De-"airing" DMZ 36th Ann. question

K

KRKBAB

New member
The short of it:
The slugs that are used in the 36ths (Airbuckers) are regular DMZ slugs and ARE NOT not the type which are manufactured to be thinner on the bottom.
(the DMZs I've de-aired had slugs which were thinner on the bottom)

I've aired and de-aired plenty of DMZs in my time. I wanted to de-air a 36th set (and put in A4s), but because of the slugs used, nothing works.

attempt 1)-
Putting a metal spacer on the screw side (after removing all 4 plastic rings) still leaves a gap on the slug side.

attempt 2)
I tried reversing the metal spacer (so the thicker side of the spacer is towards the magnet) and then the magnet won't quite fit between the 2 coils.
It is about 1/827365th too tight.
I tried to gently force the mag between the slugs and metal spacer (on the screw coil0- but too tight.
So has anyone de-aired a DMZ Airbucker that used normal DMZ slugs opposed to an Airbucker that uses slugs manufactured thinner on the bottom?

signed,
Confused in Pick-up Land

ps- DMZ magnets are slightly thinner (distance between slugs and screws) than Seymour Duncan magnets
 
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Re: De-"airing" DMZ 36th Ann. question

Many metal spacer bars are symmetrical. Is it possible that since you've said yours is not symmetrical, and has a thicker side and a thinner side, that if you used a Duncan spacer or something "standard" that it would line up?
 
Re: De-"airing" DMZ 36th Ann. question

frankfalbo said:
Many metal spacer bars are symmetrical. Is it possible that since you've said yours is not symmetrical, and has a thicker side and a thinner side, that if you used a Duncan spacer or something "standard" that it would line up?
Click to expand...

I do have some Duncan spacers (symmentrical) and those didn't work either- the thin side of the DMZ bar is the same as the Duncan bar.
But- I was able to make it work. Unfortunately, the top of the bobbins seperated in the course of it, and the nice smooth look of the joining of the bobbins is gone.
Thanks.
 
Re: De-"airing" DMZ 36th Ann. question

If you have a metal spacer that is just a few thousandths of an inch to wide you could file/sand/grind it to the proper width.
 
Re: De-"airing" DMZ 36th Ann. question

Why do you want to do this?. You're trying to reverse the "Air-Gap" tech thing these pickups have?. Why not just get different pickups?.
Al
 
Re: De-"airing" DMZ 36th Ann. question

And MORE FUN !!!!!!:banana::fest7:
 
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Re: De-"airing" DMZ 36th Ann. question

Zombiwoof said:
Why do you want to do this?. You're trying to reverse the "Air-Gap" tech thing these pickups have?. Why not just get different pickups?.
Al
Click to expand...

Seriously?
Why be on this site at all if you're not into modding pick-ups. Or at least why are you on this thread?
 
Re: De-"airing" DMZ 36th Ann. question

My point is that Dimarzio makes other PAF type pickups that don't use the Air-Gap technology. Why get the ones that have this feature, then change them to regular humbuckers when you can just get other Dimarzios that already are similar to what you will achieve. And this forum is not just about modding pickups, in this case I don't understand why you would want to mod this type of pickup to be another available type of pickup. That's all I'm wondering about.
Al

KRKBAB said:
Seriously?
Why be on this site at all if you're not into modding pick-ups. Or at least why are you on this thread?
Click to expand...
 
Re: De-"airing" DMZ 36th Ann. question

Zombiwoof said:
My point is that Dimarzio makes other PAF type pickups that don't use the Air-Gap technology. Why get the ones that have this feature, then change them to regular humbuckers when you can just get other Dimarzios that already are similar to what you will achieve. And this forum is not just about modding pickups, in this case I don't understand why you would want to mod this type of pickup to be another available type of pickup. That's all I'm wondering about.
Al
Click to expand...

Because some of DMZ's "Air" p'ups I like, and others I feel like experimenting with modifications.
 
Re: De-"airing" DMZ 36th Ann. question

I have a couple Air sets, Classics and Nortons, but I'm not quite ready to mod them yet. I hope you post a picture of your final result. I'm curious to see what's going on under the hood, and what you end up with.
 
Re: De-"airing" DMZ 36th Ann. question

I've thought about doing this or mag swapping my set, but I haven't worked up the courage because they're covered and I'm afraid that I'll f**k something up.
 
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