Magnets???

[justFred]

in my search for studio monitors have come across a dizzying world of magnet technology or snake oil...not sure which...liquid magnets....Super Linear magnets...bigger magnets...precision shaped magnets...electro enhanced or boosted...all this supposedly to enhance the magnetic field and produce the magic speaker...

Does or can any of these, and many more, types of magnet manifestations be applied to guitar pickups???

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

Re: Magnets???

In most cases these types of magnets won’t work in pickups. Often these magnets have alternating poles along the face. In pickups the magnet must have the same pole facing the strings. Humbuckers have a north and South Pole.


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[justFred]

Re: Magnets???

In most cases these types of magnets won’t work in pickups. Often these magnets have alternating poles along the face. In pickups the magnet must have the same pole facing the strings. Humbuckers have a north and South Pole.


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Thank you for the clarification sir...just seems like the basic pickup technology hasn't changed much in over 50 years...it our techno society that is rare...

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

Re: Magnets???

Thank you for the clarification sir...just seems like the basic pickup technology hasn't changed much in over 50 years...it our techno society that is rare...

That’s true, but part of that is the technology works, and some players are resistant to change. Look at all the people who hate active pickups for instance.

Also you don’t want extremely strong magnets. I use neodymium magnets in my pickups. That’s a fairly recent change in magnets. They are right on the edge of being too strong!


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[justFred]

Re: Magnets???

That’s true, but part of that is the technology works, and some players are resistant to change. Look at all the people who hate active pickups for instance.

Also you don’t want extremely strong magnets. I use neodymium magnets in my pickups. That’s a fairly recent change in magnets. They are right on the edge of being too strong!


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I tried a neodymium as an experiment and it was all bright...no mids or lows....must take a special wind...

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Re: Magnets???

I'm waiting for someone to offer quantum-linked pickups. Or at least room temp superconductors.

 

[Trashocaster]

Re: Magnets???

I'd put active electronics in my guitar if I could also buy a car battery and hook it up to that. Or phantom power would be cool. Why hasn't that been done?

As soon as we're not relying on batteries to power guitars I'm sure the technology will advance in this field but musical instruments are built more from a view of tradition than innovation. Or innovating better forms of traditional methods like solving the problems that older equipment presented instead of just making something different. That's how electric guitars came into existence anyway, acoustic and archtops weren't loud enough to compete with many other instruments. Or those crappy vintage noiseless Fender pickups...

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

Re: Magnets???

I tried a neodymium as an experiment and it was all bright...no mids or lows....must take a special wind...

I find them to have a lot of low end. But... you have to design the pickup around the magnet. And you can’t really use neodymium rod magnets as poles.


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[DavidRavenMoon]

Re: Magnets???

I'd put active electronics in my guitar if I could also buy a car battery and hook it up to that. Or phantom power would be cool. Why hasn't that been done?

There’s no need for it, That’s why.

Back when I used EMG pickups I could go a year without changing the battery. But I would check it when I changed my strings.

The original MusicMan Stingray bass didn’t even turn the battery off when you yanked the plug out. It was always on. The op amp had very low current draw. This is the same chip in the original EMG pickups.

There have been setups where phantom power is sent up the cable, or like on Alembic instruments you can use an external power supply.

Back in 1977 I had a preamp (Hi-A Chip) in my Rickenbacker bass. There were no battery boxes back then. So to change batteries you had to remove the pickguard. Wasn’t a trivial matter! I never once had a battery go dead on me during a gig.

... Or those crappy vintage noiseless Fender pickups...

Which by the way were designed by Rob Turner from EMG! The N series pickups were designed by Bill Lawrence.

That’s where actives excel. Stacked humbuckers lose a lot of power and low frequencies due to phase cancellation. To compensate they over wind them.

An active stacked pickup can electrically isolate the two coils, and they don’t have to be wound hot, which kills the highs. It’s a more advanced system.



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[Trashocaster]

Re: Magnets???

Back when I used EMG pickups I could go a year without changing the battery. But I would check it when I changed my strings.

There have been setups where phantom power is sent up the cable, or like on Alembic instruments you can use an external power supply.

Good to know, nice information.

Which by the way were designed by Rob Turner from EMG! The N series pickups were designed by Bill Lawrence.

That’s where actives excel. Stacked humbuckers lose a lot of power and low frequencies due to phase cancellation. To compensate they over wind them.

An active stacked pickup can electrically isolate the two coils, and they don’t have to be wound hot, which kills the highs. It’s a more advanced system.

So are you saying that the Vintage Noiseless pups would have been better designed for active circuitry? Whatever Clapton has going on in his personal strat with the active mid boost sounds great but I don't recall what pickups were in it. Didn't one of the commercial models have VNs in it? Those stock TBX controls are intended for active circuitry but takes some configuration for passive use.

 

[Davii]

Re: Magnets???

I've been tempted to have a play with the magnetic putty stuff

 

[justFred]

Re: Magnets???

uranium diantimonide (USb2), a uranium alloy has unusual magnetic properties scientists are discovering that when shaped can create predictable focused magnetic fields...might be interesting to try in a pickup...downside is it is radio active...might be a problem maybe???

 

[GoldenVulture]

Re: Magnets???

I find them to have a lot of low end. But... you have to design the pickup around the magnet. And you can’t really use neodymium rod magnets as poles.


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I disagree, I do. With some Dimarzio Distortion coils.