balancing string output

[Helmholtz]

I'm not a pickup maker/winder, so please excuse my total ignorance. When I swap pickups out of a guitar, I'll toss the ones removed randomly into a drawer. From the looks of it, I'm at risk of degaussing the pickups in that drawer from their haphazard relative position. Is it really such a stupid thing I've done?

Yes, the risk is real. Alnico magnets don't noticeably age. The close proximity of like magnet poles is the most probable reason for partial degaussing.
If there is enough room to move the repulsion between like poles tends to prevent significant demagnetization.
Stacking PUs along unlike/attracting poles is no problem.

[eschertron]

You simply put the same polarity end of the loose mag to the mag in the bobbin, and it'll degauss it. You have to recharge the loose mag because the degaussing process degausses both of them.

I'm not a pickup maker/winder, so please excuse my total ignorance. When I swap pickups out of a guitar, I'll toss the ones removed randomly into a drawer. From the looks of it, I'm at risk of degaussing the pickups in that drawer from their haphazard relative position. Is it really such a stupid thing I've done?

[okabass]

⇧ That's how I do too. You can also use neodymes with controlled distance. I have made a tool like feeler gauge, but with 0,3 mm plastic sheets. A Tesla/Gaussmeter like WT10A is a must. You can do surprisingly lot with the Alnicos.

[Slight Return]

These days, I'm a fan of flat poles and degaussing.

Get a WT10A meter and you're good to go. What I do is use either an Alnico 5 or 2 rod, depending on how much I want to degauss. You simply put the same polarity end of the loose mag to the mag in the bobbin, and it'll degauss it. You have to recharge the loose mag because the degaussing process degausses both of them.

Double check with the WT10A and that's it. Personally, I think it's just easier to order as few mag types and lengths as necessary. All alnico 5 at one length works for me. The small amount of time it takes to degauss a pole or two is less of an investment than having different lengths or grades of alnico and having to deal with that when assembling the bobbin. That's my personal preference, but different strokes, as the saying goes.

[David King]

I use all three techniques plus variable discharging of magnets to fine tune things. In the past we've seen mixing in some larger diameter magnets like .195" with the .187"s, attaching steel plates to top or bottoms and boosting outputs with small disc neos on the bottoms. There are undoubtedly other techniques I can't think of as well.

[Antigua]

Hello,
about balancing string output in a classic alnico/forbon single coil, your preference is (and why)?
- raising magnets
- using longer magnets
- using different magnetizing strength for different magnets
Thanks.

I think the practice of mixing AlNiCo strengths is pretty cool, because you can have the vintage correct looking stagger for Stratocaster pickups, without the magnetic strengths usually associated with the stagger. For example, people often think the high D and G makes those strings too loud, but suppose you put AlNiCo 2 for the tall D and G, but use AlNiCo 5 for the rest and get a balance closer to "flat" stagger, with the look of vintage stagger. My only experience with this to date has been pickups in the style of the "Five Two", I liked the results.

[Chuck H]

If you wish to stagger magnets on existing pickups there is always risk involved. For wax potted pickups you can heat the pickups to loosen the wax, but if you're doing it right you're going to be repotting them too. For anything potted with a polymer you're taking your chances. In my own experience (about four out of five) it works most of the time. But taking a 20% chance on ruining anything valuable or vintage isn't worth the risk.

JM2C

[Brian W.]

Hello,
about balancing string output in a classic alnico/forbon single coil, your preference is (and why)?
- raising magnets
- using longer magnets
- using different magnetizing strength for different magnets
Thanks.

If the fingerboard radius is closer to older, vintage-style Fender I would try a "modern" stagger version [slightly raised "G" and "D" string magnets]. For flatter radius I have all the magnets the same height. This seems to work for me and the lighter gauge strings I use. Do you use thicker gauges with a wound "G" string?? I've tried mixing & matching string gauges but the results were negligible. The type of amps and effects could make a difference on how the sound is perceived, too......playing at louder onstage volume is different then in the bedroom. I haven't tried using different magnets and remain curious as to the results.

[big_teee]

- raising magnets
- using longer magnets
- using different magnetizing strength for different magnets

I primarily do it with stagger.
Fender had a bunch of ways to stagger them.
https://music-electronics-forum.com/...9&d=1368410992
T

[max oersted]

*edit/delete ... scratch that!

You're asking for details on a public, google-crawled forum. Respectfully, don't expect people to hand you this information. Yes to all your focus points. Play with those things, wind a few dozen and experiment until you get it right, to your ears, in your instrument. That will be a good starting point.

I apologize for not going deeper with the details but if you dig around in the archives here, spend some time playing around with your own ideas, and put the time in with practical experience to figure it out ..man, that's the best way and the right way.

[Marco Pancaldi]

Hello,
about balancing string output in a classic alnico/forbon single coil, your preference is (and why)?
- raising magnets
- using longer magnets
- using different magnetizing strength for different magnets
Thanks.