MikeM wrote
Man this honestly scares me.
? You're so funny MikeM - don't be scared, especially not with something as fun as modding a guitar's pickups. It's not that scary.
I read the aforementioned posts with interest and must say that
chris77 hits the nail squarely on the head. The same set of pickups will sound different from guitar to guitar and people will use different words to describe what they hear. All that one can do is give an opinion based upon personal experience (firstly) and an average knowledge of the various technical aspects revolving around pickups.
One could nitpick about the smallest technical issue but this would become boring and irrelevant to most - that's when I get scared! ?
From my understanding there can be variances in alnico magnets that can translate to variance in sound between Alnico II equipped pickups for a variety of reasons. Since the alnico metal compound can be created via casting (obvious) or sintering (compression and heat application to the raw aluminum, nickel, cobalt
and iron in powder form) the pro's and cons have been debated amongst purists for some time. It is well known that sintered Alnico magnets have lower magnetic properties than that of it's cast cousins but has better mechanical strength (not that this matters in pickups). Some original PAFs had sintered magnets but who knows how a particular magnet might have been manufactured 40 years ago? So density and molecular structure could effect the properties of the magnet which ultimately will play a role in determining a particular pickup's tonal properties.
It is also important for the Alnico alloy(all the varieties), once shaped & magnetized for guitar pickup construction, to be at least 5 times in length compared to it's width (for good field spread in relation to bobbin length and string spacing). I happen to have a selection of Alnico magnets that came from old pickups and I tell you that some of them vary wildly in length compared to their width (up to 10mm) So physical dimension plays a part in optimizing the Alnico's magnetic properties, as is the particular Gauss level that a particular magnet is magnetized to, and it's age. Alnico has a low coercive force and can be easily demagnetized if not handled properly and they all lose at least some of their magnetic properties with age.
Everything is ultimately subjective, relative and open to interpretation.
I hope I'm not boring anyone - feel free to tell me if I do!
