Luke 3 HH pickup change, magnet swap.

[wynn]

Hi, I've fallen ot of love with the neck pickup on my rosewood neck HH Luke 3. Just seems flat and stodgey. So I'm wondering about either changing out the Transitions for something a bit more vintage (after all the boost will heat them up. Or changing out the ceramic magnets on the transitions for some Alnico v's. Anyone tried swapping out the magnets, or tried a more vintage pickup set in the Luke 3.
Thanks
Wynn

 

[tbonesullivan]

I don't know where people have this idea that magnets have some inherent tonal quality. They don't. The pickup design determines what the pickup sounds like, and it wasn't voiced in a way you like it. Just replace it with something else.

 

[wynn]

Can't agree, magnet material definitely makes a significant difference to the pickup. I've changed magnets on a few humbuckers with good results, I've asked this question of dimarzio as well and they confirmed that a magnet change would alter the pickups sound significantly but they couldn't advise on the kind of change I wanted.

 

[tbonesullivan]

Ceramics vs Alnico

When I read that ceramic magnets sound harsh and alnico magnets sound sweet, I ask myself, " Who the hell preaches such nonsense?" There are harsh-sounding pickups with alnico magnets and sweet-sounding pickups with ceramic magnets and vice-versa! A magnet by itself has no sound, and as a part of a pickup, the magnet is simply the source to provide the magnetic field for the strings. The important factor is the design of a magnetic circuit which establishes what magnet to use.

Though ceramic magnets cost less than alnico magnets of equal size, a well-designed magnetic circuit using ceramic magnets costs much more than the six Alnico 5 magnets of a traditional single coil pickup!

That's from Bill Lawrence. He MAY know what he is talking about.

 

[msquared]

Hi, I've fallen ot of love with the neck pickup on my rosewood neck HH Luke 3. Just seems flat and stodgey. So I'm wondering about either changing out the Transitions for something a bit more vintage

I had the same issue. Mine has a mahogany body and that might have contributed to the issue a little bit. Regardless, it sounds great unplugged and didn't really cut the mustard with the Transitions. I swapped mine out for Fishman Fluence Classics and it was a game changer for that guitar. Not "vintage" pickups but they sound like it. I also considered Lollar's low wind Imperials to balance out the tone of the rosewood neck.

At the risk of being Captain Obvious, be aware that any other pickups you put into this guitar will require some modding:
- The sides of the route for the pickup tabs are not squared off like the tabs on most pickups so the tabs will require clipping. You can use a dremel or cutting pliers to handle this.

- The pickups being screwed directly to the body require bigger unthreaded holes because EBMM use wood screws to affix the pickups. A drill press is your best bet here but you could also put the pickups in a vise and use a hand drill. Make sure you are using a drill bit suitable for metal.

I'm kind of surprised that the rosewood neck guitars ended up with the Transition pickups and I'm interested in hearing other people's experiences with different pickups.

 

[vexed73]

I love my blueberry HH! My June BFR SSH with mahogany body, ebony fret board, and stainless steel frets seems to have almost a slight fuzz sound to it? Not sure what I am hearing but don't play it as much. Thought about brass saddles and maybe changing pickups in it as it plays great.

 

[wynn]

Well my ears disagree with you and Bill (love his pickups though)

 

[wynn]

Interesting, I'll have to check on the fluence's. Dimarzio recomended 36th anniversarys.

 

[wynn]

I had the same issue. Mine has a mahogany body and that might have contributed to the issue a little bit. Regardless, it sounds great unplugged and didn't really cut the mustard with the Transitions. I swapped mine out for Fishman Fluence Classics and it was a game changer for that guitar. Not "vintage" pickups but they sound like it. I also considered Lollar's low wind Imperials to balance out the tone of the rosewood neck.

At the risk of being Captain Obvious, be aware that any other pickups you put into this guitar will require some modding:
- The sides of the route for the pickup tabs are not squared off like the tabs on most pickups so the tabs will require clipping. You can use a dremel or cutting pliers to handle this.

- The pickups being screwed directly to the body require bigger unthreaded holes because EBMM use wood screws to affix the pickups. A drill press is your best bet here but you could also put the pickups in a vise and use a hand drill. Make sure you are using a drill bit suitable for metal.

I'm kind of surprised that the rosewood neck guitars ended up with the Transition pickups and I'm interested in hearing other people's experiences with different pickups.

Did you keep the preamp involved with the Fishmans?

 

[DrKev]

I've asked this question of dimarzio as well and they confirmed that a magnet change would alter the pickups sound significantly but they couldn't advise on the kind of change I wanted.

"significantly" is a strange word. I find it hard to agree.

 

[tbonesullivan]

"significantly" is a strange word. I find it hard to agree.

I love that video. I mean, yes with different strength magnets and I guess the magnetic field density, you get some altering of the tone, but fundamentally, it seems almost like a "law of diminishing returns" thing, where you need classical guitarist level ears to really get the differences.

This also debunks the usual "ceramic magnets sound harsh" crap. No, pickups designed to sound harsh sound harsh.

 

[msquared]

Did you keep the preamp involved with the Fishmans?

I pulled it out. I have a love/hate relationship with the EBMM preamp and wanted to try the pickups without it before I started messing with the buffer and the boost again. I also wanted to be able to use the push/push pot to switch between pickup voicings and see which I liked more in which applications.