.195 vs .187 mags

[ken]

Hello...

Is there any 'real' tonal differences between using .195 and .187 diameter Alnico
magnets, all other things being equal?

Thank you,
Ken

[ken]

I didn't think so either.

ken

[Pep]

One thing that you will notice with the larger diameter mags is that the volume when bending strings is a little more uniform. There are quite a few aspects of the coil that the larger magnets will effect so in turn you will hear slight tonal differences. However, this is not so much due to the magnet, but the other aspects that their size affects such as coil width, distributive capacitance, etc.

[ken]

Thank you, I have a customer who 'says' he would buy my pickups... if 'only' they were .195 diameter mags. He spent half an hour talking to me about this, and wouldn't take no for an answer. Either the guy sells mags and has too many .195s, or he's full of crap. I wonder how far he would get at a restaurant telling the chef how to cook.

What can I say... lots of these types around here. They never spend any money, they just beat my ears.

Happy Holidays,
Ken

[bulldogguitars]

I know the type, full of suggestions, and nothing in the wallet. These guys always want something for nothing. Thats why I had to shut my shop down and go back to my real job (haha).

[Ruel]

Thank you, I have a customer who 'says' he would buy my pickups... if 'only' they were .195 diameter mags. He spent half an hour talking to me about this, and wouldn't take no for an answer. Either the guy sells mags and has too many .195s, or he's full of crap. I wonder how far he would get at a restaurant telling the chef how to cook.

What can I say... lots of these types around here. They never spend any money, they just beat my ears.

Happy Holidays,
Ken

>.195 less .187 is .008 of an inch. Does your customer know how small that amount is? That's .20 of a millimeter! Jeez, talk about being ridiculous. The guy is so full of crap it is coming out of his ears!

[ken]

I don't know if it is a 'local' thing or it's widespread, but I'm finding that many of my potential buyers are players who are making their buying decisions based on the smallest details. I have had people ask about the heights of my magnets, the diameters of my magnets, the thickness of the insulation on my coil wire, and the color of my bobbins.

To you and me it may be silly, but it seems to me that some of these are looking for some kind of a mental 'edge' that new parts could give a player. Sort of a 'My axe is cooler than yours because I have XXX pickups in it'.

If I could only get buyers to actually use their ears to decide, not their eyes or what they read in some silly website, I'd be a happy camper.

Ken

[Pep]

Bobbin color is probably the most important factor when it comes to good tone. <grin>

[mick]

Could just be someone fishing for info so they can make their own and not have to do all the developement work themselves......

[Possum]

he he....

I have to say I disagree with you guys, to me there is a noticeable difference in the two sizes. For one thing, sure there isn't a whole lot of difference in the actual dimensions, but there is a difference in MASS of metal especially when you got six slugs. More metal loads the coil down so you get more midrange effect. Also the sensing window is slightly larger over each magnet and I think its pretty easy to hear the difference for me anyway. One thing that may be skewing what I'm hearing is that the two different sizes I have come from two different magnet manufacturers but I don't think there's enough to that to change what I'm hearing. The fatter magnets to me sound more "vintage" whatever that means, the skinnier ones sound more modern. OK, there's my two cents worth.....

[David Schwab]

I have to say I disagree with you guys, to me there is a noticeable difference in the two sizes. For one thing, sure there isn't a whole lot of difference in the actual dimensions, but there is a difference in MASS of metal especially when you got six slugs.

I just read an interview with former Gibson engineer Tim Shaw who said:

Magnetic strength is largely a function of the area of the polarized face; increasing the face size gives you more power...

So it would make sense that larger diameter magnets will sound different... probably beefier.

I don't know how much of a difference .008 might make, but as you said, the cumulative effect is valid.

[Possum]

yeh

I wish I was more articulate in what I hear the difference as being. If you go to my website listen to the Fifty Nine sound samples, then listen to the Red House samples:
http://www.sdpickups.com/twister.shtml
There is a noticeable difference in the way bending a low note on the G string, the Red House set has 3/16 magnets and it sounds more kinda "scooped" is that the word? More vowel "awwww" kinda tone, does this make sense? The fatter magnets sound more filled out to me, more direct sounding. Hope this makes sense...

[ken]

I made a pickup with .195 mags and tested it.

It does have a few small tonal differences, but I'm not too sure there is enough
there to change all my tooling to make pickups that way.

Thank you,
Ken

[Possum]

fat mags....

when I first started I didn't care much about the larger magnets, especially since it costs alot to order all those stagger sizes. But after a time depending on what kind of amps you use, you can definitely hear a difference and they become another tonal choice in your tone palette of techniques. Alot depends on how you use them and how they are charged too.

[NightWinder]

The fatter seem to have a more balanced tone.....