Tell me about Mag swaps in your hybrids

[dvanburen]

Im getting ready to experiment with some hybrids in my Les paul. Neck pup is going to be 59/jazz and bridge is going to be either custom/59 or jb/custom. going to experiment with mag swaps in both. Just wanted to see if anyone else has been swapping mags and what you have found.

going to try out the stock A5 in the jazz/95n then probably the A4

for the bridge, Im really curious about the A8 or the ceramic in both the custom/59 and the jb/custom

Anyone do this? How does it sound?

How do they compare to the 59A4 and the custom8, which i am using now?

[Kam]

It will really depend on your guitar. If you do a search here on different magnet types, you'll easily find out what general qualities each magnet can bestow on a pickup. In my '59/Custom bridge pickup, I've only tried A2 and A5. Both sounded great, but I ended up sticking with A5, as I put it in a warm sounding guitar (basswood body, rosewood fretboard, 24" scale) and I liked the extra brightness and cut that the A5 provided. I'd like to try the A8 in it, but I just haven't gotten around to it and I have a gut feeling that I'd end up back with A5, anyway.

What kind of music are you playing and what kind of tones are you trying to achieve?

[GuitarDoc]

I love the way the C/59 sounds with the A5 mag, but It's even better with a UOA5. That mag fills in some more mids and smooths the highs a little as well.

[big kurka]

Hi there dvanburen: I have an Edwards LP with a Jazz/Pg in the neck and a C/Pg in the bridge. In the bridge I used an A5 rough cast mag, same as a regular A5 but the rough cast tames some of the highend shrillnes. In the J/Pg I first tried an polished A4 and I really liked it at first. No boomyness or muddiness at all, but after a few months I started to miss some of the boomyness. So I put an polished A2 in it and it sounded sweet. Very vintagey sounding. I also converted the treble tone control for the neck to a passive bass roll off tone control. I couldn't be happier as of now. I can go from the normal humbucking fatness to KINDA of strat neck tone. I still tweeking the bass control more to my liking though.

I also have a Jb/c in a schecter solo-6 hellraiser that has an A5 roughcast also and it is loud and powerful sounding. Has lots of bottom end good mids and nice highs, not earpearicing at all. As for the A8 and ceramic mags I personally don't like them. They have to much of a harshness to them. I've read about people trying an A8 in the 59/c and them saying it was just to much. Although I've also read that people do use a ceramic in the Jb/c, but they didn't give a desciption.
Hope this helps you.

[Franknfilms]

Since I have a custom and a 59, I thought I'd make two hybrids and try to compensate for volume with magnets. A8 in the bridge, UOA5 in the neck. Haven't done it yet, but this is my theory. I should probably try something else in the neck, like an a3 or a4 maybe?

[dvanburen]

big kurka,

nice hybrid choice. that sounds like a really cool combo. good descriptions too. I havent tried a UOA5 in the neck but I really like the A4 in the 59n that I tried. Balanced it out more than the stock. Going to try it with the jazz neck soon.

Im really curious about the A8 in either the 59/c or the jb/c

[big kurka]

@dvanburen The thing with the 59 pu it can very boomy. With an A4 mag it cuts some of the bass and I believe it adds some mids so the pu balances out really nice. With the 59/jazz hybrid even with an A2 mag it not going to be as boomy as the 59. With my pg/jazz I was worried about that also but with the A4 the bass and volume on the low E string was greatlly reduced, almost like the volume was turned down a few numbers compared to the other strings. If your worried about the 59/jazz being to boomy I really don't think you need to worry about that, but everyone has their own tastes. Not trying to change your mind or anything just spreading the info that I learned from trial and error.
Hope this helps you.

[dvanburen]

is the 59/jazz less boomy than the 59? I like what the A4 did with the 59 in regards to boominess and filling in some midrange. but it took away some high end sparkle and a little character. Does the 59/jazz remedy this without a mag swap?

[big kurka]

What type of music do you play??? Yes the 59/jazz is less boomy. If you read through the thread by BachtoRock he recommends the A2 mag for a more vintagey tone and if you want more modern an A5. I've read about people using an UOA5 mag for the neck pu with good results (it kinda a best of an A5 and A2 magnet), I haven't tried it yet so I can't comment. If it turns out that those mags aren't for you then you can adjust accordingly. Do a search on (teach me magnets) if you all ready haven't there's some really good info explaining the different mags.