Repotting Neodymium

[NateS]

I have a tele bridge pickup I rendered microphonic by staring at it too hard (handling, but its super delicate). Its cloth braid/with the barest bit of wax. But... the magnet is neodymium and since it dies at 80C even a double boiler is not guaranteed safe.


I have like one loose winding. How do I best save it. Shellac? CA glue? Its a GFS Neovin.I don't expect CA to stick to wax. Nor much of anything else. Any suggestions? If i can fix it in the plate thats even better because handling a cloth wound pickup in a tight plate is how it got damaged in the first place

[Helmholtz]

While the Curie temperature of Neo magnets is above 300°C, some types start to lose some strength above 80°C.
The irreversible loss up to 120°C is typically below 10%.
It is hard to believe that a Neo magnet "died" at a potting temperature of 80°C.
Pure paraffin potting is possible at 70°C.

What do you mean with "in the plate"?

[NateS]

I mean without dismounting it from the Telecaster bridge plate, as handling that is how I got here (twice, I had a Neovin that was microphonic, i replaced it for a Neovin Hard Vintage i had laying around and did the same to it).

I didn't figure I could dip it like that but I thought maybe a gentle heat could remelt everything in place.

[Helmholtz]

A few loose outer turns won't cause noticeable microphonics.
If the problem increased over time I would contact the manufacturer.

Apart from that, all Tele bridge PUs are somewhat microphonic because they're mounted in/on a ferromagnetic steel plate.
Remedy: Find a non-magnetic stainless steel bridge plate.

[NateS]

On further inspection I think the birds nest is actually the tele string. When I set my sights on a tele I had no idea this was a whole nother level of guitar player juju and superstition beyond other electric guitar players.

[Helmholtz]

Sorry, no idea what you mean.

[NateS]

Apparently tradition is that telecaster pickups protect the windings with string rather than cloth tape/ribbon. I snagged a bit of string, not wire. I knew there was essentially no way to 6k worth of cloth insulated wire on the bobbin.

[Helmholtz]

I snagged a bit of string, not wire.

So what was the result?

I thought this was about a microphonic PU ?

[NateS]

It is. I'm currently thinking it's bridgeplate/spring/mounting. I just drilled and countersunk two holes iin the forward edge after confirming that the front edge was lifting. Depending on what else happens before it gets fixed I may go as far as mounting the pickup to wood. (leaving the bridgeplate). The baseplate seems to be solid, so far the only thing I have confirmed to be microphonic is the bridge plate itself (tap on the front edge, audible results), and using a lightly sprung pickup mounting.