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

dmoss74

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Joined
Apr 16, 2015
Messages
29
after trying out various pickups, and not being completely satisfied with the tone from my bridge pickups (with a2 magnets), i'm looking for someone who has real world experience swapping the a2 magnets for a4s.

from snooping around these fora, and various online places, i'm thinking that may be the ticket. however, i'd like to hear from actual folks who have done it.

what i'd like to know is, while playing over driven/mid to high gain setups, will the a4 setup make for a less trebly high end? and i'm not talking about ral high gain/metal stuff. more in the zep/zz top/medium gain type sounds.
 

Classic

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Dec 6, 2004
Messages
1,624
I've not changed magnets within pickups but I have gone from A2 to A5 then A4 pickup types. I'm currently settled on Bareknuckle Mule pickups which are A4. A4 sit right between the A2 and A5 magnets as far as EQ. It has top and bottom closer to the A5 and mids closer to A2. Some people can find them a bit flat but they're exactly what I'm looking for.
 

Neal

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Joined
Sep 21, 2001
Messages
81
I have a 2008 R0 and the Burstbuckers didn't really sound right to me. IMO, they were too ice-picky and not very balanced bass-mid-treble-wise. I was tempted to go the new pu route but thought it too expensive to leave in the parts bin if I didn't like the results. Then I read in here about magnet swaps and got some rough-cast oriented A4 magnets. Took me awhile, but I finally got the impetus to molest my prize possession and install them. I also replaced the pu covers with a more period correct version. It's been 5 years since and have no reason to go back to the A2's. The pu's have more mid and less ice-pick with the bass just a bit less pronounced, and I just really love the difference, especially in the bridge pu. I may try an A5 in the neck. I play through a Marshall 50W clone combo with a PPIMV and NO pedals before and since the magnet change. To me, it was worth a shot to try a magnet swap before spending beaucoup bucks on new pu's. Hope this helps.
 

Red Baron

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Jul 14, 2004
Messages
6,774
A4's and A3's are my favourites and I've replaced A2's for A4's in a few different pickups, which voiced them more to my liking. It's really difficult to describe tone (so I won't even try) but I just find them to be more musical than A2's and A5's.
 

dmoss74

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Joined
Apr 16, 2015
Messages
29
I have a 2008 R0 and the Burstbuckers didn't really sound right to me. IMO, they were too ice-picky and not very balanced bass-mid-treble-wise. I was tempted to go the new pu route but thought it too expensive to leave in the parts bin if I didn't like the results. Then I read in here about magnet swaps and got some rough-cast oriented A4 magnets. Took me awhile, but I finally got the impetus to molest my prize possession and install them. I also replaced the pu covers with a more period correct version. It's been 5 years since and have no reason to go back to the A2's. The pu's have more mid and less ice-pick with the bass just a bit less pronounced, and I just really love the difference, especially in the bridge pu. I may try an A5 in the neck. I play through a Marshall 50W clone combo with a PPIMV and NO pedals before and since the magnet change. To me, it was worth a shot to try a magnet swap before spending beaucoup bucks on new pu's. Hope this helps.


sure does. thanks.
 

les strat

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Aug 22, 2004
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5,194
I bought some Antiquities and swapped the weak A2's for A4's, and it is the closest to a real PAF I have ever had after trying MANY pickups including boutique. They are wound on the Leesona, and many of the sought after late 50's PAF's were A4. HIgh end is not a problem, and I get the best of A2 and A5. A4 in the neck is absolutely my fave LP neck tone.

I do run somewhat high gain lots of times. I run through a Germino Club 40 (JTM/JMP50 clone) driven by a Visual Sound Jekyll/Hyde and or a Analogman Sunface.
Let me see if I can find a video of me live somewhere...... Don't laugh!
 

les strat

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Aug 22, 2004
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Check out granny. She enjoyed the show! Don't know her, but I heard it was her 80th bday!
 

dmoss74

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Joined
Apr 16, 2015
Messages
29
I bought some Antiquities and swapped the weak A2's for A4's, and it is the closest to a real PAF I have ever had after trying MANY pickups including boutique. They are wound on the Leesona, and many of the sought after late 50's PAF's were A4. HIgh end is not a problem, and I get the best of A2 and A5. A4 in the neck is absolutely my fave LP neck tone.

I do run somewhat high gain lots of times. I run through a Germino Club 40 (JTM/JMP50 clone) driven by a Visual Sound Jekyll/Hyde and or a Analogman Sunface.
Let me see if I can find a video of me live somewhere...... Don't laugh!


thanks for the input. great tones from that setup. there was a local store that had one of greg's 45 watt heads. that was one of the best sounding amps i've ever played. he really knows how to make a great amp. :)
 

J.D.

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Joined
May 24, 2006
Messages
10,030
I bought some Antiquities and swapped the weak A2's for A4's, and it is the closest to a real PAF I have ever had after trying MANY pickups including boutique. They are wound on the Leesona, and many of the sought after late 50's PAF's were A4. HIgh end is not a problem, and I get the best of A2 and A5. A4 in the neck is absolutely my fave LP neck tone.

+1 my experience is very similar :salude
 

CL-10

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Joined
Jan 27, 2003
Messages
335
+++ what les strat and JD said. I've put the A4's in a bunch of Antiquities, 2 sets of Throbaks, a set of Burst Bucker ProV's, and older set of 59's. The Antiquities really came alive with them. The Burst Bucker Pro V's were tamed and sounded pretty decent with the change. The Throbak were "Custom LTD and started off with A-5's - then A-5 un-oriented and finally wit a-4's. The A-4's won! A-4's tend to drive the amp but not be ice-picky. I only had one guitar that the A-2 sounded better in - but it was an all maple body and neck guitar.
I sent a set of Throbaks with the A-4 magnets to a buddy to try in his new (to him) Les Paul Custom. His description of the tone = "INSANE".
 

caint123

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May 16, 2015
Messages
12
I currently have a set of Sheptone Tributes in my R8. I found them a bit dark overall, so I swapped the stock A5s to A2s, which was better... but the bottom end got a bit muddy/woofy. I bought some A4s from Throbak, popped them in and there was the tone I'd been looking for! The neck especially had a heap more clarity and top end.
I then got hold of some more A4s, fully charged and courtesy of Dave @ Sigil Pickups (wonderful guy - great to deal with), and started trying them in some other pickups - Custombuckers, Sheptone and Gibson P90s so far.
Every single neck pickup I have tried A4s in has benefited enormously from the change.
But, after some play time I have decided that in some of the sets that having an A4 in the neck is far better balanced (to my ears) by an A5 in the bridge. And in fact that's what I settled on with the Tributes. A4 in the neck position. Original A5 back in the bridge position.
 

les strat

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Aug 22, 2004
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I currently have a set of Sheptone Tributes in my R8. I found them a bit dark overall, so I swapped the stock A5s to A2s, which was better... but the bottom end got a bit muddy/woofy. I bought some A4s from Throbak, popped them in and there was the tone I'd been looking for! The neck especially had a heap more clarity and top end.
I then got hold of some more A4s, fully charged and courtesy of Dave @ Sigil Pickups (wonderful guy - great to deal with), and started trying them in some other pickups - Custombuckers, Sheptone and Gibson P90s so far.
Every single neck pickup I have tried A4s in has benefited enormously from the change.
But, after some play time I have decided that in some of the sets that having an A4 in the neck is far better balanced (to my ears) by an A5 in the bridge. And in fact that's what I settled on with the Tributes. A4 in the neck position. Original A5 back in the bridge position.

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
 

Classic

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Dec 6, 2004
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1,624
Every single neck pickup I have tried A4s in has benefited enormously from the change.
But, after some play time I have decided that in some of the sets that having an A4 in the neck is far better balanced (to my ears) by an A5 in the bridge. And in fact that's what I settled on with the Tributes. A4 in the neck position. Original A5 back in the bridge position.

A5 bridge and A4 neck is the setup Gil Yaron often uses for his builds.
 

Jennings

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Sep 22, 2009
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I've been trying for a while to find a pickup I like in the bridge position of my Bigsby-equipped SG 61RI. I've tried an AlNiCo 2 BB2, and whilst I love them in my LP 58RI, they're too harsh for me in the SG. I've tried swapping the magnet for a short AlNiCo 5, which I liked, but still was a little too harsh for my ears on this particular SG. I tried 57 Classics (A 2, even windings and wax potted), but these were too thick/muddy for me. I've tried a few custom pickups, and they fell into the above categories...

...finally last night I tried an A 4 mag in the BB2. Success for now!!! It's maybe 90 there with the sound I have in my head now for this guitar. Still has the clarity I need and bite you'd expect for an SG, but not harsh or thin sounding as can happen in a thin mahogany trem equipped guitar. Just my tuppence worth, but I say give A 4 a go in guitars which need a classic bucker tone, but come across harsh with the usual mags and pickups.
 

FregGarvinMP

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Aug 16, 2021
Messages
44
Old thread, but: A4s to me sound smoother and add a nice low mid warmth, which is really helpful to tame a bright bridge position. For instance, I have a great Murphy Lab Les Paul that is acoustically bright, which is a nice problem, because it seems so snappy and "tele on steroids." That acoustic brightness makes the neck pickup so usable, but the bridge needs some taming.

I first swapped the Customer Buckers for Rewinds (low wind A2s). It sounded good, but still not too different in brightness. I then tried a Rewind Creme Brulee in the bridge, which has more output, helping darken it some. Sounded great, but it had more output too. I tried some A4s (RocketFire), which did the trick. It added warmth, clarity or smoothness, removing a fizzy-ness. (Btw I play through Fender type amps, not Marshalls.)

I have some Custom Buckers (A3s) in another Les Paul, but they are to Chicago Music Exchange "S" specs, which is a lower wind, less bright pickup. It sounds great. I'll stick with those. This particular Les Paul is not overly bright, but just a medium level in brightness. However, if it were easier, I'd love to cycle through a bunch of pickups or magnet swaps.
 

corpse

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Jun 9, 2007
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4,876
Not dissing anyones' efforts here but I wonder how much of this varies in home studio vs band/live settings?
I changed out A2's to A3's IIRC in a set of Pat Sticker T-Tops and really liked how much they smoothed out. At the time they had a set of chrome PUP covers on them which I replaced with Ni plated. That made a difference.
 

Bryansamui

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Jul 1, 2022
Messages
198
Not dissing anyones' efforts here but I wonder how much of this varies in home studio vs band/live settings?
I changed out A2's to A3's IIRC in a set of Pat Sticker T-Tops and really liked how much they smoothed out. At the time they had a set of chrome PUP covers on them which I replaced with Ni plated. That made a difference.
 

Bryansamui

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Jul 1, 2022
Messages
198
Also, Magnets are all different within a particular type..Depending on the foundry , recipes etc, a range of say A2 magnets will all sound different. I've got a bunch of vintage magnets . When I compare them to some new ones of the same type, the old ones are much more open sounding.
As a rule,I've found Vintage A2 vs Vintage A5 magnets sound more similar to each other than different whereas New A5 vs New A2 will often sound very different....
If my supply ran out of my Magnet for my Jimmy Page Neck Pickup, I can't just simply replace it with "Any old Alnico magnet" of the same type. It won't be easy to get another .
 
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