Magnet Strength VS Ice Pick

[old guy]

On a stock OE pickup, which houses an ALnico 2 bar magnet; if the pickup is too 'icepickey', is one able to swap magnets to gain volume and/or reduce the high frequencies?
My SG Standard ADAPTED BEAUTIFULLY TO A 57 Classic in the neck however, the positioning of the louder 490R in the bridge spot oddly enough, is too bright on the 1st & 2nd strings.
This has forced me to try a new hobby of winding my own... easier said than done.
Does a magnet have to be charged far less than FULL to work properly in a pickup? I read somewhere Alnico works best at 14-20 gauss. Please clue me in.

[big_teee]

Welcome to the Forum.
Your probably not as old as me.
Keep in mind that the largest effect on the pickup, in any guitar, is pickup position, or location.
So with a humbucker guitar, anytime the pickup is jammed up against the bridge, it can be a challenge to make them sound good.
A2 magnets usually sound good in the bridge with standard winds.
So maybe just start with a standard bridge humbucker with 42 AWG and A2, A3 magnets.

Here's a few standard readings taken right at the end of the magnet. (I saved this from a forum post a few years ago, not my readings)
A2 - 578
A3 - 500
A4 - 700
A5 - 680
A5 ISO - 687
A6 - 724
A8 - 1456
A9 - 1620
Ceramic 8 - 1400
PAF Magnet original charge - 460
PAF Magnet Full Charge – 660

[old guy]

Welcome to the Forum.
Your probably not as old as me.

Oh yeah??? What year did ya first notice your ear hair?

[big_teee]

Oh yeah??? What year did ya first notice your ear hair?

I don't remember!
I have been retired for a little over 3 years, and will be 64 this month.
T

[old guy]

I don't remember!
I have been retired for a little over 3 years, and will be 64 this month.
T

Well ... I've been retarded for 60 years and since I'm attempting to wind pickups will still remain the same for my 61st ... okokok ... you win

[mcgruff]

This has forced me to try a new hobby of winding my own... easier said than done.

The secret to success is doing lots of research so that you have a decent knowledge of the variables and how they affect tone: number of turns, coil height/width, wire gauge, wire insulation thickness, magnet type, ...etc.

After that, be prepared to do a few experiments using different numbers of turns etc until you zero in on the tone you want. Magnets are cheap so it's a good idea to have a selection of II's, III's, IV's, and V's to swap in and out the finished pickup as a final tweak to the sound.

I always review the sound of a new pickup DI'd straight into the DAW. It's easier to hear small differences in tone that way. Of course, the bottom line is what it sounds like through your amp so that's an important test too.

Experiment, listen, experiment, listen, and don't give up if the first couple of tries don't work out so well. It really doesn't take long to start winding some nice, useable pickups - I started winding myself not so long ago and it's been well worth it.

[old guy]

Thanks Mcgruff ... I realized I'm gonna have to buy a cheap pawn shop les paul style guitar to use as my 'drop-in' test device. My SG went under a lotta stress, undoing and doing strings back up 15000 times whilst testing & switching mags & coils.

My first attempt seemed to be SOOOOOOOO close on the bottom 4 strings ... I thought I lucked out with beginners luck.
Getting discouraged - at this age - ain't part of the program.

While I'm at it; what happens when you replace a stock magnet with one more powerful? I have a 490R which measures in at 7.9k dcr. If I pull the Alnico 2 and swap it with an Alnico 4 or 5, will the pickup become louder (even though the dc resistance remains the same)? OR ... does it just develop MORE high end???