Ceramic bars and polarizing?

[Micke]

I’m totally newbie of winding pickups. However, I would like to do it. Therefore I probably will come up with some dumb questions.
I’m, and have always been really fascinated of how the Alembic pickups sound and have read what I could find in that matter, also what I could find about Low-Z pickups here on this forum.
I would like to use ceramic bars and as I understand the magnet is use as a winding coil, and now to my consideration.
The polarizing of the bars I could by is as the left example and as I can understand the polarizing should be as the right? (The example shows the ends of a bar magnet)


Have I misunderstood something?

I design and build basses, and I think I understand wood but not electronic. That I’m looking for is that acoustic, bell like piano tone and as I can’t by the pickups for reasonably money I have to try and make this myself. So any help in this matter would be lovely.

And I thanks in advance…

[jason lollar]

ceramics are usually magnetised through the thickness dimension and alnico through the length so they are not usually interchangeable, you have to accomodate the magnet with the pickup design.

[Micke]

Thanks Jason, for your reply so far…
I’m aware of the magnetizing of alnico vs. ceramic and that is my issues. How did Alembic solve there’s pickups as they, what I have read, are stacked, singlecoil with a humcanceling aircoil. And they use, quote “a bigass ceramic magnet”? And I’m talking about AXY not the SI or SII pickups.
If I look at the LP-recording pickups they are Low-z but also stacked humbucker so I change the pole direction by having a steel plate between the coils, but then I lose the singlecoil sound?
I know this perhaps is a bit too much but, does anyone have some recipe of a pickup that comes close of my desire where I can start and then experiment myself to the sound I want? And I’m stubborn about ceramics, I think…

Ragards
Michael Öhman

[David King]

Micke, Welcome to the pickup forum, you might do a search here for "Lane Poor pickups", there's a lot of nonsense early on in the thread but much good information is revealed by the end.

I'd love to see your basses, PM me with your website if you get a chance.