Metropoulos Forum

i found my old vanhalen interview where VH talks about taking dimarzio pickups and swapping out the magnet for old paf magnet.well chris aka gnugear bought one last week and swapped out the ceramic magnet with an alnico 5.i heard it over the phone and i was impressed.so i ran to guitar center today and got one,switched the magnet to the a5 and holyshit,this thing sounds great!!!sounds good with the plexi eq or no eq even sounds great with the 5150-III..i have seen pics of this pickup in the destroyer guitar,the black and yellow guitar and even the frankenstrat and never gave it much thought...im just really shocked at how good it sounds.its starting to change my thought that EVH used stock PAFs......
stan

That is trick! about a year ago I swapped the magnet in a super 3 and it gave the thing more attack!

i love it so far!!i thank gnugear for getting me to try it!!

Awesome! I'm glad you like it ... does it have the high end clarity you were hearing over the phone?

bmf5150 wrote:i found my old vanhalen interview where VH talks about taking dimarzio pickups and swapping out the magnet for old paf magnet.well chris aka gnugear bought one last week and swapped out the ceramic magnet with an alnico 5.i heard it over the phone and i was impressed.so i ran to guitar center today and got one,switched the magnet to the a5 and holyshit,this thing sounds great!!!sounds good with the plexi eq or no eq even sounds great with the 5150-III..i have seen pics of this pickup in the destroyer guitar,the black and yellow guitar and even the frankenstrat and never gave it much thought...im just really shocked at how good it sounds.its starting to change my thought that EVH used stock PAFs......
stan

Where does one buy magnets?
And how difficult are they to change?
THanks!

gnugear wrote:Awesome! I'm glad you like it ... does it have the high end clarity you were hearing over the phone?

yes it does,it has the correct upper mids to the sound.

vkaxeman wrote:

bmf5150 wrote:i found my old vanhalen interview where VH talks about taking dimarzio pickups and swapping out the magnet for old paf magnet.well chris aka gnugear bought one last week and swapped out the ceramic magnet with an alnico 5.i heard it over the phone and i was impressed.so i ran to guitar center today and got one,switched the magnet to the a5 and holyshit,this thing sounds great!!!sounds good with the plexi eq or no eq even sounds great with the 5150-III..i have seen pics of this pickup in the destroyer guitar,the black and yellow guitar and even the frankenstrat and never gave it much thought...im just really shocked at how good it sounds.its starting to change my thought that EVH used stock PAFs......
stan

Where does one buy magnets?
And how difficult are they to change?i took one out of another pickup i have but stew mac sell them and i bet highorder would sell some as well...
THanks!

i took one out of another pickup i have but stew mac sell them and i bet highorder would sell some as well...

notice that the old gibson magnets were degaussed. most of the a5 magnets you buy today is to strong

i want to try an a2 as well,but ill prob talk to highorder to get a proper paf magnet for the pickup.i just took an a5 out of one of my old duncan pickups just to try it..

vkaxeman wrote: Where does one buy magnets?
And how difficult are they to change?
THanks!

Can someone explain how to disassemble a pickup for magnet swapping?

guitar007 wrote:

vkaxeman wrote: Where does one buy magnets?
And how difficult are they to change?
THanks!

Can someone explain how to disassemble a pickup for magnet swapping?

Flip the magazine over so that the bobbins are on the bottom and the baseplate is facing you.
Just unscrew the screws on the bottom of the baseplate.
Hold the bobbins and the baseplate together as you flip it over so the bobbins are rightside up and facing you.
Pull the bobbins off the baseplate.

Then remove the magnet or put whatever bobbins/coils you want on it and reverse the process.

bmf5150 wrote:i love it so far!!i thank gnugear for getting me to try it!!

Ive said it before on this board, but no one seemed to believe me - VH I has several different pickups in use on it all over - The Franky PAF, the Super70, the Mighty Mite, AND the Dimarzio Super Distortion - ATBL rhythm parts, I am fairly certain, is the Dimarzio.

guitar007 wrote:Can someone explain how to disassemble a pickup for magnet swapping?

If you go to page 3 of the "Guitar" thread, 6 posts down, its all written out there.

just loosen the 4 screws on the under side of the pickup. u don't need to take them all the way out. pay attention to which direction the magnet is inside and then slide the new one in. most magnets will have a "N" indicating north. put the new magnet with then N facing the same direction. its really easy actually.