Wan a be luthier

[walcen]

Bene grazie! adesso siamo a posto

Thanks mate, now it all makes sense to me and it was only after I bumped my question that it acured to me that the V must mean 5.

As for the term Alnico V magnet, well it's mentioned on just about every forum that has anything to do with pickups.

regards to all

Wal

[David King]

Other types of magnetic materials are also grouped by "grades" like ceramic 5 and 8 or Neodymium grade 42 or 50. Luckily they dropped the Roman numeration when they got to rare earth magnets...

[LtKojak]

As for the term Alnico V magnet, well it's mentioned on just about every forum that has anything to do with pickups.

Erm.. Walcen... buddy... looks like you forgot the term "Alnico" in your question...

[Australian accent on/] Gotta eat more fish, MATE!

J/K

[walcen]

Erm.. Walcen... buddy... looks like you forgot the term "Alnico" in your question...

J/K

Ooooops sorry, gee I feel sheepish.

[walcen]

Humbucker magnet question

I have an old Epiphone humbucker that I want to refurbish.

The only Al-nico v magnets that I can get locally are 2mm wider and magnetised end to end. I've been lead to believe that I can reorient the magnetic field as required by using two neodymium's.

If this is so, can I just remove 2mm off the spacer to make it fit?

See photo

Kind regards to all

Wal

[Peter Naglitsch]

Most commersial availible spacers are thinner than the one in that Epi pickup. So either get a new spacer of grind that one down. Shold work fine. Regarding the question of reorientation of magnets I think that it has been dicussed a couple of times. A quick search should give you the answer.

[walcen]

les paul pots

Can any one tell me if there is any reason why I cant use a set of pots from my local electronics store

instead of buying and having them shipped from Stewmacs or where ever?

these are much cheaper

Dick Smith - Talk to the Techxperts - Search Results for potentiometer

regards to all

Wal

[David Schwab]

Can any one tell me if there is any reason why I cant use a set of pots from my local electronics store

instead of buying and having them shipped from Stewmacs or where ever?

these are much cheaper

Those should be fine. I used the Alpha pots from RadioShack back in the 70's and 80's on a bunch of guitars, until they stopped stocking 500K.

[David King]

Walcen,
The main difference I see is that the threaded collar on those is for panel mounting and is generally too short to fit through a wood top instrument where the pots aren't bolted through a thin pickguard or metal plate. Otherwise they are the same exact pots in terms of cost and quality.

[walcen]

Thanks very much guys I appreciate your replies.

regards to all

Wal

[walcen]

Can aluminum, aluminum be used as flat work for making pickup bobbins as it's not magnetic?

I just happen to have a stack of 1.5 mm 1/16" thick anodized aluminum skirting material that's just begging to be recycled into something else and its robust and easy to work with.

kindest regards to all

Walt

[Joe Gwinn]

Can aluminum, aluminum be used as flat work for making pickup bobbins as it's not magnetic?

I just happen to have a stack of 1.5 mm 1/16" thick anodized aluminum skirting material that's just begging to be recycled into something else and its robust and easy to work with.

The aluminum will likely act as a shorted turn, making the pickup sound muddy. You can test the issue by putting a sheet of the skirting material on either side of the pickup, next to the existing flatwork, and listening while playing.

[walcen]

Thanks Joe I appreciate your input.

regards

Walt

[big_teee]

Can aluminum, aluminum be used as flat work for making pickup bobbins as it's not magnetic?

I just happen to have a stack of 1.5 mm 1/16" thick anodized aluminum skirting material that's just begging to be recycled into something else and its robust and easy to work with.

kindest regards to all

Walt

I say wind one up and give it a try.
After all we surround humbucker coils with brass, and nickel and such.
You miht try just doing the bottom.
If you can get away with that try top and bottom if you like.
As David says, experiment and think and try outside the box!
Long Live Rock!
Terry

[walcen]

Diy Humbucker

For those who'd like to have a go at making their own Humbucker, it could be fun.

I drew this up for myself but hey, I like to share.

All the measurement are taken from an actual Epiphone pickup.

This was actually easier than I thought it would be.

The brass plate was scrap, donated by a local sheet metal supplier.

Hobby band saw made it easy to cut and I simply drilled the holes marked on the paper.

I assembled a pickup using this plate and every thing fitted perfectly, next I'll have a crack at making bobbins and magnet plate.

My inspiration came from Jon Fishers web site ( How to make a humbucker the hard way ). I highly recommend it it's a good read.

I hope some one finds this useful.

regards to all

Walt