Hidden Tele Neck Pickup?

[Stratz]

I wonder how a neodymium magnet Tele neck pickup would sound under the pick guard?
I found a couple of old ceramic Tele neck pickups with nice forbon flat work steel pole pickups in one of my boxes. They would make a perfect candidate for a neo mag pickup.

I know David S uses neo mags for bass pickups (and possibly for guitar pickups). Has anybody tried them on a single coil Fender style pickup?

What are the tonal difference's compared to ceramic/alnico?

I have some small neo disc magnets from Home Depot that I could try but figured I'd ask first.

[rhgwynn]

I wonder how a neodymium magnet Tele neck pickup would sound under the pick guard?
I found a couple of old ceramic Tele neck pickups with nice forbon flat work steel pole pickups in one of my boxes. They would make a perfect candidate for a neo mag pickup.

I know David S uses neo mags for bass pickups (and possibly for guitar pickups). Has anybody tried them on a single coil Fender style pickup?

What are the tonal difference's compared to ceramic/alnico?

I have some small neo disc magnets from Home Depot that I could try but figured I'd ask first.

I have read that Bill Lawrence uses neos, but that may have just been speculation. I have experimented with them mixed with ceramics, so I cant really comment, as I have never used them on their own. Here is a tone chart I saved from another website that has since been removed:

Type of magnet Surface gauss Tonal characteristics

AlNiCo II 7,500 Midheavy, spongy bass, and compressed. They tend to give pickups a thick smooth, gritty tone that is great for rock leads and blues.

AlNiCo III 7,000 Open, clear, balanced, smooth, and mellow. Its particularly good in the neck position because it's it doesn't boom like alnico 2 and 5 do.

AlNiCo IV 5,600 These have a low output but their tone is surprisingly bright, clear, and defined. It was a very common in vintage PAF's and it really helps you get a nice bite without sounding too aggressive.

AlNiCo V 12,800 The most powerful and aggressive of the alnico magnets. It's got a very prominent upper midrange bite that is great for pushing your amp and cutting through a mix.

AlNiCo VIII 8,300 This is a magnet that is relatively new and expensive. It has an aggressive, Powerful, bright tone that sounds quite modern and it cleans up nicely too.

Neodymium 42 13,500 It's got higher highs, lower lows, more power, cleaner cleans, quicker attack, it's more sensitive, and more aggressive than any other magnet I've used. When used correctly it can sound amazing in pickups. The key is that it's explosive power has to be harnessed and controlled. That is why it tends to sound best in pickups with high DC resistances.

Ceramic 8 3,850 Open with strong treble, scooped mids, and tight bass. Ceramic magnets have a wider frequency range than alnico and sound full and balanced when you are using high gain

[big_teee]

Feel free to try NEOs, and different Magnets.
Not sure any of them will over come the distance from under the pickguard to the strings.
I may try holes in the pickguard if the customer wants me to, and has enough money!
I have already wound one pickup for my own amusement, that I'm going to peel!
If I did the magnets sticking through the holes use the .781" A5s.
I did determine that it would not take much height above the pickguard to suffice.
It did need some stagger and height adjustment, that would be easy to do with holes.
I mounted the SC, and the blade in the middle with the ceramic magnet.
The A5s SC outperformed the mini blade. the blade sounded muddy and muffled at that extreme distance to the strings.
I have another set of Tele SCs to wind, after that I may piddle some more with it.
What is so Silly about the whole affair, to fix it, all that is needed to fix it is a PG with a Pickup in it, and change the Name from Esquire to Modern Telecaster.
T

[Stratz]

What is so Silly about the whole affair, to fix it, all that is needed to fix it is a PG with a Pickup in it, and change the Name from Esquire to Modern Telecaster.
T

While I agree with you on this point it not going to sell a pickup if the customer doesn't see it that way.

[Stratz]

Neodymium 42 13,500 It's got higher highs, lower lows, more power, cleaner cleans, quicker attack, it's more sensitive, and more aggressive than any other magnet I've used. When used correctly it can sound amazing in pickups. The key is that it's explosive power has to be harnessed and controlled. That is why it tends to sound best in pickups with high DC resistances.

Interesting, Thanks Rob
I'll think I'll have to give the neo's a try.

[big_teee]

Maybe you can get your NEOs perfected.
If you do, I may have to give him your address!
Just Ki!dding,
T

[Steve A.]

My spidey sense for asshole jerks is tingling. I don't know what he wants to accomplish with the pickup under the pickguard- he could get a wider variety of usable tones with a tapped double coil bridge pickup (like the George L 10-5 steel guitar pickup.) For example each HB coil could have taps for, say, 3k and 4k (I think that you do want to keep the same ratio.)





BTW the 6 positions that George L uses only scratches the surface of what is possible with two tapped HB coils.

Steve Ahola

[big_teee]

That's a cool looking diagram.
Looks like possibilities.
This guy has lots of guitars, I figure he'll get bored with it and trade it.
It was just a cheap Partscaster with a Mighty Mite Neck.
Keep an Eye out for it, you may see it on Flea Bay!
T

[isaac]

I have read that Bill Lawrence uses neos, but that may have just been speculation. I have experimented with them mixed with ceramics, so I cant really comment, as I have never used them on their own. Here is a tone chart I saved from another website that has since been removed:

Type of magnet Surface gauss Tonal characteristics

AlNiCo II 7,500 Midheavy, spongy bass, and compressed. They tend to give pickups a thick smooth, gritty tone that is great for rock leads and blues.

AlNiCo III 7,000 Open, clear, balanced, smooth, and mellow. Its particularly good in the neck position because it's it doesn't boom like alnico 2 and 5 do.

AlNiCo IV 5,600 These have a low output but their tone is surprisingly bright, clear, and defined. It was a very common in vintage PAF's and it really helps you get a nice bite without sounding too aggressive.

AlNiCo V 12,800 The most powerful and aggressive of the alnico magnets. It's got a very prominent upper midrange bite that is great for pushing your amp and cutting through a mix.

AlNiCo VIII 8,300 This is a magnet that is relatively new and expensive. It has an aggressive, Powerful, bright tone that sounds quite modern and it cleans up nicely too.

Neodymium 42 13,500 It's got higher highs, lower lows, more power, cleaner cleans, quicker attack, it's more sensitive, and more aggressive than any other magnet I've used. When used correctly it can sound amazing in pickups. The key is that it's explosive power has to be harnessed and controlled. That is why it tends to sound best in pickups with high DC resistances.

Ceramic 8 3,850 Open with strong treble, scooped mids, and tight bass. Ceramic magnets have a wider frequency range than alnico and sound full and balanced when you are using high gain

So what would be "the Best" for a strong really punchy clean, maybe slightly compressed, but still great all around tele pickup. I'm thinking REALLY twangy country stuff, think brent mason and brad paisley instrumentals. I'm thinking A5 magnets and a little bit overwound. If you can narrow it down to that simple of a science in a pickup, (especially after that incredibly descriptive magnet stuff, I have basically what I described, except A2 and it does country well, but not as well as hoped, and does blues and rock great. Any help?

[big_teee]

So what would be "the Best" for a strong really punchy clean, maybe slightly compressed, but still great all around tele pickup. I'm thinking REALLY twangy country stuff, think brent mason and brad paisley instrumentals. I'm thinking A5 magnets and a little bit overwound. If you can narrow it down to that simple of a science in a pickup, (especially after that incredibly descriptive magnet stuff, I have basically what I described, except A2 and it does country well, but not as well as hoped, and does blues and rock great. Any help?

I just made a set for This guy Danny I'm winding for.
He is a country picker deluxe. Does all the chicken pickin.
He likes the A5 set. I use 42 SPN, you could use spn or PE.
The neck he likes is a 43 SPN with a bare nickel cover.
Give it a Try.
T

[isaac]

I did my set similarly, I use 42SPN on the bridge pickup, and it has the A2's as stated, but I think If I jack my saddles up on my action to tighten up feel and response and then jack the pickup up pretty high up next to it, I could probably do ok, and I do have staggered magnets, 4 of which are flush with the top bobbin, the D and G are raised, I think the next one I do will be A5 magnets, probably slightly overwound (from vintage fender specs, [kinda]) so about 7.3K-7.8k if possible, So kinda hot but punchy still get that blues and rock stuff, yet slightly more midrangy and powerful, plus It's always nice to get a little bit more as to keep up with the humbuckers a little bit... My dad sometimes makes fun of me, always setting my settings harder, but then he comes with his LP's and Humbucker equipped guitars (his favorite of them has my very first humbucker I ever wound in the neck, and oh boy that sounds nice [PAF clones are my only H-buckers, but they are nice]) Anyway, he comes with his humbuckers, and then hes playing hard rock, when I was playing blues, classic rock, and that's about as hard as I had it set... lol I really need to get a good compressor too, I used my dad's CS-3 boss for a while and then it just conked out, and now I have a orange squeezer clone I fixed, and that's nice, but its not country squish its just a bit of squish. ;-)

My neck pickup on my tele is 43AWG poly wire and A5 magnets with the standard plated-nickel cover, and about 7K (? cant remember now...) and its a little bit too jazzy and slightly dark, but once I get my action higher, I think that will change just to where I want it.

[isaac]

Also, would you recommend flat-poled, or staggered, since a LOT of flat pole pickups are starting to gain popularity nowadays, pretty much all the higher end Fenders and CS fenders have the broadcaster flat pole pickup, and that sounds pretty good in the videos, ;-) but I usually get staggered, as I said, this last one I built, I built with the 4 outer poles flat, and the middle ones stuck out. But Do you think that it would be safe to shorten the long ones with a grinder or end mill (or similar)?

[isaac]

Not before installed though, right before putting the bobbin together.

[big_teee]

You can make them all different ways.
Fender did.
Strats I lightly stagger, Teles I just do straight.
Tele Pickup are a little harder for me to make, so I do the straight poles.
I let my beveled poles stick through about .050", I think it looks cool and my players like it.
If you want flush poles, just use the .630" magnets, and make them flush on each end.
That is the standard.
I'm going to have to get a lefty tele so I can experiment more with them.
T

[rjb]

What is so Silly about the whole affair, to fix it, all that is needed to fix it is a PG with a Pickup in it, and change the Name from Esquire to Modern Telecaster.

I still don't get it. If you're a honky-tonk country player who already owns a bunch of Teles (presumably, with any pickup combinations you want), what possible reason for owning an Esquire is there- other than to look and sound like Luther Perkins?