alternative 8

[super rad stuff]

who's tried it, and what's you're opinion? i got one yesterday with an a5 in it from mcearlock ** i've only had the chance to try it with a5 in my SG faded, into the toneport with headphones. i liked what i heard though, i stacked a ton of distortion into it, and it had great, great, great note definition. with the a5, it's perfect for thrash since it's alot more scooped than a8. in fact, i was able to get some MoP metallica-ish tones from it with this setup. it's also pretty dark sounding, so you can really dial in the treble to get those sharp-but-not-piercing highs for a great scooped sound. it's definitely more of a modern-voiced pickup, and it's great for metal and hard rock. probably won't stay in my SG since i want it to be more of a vintage voiced instrument. i'll probably stick the pickup into either my epiphone SG or my stepdad's squier strat if it's alright with him, it'd definitely kill in that application. anyways, what do you guys think of this pickup?

[Mark Cearlock]

who's tried it, and what's you're opinion? i got one yesterday with an a5 in it from mcearlock ** i've only had the chance to try it with a5 in my SG faded, into the toneport with headphones. i liked what i heard though, i stacked a ton of distortion into it, and it had great, great, great note definition. with the a5, it's perfect for thrash since it's alot more scooped than a8. in fact, i was able to get some MoP metallica-ish tones from it with this setup. it's also pretty dark sounding, so you can really dial in the treble to get those sharp-but-not-piercing highs for a great scooped sound. it's definitely more of a modern-voiced pickup, and it's great for metal and hard rock. probably won't stay in my SG since i want it to be more of a vintage voiced instrument. i'll probably stick the pickup into either my epiphone SG or my stepdad's squier strat if it's alright with him, it'd definitely kill in that application. anyways, what do you guys think of this pickup?

I liked it as a a-8 (huge sounding chug monster), for the 5 minutes I had it in my peavey. Btw, the Jb8 kicks ass!

[Thurisaz]

I think you should stick it in the Epi. I haven't heard an Alt-8 yet, but I'd love to try one sometime. Sounds pretty awesome.

[super rad stuff]

^more than likely it will go into the epi, if i ever take out the a3 JB that i've got in there

[Mark Cearlock]

^more than likely it will go into the epi, if i ever take out the a3 JB that i've got in there

Put the alt 5 (or 8) in the bridge, and put the a-3 jb in the middle.

[super rad stuff]

Put the alt 5 (or 8) in the bridge, and put the a-3 jb in the middle.

I've got a middle?!

[Mark Cearlock]

I've got a middle?!

You could with a router....

[super rad stuff]

You could with a router....

it's not worth doing to the SG, it's already a pretty unstable instrument what with the jacked up neck joint and destroyed body. i need some sort of beater guitar to experiment with electronics on!

[orpheo]

I started to like the JB a lot, and I really wish to try this pickup. the duncan distortion is much more agressive than the JB, also tighter (but does not have the harsh highs, which work quite well with the guitar I have the JB in).

is the alternative 8 more mushy than the JB, or more tight? more growl or more 'scream'?

[GoDrex]

I think an alt-5 is going to be a lot different than the alt-8

orpheo - there's no such thing as mushy with an alnico 8 magnet. It's just not going to happen, unless the amp can't handle it. :P

[orpheo]

I think an alt-5 is going to be a lot different than the alt-8

orpheo - there's no such thing as mushy with an alnico 8 magnet. It's just not going to happen, unless the amp can't handle it. :P

yeah, thought so too, yet I read sometimes 'mushy A8' and stuff like that. or 'swapped it for a warmer magnet like the A8'. I can't match that. the A5 is less warm than the A2, and the A3 is less warm than the A2 but warmer than A5, so why should A8 be suddently warmer than A5? that doesnt add up...

[Mark Cearlock]

Alt 8 has lots of lows, But they are extremely tight. Rouded high end, and lots of mids. Like SRS said, the a-5 I installed in the one he has, Has a slightly scooped sound. (less mids). But still tight, and very aggressive.
I cant say for myself, because I tried it with a-8, then pulled it and replaced it with a-5 to send it to SRS. Then I proceded to use the a-8 mag in my jb. (he already had a spare a-8 mag)

[super rad stuff]

yeah, thought so too, yet I read sometimes 'mushy A8' and stuff like that. or 'swapped it for a warmer magnet like the A8'. I can't match that. the A5 is less warm than the A2, and the A3 is less warm than the A2 but warmer than A5, so why should A8 be suddently warmer than A5? that doesnt add up...

a8 is percieved as a bit warmer by some people because it's got less highs and more mids than an a5 magnet. a8 is definitely not a mushy magnet by any means, it's very tight with a good bit of output. mushy would be an a2 or possibly(but unlikely) a3 or a4.

Alt 8 has lots of lows, But they are extremely tight. Rouded high end, and lots of mids. Like SRS said, the a-5 I installed in the one he has, Has a slightly scooped sound. (less mids). But still tight, and very aggressive.
I cant say for myself, because I tried it with a-8, then pulled it and replaced it with a-5 to send it to SRS. Then I proceded to use the a-8 mag in my jb. (he already had a spare a-8 mag)

i'm really starting to dig this pickup with the a5 in there, there isn't quite as much low end, and with less mids from the a5 the output isn't as high as it was, which is great for me. i'm starting to get used to the cleans, they're just a bit colder than i'm used to with lower output pickups, but i've found a few settings that work alright with it. i'm really digging the split to slug sound with some overdrive though, it's still pretty high output for a split and it's not too thin. it's like a tele with more bass and harder attack.

[Mark Cearlock]

i'm really digging the split to slug sound with some overdrive though, it's still pretty high output for a split and it's not too thin. it's like a tele with more bass and harder attack.

Nice! A tele with balls that looks a lot like a sg. (have we been here before?)