Comment

Comment by carverman on December 7, 2010 at 3:00am

Colin, I wasn't trying to critize your creativity..go ahead and do
what you're planning. I just like discussing magnetism and how
pickup are suppose to work..at least what I have learned (and
I'm not an expert by any means).

The magnets of choice, it seems are the alnico II and 5 (V) these
days. Strong magnets are great, but there is a drawback if you
use very strong ones in a pickup..they have a tendency to
attract steel strings if too close. Lowering away from the strings
may help, but selecting a magnet with the right strength is the
best option. There are rare earth magnets (neodymium) now that are what would be "geek strength"..whatever that means. They
are very powerful for their size..but so far only one pickup maker
is using these (q tuners) for bar magnets and they all have to be tuned (or adjusted) with individual air coils for the correct
response and tone.

Comment by Skeesix on December 6, 2010 at 9:09pm

If the magnet was too strong you would just back it away from the strings. There is a certain sweet spot where it's not too close and not too far. If your magnet was so strong that you couldn't even mount it on the box - now that would be super geek strength - lol.

Comment by colin mcgrath on December 6, 2010 at 6:51am

my idea is not for a 6 string so there will not be 12. Gorilla tape is what I have and it is thick and will adhere well for a long time. Really though I was using it as an example tape. And why not green or red electrical tape, or packing tape?
And my magnets are not geek strength, they are simply very strong rod magnets that I have no idea where they came from, but wanted to wrap em up and try to make a pup. I also do not have a lot of room in the pup I want to make, so space saving ideas are in my head. I may be needlessly challenging myself to make something more complex than my experience can handle. But that's how I roll. I got 2 positive feedback's before yours. I understand what you typed about too much magnetism. But if it is just for 1 string will it hurt that much?? And if it sucks I have still learned far more than if I were to not have tried.

Comment by carverman on December 6, 2010 at 3:45am

Gorilla tape? Used by Gorillas? I've heard of Gorilla Glue..that
messy glue that will glue anything to anything..but for tape, why
not just the black electrical tape, cut to size with sissors?

Comment by carverman on December 6, 2010 at 3:11am

That pickup is certainly and interesting design using 12 rod magnets
instead of 6. Wouldn't that just intensify the magnetic field around
the strings? The strings themselves become magnetized and that
helps to cut the steady state flux field in coil. But you can actually
cross the line when it comes to strong magnets..like neodymium or
AlNiCo 8..the magnet strength is so great it starts to affect string
sustain, so I really can't see where adding an extra set of magnets
inbetween will improve tone that much.

Comment by Skeesix on December 5, 2010 at 6:50am

Sticking two magnets together to make one bigger magnet should be fine. I'm not sure what gorilla tape is, but I've used Scotch tape and it worked fine.

Comment by eric gittins on December 4, 2010 at 12:50pm

sounds like a good start colin.
here's a link to that 12magnet single coil.
http://www.gagliopickups.com/viper%20double%20six.htm
no idea how they sound...

Comment by colin mcgrath on December 4, 2010 at 12:38pm

don't have one BIG one. just several small ones.

And I was thinking due to the conversation on the photo, I was thinking puting some gorilla tape between the mags and one layer around the two mags then the wire around that.

Comment by GARAGE HERMIT on December 4, 2010 at 12:15pm

why bother with 2 magnet's, just use one big one, they come it lot's of different shape's, and size's,

Comment by eric gittins on December 4, 2010 at 12:03pm

can't see a problem so long as they are set the same polarity - both south up, or both north up. There's an italian pickup company who makes double poled strat style pickups, which are basically what you're talking about. You might get more useful magnetic field if you line the magnets up along the string rather than across, but who knows what will SOUND better?

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