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I plan to try and get a series of caparisons done over the next couple of months: my alnico 5 Tele neck pickups like the Delta and the HardMan ... and my alnico 3 Angel in covered and topless guises.
Soon to be some new alnico 3 Strat pickups joining the lineup too ...
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
On paper the output will still be fairly modest ... as DC resistance doesn't take account of the stuffing HUGE alnico magnets that will be going in. In actual terms they will be subjectively louder and fatter than the standard Cow-T-Rons.
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
Yep, I finally got to sourcing regular, high quality supplies of alnico 8, so not only can I make many of the bridge humbucking pickups I have done fore some time available as an '8' option ... but I've also introduced the 'V' which is around 19k and fairly brutal. My own favorite is arming a NightFighter bucker (normally 14k and alnico 4) with a 8. Keeps the balance and adds 'gurrrrrrrrr.'
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
Alnico 8 is not far short of ceramic for power ... but has a much more 'organic' tone. It's a very well balanced magnetic alloy, the top end cutting but not screechy (like a ceramic), the middle and bass nice and even and 'vintage' feeling ... while still being FOOKIN loud.
I've sold a few combos of pickups for LP ... and my own favorite mix up is a Scrapyard Dog Plus alnico 5 in the neck: 10k ish and plummy, taught in the bass, a cutting top end and a really 'open' sound.
In the bridge I like a custom 14k NightFighter ... normally fitted with alnico 4 ... I replace with an alnico 8 bad boy: this gives a balanced pickup with plenty of top and bottom end, mid sustain ... and loads of power to spare.
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
If PAFness is your goal then it really should be 2 all the way ... though if you have a slightly darker 335 - as some are - you might consider a Scrapyard Dog ... it's more like a T Top Gibbo pickup (still low output) with lots of top and bottom and an aggressive bark (hence the name).
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
The guy was quite lucky, as it would have been pretty easy to catch some deeper windings ... and then a complete rewind would have been necessary.
Often Bass pickups are more susceptible to damage than guitar ones. Rick pickups in particular are quite vulnerable ... very fine wire indeed ... very full bobbins ... little protection. But then again I just re wound a jazz bass neck pickup that had suffered from chopped windings ... unfortunately that one was damaged further in. But there is little scope for error in putting on a JB cover ... plastic edges are sharp ... YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
For those of you who like a bit of pickup porn ... here's my new updated and upgraded Mighty Ninety.
Shown is a bridge position example ... a hybrid that uses one alnico 4 and one alnico 5 magnet to smooth the top a little and let all that nasty bridge P90 growl out. Seen under lovely, shiny new nickel covers, the bridge has resistance of 8k while the neck is 7.6k and is an alnico 2/5 hybrid. Other magnet combos are available at no extra charge
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message