When and why did Stormy Mondays change to A2?

[darkandrew]

I've recently read some older posts on the Stormy Mondays that refer to them as having A4 magnets and assume that at some point in the past they've changed from A4 to A2, and wondered when and why they changed? Even better still, has anyone tried both the original and the new ones, and if so, do they sound all that different? I also think I remember reading somewhere that at least one other pickup has changed over its lifetime and wondered which it was (was it the Cold Sweat?) and again whether there is a big difference between old and new versions?

[AndyR]

This surprised me, I have several sets of Stormies... so I went searching the old posts on the forum last night.

Yes it looks like (in 2005) that SMs were originally mentioned as A4. However, it seems they moved to A2 quite quickly in Tim's mind and, after that, from the posts I saw, it sounds like A4 or A2 was an option on SM for a few years. By 2009 or so it looks like SM's were A2 as standard.

But I did see one post (from Tim) where he said they were A3... I suspect that might have been a typo, tho?

I got a distinct feeling that, early on, the Stormy Monday, Mule, and Riff Raff could all be given A2, A4, or A5 after consultation with customer. But quite quickly it became obvious that the SM wind suited the A2 best, Mule wind A4, and RR A5. But that sometimes a particular guitar or user requirement would make swapping the magnets a good idea (I did find, somewhere, Tim saying he didn't like A5/Mules at all himself but that some folks might want that harder sound).

There's an excellent thread regarding pickups for a 335 in 2008 (see here https://forum.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/index.php?topic=13907.0) where the differences get discussed - and Tim explains his rationale behind A2/A4 recommendations for a SM, and why in this case he changed his mind to A4/Stormy for what the customer wanted.


All this has actually made me wonder about a SM set I bought second-hand a while back. It didn't seem as magical as the two other sets I'd bought new in the last 4 years or so. It was completely unused but was in the old style thick brown box (which I have many of myself!)...

These 2nd-hand SMs seemed to have a little more push to them, but the LP they went in had that vibe anyway. I've since put Old Guards in this LP which is a superb match (when I stop wondering what the pickups are in a guitar... it's "a superb match"!)

Meanwhile, these 2nd-hand SMs have gone in my Explorer. With this guitar I was ALWAYS wondering about the pickups every time I touched it... it's had the originals (500T and it's mate), Riff Raffs, MQs, 57 Classics and Classic/Classic+. None of it really made me forget about pickups... but the 57 classics did make me wonder about SMs. I was also considering maybe Mules one day. But as I don't play the Explorer much I wasn't in any rush...

So when the 2nd-hand SMs became spare, I just banged them in the Explorer... and WOW! "it's a superb match" too now.

I wonder whether these SMs have A4 magnets? From what I could discover last night, A4 in SM could move it between A4 Mule and A5 Riff Raff but with a slightly lower output. It'll lose some of the gorgeous sweet top-end clarity I love from A2 SMs, but very little. And it'll apparently tighten up the bass strings slightly (which, for me, doesn't usually need doing on the A2 SMs)....

Thinking about it now (at work) ... the Explorer could conceivably have benefited from both these changes without me realising it? I really wasn't expecting Stormies to work in the Explorer, not as well as they did...

I'll see if I can check the box tonight - might tell me what the magnets are (I don't think the original guarantee sheet, which would tell me, was in the box).

[Kiichi]

Many interesting things to be considered and thought about here. I will need to dive through those threads soon I think. First with a nice, hot cuppa tea. Then a pint of ale.

[AndyR]

I've found the box I got the 2nd-hand Stormies in. It is the correct box: the label on the side matches the spacing, legs, covers, etc; it has top and bottom stick-on labels for Stormy Monday. The bottom (preprinted) label says Alnico II - so I'm guessing this set was sold after A2 had been settled on as standard for SM.

But, as I suspected, I don't have the white card from inside the box ... and that's where the hand-written DC reading and magnet types would have been written.

My gut feeling is that these are AII, but I've no way of telling.

[gwEm]

Alnico 2 has always been the default option as far as I can remember.

Perhaps people custom ordered some Alnico 4 ones.

[AndyR]

Alnico 2 has always been the default option as far as I can remember.

Perhaps people custom ordered some Alnico 4 ones.

That's what I thought too, gwEm, until I found this: https://forum.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/index.php?topic=25.0

As far as I can make out, it's the 6th topic in the Pickups section of this forum.

It looks like in April 2005, the Stormies were A4.

By the time I signed up (2008, I think), I'm pretty sure they were A2.

[Nolly]

To make an educated guess, the Stormy Mondays with an AIV magnet might not have offered much that the Mule didn't cover (being essentially a slightly underwound version of the same thing), where the AII magnet offers a very different but desirable sonic footprint while still staying within the general PAF realm.

[gwEm]

Alnico 2 has always been the default option as far as I can remember.

Perhaps people custom ordered some Alnico 4 ones.

That's what I thought too, gwEm, until I found this: https://forum.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/index.php?topic=25.0

As far as I can make out, it's the 6th topic in the Pickups section of this forum.

It looks like in April 2005, the Stormies were A4.

By the time I signed up (2008, I think), I'm pretty sure they were A2.

I remember quite clearly a post from Tim saying he'd just got a stock of lovely sounding Alnico 2 in. One might speculate this is the point he decided to change?

[gwEm]

here we go - https://forum.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/index.php?topic=6653

so Tim wasn't happy with the quality of the Alnico 2 in the early days and preferred A4, sometime towards the end of 2006 he got some good stocks in and switched.

[AndyR]

Ah! nice one... I hadn't seen that thread in my hunting earlier this week... and I don't recall any of it from years gone by... must have missed it (it is a year before I joined). It kinda fits perfectly with the other threads I did see, though.

And makes perfect sense.

It has got me wondering what an AIV Stormy might do though... I suspect I'd still prefer the AII version for most applications (offer me a Stormy Set and a Mule Set for free, and I'd choose the Stormy Set!)

[gwEm]

I must confess after all this I have GAS now for some Stormy Mondays made with lovely Alnico 2 magnets ;)