Humbucker pole-piece materials..

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do you guys know what type of material for the polepiece..? the chrome 'screw' type must be from nickel right..? but is ceramic type exsist..?? button like in Invader pickup.

will changing pole-piece chance the pickup tone..?

 

[idsnowdog]

Re: Humbucker pole-piece materials..

It depends on the polepiece. Some are plated while others aren't. Most are a nickle steel alloy and although you can sometimes find similar screws at the hardware store their alloy is often different and that messes with the tone. You can find the large oxide cap hex screws like the Invader uses at the hardware store but their alloy might be different.

There are three main things which determine the tone of the polepiece:

• Mass/length - screws that protrude past the baseplate create a secondary magnetic field which can muddy up your tone. More mass tends to have a wider and darker frequency range.
• Head style - Fillister screws are convex and hex heads are concave. Each head style has a different tone because they each sense the string differently. Fillisters have a round midrange heavy tone, while hex head have a sharp treble and tight bass with attenuated midrange. A lot of times a replacement pole will have a different head style that doesn't fit properly on the bobbin.
• Alloy - each alloy has slightly different tone due to their role as a conductor. Some are better conductors and don't color the tones as much as others.