Inverted rod in strat PU and other things

[MORCILLO]

Hi everybody.
These days I have wired mi first pickups, on one, the center of a strt set, the A rod is upsidedown with the rest of rods of the PU... i think it is no good thing for anything... I bought the rods magnetized in ebay.

Do I must de-magnetize the PU and re-magnetize, or go ahead and magnetize all...

Any sugested solution?

I have a couple of 1" neodimium magnets from StewMc... and some hard drive magnets... does the magnets must be identical? Are these enough for magnetize a PU, in S-Mac says yes.... but...

Other thing, I mix A5 and A3 in each magnet, an put AWG42 to 6,1 6,2 and 6,8Kohm... and... I don like the sound very much, it is a little harsh, dont have the sweetness of the Cs54 I am comparing with... I don expect the 6,8 were much sweet... but at least yes a little more complex tone... I will love to have the CS54 tone... with more... um.. balls.

The flatwork is vulcanised fibre, rods are from adition-fx and wire is single poly 42.

Maybe the alnico mix was not a good idea, or 8000 are too much winds, or the winding is very inconsistent, they are firsts... dont know... well, I am a little sad with the result the guitar is a one piece maple neck I made, screwed in a light weigt body from a old kit, vintage bridge steel block and vintage style klusons... the guitar is ok and the CS54 are too in a guitar I made...

Sorry for the tears, but I can not talk about it with anyone else

Well, Thanks.

[big_teee]

You can fix the rod upside down.
Just magnetize all the magnets in that pickup again, and it will Make them all the same polarity.
I've never tried the mixing magnets on Strat Single coils. Which magnets did you put where.
I thought 54s were 5.9, 5.9, and 6.5k.
A5 magnets, and Heavy formvar wire.
You have too many varibles to expect them to sound like CS 54s.
Good Luck,
Terry

[Mark Hammer]

Terry's right. Just re-magnetize it the "right" way. I've done it. Works fine.

[MORCILLO]

Which magnets did you put where.

I am using 3 A5 for fat strings and 3 A3 for thin strings.

I read somewere it will be fine and balaced... and i tryed....

[big_teee]

I am using 3 A5 for fat strings and 3 A3 for thin strings.

I read somewere it will be fine and balaced... and i tryed....

I agree that should work.
Perhaps you would be happier with less winds on the Neck Pickup.
If you are shooting for the vintage strat tones, try this.
5.7-5.8k Neck
5.9-6.2k Middle
6.3-7k bridge (wind for your tone Preference, If too bright, use more turns)
Also to get old time tone, you need 250k Pots and the larger .1mfd Cap for tone.
I found the Cap is very important in what the final tone sounds like in a Strat.
Good Luck,
Terry

[MORCILLO]

I tryed to remagnetize with the StwMac one inch discs but I only get demagnetize and change the polarity of every rod up and down, it does not pull the screwdriver and gives turns to the compass.

Then

1 I need to know more about magnets.
2 StewMc magnets dont work for me.
3 Hard drive magnets have a strange magnetic field.
4 I need adequate magnets.
4 go to 1

[big_teee]

Sounds like you had your Neos turned the wrong way, that's why you demagnetized the other 5.
Try again with the magnets turned around.
The StewMac Magnets aren't the strongest but you should be able to get a pretty good charge.
Be sure to use 2 Neos, one on each end of the rod magnets.
If you have several stack up the Neos for a better effect.
Terry

[Mike Sulzer]

I tryed to remagnetize with the StwMac one inch discs but I only get demagnetize and change the polarity of every rod up and down, it does not pull the screwdriver and gives turns to the compass.

Then

1 I need to know more about magnets.
2 StewMc magnets dont work for me.
3 Hard drive magnets have a strange magnetic field.
4 I need adequate magnets.
4 go to 1

I use the method described here (http://music-electronics-forum.com/t23838/) for humbucker magnets. Maybe you can adapt it for a whole single coil pickup.

[MORCILLO]

Thanks Mike, I will read this post, and others, I want to learn everthing...

Big_teee, you are right again! I was doing anything really bad, tryed again and worked fine! you have saved the same PU twice! now you have the very dubious honor of have your nick in one of my PUs! Thanks again Terry.
this is the way I have done it, before, i was using a c clamp, less iron i think too...


Now am more happy... the strange sound i got when i first plug... well makes me a little shame... is that i wired the PU selector inverted and when i was thinking the neck PU was on really was bridge, a little silly i know...

Now is late here 3am, tomorrow will try with a really amp and break some neighbour windows to see whow it really sounds......

Thanks again to all.

[big_teee]

Great!
Sounds like your getting the hang of it!
I recommend charging the magnets with the white pickup cover Removed.
That way you can get close contact to the magnets, and You don't scratch up your Pickup Cover.
Good Luck,
Terry

[MORCILLO]

Great!
Sounds like your getting the hang of it!
I recommend charging the magnets with the white pickup cover Removed.
That way you can get close contact to the magnets, and You don't scratch up your Pickup Cover.
Good Luck,
Terry

But, CAN you contact the pole pieces with the neo? I read that they must not touch, don know if to avoid scratches or for other reason.

This magnet got a second dip in wax, looked as a candle.... and then some turns in teflon, and is a little thight inside the cover that are from another cheap chinese PU that dont match spaces at all and I adapt it the hard way, need to buy adequate covers or do it myself again....

In the next PUs, I need to learn to control the tension of the wire, and to scatter the winds more evenly or something, but that will be another story, and maybe another post.... for sure anything will go bad....

[big_teee]

But, CAN you contact the pole pieces with the neo? I read that they must not touch, don know if to avoid scratches or for other reason.

This magnet got a second dip in wax, looked as a candle.... and then some turns in teflon, and is a little thight inside the cover that are from another cheap chinese PU that dont match spaces at all and I adapt it the hard way, need to buy adequate covers or do it myself again....

In the next PUs, I need to learn to control the tension of the wire, and to scatter the winds more evenly or something, but that will be another story, and maybe another post.... for sure anything will go bad....

I touch them.
I stick them on the magnets.
I've seen that, don't touch them before also.
I've never had any issues touching the Rods, or Bar Magnets.
Maybe someone else can elaborate on this.
I've been known to break a rule or two.
Maybe CopperHead can weigh in here, he's made a lot of strat Pickups.
Later,
Terry

[copperheadroads]

I let my poles of my pickup magnets touch the neo magnets , why not ? nothing bad happens
I was pretty sure the Stew Mac instructions used to say NOT to touch the pickup magnets to the neo magnets or it would reverse the polarity , but i couldn't find it there now

[MORCILLO]

I let my poles of my pickup magnets touch the neo magnets , why not ? nothing bad happens
I was pretty sure the Stew Mac instructions used to say NOT to touch the pickup magnets to the neo magnets or it would reverse the polarity , but i couldn't find it there now

This is what StMc says...

"The Guitar Repair Magnets will charge the Alnico 5 magnets to their full capacity of 20-25 Gauss. Several passes through the magnets does the job; move the pickup as slowly as you can while keeping it free of the magnets."

In any case i keep the magnets in his plastic cases... next time Ill pull it off, and see...

[copperheadroads]

I always fully charged my magnets using the 2 stew mac magnets in there case & in a vise , just like in you picture .you need to do a half dozen passes to fully charge them .but stronger works better & more consistent