Beveled magnets

[Chadheckler1]

I am thinking of trying a beveled magnet tele set and have no experience in "Hand beveling" a magnet. I have seen people that advertise that thier magnet are "Hand Beveled" and was wondering if someone would be willing to describle the process... I have also seen graphs of what a beveled magnet does to the magnetic field but I am unsure on the best way to create a repeatable bevel on a .197" magnet and what the best angle would be for a starting point? I am interested in giving it a try...

[madialex]

I use a dremel with the semi smooth grinding stone, I put the magnet into one of those pen size grabber thingys, you know, you push the end like a pen and 3 bent prongs come out and when you release the part you push they retract and hold the magnet. Just start the dremel, hold the magnet at the angle you want and put it to the stone and rotate the magnet all the way around, do it for as much material you want to remove, be easy with it though.

Oh and it's best to use un-magnetized mags or else it's a bitch to get the shavings off the end of the magnet

[Possum]

...

I use a driver with a keyless chuck and spin against my disc sander or a grinder...

[devnull]

The folks on the Seymour Duncan factory youtube tour seem to put the magnets into a hand drill, spin it up, and hold that up against a grindstone. At least that's what it looked like.

[David Schwab]

The folks on the Seymour Duncan factory youtube tour seem to put the magnets into a hand drill, spin it up, and hold that up against a grindstone. At least that's what it looked like.

They actually use a cordless screwdriver. It's a red Milwaukee. I don't think they make them anymore, but anything that spins the magnet would work.

But I recognized the driver from the videos and we have a few at our shop.

[devnull]

They actually use a cordless screwdriver. It's a red Milwaukee. I don't think they make them anymore, but anything that spins the magnet would work.

But I recognized the driver from the videos and we have a few at our shop.

Yeah, going from memory...in any case they beveled a magnet in about 5 seconds with that setup.

[chevalij]

I'm a keyless chuck against a fine grinding wheel guy. I think the chucks are a 3/8" thread. Anyway, I got a long bolt (about 6") with the appropriate thread and secured it on a wooden block at the centerline of the grinding wheel. Put a handle on the head end of the bolt and presto, you turn the handle and the magnet rotates evenly against the wheel. Next step when I'm not lazy or winding is to mount everything on a board so the chuck block will swing into the correct angle with repeatability. Of course, I don't bevel that many magnets so it's on the back burner....

[Jim Shine]

I use the drill method too. It appears that Fender did it to help guide the magnet rod and allow it to pierce the pilot hole in the fiber. Fender uses it in the wrongs ways these days. Example, in older pickups the bevel is on the side in which the magnet is tallest, and that doesn't automatically mean the top side. Old Fender Jazzmaster pickups as an example have the bevel on the underside as the magnets stick out farther on that side and the standard shape is on the top side, because they are flat. Fender places the bevel on the top side of the reissues for some reason.

[billyz]

Right after the Fender custom shop was announced I ordered a 1956 replica Stratocaster from them . It was to replace one that I had just lost. I was very particular about the construction of it and John Cruz said I should work with Yasuhiko Iwanade who the resident expert on these earlier model Stratocasters.

After extensive discussions with him I believed he could build a suitable replica, he knew about the different contours and neck pocket depth etc. I told him I had a set of original Pickups to use but he insisted that he could make me a pickup that would a perfect reproduction of the early Fender Stratocaster pickup. I told him I did not want a calibrated or reverse wound middle. I wanted them all the same.

After many months I received my guitar it was a work of art, except the Pickups had no bevel on the magnets. I noticed this because my pick would catch the middle pickup magnet all the time. That never happened on my original strat. So I inspected it closer and noticed the Original pickups had a slight bevel on the top, actually pretty rough looking. But It never caught my pick or finger nail. I informed Yasuhiko Iwanade and he discovered that in fact the early strats did have a bevel and said to return the pickups and he would correct it. He did and the problem as solved.

Fender probably did bevel them to make insertion easier but it also eliminated the sharp edge that will catch your pick.

In the next issue of the Fender mag ( about 4 months later ) I noticed a little article about how the Custom shop was making " Beveled magnet pickups" the historically accurate way now. I laughed.

[Chadheckler1]

This is the second post that talks about making insertion easier and now we are talking about a smoother/snag free playing surface...But I thought the more significant difference would be the sound difference due to the magnetic field having a different shape. Is there no audible difference between a bevel top and a flat top magnet?

[StarryNight]

I'm also interested to know if/how there is an audible difference from the illuminati. It seems there are many here that chamfer the poles - I think it would add a nice touch to the 'custom' aspect of hand winding, but is there a difference in the sound?

[Jim Shine]

It was not strictly for comfort. The Jazzmaster pickups are proof of that (they have heavy bevels on the bottom). The earliest versions of the Musicmaster pickups I have seen are also beveled on the bottom side (light). Jaguar pickups too (until they go staggered). The bevel was likely put to the top on the staggered pickups because it provided a bonus of comfort and allowed them to really flush up the poles on the bottom of the flatwork. I do not believe the bevel was done for tone. It may make a difference, but I don't think it was intentional.

[Sheldon Dingwall]

Has anyone tried using a tumbler to knock off the sharp edges?

[Jim Shine]

It has been said that is the method Fender switched to when production was ramping up. It provided a very small and tight bevel that just took the burr off the edge.

[Bruce Johnson]

I'm trying to picture how you would use a tumbler to deburr a bunch of magnets. Wouldn't they all just stick together in a lump? Or would they have to be unmagnetized....