black vulcanized fiber... what's the point?

[FunkyKikuchiyo]

after working with this stuff I've decided I really don't like it! It doesn't cut well or sand well, it seems to drill well and the tension is nice for holding pole pieces, but I'm just not seeing why every fender style pickup for the past fifty + years has been using some variation on this. Is there supposed to be a sonic difference? Is the aesthetic really that important? Basically, if someone here had to talk me into using the stuff, what would you say?

Sorry, I guess I'm in a "mood"......

[salvarsan]

Follow the money.

Vulcanized fibre is still in pickups because buyers have been trained to ask for it.

Fill in the blanks:
A ____ and his _____ are soon ______.

-drh

[Possum]

....

Vulcanized fiber was a traditiona insulating, machinable material back in the 50's and was an obvious choice. Yeah there is probably a sonic effect vs. hard plastic bobbins. I find it very sandable, very drillable, very machineable and router friendly, I love the stuff myself. It really is the perfect material for Fender pickups, if you're not making those then its probably not for you....

[David Schwab]

It really is the perfect material for Fender pickups, if you're not making those then its probably not for you....

Unless you are Tom Anderson! I actually think these look pretty cool, and I'm one of these that doesn't use the stuff at all.

I guess it saved on having to buy parts.

[Possum]

....

Thats an extreme case, the other good thing about the stuff is you can tap it. He must have his own laser cutter or be a glutton for slow methods....

[Sam Lee Guy]

Follow the money.

Vulcanized fibre is still in pickups because buyers have been trained to ask for it.

Fill in the blanks:
A ____ and his _____ are soon ______.

-drh

A wiseman and his words are soon forgotten?

[Bruce Johnson]

A Pickup Winder and his Vulcanized Fiberboard are soon Fendered?

[Artur pickupmaker]

I don't see any advantage in this material, I believe it's so used because it's the tradicionally one used by Fender. I don't know how it is there but here in Brazil people are very preconceive, if I say I'm using something different most of them will immediatly think: "surely it's not so good as a Fender one".

I make this pieces of wood, it's a lot more work to do but the pickups looks awsome. I always choose hard, time resistent and beauty woods and am sure there is no pickup like mine ones.

[FunkyKikuchiyo]

I know that it was being used in pre-plastic times which is why it came about, the way I probably should have phrased the question is "why are we still using it?"

I do think it drills well and it is nice and hard, but my bandsaw hates the stuff, and I was going through sandpaper stupidly fast. Plus, the burrs it leaves as it sands are frustrating. I also don't like that the blank sheets don't really sit flat - I'm not at a CNC stage, but I imagine this would pose a problem. I haven't tried pressing in pole pieces into plastic, maybe it just doesn't work. I suppose the fact that it won't off-gas (I assume it won't, anyway) is a major advantage.

[David Schwab]

I don't see any advantage in this material, I believe it's so used because it's the tradicionally one used by Fender. I don't know how it is there but here in Brazil people are very preconceive, if I say I'm using something different most of them will immediatly think: "surely it's not so good as a Fender one".

I had someone ask me for gray fiber, even though you wouldn't see it. I asked him how many times he was planning on taking the pickups out and looking at the bottom!

I make this pieces of wood, it's a lot more work to do but the pickups looks awsome. I always choose hard, time resistent and beauty woods and am sure there is no pickup like mine ones.

You aren't the only one doing that. This one is made from Bois D'Arc.

[FunkyKikuchiyo]

I've thought about wood, but I've had to replace wooden spacers in humbuckers because they twisted and actually popped covers loose, so I've been hesitant. There are so many nice pieces of veneer stock out there that are so easy to work with, too. I bet the extra compression of wood might help with microphonics, but I could also be full of &*$^#.

[Possum]

....

What fiber are you actually using? Sanding it leaves burrs???? Mine doesn't. It wasn't used because it was "preplastic times", those pickups were covered with plastic covers and Gibson was making plastic bobbins at the same time.

And FWIW, I look at my grey bottom every day

[Artur pickupmaker]

Each piece of wood have a unique draw, so each wood pickup is unique in appearance. No material imitates wood convincently.
The wood spacers twisted because they was not dryed when puted in place. Wood have to keep some years in a ventilated and away from the rain place after been cuted to dry.

[FunkyKikuchiyo]

well, early plastic times. Not every kind of plastic was available then, which is why the crappy bakelite was used.

It was leaving burrs because even with fresh sand paper it was doing more burning/smearing than it was sanding.

[David Schwab]

Plastics

Bakelite is not crappy! Bakelite was the first plastic based on a synthetic polymer, but it wasn't the first plastic. Polystyrene was discovered in 1839. It was being manufactures by 1931. You are forgetting celluloid. That's been around since 1855 (known as Parkesine). PVC was discovered in 1835 and was being manufactured by B.F. Goodrich in 1926.

Besides the plastic pickup covers on the old Fenders, they had plastic pickguards and knobs, right? Gibson was making plastic bobbins back then too from several types of plastic.

We still use phenolics today, which is what Bakelite was based on.

So Leo didn't use Forbon because he couldn't get plastics. It was probably because it was used as electrical insulation. A lot of early pickups had paper bobbins.