Alnico 3 vs 5 in Strat pups

Zoolooter

Trying to make a decision on which pickups to buy when I’ve hardly ever played a strat! Please bare with me. There’s a couple of things going on. I really prefer A3’s in teles, tried A5’s and find them too direct, less smooth, notes ‘seem’ to ring out more with the A3’s. I play mostly clean, very guilty of laid back lush blues noodling. 

Now, teles and strat are difficult beasts but do the qualities of what I like about A3’s in my Tele transfer over to a Strat?

I’m a bit confused as I recently got an email back from Don Mare saying he would never, ever use A3’s in a strat, just all wrong, not enough magnet strength particularly on the high strings. His words.

But, there are lots of builder that use them in strat pups. Thoughts and advice welcome.

Cheers

bbill335

I have Mojo's a3 50s strat pickups in the neck and middle of my strat. they sound fantastic.

meltedbuzzbox

The A3 characteristics will still be there on a strat
All my pickups are generally A3, including the ones in my strat.

I'd say go for it, and order from mojo pickups :-)

richardhomer

You might like Seymour Duncan Alnico IIs. They have a lovely ‘soft’ high-end which really suits clean playing. Not a ‘boutique’ option - but I had a set on a vintage-style Strat for a few years and loved them.

Lebarque

"do the qualities of what I like about A3’s in my Tele transfer over to a Strat?"

Yes, they will. Go for it. A2 seems to be more common in strat pups in my experience though. Lollar Blondes are very sweet.

Ignore  Don Mare. I had a set of his pickups and hated them. Way overrated. 

My advice? One of the great UK builders on here, such as Mojo or Oil City will give you great advice and see you right.

rossi

I have a set of Maida Vale in mine, neck is A3 ,middle is A4 and bridge is A2.The A3 is great for bluesy jazz and teh middle is great for everything .The A2 bridge is not so strat shreiky but warm and hots up  well .22 quid each

Adam_MD

I have a set of mojos custom strat set with alnico 3 and love them.  I've never had a pickup from Marc I didn't like.

Zoolooter

Thanks all for your experiences and thoughts on the matter, very helpful. A3's it is, bugger Mare and his A5's! Just got to catch Mojo to order a set when the stars align, rabbits mating, crocuses flowering....Jezzz that guy is busy 

Jez6345789

As far as I recall A3 was not used for that long by fender before they changed to A5. 
There are so many variables in Strat pickups I always think its important to find a set on a demo to get an idea or ball park of what they will sound like. 

These recently caught my eye and I liked the clean sounds on this video checking on the site these I think are A3

Jez6345789

Not cheap but sound sweet for clean stuff

Funkfingers

I associate Alni3 (there is no cobalt in the blend) with Esquire, Broadcaster, Nocaster and early Telecaster pickups - especially for the neck/Rhythm position.

Fender did try A3 in the pickups for the Highway1 series Stratocaster. They compensated for the weaker magnets by overwinding the coil. 

Zoolooter said:

do the qualities of what I like about A3’s in my Tele transfer over to a Strat?

Consider the Seymour Duncan Five-Two model.

thermionic

This might be worth a watch:

https://youtu.be/6faNLEUgca4

gordiji

Another shout for mojo 50's al 3. These replaced the al 5 in my strat .

OilCityPickups

Several pickup winders (including myself) use mixed alnico 3 and alnico 5 ... alnico 3 for sweetness on the top strings, alnico 5 for punch and 'piano' tones on the bass strings. And 'no' there is no perceptible volume jump between the A3 and A5 strings.

CasperCaster

Personally I'd go the mixed magnet route as I like the tighter brighter response of A5 from the bass strings, and the smoothness of A2 or A3 on the treble strings, but that is my preference. As others have said, Mojo or Oil City could do those for you, and they are top notch - my Whapping Wharf Tele bridge pickup sounds superb and is beautifully made. If you need a budget option for a Strat A3 pickup, try a secondhand set of Tonerider Surfaris, or the pickups from a Chinese made Squier CV50's (labelled STA5 on the base - the OEM version of the Surfaris. Not sure what's in the current Indonesian Squier CV's). 

Zoolooter

Thanks everyone for chipping in. 
Looking at the Mojo site I really like the idea of his Special Strat set, A3’s but wound a trad hotter than the 50’s set.

Adam_MD

Zoolooter said:

Thanks everyone for chipping in. 
Looking at the Mojo site I really like the idea of his Special Strat set, A3’s but wound a trad hotter than the 50’s set.

That's the set I'm using in my strat and I love them.  I told Marc the sounds I was after and that's the set he recommended.

xscaramanga

Adam_MD said:

Zoolooter said:

Thanks everyone for chipping in. 
Looking at the Mojo site I really like the idea of his Special Strat set, A3’s but wound a trad hotter than the 50’s set.

That's the set I'm using in my strat and I love them.  I told Marc the sounds I was after and that's the set he recommended.

What sounds were those?