Thinking of trying an Alnico II magnet in a Rebel Yell? Any advice?

[AnnunakiMassacr]

I've been thinking of trying this purely out of curiosity. I know the Rebel Yell is basically an exact "old" JB clone. Whereas the Holy Diver is an improved "new" JB.

Now the first JB had an Alnico II magnet, but they eventually added Alnico V magnets. I'm curious into trying the Alnico II for this reason. Plus I wanted a pickup that had the sort of lead tone as the Duncan Custom Custom, but hopefully improved.

Anybody tried this, or have any advice/pointers?

Cheers :)

[seancorker]

I've been thinking of trying this purely out of curiosity. I know the Rebel Yell is basically an exact "old" JB clone. Whereas the Holy Diver is an improved "new" JB.

Now the first JB had an Alnico II magnet, but they eventually added Alnico V magnets. I'm curious into trying the Alnico II for this reason. Plus I wanted a pickup that had the sort of lead tone as the Duncan Custom Custom, but hopefully improved.

Anybody tried this, or have any advice/pointers?

Cheers :)

No advice or knowledge but I think that would be a brilliant fit. I used a CC for years and the lead tone is fab. Iir Seymour Duncan designed it for one of Van Halens Kramers (5150 Baretta I think) i have an AII magnet JB that is killer in the right guitar.

[Telerocker]

If the RY would have sounded better with an AII Magnet than Tim at BKP would have developed one. The current range is the result of a lot of R&D. Nevertheless, feel free to experiment with different magnettypes. I'm a bit curious how that works out, I must admit.

[darrenw5094]

I wonder if Tim or BKP would give us their views magnet swaps in their pups.

[AnnunakiMassacr]

Well I know Feline loves ALnico V Mules. But Tim has refused to do anymore as he feels Alnico IV works better. But I guess it's players own preference. It's just I'd personally like to see some high output Alnico II pickups. They can't be that bad as Neal Schon uses high output Alnico II pickups, and he has a great tone :)

[Telerocker]

Well I know Feline loves ALnico V Mules. But Tim has refused to do anymore as he feels Alnico IV works better. But I guess it's players own preference. It's just I'd personally like to see some high output Alnico II pickups. They can't be that bad as Neal Schon uses high output Alnico II pickups, and he has a great tone :)

Maybe a next project for BKP. Anyway, an alnico V Mule would be very close to a RiffRaff.

[seancorker]

If the RY would have sounded better with an AII Magnet than Tim at BKP would have developed one. The current range is the result of a lot of R&D. Nevertheless, feel free to experiment with different magnettypes. I'm a bit curious how that works out, I must admit.

I guess it's a taste thing. There have been some great AII pickups and tones - Whether it be Billy Gibbons, Slash or 5150 era Van Halen. The SD RTM dimartini is a great pup too. Having tried a lot of the BK range I'd really like to see a BK take on something like the Custom Custom or RTM.

[Kiichi]

If the RY would have sounded better with an AII Magnet than Tim at BKP would have developed one. The current range is the result of a lot of R&D. Nevertheless, feel free to experiment with different magnettypes. I'm a bit curious how that works out, I must admit.

I guess it's a taste thing. There have been some great AII pickups and tones - Whether it be Billy Gibbons, Slash or 5150 era Van Halen. The SD RTM dimartini is a great pup too. Having tried a lot of the BK range I'd really like to see a BK take on something like the Custom Custom or RTM.

I agree that there should be more AII and AIII pubs around, but you also gotta see how the current range there is underrepresented. There are brilliant pickups there. However, they are often not considered or drowned out by the Mule, which is great, but can also be too save. The PG and Stormy are incredible and they deserve more attention since they answer a lot of (though not all) of the demands here imho.

[AnnunakiMassacr]

I agree about the AIII pickups. ALS Pickups (company Feline Guitars are working with) have currently got an Alnico III '74 style pickup. Pretty much the pickups Gibson used for that year. Same ones as Randy Rhoads Les Paul. And myself have currently ordered a set of their TubeSnake pickups, which are essentially like a mix of a Custom Shop Duncan Alnico II Pro and the Slash model. It sort of sits inbetween. My reason in for going elsewhere this time around was I wanted more of a Slash vibe Alnico II pickup but that has the clarity of BKPs. And Stormy Mondays just seemed too polite. But I really want to see more pickups with other magnets :)

[ericsabbath]

I've been thinking of trying this purely out of curiosity. I know the Rebel Yell is basically an exact "old" JB clone. Whereas the Holy Diver is an improved "new" JB.

Now the first JB had an Alnico II magnet, but they eventually added Alnico V magnets. I'm curious into trying the Alnico II for this reason. Plus I wanted a pickup that had the sort of lead tone as the Duncan Custom Custom, but hopefully improved.

that's a misconception
the rebel yell has completely different specs from both "old JB" and holy diver
different magnet sizes, wire gauge and wire insulation
only technical similarity with the old JB is that SOME old JBs have lower DC reading (around 13k-14k), but that means nothing considering they have different wire gauges (and some old JBs  reached up to 17k, anyway)
the holy diver was indeed based on the modern JB, but tweaked for a less honky and compressed sound

never heard about the older JB having A2, but according to some guys on duncan forum, you might be right

perhaps the abraxas would be similar enough

[AnnunakiMassacr]

http://customshop.seymourduncan.com/concept-set/

Here's where I learnt about the JB :) And I got the Rebel Yell being exactly the same as the old JB from Steve STevens interview. He said the Rebel Yell ended up being exactly like the old JBs.

[darrenw5094]

http://customshop.seymourduncan.com/concept-set/

Here's where I learnt about the JB :) And I got the Rebel Yell being exactly the same as the old JB from Steve STevens interview. He said the Rebel Yell ended up being exactly like the old JBs.

I assume the original JB was much hotter than the RY though. But i suppose the RY could do the 80's rock thing etc. pretty well.

[seancorker]

http://customshop.seymourduncan.com/concept-set/

Here's where I learnt about the JB :) And I got the Rebel Yell being exactly the same as the old JB from Steve STevens interview. He said the Rebel Yell ended up being exactly like the old JBs.

I assume the original JB was much hotter than the RY though. But i suppose the RY could do the 80's rock thing etc. pretty well.

The early JB's ranged from 13.5 to around 14k so slightly under wound compared to the RY. Having just listened to the BK sound clips again, I can hear some JB in there - maybe the RY makes a Les Paul sound like a basswood superstrat. The mids aren't too far away but the leads are lacking the harmonics sparkle you get from a good JB.

[Yellowjacket]

Heh, why do people take clips as gospel truth anyway?  I think they're more a testament to the recording engineer than anything.

Playing a Rebel Yell bridge, I'd say they have a huge harmonic sheen to them as well as a really wide pick attack.  Tonnes of colours on that bridge pickup, it's very expressive! 

[fdesalvo]

Heh, why do people take clips as gospel truth anyway?  I think they're more a testament to the recording engineer than anything.

This cannot be overstated. I have Abraxas clips that most people could mistake for any number of the Contemporary models.