I Have a Technical Question About an HB, without the Bar Magnet.....???

S

stratneck2

New member
This just pupped up into my Mind......Single Coils Pups, use magnetized poles, Right?
Now Humbuckers, is the combo of two single coils, right?.....If the rods or poles are magnetized, Why do they
need to use a Magnet bar at the Bottom ???.....would the HB's sound too weak ?......Just asking for pure curiosity...

Thanks !!!!
 
Re: I Have a Technical Question About an HB, without the Bar Magnet.....???

The poles in a HB aren't magnets. That's why. :)

Also, they're individual coils, . . . not "single-coils".
 
Re: I Have a Technical Question About an HB, without the Bar Magnet.....???

The poles in a humbucker aren't magnetised, they are just metal. They need the magnet.

This is one of the interesting points about some fundamental tonal differences, not only between h/b and s/c, but p90's and fender pickups. The former has bar magnets, the latter rod magnets. The shape of the resultant magnetic field helps determine the fundamental tonal footprint.
 
Re: I Have a Technical Question About an HB, without the Bar Magnet.....???

We posted at the same moment. :)
 
Re: I Have a Technical Question About an HB, without the Bar Magnet.....???

Have you looked at the product description for the Stag Mag?
 
Re: I Have a Technical Question About an HB, without the Bar Magnet.....???

stratneck2 said:
This just pupped up into my Mind......Single Coils Pups, use magnetized poles, Right?
Now Humbuckers, is the combo of two single coils, right?.....If the rods or poles are magnetized, Why do they
need to use a Magnet bar at the Bottom ???.....would the HB's sound too weak ?......Just asking for pure curiosity...

Thanks !!!!
Click to expand...

This is bizarre. I just posted a very similar question, without so much as the slightest suggestion I'd seen this one.
 
Re: I Have a Technical Question About an HB, without the Bar Magnet.....???

AlexR said:
The poles in a humbucker aren't magnetised. They are just metal. They need the magnet.
Click to expand...

+1

The important difference is that the rod magnets in a Fender single coil pickup retain the magnetism whereas the stud and screw polepieces of a humbucker, P-90 or G&L MDF pickup merely convey it.
 
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Re: I Have a Technical Question About an HB, without the Bar Magnet.....???

Ok, thank you for your answers....But still have another question, please bear with me :)..... Then why not magnetized the poles and screw pieces,
and do away with the magnet bar?..... I am sure this has been thought out, and did not work very well, just curious about what would be the HB's
need to have a magnet bar, I know diff magnets, will produce Diff tones....Got that !!!!
 
Re: I Have a Technical Question About an HB, without the Bar Magnet.....???

I'm not too up on the dawn of pickup making (in the '30's), but I think Gibson had the p90 with bar magnets (both with the same orientation pointing inwards) from a long time before fender came out with their rod magnets. Maybe it was much easier to fabricate a magnet in a bar rather than machining it round back in the day. When the humbucker was invented in 55 or 56, Gibson simply used the bars and screws and construction methods they were already utilising in p90's and added another coil.
 
Re: I Have a Technical Question About an HB, without the Bar Magnet.....???

stratneck2 said:
Ok, thank you for your answers....But still have another question, please bear with me :)..... Then why not magnetized the poles and screw pieces,
and do away with the magnet bar?..... I am sure this has been thought out, and did not work very well, just curious about what would be the HB's
need to have a magnet bar, I know diff magnets, will produce Diff tones....Got that !!!!
Click to expand...
There are humbuckers with magnetic polepieces. SD makes the Stag Mag and Fender made the Telecaster Deluxe Wide Range pickups. However using magnetic poles leads to a less traditional humbucker sound. Not that it's bad, just different from what most want or expect. Also a humbucker with magnetic poles is susceptible to many of the limitations of single coils.
 
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Re: I Have a Technical Question About an HB, without the Bar Magnet.....???

An important thing to consider is that the Electric Spanish guitar has its origins in the big dance band era and a craze for Hawaiian guitar. Oversimplifying somewhat, Gibson's efforts were intended for Jazz guitarists and Fender's for Country and/or Western Swing. The designs that happened to be around when the Fender Bassman amplifier was misappropriated by guitarists and, then, imitated by Gentleman Jim of Hanwell, are the ones that have been immortalised.
 
Re: I Have a Technical Question About an HB, without the Bar Magnet.....???

Horse-thieving aside, and despite the StagMag's existence, you may run into problems having 2 coils with magnetic rods in them in such proximity. If one rod is stronger than its opposing-coil neighbor, you might get a bit more of the stronger one (say the low E "slug coil" rod having more effect than the low E "screw coil" rod).
 
Re: I Have a Technical Question About an HB, without the Bar Magnet.....???

The OP is essentially correct. Mounting rod magnets with the fields opposing so close to each other appears to make the field much worse. The magnetic field seems to be transported well and is in better shape by having the bar magnet and transport it with the passive polepieces.

I am not entirely sure why that is. A possible explanation is that the field from the bar magnet on the bottom is more pancaked (wider along the strings) or otherwise differently shaped.
 
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