Neo Blades

[Stilts]

Hi all,

I'm in the process of putting together a new bass for myself, and I thought I might go to the extra effort to make this one a bit more special and make as much as I can from scratch, including the pickups. I want a humbucker in the Stingray position, and I'll be having a 3 band preamp to go along with it, but I'm looking to build something a bit more interesting than the bog standard Musicman pickup. I like the idea of doing a dual blade design, and I was wondering if it's practical to use neodymium magnets as the blade pieces or are they too strong?

Thanks

[big_teee]

Hi Stilts:
Welcome to the forum.
Long NEOs bars for blades under the strings, IMO would be too strong.
Guys that make Bass Pickups with NEOs use smaller ones under, or between steel blades or poles.
I make a few Soapbar bass pickups with Ceramic magnets for blades.
http://music-electronics-forum.com/t34308/
The Soapbar humbuckers are very quiet, and a tone I like.
Mojotone has the parts for that type, and they are fairly cheap.
Maybe others will jump in and give some more ideas.
T

[Stilts]

Would neo pole pieces instead be too strong as well?
The ceramic blades sound like a good fall back option, are there any particular dimension ratios and such needed for them?
I've had a good look through the Mojotone site for supplies but the shipping turned out to be about 5x as much as the parts were worth
Ebay seems to be about the easiest option for me at this point for parts, but I'm happy to work with blanks to shape it all to how I want it.
How does wood hold up as a bobbin material, just in case I need to go ultra diy for this?

[big_teee]

If shipping is 5x the cost of the parts, where are you located?
Some of the Guys make wood bobbins and covers all the time for their pickups.
Good Luck,
T

[Stilts]

I might have a go with the wooden bobbins and see how they work out then
I live in Australia, last I checked the postage for Mojotone was somewhere around the $40 dollar mark from memory,
which is really not worth it for me just having a fiddle around

[big_teee]

There are several guys on here from Oz land.
Maybe some of them have some extra parts?
Calling all Australians!
T

[SpareRibs]

Hello,
Stilts, Go to a stationary store and get some pressed paper. It will be the kind used for matting photographs. It comes in various thicknesses and colors. (I am sure gray is going to produce the best tone)!!! Anyway cut it to shape and soak it in semi gloss polyurethane. I use an exacto knife, and sometimes scissors for the outer edges, and one of those hand held leather punches that functions like a pair of pliers with a circular head with the multiple sizes of punches you can select. It will make flat work as good or better than the type we are led to believe is the only true way on the sacred path to the ultimate tone.

[Stilts]

That sounds fantastic, there's plenty of places that sell that paper around here. I'm always keen to try something a little outside the box, thanks for the suggestion