Gibson 500t Magnet swap?

[Bad.seed]

Hey folks, I had an account before under the same name but it was deactivated. Whoops. So hello again!

Anyways, I recently picked up a tele deluxe copy with HH config. Basswood body, maple neck and board. I have a spare 500t sitting around that I'd like to throw in it, but the guitar is already pretty mid heavy, and the 500t has lots of mids in my experience

Has anyone tried just swapping just the middle flat mad out for and alnico v? Would this cause any sort of weird cancelations with the 2 ceramic bar magnets in the sides of the pickup? I figured an alnico v would add a little low end and take some mids out.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Gibson 500t Magnet swap?

Yes, and A5 will add low end (and treble) and reduce some midrange. I swapped mags in a 500T years ago. I believe they have a double thick ceramic, which requires different spacers (which are the side ceramic magnets). I put in an A8 and replaced the spacers with regular sized ones.

 

[Bad.seed]

Re: Gibson 500t Magnet swap?

Ok, good. That's what I'm wanting to hear. Where can I find the normal sized spacers at?

 

[blueman335]

Re: Gibson 500t Magnet swap?

I just took them out of a cheap import HB.

 

[Bad.seed]

Re: Gibson 500t Magnet swap?

I just took them out of a cheap import HB.

Ok thanks for the tip

 

[Bad.seed]

Re: Gibson 500t Magnet swap?

Is it possible to leave the 2 ceramic side magnets in and just swap in an alnico v and a spacer for the middle magnet?

 

[blueman335]

Re: Gibson 500t Magnet swap?

Is it possible to leave the 2 ceramic side magnets in and just swap in an alnico v and a spacer for the middle magnet?

I believe the spacers are the ceramic magnets.

 

[Bad.seed]

Re: Gibson 500t Magnet swap?

That's correct, but the middle ceramic magnet is larger than a normal magnet if I remember correctly

 

[blueman335]

Re: Gibson 500t Magnet swap?

That's correct, but the middle ceramic magnet is larger than a normal magnet if I remember correctly

Right double thick ceramic, which is why you have to get creative when you swap it out for a normal size magnet.

 

[Bad.seed]

Re: Gibson 500t Magnet swap?

Exactly, don't they make some sort of spacers for normal sized magnets? Or am I off base

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: Gibson 500t Magnet swap?

A5 will not add much bass response to a bridge pickup, certainly not compared to the ceramic it would replace. And yes, the other two spacers are narrow ceramic magnets. If you're trying to dump a bunch of mids, just yank all 3 ceramics, replace with the A5 and use wood, plastic or metal spacers.

 

[allstarrme]

Re: Gibson 500t Magnet swap?

If you want to sell those magnets let me know.

 

[Demanic]

Re: Gibson 500t Magnet swap?

^^
Bidding war.

 

[dbazille1970]

Re: Gibson 500t Magnet swap?

I have done magnet swaps with the 500T and the Dirty Fingers. They both use 3 double thick ceramic magnets. Swapping magnets in these pickups is easier than most people make it sound. I put a rough cast A8 in a 500T and then put it in the neck position where it really sounds good , but only in my Epiphone SG with a Korina wood body. As for the thickness of the original magnets they are almost as thick as 2 normal magnets put together. Anyway what I did was to use normal thick maple spacers where the 2 outside ceramics used to be. You see if you back the pole screws out of the back plate you can then retighten the bobbin screws after the magnet swap and the bobbins will lower tp compress on the normal thick magnet and spacers. I recommend using a compass to check N S orientation before pulling any magnets out and matching it with the new magnets. Also my next experiment will be putting half wide magnets where the outer ceramics used to be. Still thinking about which magnets I want to try in those places. Let me know if there are any other questions you may have.

 

[dbazille1970]

Re: Gibson 500t Magnet swap?

Just yesterday I added on the pole screw side 1/2 wide polished A2 magnet to a gibson 500T which already had a rough cast A8 in the center position. This pickup is installed in the bridge position of a Cort MMP2 guitar and the pole screws are facing the neck. The addition of the 1/2 wide A2 magnet gave the pickup some balls. instead of sounding so thin now it sounds like the the low frequencies are bringing out the guitar bodys resonant growl when you dig in a little. If you want 1/2 wide magnets you can take a full size magnet and cut it with a small electric grinder that has a cutting wheel on it. This greatly increases your magnet tone options on just about all humbuckers. You can even mix differant magnets in the middle of a humbucker where 1 standard sized magnet goes. Just more fun chasing the tones.