Would a shorter magnet work?

[Gibson 1964]

I have an insane idea. Absolutely, ridiculous, but I would like to try a neodymium magnet in a pickup But I can find 2*1/4*1/2 easily. I am wondering whether that would work or whether the shortness would just sound unbalanced.

I realize this would be obscenely strong, probably brash, bright, and quite possibly terrible, but I am curious. I was wondering about putting it in a distortion or a JB. Probably I will monkey with some other magnets and settle on the original, but I want to try neodymium.

[LtKojak]

Re: Would a shorter magnet work?

I have an insane idea. Absolutely, ridiculous, this would be obscenely strong, probably brash, bright, and quite possibly terrible

I'd like to add "unusable" to the list of words.

Anyway, as long as no animals or human beings get harmed in the experiment, I'd say: Knock yourself out!

And don't forget to post the outcome.

[freefrog]

Re: Would a shorter magnet work?

There's guitar pickups with neo mags. An example among others:

http://www.q-tuner.com/

A few tricks to try if you want to tame the power of such magnets:

-small mag(s) + one or several piece(s) of steel extending the magnetic field;
-air gap and/or insulation on the mags in order to avoid magnetic pull and to soften the tone.

After that, it shouldn't sound worse than "neo" loudspeakers.

That said and to echo what LtKojak said: I've owned a neo loudspeaker and hated it. So, I wouldn't tend to recommend PU's with the same kind of mags.

[Gibson 1964]

Re: Would a shorter magnet work?

I own a set of qtuners... This is the inspiration for the insanity. However, looking at them, their construction is fairly unique. They also sound much less unusual than what you might think from sound clips on the web. I figure for the cost of like $4-$5 it might be worth a try, and worst case scenario, I use the magnet for picking up screws in the shop. (I actually need that anyway) I think I will try this on a used JB because those are fairly low cost pickups anyway and I know I like the wind.

[Zhangliqun]

Re: Would a shorter magnet work?

If you put a neo mag with same dimensions as a standard humbucker mag, you will pull satellites down from space.

[GoldenVulture]

Re: Would a shorter magnet work?

Find yourself some Neo* Pole magnets. You'll have a far better chance of not over powering/magnetising everything.