How do I replace the mags in my pickups?

[The Vault]

I've got some magnets I bought off ebay and want to swap them into my pickups. But there is just one thing I'm not sure about, is there a particular direction (north or south polarity, etc) or do I just swap them in and go?

 

[drdave]

Re: How do I replace the mags in my pickups?

Quoting Blueman335 - "Pull the old magnet out halfway, hold the new one next to it, so the ends repel and sides attract."

 

[jake_xms3_punk]

Re: How do I replace the mags in my pickups?

here you go http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/barmagswap.htm

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: How do I replace the mags in my pickups?

ok here is what I did with an INF4 pickup

after I got mine out

I flipped it over to get to the screws on the back
4 of em take em out

now where the tape round the coils laps over the edge of the base plate
take a small flat screw driver and lift it a bit sose it aint stuck to the lip any more
not much just to free the base plate

on the side away from where the wire comes out
take the same screw driver or pocket knife and wiggle it gently between the base plate and the
spacer on one end

pry up to separate its full of wax so dont worry it aint breaking anything


now do the same to separate the ceramic magnet in the middle those things on the sides are spacers

the magnet is gonna be about a 1/4 inch thick
the A5 I got from Mojotone is about half that so I need a spacer

some PVC material I had laying around about 1/16 inch

cut to fit and press into place

lay magnet on it and reinstall baseplate

in a previous post I incorrectly called this the Air Mod

to achieve the air mod
you would have to remove the metal spacer on the pole pieces
( in the last image, it is directly below the new magnet with the poles sticking thru )
then provide "Air" or a space between the poles and the magnet
by separating them with a non-magnetic material

 

[The Vault]

Re: How do I replace the mags in my pickups?

Thanks guys!

 

[jake_xms3_punk]

Re: How do I replace the mags in my pickups?

good tutorial ehdwuld! :bigthumb:

 

[GeBe2]

Re: How do I replace the mags in my pickups?

Can you only do mag changes with Humbucker type pickups or is it also possible with single coil ones? Sometimes I am a little slow on the uptake.

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: How do I replace the mags in my pickups?

if the mags are the cheap bar magnets on the bottom of the unmagnetized poles
of course
if you want to swap the unmagnetized poles with alnico rods then it gets a bit more difficult as the poles press thru the windings and make damage the pickup in the process

if its a cheap pickup then what the hey

mojotone had a video on doing just that but I cant find it