How to degauss

[jimijames]

Hey, I'm posting this because I just got a trem-spaced custom 5 for my strat and I'm interested in degaussing it to even out the frequency response some. I have fully gaussed (or at least close to it) A5, A4, A8, and A2 magnets, So having one degaussed A5 wont be that big of a deal. I know i've heard zhangulin detail how to degauss with A8, but I can't remember the details, and I don't want to mess this up. Thanks for the help in advance, and hopefully this will result in a more balanced custom 5 for my strat.

 

[jimijames]

Re: How to degauss

Ok... did a search and I found a thread where Zhang says that:

"It's faster to degauss a magnet using a fully charged Alnico 8. 10 to 30 seconds on a side will do the trick."

Does this work for every magnet? Would A8 degauss weaker magnets more quickly or vice versa? Thanks for any and all help.

 

[jeremy]

Re: How to degauss

stronger magnets will degauss weaker magnets more quickly

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: How to degauss

It's all trial and error and depends on how much you want to degauss. Just a few seconds on a side (S to S and N to N) will take the edge off.

Although now I have come up with a new way of both degaussing and re-gaussing without even having to take the pu out of the guitar. Just use a neo disk mag like you can get from Stewmac and wave it once very quickly along the length of the pickup with the disk a couple of inches above the pickup, off to the side, with the surface of the disk at a 45-degree angle to the surface of the pu. How much degauss or recharge effect is determined by how fast you wave the disk and how far away the disk is from the pickup. Faster and farther away both = less effect.

This is a great way for several reasons:

1) It's goofproof. If you degauss it too much, just flip the disk over and wave it again to recharge it, flip it again and try again.

2) You don't have to do anything to the guitar at all, you don't even have to remove strings or pickups.

3) You hear the results immediately. You can have the guitar in your lap plugged into the amp while you do this so you can really dial in the tone. Wave it and play, wave it and play -- no memory degradation of what it sounded like before as would happen during the time you had to yank the pickup out of the guitar and then yank the magnet out of the pu.

I recommend the wave be to the "outside" of the pickups, meaning over the bridge for the bridge pu and over the neck for the neck pu. This way the neo disk's magnetic field doesn't affect the other pickup.

 

[anewdefguitarist]

Re: How to degauss

sorry not to hijack this thread, but how much effect will occur if you have two ceramics next to each other or 2 a5's close together? or if you're holding the two pickups and they touch and pull each other together?

 

[pstarove]

Re: How to degauss

I prefer "airbucking" the pickups instead of degaussing. I install 2-4 layers of electrical tape between the magnet and the pole pieces. The standard width of electrical tape is ideal for this, you don't even have to cut smaller pieces: the tape overlaps both sides of the magnet exactly by the height. The best thing about this is that it's completely reversible in 15 minutes. The downside is that if you install 4 layers, the pickup integrity may become a little stressed when you install the screws. But if it's a covered pickup, it is not noticeable at all!

I have done this to two Gibson '57 Classics and it has taken the edge off their sound in such a way that I believe that now they sound like good SD Antiquities, really!

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: How to degauss

sorry not to hijack this thread, but how much effect will occur if you have two ceramics next to each other or 2 a5's close together? or if you're holding the two pickups and they touch and pull each other together?

Ceramics are a lot harder to degauss. You could get the same effect from 2 A5's but it would take a lot longer.

 

[jimijames]

Re: How to degauss

Thanks a million, I really like the neo disc idea, do you just need one to do it? Another question: where would the magnetic poles be on a disc? Thanks again, I may get a neo disk just to try this.

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: How to degauss

One disk is all you need. The two sides of the disk are the poles. I recommend you get a polarity tester ($7) with it so you know which side is N or S and so mark it with a sharpie. Ramming it up against a pickup to find out which side is N or S won't work -- neo's are so strong that you won't feel any resistance even when it's N to N or S to S -- and it will jack up the charge of the pickup's mag(s).

 

[jimijames]

Re: How to degauss

would you reccomend the 1" or 1/2" neo disks?

 

[Captain Tightpants]

Re: How to degauss

Minor hijack here, but I've got a little problem. Long story short, my daughter found my A8 and A2 magnets and was apparently playing with them. When I found them, they were stuck together, I have no idea how long at least a week i think. Is the A2 going to be seriously degaussed, and if so what do I do?

 

[jimijames]

Re: How to degauss

if they're stuck together, then the poles aren't opposed and they shouldn't degauss each other.

 

[Captain Tightpants]

Re: How to degauss

Cool, thanks. sorry 'bout the hijack.

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: How to degauss

Jimijames is right.

Also, I have the 1" disks but the 1/2's should probably work just as well -- maybe even a little better because they're smaller and you can make finer gauss adjustments.

 

[jimijames]

Re: How to degauss

Thanks for the advice, I wish there was a thread in the vault that had all this stuff in it - how to gauss, degauss, the effects and sounds, etc... would have saved me a lot of time searching and asking questions, but I guess that's part of the search... Thanks again, this place is the best I have come across in terms of knowledgeability (spelling?) for anything and everything guitar related.

 

[kjrocks]

Re: How to degauss

Zhang, do you wave it across both edges of the pickup? N to N and S to S to degauss? Your tip of keeping the neo disc away from the other pickup led me to think you meant you only have to do it on one side.

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: How to degauss

Just one edge is plenty, and do the south side (screw coil) so the disk won't affect the other pickup(s).

 

[kjrocks]

Re: How to degauss

Thanks, and N to N or S to S is going to degauss correct? I knew I bought those neo's for some reason

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: How to degauss

Yes.

N to S will RE-gauss and then some...

 

[WGTP]

Re: How to degauss

Wow Zhang this is revolutionary. It sort of goes to the question of whether the guass strength or composition of the magnet is the cause of the different tones.