looking to hear from players who swapped a2 to a4 magnets paf

[Skydogfan81]

I swapped the polished A5's in a set of WB's to first both A2's, then an A4 in the neck and flipped it. I've kept them in there for a few years now. I have Tom Holmes in an R9 and they are both A2's and sound great.

 

[Bumhucker]

Old thread, but I just put an original/born with A2 back in a BB3 bridge yesterday (dcr is 8.56k in circuit). That pickup made its way into a few Les Pauls, was always good, and I last had a UOA5 in it. Now in an R7 which is just a bright guitar. The bridge crispness couldn’t be EQ’s out and still sound organic. Took a chance at darkening the pickup a bit and introducing more/thicker mids, and had saved the original A2 the pup was born with. I have a set of Ants in a bright sounding, heavy Studio and my next move was an Ant bridge with UOA5, but think I’ll just leave the R7 as is.

My go-to for humbuckers is A4 neck/UOA5 bridge, but defer to what sounds best to my ears. After adjusting it up, this is the best bridge sound from this guitar ever (it’s a 2019, the Custombuckers have long been on the shelf…shrill, thin and still flat sounding).

 

[Bumhucker]

This has got me wondering if I should try an unoritented A5 I have in my bridge along with the A4 in the neck of my Antiquities. :hmm

After a few other combos, this is what I landed on for the Ants in my 1991 Studio LP.

 

[matt173844]

I’m an a4 neck and a2 bridge fan. But a2 really do vary, I have all 3 of throbaks a2 and they are very different. I like that squishy or chewy compression from the long a2, and the Stephens design hd59 I have has a short a2 that’s the same way. Paired with the faster and tighter attack of an a4 neck it’s a great combo.

 

[corpse]

Ok so I am a magnet knuckle dragger. I had a guitar with T-Top's and I thought they were A2's- and while they sounded EXACTLY like Mick Taylor on GYYYO- that is a pretty limited range- too thin. I swapped them for A3's simultaneously with HM Retrospec pots. Literally swinging in the dark.
I liked the outcome but I don 't necessarily know what affected the outcome (The Offshore Angler- effect; i am officially naming it that even though he's not the first one to call it out. Probably should call it the Big Al effect). TBH i don't really know if I put refrigerator magnets into those T-Tops.
How do I look at a magnet and say "this is an A3 and this is an A5"?
And yes you can say search it on the internet, but half of that is shyte- i am asking folks here.

 

[matt173844]

Ok so I am a magnet knuckle dragger. I had a guitar with T-Top's and I thought they were A2's- and while they sounded EXACTLY like Mick Taylor on GYYYO- that is a pretty limited range- too thin. I swapped them for A3's simultaneously with HM Retrospec pots. Literally swinging in the dark.
I liked the outcome but I don 't necessarily know what affected the outcome (The Offshore Angler- effect; i am officially naming it that even though he's not the first one to call it out. Probably should call it the Big Al effect). TBH i don't really know if I put refrigerator magnets into those T-Tops.
How do I look at a magnet and say "this is an A3 and this is an A5"?
And yes you can say search it on the internet, but half of that is shyte- i am asking folks here.

You can’t really tell the type of magnet by looking. A gauss meter can be used to make a guess based on the charge but sometimes the charge drops over time. I belive the only true way to tell is destructive, they have to melt the magnet down and test. This has been done one some old P.A.F. to confirm types.

Best thing to do is label them in sharpie on the bottoms when you pull one or get a new one. T tops would have been short a5 I believe.

Pots are skimped on even with Gibson custom shop. I hade a 460k tone pot in my 2022 r9. Changing them out will open them up a bit more in the high end. Magnet swaps change the attack and can change the frequency response as well.

 

[Bumhucker]

In my experience, A2’s aren’t ever thin because they’re so eager to give up the ghost when pushed. Now A3’s? Those seem ‘thin’ to me but I might mean ‘weak’. Love the YaYa tone of MT. Was that the recording, the guitar body, the stage set up, the pups/magnets or a dimed (and overheated) SVT?

Refrigerator magnets are a good fit for some pups!

 

[corpse]

Even an improvement

 

[K Dub]

My Murphy Lab Heavy Aged came with factory installed A4 Custombuckers. I notice more output and a more balanced EQ in the A4 Custombuckers compared to lower output and more scooped mids in the A3 Custombuckers in my R9. One is not better than the other, just slightly different. I'm interested in what other cats on this forum experience with A4 magnets.

My understanding of Alnico magnets from weakest to strongest is:
A3 -> A2 -> A4 -> A5
A3 magnets do not have Cobalt so a more accurate nomenclature would be Alni 3

 

[El Gringo]

You can’t really tell the type of magnet by looking. A gauss meter can be used to make a guess based on the charge but sometimes the charge drops over time. I belive the only true way to tell is destructive, they have to melt the magnet down and test. This has been done one some old P.A.F. to confirm types.

Best thing to do is label them in sharpie on the bottoms when you pull one or get a new one. T tops would have been short a5 I believe.

Pots are skimped on even with Gibson custom shop. I hade a 460k tone pot in my 2022 r9. Changing them out will open them up a bit more in the high end. Magnet swaps change the attack and can change the frequency response as well.

My T-Tops from my 71 Gibson Les Paul Custom were confirmed by ThroBak to have A2 magnets . Both neck and bridge pickups meausered 7.7k for output . Sent them to ThroBak to have Gold covers installed . Forgot to add that I prefer A5 magnets , as I find the A2 a bit on the thin side sound wise .