ivan H
Ambassador of Tubes & Grooves
Looks very cool, well done. Do you know what effect can be expected from the SS pole pieces? Cheers
The AlNico 8 SwampBucker:
- Thread starter Inspector #20
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Looks very cool, well done. Do you know what effect can be expected from the SS pole pieces? Cheers
OP
Corrosion resistance more than anything. Pole pieces don't have to be magnetic, only conductive. I believe the larger surface area will subject a greater part of the string to the pole pieces - especially when bent - and it will work with Gibson or Fender spacing...
The guidance that pole pieces don’t need to be magnetic, only conductive depends on your definition of terms.
The pole piece does not need to be magnetic, meaning it does not have to be a magnet. It does have to be magnetically conductive.
The pole piece becomes magnetized by the underlying magnet and focuses the magnetic field on the strings.
This requires that the pole piece be a magnetically conductive material (known as being magnetically permeable), such as a ferrous metal, not just an electrically conductive material.
You still have the steel slugs in one coil. However, most SS alloys aren’t magnetically conductive. However, some cold-worked annealed SS alloys do exhibit some attraction to a magnet.
I’m very curious to hear your results.
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OP
Me too!!!! I read an article by Seymour Duncan where he completely removed the pole piece screws from a humbucker and it still functioned, but became brighter. This is truly an experiment!!!!
OP
I don't know, Chas...so many competent wonders out there and I'm a total unknown....
Yes. Even without pole pieces, the underlying magnet still envelopes the coil in a magnetic field. Albeit, the strings will not be exposed to as strong a field.
Also, if all you do is remove the pole screws from a humbucker, you still have the steel slugs in the other coil.
I would suspect a brighter and weaker signal.
OP
This was interesting...
OP
I really wonder how critical this element is in practice - as opposed to theory.
Example: on Gibson pickups, the pole pieces are screwed into the base plate. This isn't a at well done work. Its very cheaply done as the screws are just jammed into the hole and there's no threads at all in there. This is probably why the number one problem I see with 'broken' humbuckers are stripped pole piece screws/baseplates.
In fact, almost all the pickups I see have totally stripped pole piece screws, held in with a wrap of black tape or super glue.
On my own pickups, I prefer to solder a nut to the baseplate which receives the pole pieces.
Ok, on many other humbuckers, the pole piece screws do not thread into the baseplate at all - they dont even make contact - they only thread into the plastic bobbin material, and yet still work well and give good tonal response.
All GFS and Artec pickups are made like this, as are some newer DiMarzio's I have seen recently.
The exception are the Artec's in the Milestone series, designed by Wolfgang Damm.
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The ceramic pickup thing has really taken over with the cheap guitars and low price pick ups. I have some cheap Alnico V pups from Guitar Head. They are nasty humbuckers with a hint of tone. I put the alnico single coil in my black Strat. I had high recommendations on them and they told me a Gilmore tone was just waiting for me. They are all correct, I tried the pickups David himself used. The alnico V are better.
OP
Here's an experiment I conducted when deciding to employ austenitic stainless for my pole piece screws on this particular pickup.
The slug coil came from a damaged Gibson 490 humbucker when the owner tried to replace a damaged lead wire. The screw coil came from a GFS that had stripped out bobbin threads. After pulling some wire from the 490 and adding the same amount to the GFS bobbin, I arrived at an unbalanced state in which both coils produced different ohm readings.
The SS countersunk allen screws cannot be picked up with an A5 magnet. When taped to this same magnet, the screw will not pickup a ferrous object.
However...
The SS allen screws oppose the North pole of the same common A5 pickup magnet, strongly enough to cause the magnet to hover over the pole screws...and if you move the North edge of the magnet past the SS allen screws, it will drop onto the plastic bobbin.
Interesting, isn't it???
The slug coil came from a damaged Gibson 490 humbucker when the owner tried to replace a damaged lead wire. The screw coil came from a GFS that had stripped out bobbin threads. After pulling some wire from the 490 and adding the same amount to the GFS bobbin, I arrived at an unbalanced state in which both coils produced different ohm readings.
The SS countersunk allen screws cannot be picked up with an A5 magnet. When taped to this same magnet, the screw will not pickup a ferrous object.
However...
The SS allen screws oppose the North pole of the same common A5 pickup magnet, strongly enough to cause the magnet to hover over the pole screws...and if you move the North edge of the magnet past the SS allen screws, it will drop onto the plastic bobbin.
Interesting, isn't it???
OP
I can send you some Alnico V's if you need them...
ChasFred
Ambassador of Smooth Operations
Just takes one player to use them in the right moment and your there. Hey your retired anyway so whats to stop ya. The wife gave the green light for a winding machine, your half way there.
As Adrien would chant DO IT, DO IT, DO IT!!!!
Epiphone pick ups are one thing you can't count on. My better Epiphone products really have better parts and pickup. B B King copy has good everything and I just put lock tunes and a bone nut. My Epiphone Casino is close but the P90 dog ears are bad. I found out what the great pickup was in Lennon 's guitar. I could get a set close but just not right. A guy I jam with said he had a set from his fathers old Riviera from 1960's. He gave me two and I saw no numbers of any help.
I did notice a bit of a rattle in the P90's case and opened it. There were a few dead bugs and a couple dead spiders in each. That was a sign that these were good to go, proper covers on and they took me back to my junior school days
I did notice a bit of a rattle in the P90's case and opened it. There were a few dead bugs and a couple dead spiders in each. That was a sign that these were good to go, proper covers on and they took me back to my junior school days
I have them in my drawer. Thank you but in time I really to remove them Robert
The Vs a too refried and messy
OP
For Smitty:
The ratings and classifications of stainless is simple in Europe. The A4 is surgery grade with subclasses of course. It has less strength because of more nickel. It is very low on Magnitizum. A2 is the cheaper with a trace of iron, stronger and not effected as much by acids. People want those bolts for truck lift kits. They end up in the trees.
We have 18/8 and 304 and that is our junk. Para magnetic and not like tha better 316. Now you get into subclasses. Tritium is what most go on because everything you can think of. My hips and my bone saws are made of it. Every tool I touched in surgery is titium
That was an interesting vid to watch.
During the test the stainless steel screws had the same effect as no screws. They produced essentially the exact same profile. This is to be expected.
However, in the graph he posted at 7:27, a rather marked difference is depicted. He does say in the caption of the graphic that he thinks he may have done something wrong to mess it up.
Unfortunately, in his listening test he used a heavily distorted rhythm. Heavy distortion can obscure some differences. I would have preferred a clean guitar sound with full chords for a listening test.
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The method of attaching the pole pieces is not that important from the standpoint of making an operable pickup. All that is really necessary is that the pole pieces either contact, or are close enough to, the magnet to become magnetized by it.
As an example, the pickups used in some cheaper Strats aren’t made at all like the typical Strat pickups. Rather than being individual magnets, the pole pieces are just steel slugs that extend underneath the bobbin. The slugs make contact with two narrow bar magnets that are just glued into place. There’s no elaborate fastening used. These pickups are often scorned, but the design concept is the same as a P-90, though the build is a cheaper way to go.
I do agree, though. Making a pickup with adjustable pole pieces that can end up with stripped threads is kind of a poor move from the standpoint of construction and adjustability.
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