Neodymium magnets...

[TGBoleyn]

This might seem like a dumb question, but since I'm a hobbyist teaching myself about making my own humbuckers, it can't hurt to ask: Has anyone ever tried using neodymium mags for a humbucker or pickup? I would suppose that the main drawback of that would be too much pull on the strings like you get from the poles on some Fender guitars when the strings are too close to the pickups...

I have an idea for a new pick up deisign, and wanted to get some feedback before choosing an alternate magnet for them.

[copperheadroads]

i just did a quick experiment with a humbucker wound at 12k where i took some small round disc neo magnets glued them on each side of a small peice of wood so that the magnets were touching the poles & the keeper
it sounded very bright & not enough bass .but i was thinking it might work on something really hot like 18k or hotter

[David Schwab]

I use them all the time. String pull will depend on the size of the magnet and the way you use them. You really don't want to use full length rods like with a Fender pickup. You can use smaller disks on top of steel rods. You can also use a steel blade charged with neos.

I find that if they are too strong you get a very bassy tone. I made a dual rail Strat sized pickup with neos. I had to switch to a smaller magnet to get a bright tone. The pickup was wound about 6K.

[TGBoleyn]

Thanks David! I thought about using the edges of washer type neodym's as the rail (using this type of pickup in a guitar specially cut for the pickup, with only the "blade" or side of the magnet exposed). My biggest obstacle so far is figuring out how to wind them. Looks good on paper, but haven't tried in practice just yet.

[hariossa]

I have replaced ceramic mags from cheap single coils with little neo discs, it makes them sound better, sometimes with too much high end but usually I manage to fine tune them with a parallel cap/resistance.
I also tried once putting a neo block the size of a regular humbucker mag, but that was waaay too much pulling... the pickup ended flat with the pickguard in order to be playable, also I got the sound of the trem springs as loud as the strings, you could attach a metal ruller to the back of the body!

[TGBoleyn]

Cool

[StarryNight]

I've used neos for an acoustic guitar pickup. it turned out pretty good IMO. I've been meaning to devise a pickup with neos that would fit into the neck of a guitar (more for an archtop scenario) the cover of this book has a good pic of what I'm talking about. Amazon.com: Hand Made, Hand Played: The Art & Craft of Contemporary Guitars (Music Sales America) (9781579907877): Robert Shaw: Books
-it's an Elferink guitar

what's interesting is you can buy 1/8" rod neos that will fit exactly into the keeper bar holes for humbuckers.