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Post by micoli on Mar 4, 2017 11:09:09 GMT
Hello everyone,
I'm want to upgrade the pickups of my Big Tone but not sure what to get. I like a clean(ish) vintage tone and thought Alnico II Rockatron by Vanson would do the job. But after seeing the Alnico V version I had second thoughts. Also what are the views on using P90's in a Big Tone - anyone done it?
I'm a 'sofa' guitarist so I'm not going to pay big money for pickups and I've used Vanson and Wilkinson pickups for upgrades before and found them very good, (for the price).
Does anyone have any experience/opinions on which type of magnet and pickup I ought to buy for a Big Tone upgrade?
Mike
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Post by dilnux on Mar 7, 2017 17:25:28 GMT
Keep in mind, Vanson pickups are simply generic Chinese pickups with a UK brand name attached to them.
Nothing particularly wrong with them. I have a pair of P90 from Vanson in my Epi Wildkat and they sound good. I also have a pair of generic Chinese Alnico II humbuckers on my Chibson and they too sound very good.
The point I'm trying to make is: your BigTone supposedly already has Alnico humbuckers, so I don't think you would get a big difference replacing them with other Chinese humbuckers (the difference between Alnico II and V may be noticeable, but I wouldn't expect it to be big).
I love the sound of the Duesenbergs that have the humbucker-sized P90 in the neck position and the humbucker in the bridge, so I'd recommend this kind of setup if you want to get a more noticeable change.
Is there something in particular that you are not happy about your current pickups?
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Post by micoli on Mar 7, 2017 22:03:53 GMT
The P90 in the neck position sounds a good combination with a humbucker. I might try that, but I've already ordered some Alnico II's from Vanson, (the Filterons), and they should arrive tomorrow. I'll fit them in and see if there is an improvement.
I'm after a more vintage twangy sound and the stock pickups are OK but are not quite there - well not according to my ears! After scouring the internet it seems there is no definite way to go, except by trial and error. I was going to try an Alnico II in the bridge and Alnico V in the neck, but after reading dozens of conflicting and confusing reports I decided I'll try a set first and then experiment if the Alnico II's are not up to my expectations. It's not just the magnet but also the number of winds that produce a pickups' distinctive sound but as there is no information about the number of winds or no sound clips, I'll have to find out the hard way. Vanson pickups aren't expensive as you know so I do have room to maneuver, and I could put the pickups in a Yamaha SA500 I recently aquired, although I'm pretty happy with sound of the pickups as they stand. I think I'm gradually turning into a guitar geek and I seem to be on a quest at the moment for the perfect sound and I love nothing better than pulling guitars apart and reconstructing them!
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1,774 posts
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Post by MartinB on Mar 7, 2017 22:59:30 GMT
It looks like a big jazz guitar, are you doing everything through the F holes?
I'm just asking because that's apparently how to do work on Casinos and I'm dreading how to do anything.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2017 23:22:42 GMT
You can just swap around some magnets if you fancy trying different Alnicos, micoli. I put some Alnico Vs in a cheap generic ceramic P90 and it worked a treat. An alnico 2 might be even better. Easy to swap out and so cheap to try: Alnico magnets on ebay
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Post by micoli on Mar 8, 2017 0:33:42 GMT
It looks like a big jazz guitar, are you doing everything through the F holes? I'm just asking because that's apparently how to do work on Casinos and I'm dreading how to do anything. Yes I'm going to do it through the F holes. I've just bought some plastic tubing to fit over the splines of the pots so that I can drop the pots through the top and have excess tubing extending so I can pull the pots and switch back through the holes in the top and don't lose them inside the body after soldering the leads. Or that is the plan ...
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Post by micoli on Mar 8, 2017 0:48:03 GMT
You can just swap around some magnets if you fancy trying different Alnicos, micoli . I put some Alnico Vs in a cheap generic ceramic P90 and it worked a treat. An alnico 2 might be even better. Easy to swap out and so cheap to try: Alnico magnets on ebay
That is something I looked at but completely forgot about before ordering the pickups! I previously did a search for the magnets and they were quite cheap. I also did a YouTube search to find out how to change the magnets and it looks like I may have to buy a roll of tape to rebind the pickups after swapping the magnets. Apart from that It looks fairly easy and after all it is something new to learn. Now a P90 pickup has been suggested for the neck position I quite fancy that setup, but I'll see how the Alnico II Filterons work out first. I've just been messing around with a cheap strat I rebuilt sometime ago which has an Alnico II vintage style humbucker in the bridge. If the Big Tone sounds anything like that after the refit I'll be pretty happy! |
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Post by micoli on Mar 8, 2017 0:50:33 GMT
Hi again DefJef,
I just spotted your Ebay link. That's cheaper than I found when I was looking. I seem to remember them being about twice the price, so thanks for that!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2017 1:07:00 GMT
Don't forget the price there is for one magnet. Perhaps you were looking at two! Also you may have a duff pickup kicking around somewhere that's just dying to have its 'nicos ripped out  |
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Post by Banana on Mar 8, 2017 6:39:49 GMT
Well, I can't share any info about swapping the magnet, but I always recommend to take a look at Iron Gear pickups.
Bit more expensive than Wilkinsons, but quality-wise they are in Seymour Duncan / DiMarzio territory.
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Post by micoli on Mar 8, 2017 10:59:22 GMT
Well, I can't share any info about swapping the magnet, but I always recommend to take a look at Iron Gear pickups. Bit more expensive than Wilkinsons, but quality-wise they are in Seymour Duncan / DiMarzio territory. Just checked out Irongears' website and the blues and the P90 pickups sound great to me - I probably prefer the P90's a bit more. The prices aren't bad either. Thanks for the info. |
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Post by micoli on Mar 8, 2017 11:06:51 GMT
Don't forget the price there is for one magnet. Perhaps you were looking at two! Also you may have a duff pickup kicking around somewhere that's just dying to have its 'nicos ripped out That's a very good idea DefJef. That will give me even more options. I have three old humbuckers I took out of my Tokai SG50 last year that could be used as guinea pigs. They have tarnished gold covers but I think the covers can be replaced easy enough which will give me three brand new pickups for very little money. I like it! Any idea what the difference is between a Roughcast, an Unorientated and a plain Alnico magnet? Any info will save me hitting Google again for a few hours! |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2017 11:53:44 GMT
Don't forget the price there is for one magnet. Perhaps you were looking at two! Also you may have a duff pickup kicking around somewhere that's just dying to have its 'nicos ripped out That's a very good idea DefJef. That will give me even more options. I have three old humbuckers I took out of my Tokai SG50 last year that could be used as guinea pigs. They have tarnished gold covers but I think the covers can be replaced easy enough which will give me three brand new pickups for very little money. I like it! Any idea what the difference is between a Roughcast, an Unorientated and a plain Alnico magnet? Any info will save me hitting Google again for a few hours! Ah, now we may get into the area of 'tone metal'. I'm sure people can hear differences between polished and roughcast but my ears are not up to it. It seems that back in prehistory roughcast was the natural cheap choice for pickup manufacturers until they realised that folks like us might be ripping their tone machines apart again. Then the race was on to introduce as many varieties as possible! Most magnets have a preferred direction for charging but if you're not going to be charging them yourself (and lets be honest....) this doesn't concern you. An unoriented magnet is one that has been magnetised in a metal designed to have no particular preference as to which is the better direction to magnetise it. The 'grain' in the magnets will happily allow north or south charging but will also tend to be a little weaker. Again whether you or I can hear these things is open to debate. Personally I'd keep things simple and just choose between any type of standard Alnico numbers or you'll have so many variables you'll never know where you are. |
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Post by dilnux on Mar 8, 2017 12:34:47 GMT
Keep in mind that your amplifier has a huge effect in your sound (much more than the type of Alnico in the pickups). The same guitars that were "bassy" with my old Harley Benton GA-5 amp, are sparkly with my Vox AC1... The P90 in the neck position sounds a good combination with a humbucker. I might try that, but I've already ordered some Alnico II's from Vanson, (the Filterons), and they should arrive tomorrow. I'll fit them in and see if there is an improvement. I'm after a more vintage twangy sound and the stock pickups are OK but are not quite there - well not according to my ears! After scouring the internet it seems there is no definite way to go, except by trial and error. I was going to try an Alnico II in the bridge and Alnico V in the neck, but after reading dozens of conflicting and confusing reports I decided I'll try a set first and then experiment if the Alnico II's are not up to my expectations. It's not just the magnet but also the number of winds that produce a pickups' distinctive sound but as there is no information about the number of winds or no sound clips, I'll have to find out the hard way. Vanson pickups aren't expensive as you know so I do have room to maneuver, and I could put the pickups in a Yamaha SA500 I recently aquired, although I'm pretty happy with sound of the pickups as they stand. I think I'm gradually turning into a guitar geek and I seem to be on a quest at the moment for the perfect sound and I love nothing better than pulling guitars apart and reconstructing them! |
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Post by Vincent on Mar 8, 2017 13:08:06 GMT
Finding pickups that we like can be an expensive game of hit and miss so I hope you will find the Vansons agreeable. Magnet swaps and mods can be fun, and are reversible.
If you foresee yourself going in and out of the box several times as you experiment with different pickups it might be an idea to fit a quick-snap-fit type connecter on a cable to the pots inside and another to your pickup leads to spare yourself the task of rerouting and resoldering as you go. Just a thought.
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