Swapping magnets in a Gibson 498T?

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Zephyr
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Swapping magnets in a Gibson 498T?

Post by Zephyr » Tue Jan 11, 2011 7:00 pm

I've got a spare 498T lying around and it just doesn't cut it vs other pickups. I was thinking an A2 would liven things up or maybe an A8 would give it some teeth, what do you guys think?

Also, where's a good place to buy magnets? I checked StewMac, but they only sell A5.

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Re: Swapping magnets in a Gibson 498T?

Post by stump » Wed Jan 12, 2011 7:21 am

A2 sounds good in these. My friend changed his out and I was real impressed with the tone. To me it sounded like a better SD 59.

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Zephyr
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Re: Swapping magnets in a Gibson 498T?

Post by Zephyr » Wed Jan 19, 2011 11:20 am

Anyone know a good place to buy magnets from?

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bigsmitty
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Re: Swapping magnets in a Gibson 498T?

Post by bigsmitty » Wed Jan 19, 2011 11:39 am

I think mojo sells them.

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fillmore nyc
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Re: Swapping magnets in a Gibson 498T?

Post by fillmore nyc » Thu Jan 20, 2011 7:01 am

Zephyr wrote:I've got a spare 498T lying around and it just doesn't cut it vs other pickups. I was thinking an A2 would liven things up or maybe an A8 would give it some teeth, what do you guys think?

Also, where's a good place to buy magnets? I checked StewMac, but they only sell A5.
That pickup has an Alnico 5 in it already, so an A2 is gonna soften it up, and an A8 (if you can find one) will make it brighter and less warm. A ceramic mag will take it even further toward brightness, probably bring it close to a Duncan Custom.

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Zephyr
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Re: Swapping magnets in a Gibson 498T?

Post by Zephyr » Mon Apr 11, 2011 3:09 pm

I prefer A2 over A5 any day, so I may switch to A2.

However, I've been thinking since A2 has lower output, would it be possible to stack 2 alnico II magnets on top of each other to increase output?

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fillmore nyc
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Re: Swapping magnets in a Gibson 498T?

Post by fillmore nyc » Mon Apr 11, 2011 5:20 pm

Zephyr wrote:I prefer A2 over A5 any day, so I may switch to A2.

However, I've been thinking since A2 has lower output, would it be possible to stack 2 alnico II magnets on top of each other to increase output?
An A2 doesnt have "lower output"... magnets dont have any output. It has lower magnetic pull. The output itself is dictated by the pickups windings and wire gauge. You can prove it to yourself by taking a resistance reading with the mag in the pickup, and then without the mag. The read will be the same. The "perceived" output may sound a little different the same way a guitar sounds like its got a little less output if you turn the tone down: it sounds "less loud" cause treble is harder on the ears than bass, but the guitars actual output is the same.
I dont know anyone thats ever tried it, but I dont think stacking a pair of A2's will do anything, except possibly kill some sustain due to the increased magnetic pull. It might even sound similar to the stock A5 for that reason, but thats anyones guess.
:what:

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Zephyr
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Re: Swapping magnets in a Gibson 498T?

Post by Zephyr » Mon Apr 11, 2011 5:45 pm

Well, I was more or less referring to milli-volt output. And I was under the impression that all else equal, an A5 could have a higher charge and thus the pickup would have a higher mv reading than if it were A2...?

Anyway, I had thought stacking was old news. I know Smits pickups offeres triple ceramic options and Duncan has various claims of stacked magnets in their pups to increase output (mv), so are they talking about something different?

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fillmore nyc
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Re: Swapping magnets in a Gibson 498T?

Post by fillmore nyc » Mon Apr 11, 2011 6:13 pm

Zephyr wrote:Well, I was more or less referring to milli-volt output. And I was under the impression that all else equal, an A5 could have a higher charge and thus the pickup would have a higher mv reading than if it were A2...?

Anyway, I had thought stacking was old news. I know Smits pickups offeres triple ceramic options and Duncan has various claims of stacked magnets in their pups to increase output (mv), so are they talking about something different?
The difference is much more pronounced in tone than output. The diff in tone may sound like more output, so in actual use, its sorta like faking your ears out, so to speak.

As far as STACKED mags (one on top of another), I've never heard of that. Some companies use multiple mags in certain pickups, but to my knowledge, that is done by eliminating the wood spacers on either side of the pickup and replacing them with small mags, so they have 3 mags in the same plane, not on top of each other. To do that with an A2, you'd probably have to cut the mag somehow, maybe with a Dremel cut off wheel, cause I dont know anyone making an alnico mag that narrow.
Most of the pickups I've heard of with multiple mags are using ceramic mags, not alnico, but maybe someone does.
It would make an interesting project, but somehow I doubt it would be worth the effort.

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