Alnico III Tele Pickups

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electroman

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Alnico III is a mixture of aluminum, nickel, iron, and copper. It has no cobalt, so is not technically alnico. I've heard Alnico III referred to as 'alnife', or something like that. Has anyone had any experience using alnico III pickups in their Teles? I recently put a set in my MIJ tele and I think that there is something very distinctive about the tone, but I'd like to hear from others before commenting further.
 

old wrench

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The first one with A3 magnets that comes to mind is the Cavalier NoCaster Holy Grail

Great pickup !!!

I have one in my Esquire - single pickup, so it has to be good ;)




* edit - I think the real key to the Cav NoCaster HG's great sound is the relatively high wind count of the thinner 43awg coil wire, although the A3 mags certainly play a part in its sound.

I recently wound up a similar pickup (lots of turns of 43awg), but it's for a Strat bridge -

I used A2 mags instead of A3 because A2 is what I had on hand - it has a very nice sound to it.


.
 
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Zepfan

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I got a couple Cavalier Holy Grail's with A3 mags, awesome tone.
I got a set of Tigers coming from Rob and middle pickup is A3 mags.
Also have a P90 with A3 mags in the bridge of my White SG it sounds great. Pairs well with the A2 Firebird in the neck.
 

Rob DiStefano

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The sole function of magnets in passive pickups is to magnetize the strings. The type of magnet is immaterial, but its strength (Gauss rate) is important. The prime reason why the AlNiCx family of rod magnets is mostly preferred for single coil pickups is their weaker magnetic strength as compared to the ceramic and neodymium types.

There is no sound or tone in magnets/magnetism. However, stronger magnets impart more magnetism to the strings and in turn a stronger signal is induced into the pickup's coil wire. Stronger signals will typically show a different audio signature - more output, more drive, more "push" to an amp's front end, thus more "balls" may be recognized.

FWIW, A3s are about half the Gauss rate of A5s, thus typically producing somewhat lesser an induced signal. However, the beauty of the electric guitar is what it feeds, and at the end of the signal chain is some manner of amplification that can ratchet up a somewhat weaker signal's output that's more clear and focused, and with more headroom than a more "over driven" signal.

Does this mean there's a bit of a "guessing game gamble" with guitar pickups. Yes, to some degree. It is what it is, and it's all good, promise. :)
 

PCollen

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Alnico III is a mixture of aluminum, nickel, iron, and copper. It has no cobalt, so is not technically alnico. I've heard Alnico III referred to as 'alnife', or something like that. Has anyone had any experience using alnico III pickups in their Teles? I recently put a set in my MIJ tele and I think that there is something very distinctive about the tone, but I'd like to hear from others before commenting further.
I replaced the 57/62 pickups in my CP50s Strat with a set of Bootstrap Golden Ale pickups. The Bootstrap GA pickups have underwound A2 magnet pickups in the neck and middle positions while the bridge pickup is overwound with A5 magnets. The magnets are all eqyalk length, not staggered, per my request to better balance with the 9.5" radius of the fretboard and resulting string height radius profile. It was an excellent choice by me to make this pickup swap, IMHO.

(link removed)
 

Antoon

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I have A3 pickups in my Tele. An old 6.3k lap steel pickup in the bridge (42 wire) and a 6.3k Don Mare (43 wire) in the neck. Don calls them "sweeter" sounding than A5 with somewhat less fundamental. In general I prefer A3 pickups over A5.

I do not agree with above statement that it is just the strength of the magnetic field around the strings that counts. Perhaps so when only comparing different alnico grades, but if you substitute an alnico magnet pole by an equal size - equal strength ceramic magnet pole, you definitely end up with an entirely different sounding pickup.
 

viking

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When comparing gauss strength , Antoon ?
I have swapped lots of magnets around in humbuckers , but I have no idea about how much each magnet is charged , as I have no gauss meter. Taking that into the mix , I have seen severe changes between a2-3-4-5 and 8 in humbuckers. I think Rob D might know a thing or 2 about the subject , though , LOL
 

Antoon

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When comparing gauss strength , Antoon ?
I have swapped lots of magnets around in humbuckers , but I have no idea about how much each magnet is charged , as I have no gauss meter. Taking that into the mix , I have seen severe changes between a2-3-4-5 and 8 in humbuckers. I think Rob D might know a thing or 2 about the subject , though , LOL

Yes, field strength. If you buy those magnets "charged" I would assume they are fully charged.
 

viking

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Sure , but there is no way of knowing it , without measuring , I guess....
 

bendercaster

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I have a CS Nocaster bridge pickup in one of my telecasters, which I believe is A3. compared to A5, I like that I can get it closer to the strings without it pulling the strings out of tune. At least I think that's what is happening.
 

Humbuckers

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All other things being equal (turn count, coil size, internal capacitance, etc.), Alnico 3 will have a higher inductance and thus a lower resonant frequency compared to Alnico 5.

Outside of low turn count pickups, I find Alnico 3 too dark for my tastes in Tele bridges. In a low output pickup, they can have great cleans, though; less spiky than a comparable A5 pickup.
 

Rob DiStefano

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I have A3 pickups in my Tele. An old 6.3k lap steel pickup in the bridge (42 wire) and a 6.3k Don Mare (43 wire) in the neck. Don calls them "sweeter" sounding than A5 with somewhat less fundamental. In general I prefer A3 pickups over A5.

I do not agree with above statement that it is just the strength of the magnetic field around the strings that counts. Perhaps so when only comparing different alnico grades, but if you substitute an alnico magnet pole by an equal size - equal strength ceramic magnet pole, you definitely end up with an entirely different sounding pickup.

"Sweeter sounding" is usually a result of creating a somewhat lower induced signal to the coil wire. That can be derived from either less magnetized strings due to a lesser magnetic source, or relatively smaller gauge strings that will accept less magnetism, or strings that are further away from the pickup's magnetic source ... or all of those conditions. All have an influence on output, and therefore "tone" as well.

Gauss rate is at the core of whatever magnets are used. Physical size can play an issue, but with the small size rod and bar magnets used in pickups it's really the type of magnet structure that matters most. This also means that a specific magnet type may not be an indication of its resident magnetic strength, as evidence by the fully charged Gauss rate of A3 as compared to A5 rod magnets of same size. When metered, it's not unusual for an untouched true vintage pickup that's many decades old to have less magnetic properties. Loss of magnetic properties through the proximity degaussing effects of electronic fields will greatly reduce magnetic Gauss rates, but never fully down to zero.

But really ... any pickup that's not broken and works as it was designed is good pickup. Whether it's one that makes you smile or frown keeps the pickup makers in business. It's what a pickup's signal feeds that can drastically change both the tone and output that comes out of speakers - take that to the bank, and always consider your personal playing chops, which is at the core of "good tone". Really, it's best to just spend more time playing than wasting time going down the deep and dark pickup rabbit hole. Pickup makers will not like me saying this, but save your money and spend time playing more often.
 

RocknRollShakeUp

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I’ve got a set of CS 51 Nocaster pickups w AIII that are superb sounding.

Interestingly, I also have Wildwood AIII under wound PAFs and AIII under wound P90s, in an R7 and R4 respectively, that are also super awesome!

This thread needs pictures!
The AIII club:
C9541D37-A7ED-4640-9050-53D4075FE5C5.jpeg

0DE22A3B-8AD3-4FF1-A419-8BC8658F278A.jpeg
 

Slick_Rick

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Lollar has both A3 bridge and neck pickups. Described as great chicken-pickin tele twang.

Fender does too. They're called Pure Vintage 52 Tele pickups. And they sound fantastic!

I think their American Vintage 52 Tele pickups do also. Pretty sure those are different than the PVs. These are listed as being the pickups in the AV1? series guitars, IIRC.

 

Zepfan

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"Sweeter sounding" is usually a result of creating a somewhat lower induced signal to the coil wire. That can be derived from either less magnetized strings due to a lesser magnetic source, or relatively smaller gauge strings that will accept less magnetism, or strings that are further away from the pickup's magnetic source ... or all of those conditions. All have an influence on output, and therefore "tone" as well.

Gauss rate is at the core of whatever magnets are used. Physical size can play an issue, but with the small size rod and bar magnets used in pickups it's really the type of magnet structure that matters most. This also means that a specific magnet type may not be an indication of its resident magnetic strength, as evidence by the fully charged Gauss rate of A3 as compared to A5 rod magnets of same size. When metered, it's not unusual for an untouched true vintage pickup that's many decades old to have less magnetic properties. Loss of magnetic properties through the proximity degaussing effects of electronic fields will greatly reduce magnetic Gauss rates, but never fully down to zero.

But really ... any pickup that's not broken and works as it was designed is good pickup. Whether it's one that makes you smile or frown keeps the pickup makers in business. It's what a pickup's signal feeds that can drastically change both the tone and output that comes out of speakers - take that to the bank, and always consider your personal playing chops, which is at the core of "good tone". Really, it's best to just spend more time playing than wasting time going down the deep and dark pickup rabbit hole. Pickup makers will not like me saying this, but save your money and spend time playing more often.
What I like about the A3 is that I get them closer to the strings in setup height.
I can get the A3 pickup closer than the A5 pickup and that gets me the great tone I want with the great volume response.
A5 pickups have to be backed off so far that the volume and tone suffers in some guitars.
If it's a A5 low output pickup, then you can get it close for that good sparkle tone without blowing your eardrums out.
 

derekwarner

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I appreciate different PU pole [chemical] pieces exist, and different PU windings x # SWG copper wire ?? will naturally offer differing output/signal value's........however we really need a 'benchmark' or standard in the way we test or understand the output performance

I re-read this thread ....with all of the comments, however one [1] point is missing

This thread is purely subjective to the question of the essential point of amplification presentation......

Derek
 
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dreamingtele

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My Alnico III pickup experience is limited to HB’s and the unpotted custombuckers in my 61 reissue ES-335. Its the first time I used an A3 pickup and it sounds great.

On teles I always prefer Broadcaster pickups which I believe are A5’s for strength and power and 62 and 64 pickups for more mellow tone but I believe its still A5
 
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