes double screw poles like I said earlier are used on grossly overwound coils to cut through the mud. But more powerful screw poles aren't. The most power is from the slug side, but don't forget that you're adjusting your pickup height based on the screw heads and where they stick up, the slugs are usually noticably lower than the screw tops so most of the string vibration power is going into the screws. Make a double slug humbucker and try that out for yuks. Its been done before and I've seen them on strats mostly when they were done....

[ShannonH]

Thanks guys....
For all the info. I just go by what I hear and observed behavior in other pickup makers, including you guys (I visit pretty much every website I find here.) I'd like a link to some info on inductance if you have any David. Possum, Thanks as well. I have a lot of respest for your opinion, since you have the expereince I lack. Peace!

[David Schwab]

Make a double slug humbucker and try that out for yuks. Its been done before and I've seen them on strats mostly when they were done....

I have a few of them laying around.. they are all non US Fender pickups.