How much of pickup tone is in the magnet?

[HermioneGrandeur]

I was considering swapping a bridge 57 classic with a Duncan 59, but then realized it would be much cheaper and easier to simply swap the A2 in the classic with an A5--- will this pretty much get me 90% of the way there towards the 59?

The 57 classic sounds great clean but too mushy with moderate gain, power chords are a bit too "smooth" instead of "mean"


What other important parts contribute to a pickup's overall tone besides magnets?

 

[ARandall]

I was considering swapping a bridge 57 classic with a Duncan 59, but then realized it would be much cheaper and easier to simply swap the A2 in the classic with an A5--- will this pretty much get me 90% of the way there towards the 59?

Short answer....no.

I find the wind way more important. In all the multitudes of mag swaps I've done the tone is only tweaked by comparison to how it sounded before the swap.
Its always worth doing a mag swap first, but its certainly not going to get you to a 59.

 

[SWeAT hOg]

I was considering swapping a bridge 57 classic with a Duncan 59, but then realized it would be much cheaper and easier to simply swap the A2 in the classic with an A5--- will this pretty much get me 90% of the way there towards the 59?

The 57 classic sounds great clean but too mushy with moderate gain, power chords are a bit too "smooth" instead of "mean"


What other important parts contribute to a pickup's overall tone besides magnets?

I tried using a '59 for a while, I found it not mean enough. Nothing so far beats my Vineham '6070'.

Humbucker_pickups

 

[CheopisIV]

Short answer....no.

I find the wind way more important. In all the multitudes of mag swaps I've done the tone is only tweaked by comparison to how it sounded before the swap.
Its always worth doing a mag swap first, but its certainly not going to get you to a 59.

ARandall hit it on the head. Coils by far are the most influential part of tone shaping, followed by magnets which enhance certain EQ and then the metals.

 

[darthphineas]

What other important parts contribute to a pickup's overall tone besides magnets?

most important part: talent of the person winding the coils
next most important (tie): the wind, and the type of wire

 

[Zhangliqun]

Just to grab numbers out of the air, I'd say 30% magnet, 50% wind and 15% the alloy of the steel parts, and 5% the other materials. When I first started out, I was buying these kind of rubbery P90 bobbins and they darkened the tone quite a bit.

 

[zoork_1]

Think I've tried them all ceramics, A2, A3, A4, etc, and as mentioned, not much tone in the magnet per see.

I was quite early on the A3's and got comments like "man you are approaching
mud land", but nope. (If memory serves me right Gibson use A3's in the custom bucker, or...?).

I believe "imperfect" (old PE) wire and winding (pattern) are factors that make a notable difference.

 

[ThroBak]

Changing the magnet is an immediate tone changer. Obviously if you are winding a pickup from the start you have other tonal parameters that come into play. But the magnet is a two part tone changer by changing the gauss and the inductance of the pickup. The magnet is just one piece of the puzzle but it is an important piece.

 

[copperheadroad]

I was waiting for someone to quote that preposterous saying "there's no tone in a magnet" ...well neither does any other part of a pickup by it self .
The magnet has Quite the impact on a pickups tone & when developing new pickups it helps to fine tune or tune a pickup to it desired tone/EQ .
Magnet type + A winding to compliment or counteract a magnets strong qualities makes for a quality sounding pickup

 

[The Archer]

If you want to hear the difference a magnet can make look at the Duncan Custom Series. Same wind but different magnets. The Custom has a Ceramic Magnet and has boosted highs and lows with a lift in mids across the range. The Custom Custom has AII and has an attenuated high end and a spongier low end with a big midrange boost. The Custom 5 has an A5 magnet and has a great reduction in mids, pronounced highs and strong lows.

 

[rabidhamster]

I was waiting for someone to quote that preposterous saying "there's no tone in a magnet" ...well neither does any other part of a pickup by it self .
The magnet has Quite the impact on a pickups tone & when developing new pickups it helps to fine tune or tune a pickup to it desired tone/EQ .
Magnet type + A winding to compliment or counteract a magnets strong qualities makes for a quality sounding pickup

I'm not sure that's a saying....

 

[zoork_1]

[...]... a two part tone changer by changing the gauss and the inductance of the pickup...

In that I believe...