Magnetize me!!

[Possum]

...

Yes I know that the parts are getting magnetized but if you take the pickup apart they only hold about 1 or 2 gauss. When you magnetize the whole enchilada it all acts as a keeper for the magnet so it doesn't go away that I've seen, but I haven't tested to see if it stays that way or not. I suspect it might stay that way if Duncan is using it for something. I never found a real use for it, but it probably would be a good idea to charge one that way and let it sit for 6 months. Its worth experimenting with if you have a charger...

[David Schwab]

It might help align the domains better than just sticking the magnet on the poles, etc.

It's like aligning an iron nail north/south and hitting it hard with a hammer. It will become weakly magnetized.

So maybe with a permanent magnetic field applied it will hold their alignment.

But how the heck do you magnetize a humbucker when each coil has an opposite polarity? Do you do them with the magnet in-situ?

[Yves]

When using magnets to magnetize: what kind of arangement/jig do you use ?
I believe the magnetizing magnets have to be quite distant before bringing in/out the magnet to be magnetized so that the field is not at max at that moment ?
Otherwise I would think that sliping the magnet to be charged from the side might have a bad effect when moving out of the field due to the fact the field hasn't got a straight shape when passing and going away from the edge of the magnetizing magnets.

[Possum]

...

if you're using magnets to magnetize it only really works well with alnico 5 which can only be magnetized in one direction. The others are nondirectional so slipping them in and out of two other magnets might not be the best idea. I used to just magnetize from one side using a very large neo block, it would make the magnetizing hottest on the side it was magnetized from but it worked ok and you could magnetize in a straight line.

when magnetizing a humbucker yes you magnetize it with everything assembled and the magnet in place. the poles will reach a higher gauss than they could with just inserting a magnet by itself. So yeah it must be because everything is aligned, the metal parts by themselves don't hold much charge by themselves.

[Weldaar]

Hi guys. I have a question. Not be a pickup builder, I have many pickups that aren't in any of my guitars. Will they lose magnetism sitting in the box? How about in a guitar that isn't being played very often? I hope that doesn't sound stupid!

[Spence]

If left alone either in a box or in a guitar that's not used, so long as they are away from external influence from other magnetic fields, they will remain almost unchanged forever. A case in point is a 1957 Fender Strat I tested. The guitar was a collectors item but had had some use in the early days. The gauss levels had barely dropped since it was made.

[Weldaar]

I never lean my guitar against the amp and the pickups are always in a box or if in a guitar, the guitar is always in it's case.
Thanx Spence.

[kevinT]

I never lean my guitar against the amp and the pickups are always in a box or if in a guitar, the guitar is always in it's case.
Thanx Spence.

Hi Jeff,

I did a test with my gauss meter and it measured the magnetic field of a humbucker bar magnet at about 8 inches away. I also measured the pickup unit as a whole, and the meter measured the magnetic field at about 9 to 10 inches away.

IMO if you have them in a box and they are stuck together or in close proximity with one another, some of the stronger grade mags may steal some of the gauss from the weaker grade ones. How much would require a bit of research.

You can always say that they were aged to perfection if you ever decide to sell them.

[Weldaar]

You can always say that they were aged to perfection

Like me? LOL

They are in plastic in a box laying flat on their backs.

[David Schwab]

when magnetizing a humbucker yes you magnetize it with everything assembled and the magnet in place.

But... how do you orient it in the magnetizer? After all, the magnet is perpendicular to the poles. So I'd assume you want the magnet to be oriented N/S to the magnetizer, but then the poles are 90° to that. And each set of poles are opposite polarity.

I just can't visualize how it would work.

[David Schwab]

If left alone either in a box or in a guitar that's not used, so long as they are away from external influence from other magnetic fields, they will remain almost unchanged forever. A case in point is a 1957 Fender Strat I tested. The guitar was a collectors item but had had some use in the early days. The gauss levels had barely dropped since it was made.

Did they sound like new pickups, or old pickups? I have a friend who has a mid 60's Strat he had since it was new. I don't have anything to measure the magnets, but they don't seem any weaker than the new ones, and the pickups have a very warm tone, not at all like new Strat pickups.

That made me think they were weaker, but I've heard of people measuring old pickups, and the magnets are normal strength, but the pickup sounds different.

I think we had a thread on this subject once.

[Possum]

....

You put the bucker in so the magnetizer poles are across the width so the magnet is oriented the same way it would be if you just charged the magnet alone. What happens is the screws are receiving only a South charge and slugs only north.

The old Fender stuff sounds different partly I think because the magnets had more iron in them than the new stuff does. Its amazing that magnets from different manufacturers all sound different, you can see it on the Extech easily, when switching out magnets in a bucker....