SensMag Prices

[David King]

I failed to notice the 200 piece orders in the OP's quotes above. Yes 500 or 1000 piece per size orders are more or less the minimums for reasonable pricing.

Back in the day there were excellent Alnico foundries in the UK centered around Sheffield. I'd be interested to hear if any are still extant and if anyone is still using their magnets.

Tim, no worries about offending anyone around here, especially not a distant giant factory.

[Alberto]

I failed to notice the 200 piece orders in the OP's quotes above. Yes 500 or 1000 piece per size orders are more or less the minimums for reasonable pricing.

Back in the day there were excellent Alnico foundries in the UK centered around Sheffield. I'd be interested to hear if any are still extant and if anyone is still using their magnets.

Tim, no worries about offending anyone around here, especially not a distant giant factory.

I buy from Cermag, in Sheffield, from time to time, I really like their bar magnets. I never tried their rod magnets, too expensive. Anyway, prices have gone up by 30%-40% during the last year.

[LtKojak]

I buy from Cermag, in Sheffield, from time to time, I really like their bar magnets. I never tried their rod magnets, too expensive. Anyway, prices have gone up by 30%-40% during the last year.

Really? I've tried'em too, and comparing'em with Sensmag's, to me they're tone-wise not even close, speaking about the same alnico grades of both foundries, not to mention that Cermag's roughcasts don't look "vintage" at all. With the exception of A3, all the other grades charge too high for my taste, making'em sound darker by default, unless when you make "hot" p'ups for Metal and such, which it might even be a good thing.

The positive side is that they're pretty affordable, even buying few at the time, and as they're in the EU, the burden of the administrative side of dealing with Customs and such, it's non-existent.

[LtKojak]

Thanks Pepe.
As they say here: "tú no tienes ni un pelo de tonto" which can be translated literally as "you don´t have any "fool´s hair" (in your head) meaning "you don´t have the tiniest bit of foolishness"

Although the literal translation also applies

Muchas gracias, Juan Manuel!

[Alberto]

With the exception of A3, all the other grades charge too high for my taste, making'em sound darker by default, unless when you make "hot" p'ups for Metal and such

I've used them in low wind humbuckers (7,5k-8,5k) and they didn't sound dark at all to me, but I suppose it depends on the design of the pickup as well.

[LtKojak]

I've used them in low wind humbuckers (7,5k-8,5k) and they didn't sound dark at all to me, but I suppose it depends on the design of the pickup as well.

Yeah, that too... if they work for you, that's all you need, Alberto, isn't it?

[David King]

I'm guessing that WAL might have got their ceramics from Cermag then too...

[Alberto]

Yeah, that too... if they work for you, that's all you need, Alberto, isn't it?

And for my customers as well, I hope

[cermag]

yes, cobalt prices went through the roof as you all know. They seem to have stabilised somewhat at the moment.

Sorry LtKojak our mags dont meet your needs, id love to hear what we could do to give you a better sound.

Just for info, we offer trade discounts on request as well as standard discounts if a minimum order qty is achieved.

[LtKojak]

Sorry LtKojak our mags dont meet your needs, id love to hear what we could do to give you a better sound.

Mike, is that you posting here?

I honestly don't know what you could do, short of changing your whole production and annealing process to match the BH curve analisys results of american-made mags from the 50s and 60s, plus "worsen" (for the lack of a better word) your pouring molds so your "roughcast" offerings look more like the vintage ones.

I completely understand that's quite a tall order and that's never going to happen for just one guy that's not even a boutique winder... specially considering that basically THERE'S ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG with your mags to start with.

For the record, as I sold all my Sensmag A3 bars, now I'm currently using one of your A3s in the neck p'up of my own guitar, and being basically satisfied with it, although I had to set the p'up a little bit lower to match and balance the output of the bridge when the toggle switch is in the middle position, and consider too that the bridge p'up has an A2 in it.

Hope this helps!

Yours very truly,

[cermag]

Mike, is that you posting here?

yes, its Mike thanks for your comments. Well received.

We've done some work on HB bars that are half A2 and half A3 or A4 (basically half bonded together). had some positive responses but im sure we didnt get full feedback from guys that have done this.

[Possum]

You can thank Mr. Pig, the pretend president and his idiotic "trade wars" crap he saw on Fox. Your vote has consequences, and you are paying for it now.

[epizootics]

yes, cobalt prices went through the roof as you all know. They seem to have stabilised somewhat at the moment.

Sorry LtKojak our mags dont meet your needs, id love to hear what we could do to give you a better sound.

Just for info, we offer trade discounts on request as well as standard discounts if a minimum order qty is achieved.

Dear Cermag,

I've used your magnets for a while now, since you're the only company on my side of the pond to manufacture guitar-oriented magnets. Kudos for posting here, you've obviously kept an eye on the needs & demands of pickup makers! Your range seems to have expanded in the last year or so, and I thought I'd chime in with a few comments.

I haven't found using your magnets to result in particularly dark sounding pickups, I guess part of it is winding styles & the type of wires used.

I did notice a change in quality in your products in the last few months, the first magnets I ordered from you guys had quite a few bubbles in them, but the issue seems to have disappeared in the last couple of orders I received, which is a nice thing. Did you up your QC/manufacturing processes?

Now, the one thing that still has me ordering from your American competitors is the lack of a bevel option for your rod magnets, both for the practicality of inserting the magnets into the flatworks (I like a tight fit in my pickups, and not having a bevel means a small part of the forbon is gouged out by the sharp edges of the magnets) and for customers who want a vintage-correct bevel on their pickups.

I'll give you guys an email, I'm going full-time into pickup making this years and I'll be needing more of those tiny, shiny bits of metal...

[Alberto]

and not having a bevel means a small part of the forbon is gouged out by the sharp edges of the magnets) and for customers who want a vintage-correct bevel on their pickups.

I'll give you guys an email, I'm going full-time into pickup making this years and I'll be needing more of those tiny, shiny bits of metal...

Also, bass players don't like sharp edges. I've made a few P bass pickups using Cermag's rod magnets, my customers love the sound (more than other magnets I've tried) but sometimes they complain about the lack of bevel.

[LtKojak]

Also, bass players don't like sharp edges. I've made a few P bass pickups using Cermag's rod magnets, my customers love the sound (more than other magnets I've tried) but sometimes they complain about the lack of bevel.

Really?

That's an incredibly specific thing to complain about... specially considering that real vintage Fender p'ups didn't have bevels, nor do most of the repros offered by high-priced boutique winders.

But, then again, I don't wind bass p'ups, so what do I know, uh?