What size neo discs?

[GlennW]

I'm thinking about converting a dead DiMarzio SDS-1 Strat pickup to a 4-pole single coil Precision Bass pickup. I have no idea what size neo discs to use. I was going to try 1/4" dia. x 1/8" tall, but don't know if that's too strong or too weak. Any suggestions?

[corduroyew]

Part of it depends on the type of neodymium you are using and how strong you want the pull to be. I have use lots of N42 disks so I know that if I stick a 1/4"x1/16" N42 magnet at the bottom of a 1/4"x1/2" steel rod and measure the gauss at the top of the rod it'll read .312k on my gauss meter. I would guess that an extra 1/16" thickness would put you about where you want to be.

[Spence]

Why use neos?

[corduroyew]

clearer tone and faster attack than alnico without sounding sterile the way ceramic magnets do.

[David Schwab]

The disks aren't strong at all because they are so thin.

You can get neo rods. I'd either use those or use steeo poles with a neo bar magnet stuck on the bottom.

This is a good size magnet and has its poles on the side like a humbucker mag.

http://www.kjmagnetics.com/proddetail.asp?prod=BX044

Here's rods

http://www.kjmagnetics.com/products.asp?cat=13

[GlennW]

I have no idea what strength I need, but was wanting something that would be close to a 5/8" alnico rod in strength (not that I know how strong they are).

I would like to try the neo discs because then I could skip the drilling/tapping step on the metal bar that the pole pieces screw into, and also hear how they sound. I figured the steel bar could be removed and the little neo discs stuck on the bottoms of the poles. If 1/16" or 1/8" is too weak a couple could be stacked. My pogo days are over so I doubt if they'll shake loose.

The penny in David's link looks familiar; I was going by a link from another thread:
http://www.kjmagnetics.com/products.asp?cat=10
so I'll order some bars at the same time.

Since the discs are cheap I'll get eight 1/8" and four 1/16"...that'll be enough to try 1/16, 1/18, 3/16, 1/4 and 5/15 on each pole. I'll probably start at 3/16" or 1/4".

Thanks a lot.

[Achiles]

What happens if you put the discs on top of the bobbin?
Considering:
steel blade core coil
steel pole piece coil
non magnetic (wood , plastic) core coil
air coil

[Achiles]

Nobody?

[David Schwab]

What happens if you put the discs on top of the bobbin?
Considering:
steel blade core coil
steel pole piece coil
non magnetic (wood , plastic) core coil
air coil

I don't think anyone here has an answer because it's not the type of magnets we use.

I did see an experimental pickup with neo disks on top of ceramic ferrite rods.

If you are using steel blade or rod cores, why use neo disks? Just get the neo bar mags I put a link to. You can also try sticking the neo disks on top of steel rod poles. You can get neo rods also.

Air cores (same as wood or plastic) need strong magnets to get any level because the inductance is so low. Take a look at the Q-Tuner pickups for an example. I've heard the neos are so strong that you can't get those pickups too close to the strings.

You can try messing with those little disks stacked up, but my experience with those are they are a waste of time for pickups.

[David King]

Achiles, wouldn't neodymium magnets on top have too much direct string pull?

[David Schwab]

Achiles, wouldn't neodymium magnets on top have too much direct string pull?

Those little disks wouldn't, but anything bigger probably would. Those little disks are strong for their size, but with magnets, size matters.

[Achiles]

Thanx Davids i have some neo 35 discs and i´m going to make some trying.

[David Schwab]

The nice part about trying magnets is unless your bobbin is held together by the magnets, you can swap them out as much as you like!

I did this when I got my first batch of neos. I just swapped out the ceramics in a set of my pickups to see what the tonal difference was. It was quite startling actually! More mids and highs, and a generally snarlly tone.

I like both tones, so now I have two models of pickups from the same bobbins.


I also tried an alnico V bar, and was just too dull sounding for my tastes.

Next I'm going to try putting one of each in a pickup.

If you get any larger neo magnets, just be careful with them. You can hurt yourself with those things. Seriously!