Longer pole screws

[Peter Naglitsch]

Been playing around with some more Filtertron-ish designs and have come to the conclusion I need longer screws as per the original design to get the "magnetic circuit" as close to the real stuff. So, does anyone have a source for good, ready available pole screws that are 1.1" or 28mm long. I know I should probably just by screw x from vendor y and just plate them. However I'm in Europe and the right sizes isn't available here. So I might need help finding the right name so that I can buy them from overseas (overseas is US for me...) if I find someone that ship to Euroupe. I can use a M3 screw and customize them a bit before plating them, but if anyone have a source that I can get some from I would prefer that. I can nickel plate myself so "raw" screws are no problem.

[David Schwab]

I always find I like the tone of a humbucker better if the screws don't extend much past the back of the pickup. It seems to lose something if they are too long.

Are you sure you need longer ones? TV Jones screws don't stick out the back:

[Peter Naglitsch]

Yeah, I know that there are a distinct difference in sound when the screws stick out or are more or less flush. The thing is that a Filtertron have a 1/4" thick magnet and with standard length pickups screws they will end up like the TV Jones. However the original Filtertrons look like this:

and that will affect the sound asn I would really like to play around with a goog qualite screw with the "right" measurements. I found out after some intensive googleing that the screws were/are 6-32x1-1/4. I have ordered some standard plated steel screws from Micro Fasteners just to try them out. I doubt that they are very good, but what the heck, I'll give them a try if no one have a better suggestion. And there are a good chanse that the original filtertrons were made with the same type of of-the-shelf screws I just ordered.

Yeah, yeah, I know, the same alloys are not used any more etc, but I'll give it a try.

[big_teee]

I searched around on the web!
What You request, Seems to be Rare As Hens Teeth.
I Found None!
Good Luck,
T

[Peter Naglitsch]

I searched around on the web!

Me too

[RedHouse]

...I would really like to play around with a good quality screw with the "right" measurements...

That's always been my primary objective!
(well, when I was young anyway)

[Peter Naglitsch]

[tpruitt]

Not trying to hijack here but how would the tone of longer screws be different from say, ones cut off right under the baseplate?

[David Schwab]

Not trying to hijack here but how would the tone of longer screws be different from say, ones cut off right under the baseplate?

I found when I cut the screws off the pickup was a little louder and had more presence. The magnetic field at the top of the screw head was a little stronger, which would account for the difference in tone. It was a small difference, but noticeable to me.

[RedHouse]

...a small difference, but noticeable to me.

FWIW, Niel Schon can hear it too, he's been saying to cut off the poles for years.

[Peter Naglitsch]

The goal of the wild goose hunt for longer screws started because I know the sound changes if you cut the screws on an ordinary HB. As the Filtertron has a 1/4" thick Alnico magnet standard screws won't protrude from the underside like they "should" and thus changing the sound compared to "the real deal". I have bought a bunch of screws from Microfastener that more or less fit the dimensions. The magnetic conductivity seems to be a bit too less compared to the resulting field strength (measurements taken from a vintage Filtertron). However my thick A5 magnet doesn't seem to take a good enough charge from Neos so I cannot really evaluate if it is the magnet or the quality of the screws. More to come...

[Zhangliqun]

I found when I cut the screws off the pickup was a little louder and had more presence. The magnetic field at the top of the screw head was a little stronger, which would account for the difference in tone. It was a small difference, but noticeable to me.

No question about it. I think when a screw extends significantly below the magnet, it dilutes the magnetic field, so when you shorten it, it's got more bite and overall punch. To me that's often a plus on a neck humbucker to de-mud it, but to my ear can be detrimental to a bridge bucker because they generally have a surplus of treble as is, if it's not a high output wind anyway. So cutting the screws can ram that icepick in there even deeper.

[David Schwab]

No question about it. I think when a screw extends significantly below the magnet, it dilutes the magnetic field, so when you shorten it, it's got more bite and overall punch. To me that's often a plus on a neck humbucker to de-mud it, but to my ear can be detrimental to a bridge bucker because they generally have a surplus of treble as is, if it's not a high output wind anyway. So cutting the screws can ram that icepick in there even deeper.

I've never heard an ice pick humbucker, except maybe a Lawrence L-500. I didn't notice any extra treble. Mostly it was louder and seemed more lively. I like bright pickups though. I find a lot of humbuckers are too dark sounding.

[tpruitt]

I'm gonna try it out with some allen heads i have laying around.