Great videos, very informative but as a physicist there were a couple things that bugged me 1) as others noted treble frequencies being more pronounced near the bridge is not due to differences in amplitude. It’s because the string vibrates in a combination of standing waves and lower frequency standing waves have their max amplitude further away from the bridge. If amplitude determined frequency then the frequency would change as the note decays 2) “Gauss” is a German name and rhymes with mouse.
Wow! My mind is blown. I’m a retired EE and thought I understood the magnetic workings of PU and coil. You are a master Jedi of the PU. I even heard you say “ feel the force”. This is the best explanation I’ve ever heard. And being new to guitar See described as an inverse relationship between knowledge of the science and the ability to play the guitar. (Naming something a hummbucker because it bucks the hum is my go to example). Please keep making these videos. I feel like I just entered a masters degree course in Maxwell’s equations.
Welcome to the guitar world of magnificent stuff young Jedi ! Glad to see your choice of extra curricular activities. Curiosity has got the better of me, and I wonder what type of guitar you've gravitated to, and if you've crossed the threshold into building your own amplifier yet?
I play Acoustic and classical for now. I plan to play electric guitar one day as a make the full circle. I own several from Strats, a Telecaster and a Les Paul. But they are out there still for me.
You know, I'm not new to pickups, yet this was the most informative pickup video I've come across! Not a second wasted! All info, all facts, step-by-logical-step, and the Gaussing part was just a damn thrill, it really was! THANK you!!
Extremely inspiring, thank you!!! I'm building pickups myself and I just bought a Gaussmeter. Now, following your approach I do not need to have faith on my purchased magnetized magents having all a consistent/equivalent magnet stregth (which they do not, and it can mess up your self built single coils). I can now homogenize my magnet rod strength or EQ my pickups. I will try next degaussing Alnico 5s into Alnico 2s (which are more scarce and pricy).
Yes, please - more episodes on magnets. I have done a bit of magnet swaps and Alnico recharging. It's been quite fun & rewarding. The HB's, in my inexpensive 335 & hollow body, have received a nice tuneup.
You may have simplified enough that some essential points got fuzzy: 1) The string sound is brighter when closer to the bridge because the higher overtones have higher amplitude, since they have shorter wavelengths and their peaks are closer to the bridge pickup. 2) The reason people associate brighter sounds with stronger magnets is that they allow fewer windings (than when using a weaker magnet) to get the the same output signal level. Fewer windings mean less of both inductance and inter-winding capacitance, which means a higher resonant frequency. In the extreme, you end up with a one-turn "Lace Sensor". If you can show some math where the strength of the magnet alone (and no change in mutual inductance due to different magnet material) affects resonant frequency (or the frequency response), I'm listening! Last quibble: Gauss is pronounced to rhyme with "mouse", no big deal, but that's how Carl Friedrich himself said it when we hung out together. He could sweep pick a gut-string guitar like nobody else. He had a way of making the "ss" sound a bit softer like "sz", though.
Was thinking this. Amplitude and Frequency are independent, rather the relative amplitudes of the harmonics are different points along the string length are what contribute to the increased high-end at the bridge.
@@FlipDahlenburg It's a combination of three atom symbols so it doesn't really have a pronunciation other than whatever you feel like, although if anything "AL-ni-co" is probably more correct unless you would say the symbol for nickel (Ni) as "nee"
INSTANT SUB!!! I really appreciated how you explained all this in such simple words. I'm a 54yr old Tx blues guitar player and I searched for ''my'' perfect tone for decades. I know that it much comes down to the player himself which is obviously why I'm not yet satisfied 😁. In an attempt to find other culprits than myself, and also out of a great curiosity, I've been searching into the magic world of luthery and electronics 😉. This is the most comprehensive video about pu's I ever came across. I really thank you for this sir 🙏. Now, if I can't improve my playing to my likings, I will be in position to better explain this in much more scientific ways lol 😂 Be safe and happy brother! Blues on 👍
Thank you so much!!! I've been waiting for this information for ages. Not that it matters at all but Gausse (sp.?) rhymes with house, he was a German mathematician.
It's spelled "Gauss". And you're absolutely correct, it should sound like the end of the word "house", not like the dressing you put on a wound (gauze). And I agree, this was a great video, even with the mis-pronounced name.
Hey can i use my big neo magnet as a generator in my Alnico II pickup? And then i am shall wind accordingly. Or would i am be better off just having a big slab of tungsten for a mass, as a generator for the pickup? Also thought of using Stainless steel mass.
I have a few Fender bass's that have various type pickups in them, Fender AlNiCo V Jazz's, Trevor Wilkinson WJM ceramic humbucker, Epic Custom single coil 1/4" polepiece AlNiCo PJ pickups & SD Apollo linear dual coil noiseless Jazz pickups with AlNiCo slugs... both types of magnets can produce good pickups, Musicman used ceramic bars for years on Stingrays, My WJM humbucker on a Fender Jazz has a Jazz coil & a MusicMan coil used along with a single coil Jazz pickup on the bridge i can still keep my original Jazz tone, coil split toggle switch on WJM humbucker, or 5 other combinations with just a Jazz's 2 Volumes & a coil split toggle switch, 4 of the tones are very useable.... interesting topic 🎸👍
I found my very first electro guitar recently, so I decided to restorate it with new parts.Funny enough, I decided on some parts to order but the longer I waited while saving money, the more expensive they got and here I am making my own pickups thanks to you sharing such information...which makes this guitar much more valuable now.I hope you'll have a nice day and keep your awesome work up.
Thanks for sharing your experience on this topic, of which I’ve found very little information in print. I want to try swapping out the magnets in one of my guitars. This ought to be a big help.
Me encantaría entender lo que está explicando... Se podrá grabar con audio en español? O aunque sea con subtitulo? Desde ya muchas gracias. Saludos desde Jujuy Argentina.
HIGHLINE, try to make a video lesson about the differences between Oriented and Unoriented magnetics because the pattern of particles are different between the two. I think the Oriented magnetics are PREmagnetized during the melting process but they still need to be magnetized after the melting process also.
@@HighlineGuitars thanks for that. i'm looking to buy and honestly don't know the best place. heard a few names float around but not these. (getting into luthier stuff and you know there's always THE place or places the guys get their supplies. (that's not going to eat the pants off your wallet)). stewmac (high $$$ imho) and mojotone namely. so i'll check out these others now! 👍
Is there any point in mixing magnets? I know of 3 pickups that do. One is the gibson iommi signature that has both A2 and ceramic and they do have a unique sound. Another one is the schecter apocalypse with A5 and ceramic which to my ears doesn't sound anything different. The last one I can't remember but I think it was a signature humbucker with A8 and a different magnet.
Thanks Chris, these last 2 videos on pickups have been awesome! I am trying to learn about pickups currently, and these have really helped. You make complicated stuff easy to understand. Thanks again!
Would the electrical conductivity of a magnet effect the tone? I would assume that the same vibrations in the magnetic field that induce a current in the pickup would also induce some eddy-currents in the magnet if it was a conductor. Which in turn would lead to some kind of signal power loss the same way transformer cores would if they're not laminated. I always figured that was why ceramic magnets have more high end because they're the poorest electrical conductor
Hi. I had the idea of adding magnet to my single strat pickup. So what exactly will happen if we attach another magnet on back of pick up? Also why manufactures use seramic magnet instead of Neydenuim one which is more powerful ? That 1 pice magnet wont effect the price of pickup for sure
The electrons themselves don't move. They carry the charge as a field outside the conductor. I think this may be the biggest misconception about electricity there is; that electrons move along the wire. They don't, at least, not as we might visualize it. They actually stay right where they are, even though they might get excited. Your videos are really cool BTW.
This is the first time I've heard this in my life, which includes 4 years studying Physics. I am very curious about it - could you point me to something that explains this? What they told us in University was that metals are good conductors of electricity exactly because being so large, they have some electrons in the upper orbits far from the atom cores that the attachment energy is almost zero and so a metal is a crystal with "free-floating" electrons scattered around. It's those free-floating ones that move around, creating the current. At least that's what they've told us.
Have you ever read chapter 1 of the Radiotron Designers Handbook? It contradicts what you are saying here. Have you ever heard of “Free Electrons”? They are constantly moving as they carry a charge.
I read somewhere that the magnet simply magnetizes string, it does not disrupt the field as previously thought, the vibrating string creates a changing magnetic field as it produces its own field. I haven’t tried it yet, but have been meaning to put the magnet there for a minute, then remove the magnet.
When I say the magnetic field is disturbed, that is the same as you saying "a changing magnetic field." Remove the steel strings from an electric guitar and replace them with nylon strings. Plug the guitar into an amp. Turn up the volume on both the guitar and the amp. Strum the nylon strings. In all likelihood, you'll hear a faint guitar tone coming out of the speaker. Why? Because the string's vibration passed through the pickup and disturbed the magnetic field, which generated a faint signal in the coil. Steel strings are magnetized by the pickup's magnet and as they vibrate, their magnetic field changes or disturbs the pickup's magnetic field to a far greater extent than non-magnetized nylon strings. The reason I didn't mention that the steel strings are magnetized is that I wanted to keep my explanation as simple as possible. Since the strings are steel, I thought it would be obvious to viewers they would be magnetized as they pass through the pickup's magnetic field.
Highline Guitars hmm, well now I actually gotta try this. Does just passing non magnetic material through a magnetic field change it? I guess under that logic you’d probably hear your hand passing over it . I suppose it could alter the permittivity of free space , but would that change even be perceptable? IDK. Science!
@@HoffOfAllThings No. Passing non magnetic material won't change or disturb it enough to generate much of a signal. However, if the non magnetic material vibrates with enough force to shake the pickup, it will affect the field and generate a weak signal.
Highline Guitars oh yeah, didn’t think of vibrations from the pickup itself. Thanks for all the great content, picked up some solarez , to try on my next build.
@@HoffOfAllThings "Does just passing non magnetic material through a magnetic field change it?" Broadly speaking NO. What is being said is that if you performed the above experiment with nylon strings you might hear something from the amp simply because the vibrations caused some movement between the coil and the magnet. However taking it to extremes, all materials respond to magnetic fields. For most materials the response is very weak. After all this is how medical MRI CAT scanners work. The magnetic pulses from the machine cause the electrons in the water molecules in your body to flip their spin.
I just had a guitar arrive with 'PAF' style A5 humbuckers and they are dark and muddy, brittle in the highs. I want new pickups but have no idea what to get.
I just like too know ,(if you don’t mind) could I use an alnico 2 magnet of a humbucher , & put it on a single coil pickup , to replace the ceramic magnet ?? Thanks . I do find your show , very interesting.
Does Alinco 3 and 4 not exist anymore? I was under the impression that Alnico 4 ( for example) was even better for higher mids? But I have struggled to find these magnets.
Great video lesson. I appreciate you taking the time to educate us. There’s not a ton of info out there on the subject and if i ask questions people are very hesitant to explain anything. Thankyou. Also what pickup winder should I start with. Im eager to start winding and experimenting
Hello and thank you for this informative episode. I would like to ask you a question on a subject that intrigues me. A while ago, I bought an epiphone 335 with P90 pickups, those pickups aren't crappy, but close. So I tried to upgrade them and upon opening them, I found that these pickups are actually the reverse of humbucker pickups, a single coil with two bar magnets on each side. I changed the polarity of one of the bars, without conclusive result, still bad then I removed a bar, and there, the microphone became exploitable and almost not bad. The DC resistance has remained the same (11-12 K ohm) but the nature of the sound has clearly changed, less bass and mud, more defined and more trebly. I had a friend listen to them, he agrees with me, so it's not a placebo effect but I don't understand what happened anyway... do you ?
Removing one of the bars changed the shape of the magnetic field, which will change the tone. Another option is to replace both bars with new bars that are a different type of magnet.
Very interesting and informative video, thanks. However I was confused when you pronounced Gauss as 'gauze', in Europe it is pronounced 'gouse', it rhymes with house. Carl Friedrich Gauss was a German mathematician and physicist.
Is it possible to accidentally de-charge my charging magnet with an alnico magnet? Also if i want to change the polarity of say a strat pickup, could I just throw it in my magnetizing jig to flip the polarity?
What kind of magnet are you using to charge? If it's a neodymium magnet, then no, you can't demagnetize it with any alnico magnet. Yes to your second question.
here you are, summarizing stuff i learned from bouncing all over the internet. thank you, sir. your contribution is noted! SUBBED! (learned about replacing poles to upgrade a pickup. just now realized that that's only a single-coil thing, and that those ARE the magnets. also just learned about the alnico 2 and 5, and you summed those up so well AND mentioned 8s and ceramic! NICE! found this vid when looking for more detail on humbukks and then also maybe doing a complete build of any pickup myself. i've seen someone do it on a machine but also know thicker wire exists and so maybe that can be done by hand? tbd.)
Great video! Can you make a video please, about the neodymium bar magnet ? I changed the ceramic H (in my HSS) with one of neodymium. It's like he's on anabolics. Maybe one has to know the diameter and quantity of the coil.
I tried neodymium once and that was enough to steer me away from them. They're just too strong. Way too much treble and the strong magnetic field killed sustain.
i have a question. so the gentleman says stronger the magnet makes the tone brighter and neodymium magnets are considered to be stronger than alnico yet they are shown to be warmer than alnicos in the tests. so whats up with this? google 'the strongest magnet' and it'll say neo but why isnt it giving a brighter tone?
In my tests with neos, the tone was extremely bright. In all likelihood, the tests you are referring to involved coils with a very high turn count to compensate.
So if you tuned your 6 string to a C, you feel .44 gage and ceramic or alnico8 would be a good match? Oh and what would a .30 or.34 gage do or be good for? Or why wouldn't you use those?
@@HighlineGuitars where do you get the ceramic magnets? I can't find that on stewmac or anywhere else. I can find some cheap ceramic pickups...but do you really want to fiddle with 30dollar parts?
@@HighlineGuitars Here is my situation.. I do have a 58 custom shop les paul with custombucker pick ups.. alnico 3's. I would like to get another guitar. I'm thinking of getting the custom shop 68 les paul custom. It has 68 customshop pickups... alnico 2's... im thinking that maybe there pretty much identical...would not make any sence?
@@HighlineGuitars so i guess that i need to play / compare two of the same gutar (les Paul) with the different pick ups to hear the difference. the only other thought that i have is ...there is a 54 custom shop les paul custom with a p 90 in the bridge and a staple p90 in the neck.. maybe thats the way to go.. i want a black custom, those are my two choices....
This is so informative Chris, thank you. Do you think Ceramic and 44 awg copper wire would make a nice combination for heavy gain pickups? (For playing extreme music)
+@@HighlineGuitars Why no one reviewer not talking about it ? The obvious things for the experienced are not obvious for the newbie. This raises the at least 2 question: 1. How can a combination of the same elements, most of which is -- iron, have such a different effect on sound? Or maybe it’s just the power of the magnetic field ? 2. Of price, why the combination of iron, with small additives of other elements, has great variation in price -- or is such a marketing move ?
Hi! And I am again. Can you give me recommendations? I bought a humbucker in bridge position 15.5 kohm, 8.21 H , Alnico 8 - very sharp sound. A lot of high fr. on clean and too much sharpness on gain, what kind type of magnet I can replace this Alnico 8 to get soften sound like classic PAF? Thanks!
You could try an Alnico 5, but that may get too dark. At those specs, you may have to degauss the Alnico 8 a bit. This is why high output is a terrible idea. Frankly, I would ditch these pickups for something tamer.
Love your videos! I do have a question though: I'm looking to replace the ceramic bar magnets on the bottom of a stock Sterling Stingray humbucker with Alnico. However, the Alnico magnets I'm finding aren't as tall as the ceramic ones. Is it possible to stack two of them together to replicate a taller magnet? Thanks!
thanks im on reddit diyguitar and I am wondering if you can Analog EQ by adding a movable magnet under the pickups existing magnet like a 1mm thick neodymium coin magnet They cost like 1 dollar or 10 for 10
I ALREADY did it, it worked ENOUGH for me. I sticked hd pc Drive -flat neo mag on the backplate . Now I WANT more, I WILL place a 52 grade neo inside the coil!!!
Very informative, Thank You. Could you talk a little about using Neo magnets in pickups? I have been making some flatpup type humbucker pickups for my 3 string CBG's with good success using 2mm x 8mm neo magnets, using them mainly for their economy, I can't find the others at a reasonable price. Can you advise me on this?
@@samTollefson I tried to make neo humbuckers once. They sounded horrible due to the power of the magnets. You could probably experiment to try and get them to work as I know others have,
@@HighlineGuitars I have made only 4, w/ 2k to 3.5k turns of .043 wire on each side (2k - 7k total) with good results using Joes tutorial as my starting point ua-cam.com/video/g_RUuKsUt-k/v-deo.html Thank you for your response.
Thank you for another great video! I've tried to re-magnetize a rod magnet using two big neodinium button magnet ( they sell me as "neodinium" ) but didn't worked to me. The little rod din't change much its magnetic force; so how strong ( in term fo gauss ) are the big bar you use to magnetize ? Thak you !
Many thanks for this information, it's very useful. Maybe you can help me out to understand why do we want south pole up in the pickup? Many thanks in advance.
SORRY, I DONT UNDERSTAND, CAUSE I HAVE BEEN WORKING With out of pc-hard Disk Drive magnets, and the HAVE 2 poles on 1 side. So you are TALKING about 1 pile/ per side? RIGHT?
love your videos, i find them really honest and objective Here's my question: i've recently seen a couple nice sounding neodymium magnet loaded pickups, do you have experienced using that type of magnet? and if not: in theory, what do you think that would be a good aproach for making a pickup with that kind of magnets? Thank you a lot!
I WANT TO ask? What to expect using 52 grade neo onsidered hambucker? I ALREADY did it with a neo ( oír ir haré Drive pc) replacing an old weak ferrite AND,....sound was enhanced ,...more trouble & slight more power,vol, BUT ENEVEN THROUGH STRINGS ...but DONT KNOW THE GRADE I AM USING. (42 OR ???)
Hey I just wanted to ask a quesiton,well I actually put my EMG H4 and H4A both facing each other with one of it upside down when im not using it (now its stick to each other because the of magnet attraction), My question is, will it affect the humbucker in any sort of way?The EMG HZ uses ceramic tho
@@HighlineGuitars he is saying that when he removes and stores his pickups, he stores them with the neck and bridge pickups magnetically attached to each other via the pickup face. He is asking if this will affect the pickups leaving then like this for any length of time. @Arvind XVII I have read before that it will weaken the pickups over time leaving them together, but I couldn't tell you how accurate that information is.
Technically, I think the correct way to say it is when a magnet field moves through the copper wire it generates the electric signal, so is not the string vibrations, but the fact a metal element affects the magnetic field, making it move thus generating the electric signal of the pickup. Is not that the string waves generate the electricity per se. And this is why a nylon or plastic string will not affect the pickup, since you need a metalic/magnetic element to affect the magnetic field.
@@HighlineGuitars Yes, but I mean said "string" and I wanted to point out the important is to move the magnetic field, not a "vibration" per se. And I know you said electric guitar and you make electric guitars.......just was being nitpicking-grade extreme.
@@tochriss That explanation is exactly right. I wanted to simplify my presentation so as not to lose viewers. Sort of like explaining how an atomic bomb works. You squeeze some plutonium and BOOM!
A million more years and I won't hear a better explanation of the pickup generating a guitar signal. Thank you!
Great videos, very informative but as a physicist there were a couple things that bugged me
1) as others noted treble frequencies being more pronounced near the bridge is not due to differences in amplitude. It’s because the string vibrates in a combination of standing waves and lower frequency standing waves have their max amplitude further away from the bridge. If amplitude determined frequency then the frequency would change as the note decays
2) “Gauss” is a German name and rhymes with mouse.
I pronounce mouse maws.
First guy that has talked that in depthly about magnets. Awesome!
YES!!
Excellent lecture! I’ve watched dozens of videos from others and essentially I learned nothing. Glad I found you.
Awesome, thank you!
I watched this a few years ago and decided to watch it again as a refresher. Great stuff!!
Wow! My mind is blown. I’m a retired EE and thought I understood the magnetic workings of PU and coil. You are a master Jedi of the PU. I even heard you say “ feel the force”. This is the best explanation I’ve ever heard. And being new to guitar See described as an inverse relationship between knowledge of the science and the ability to play the guitar. (Naming something a hummbucker because it bucks the hum is my go to example). Please keep making these videos. I feel like I just entered a masters degree course in Maxwell’s equations.
Welcome to the guitar world of magnificent stuff young Jedi ! Glad to see your choice of extra curricular activities. Curiosity has got the better of me, and I wonder what type of guitar you've gravitated to, and if you've crossed the threshold into building your own amplifier yet?
I play Acoustic and classical for now. I plan to play electric guitar one day as a make the full circle. I own several from Strats, a Telecaster and a Les Paul. But they are out there still for me.
You know, I'm not new to pickups, yet this was the most informative pickup video I've come across! Not a second wasted! All info, all facts, step-by-logical-step, and the Gaussing part was just a damn thrill, it really was! THANK you!!
Extremely inspiring, thank you!!! I'm building pickups myself and I just bought a Gaussmeter. Now, following your approach I do not need to have faith on my purchased magnetized magents having all a consistent/equivalent magnet stregth (which they do not, and it can mess up your self built single coils). I can now homogenize my magnet rod strength or EQ my pickups.
I will try next degaussing Alnico 5s into Alnico 2s (which are more scarce and pricy).
Yes, please - more episodes on magnets. I have done a bit of magnet swaps and Alnico recharging. It's been quite fun & rewarding. The HB's, in my inexpensive 335 & hollow body, have received a nice tuneup.
You may have simplified enough that some essential points got fuzzy:
1) The string sound is brighter when closer to the bridge because the higher overtones have higher amplitude, since they have shorter wavelengths and their peaks are closer to the bridge pickup.
2) The reason people associate brighter sounds with stronger magnets is that they allow fewer windings (than when using a weaker magnet) to get the the same output signal level. Fewer windings mean less of both inductance and inter-winding capacitance, which means a higher resonant frequency. In the extreme, you end up with a one-turn "Lace Sensor".
If you can show some math where the strength of the magnet alone (and no change in mutual inductance due to different magnet material) affects resonant frequency (or the frequency response), I'm listening!
Last quibble: Gauss is pronounced to rhyme with "mouse", no big deal, but that's how Carl Friedrich himself said it when we hung out together. He could sweep pick a gut-string guitar like nobody else. He had a way of making the "ss" sound a bit softer like "sz", though.
Was thinking this. Amplitude and Frequency are independent, rather the relative amplitudes of the harmonics are different points along the string length are what contribute to the increased high-end at the bridge.
Utter non sense, the only thing simplified and fuzzy is your sister in law.
Oh man, I love your comment, well said everything :)
I think you're correct! And isn't it pronounced 'Al-NEE-Co'?
@@FlipDahlenburg It's a combination of three atom symbols so it doesn't really have a pronunciation other than whatever you feel like, although if anything "AL-ni-co" is probably more correct unless you would say the symbol for nickel (Ni) as "nee"
INSTANT SUB!!! I really appreciated how you explained all this in such simple words. I'm a 54yr old Tx blues guitar player and I searched for ''my'' perfect tone for decades. I know that it much comes down to the player himself which is obviously why I'm not yet satisfied 😁. In an attempt to find other culprits than myself, and also out of a great curiosity, I've been searching into the magic world of luthery and electronics 😉. This is the most comprehensive video about pu's I ever came across. I really thank you for this sir 🙏. Now, if I can't improve my playing to my likings, I will be in position to better explain this in much more scientific ways lol 😂 Be safe and happy brother! Blues on 👍
Thank you so much!!! I've been waiting for this information for ages. Not that it matters at all but Gausse (sp.?) rhymes with house, he was a German mathematician.
It's spelled "Gauss". And you're absolutely correct, it should sound like the end of the word "house", not like the dressing you put on a wound (gauze). And I agree, this was a great video, even with the mis-pronounced name.
After 30 yrs of playing someone finally explains this. Thank you 😀
Peavey used a lot of A8 magnets in the pre-1990 days. Contributed greatly to the particular sound of the T-series guitars and basses.
I tried an A8 mag once in my PAF winds and it was very harsh sounding.
Hey can i use my big neo magnet as a generator in my Alnico II pickup? And then i am shall wind accordingly. Or would i am be better off just having a big slab of tungsten for a mass, as a generator for the pickup? Also thought of using Stainless steel mass.
What?!?
KuLL. i am doin' it. @@HighlineGuitars
I have a few Fender bass's that have various type pickups in them, Fender AlNiCo V Jazz's, Trevor Wilkinson WJM ceramic humbucker, Epic Custom single coil 1/4" polepiece AlNiCo PJ pickups & SD Apollo linear dual coil noiseless Jazz pickups with AlNiCo slugs... both types of magnets can produce good pickups, Musicman used ceramic bars for years on Stingrays, My WJM humbucker on a Fender Jazz has a Jazz coil & a MusicMan coil used along with a single coil Jazz pickup on the bridge i can still keep my original Jazz tone, coil split toggle switch on WJM humbucker, or 5 other combinations with just a Jazz's 2 Volumes & a coil split toggle switch, 4 of the tones are very useable.... interesting topic 🎸👍
I found my very first electro guitar recently, so I decided to restorate it with new parts.Funny enough, I decided on some parts to order but the longer I waited while saving money, the more expensive they got and here I am making my own pickups thanks to you sharing such information...which makes this guitar much more valuable now.I hope you'll have a nice day and keep your awesome work up.
Very cool!
Thanks for sharing your experience on this topic, of which I’ve found very little information in print. I want to try swapping out the magnets in one of my guitars. This ought to be a big help.
Me encantaría entender lo que está explicando...
Se podrá grabar con audio en español? O aunque sea con subtitulo? Desde ya muchas gracias. Saludos desde Jujuy Argentina.
hey I want to see that video about magnetizing / demganetizing ALnico Bars.
This is it: ua-cam.com/video/_p5ejoOS4-Q/v-deo.html
HIGHLINE, try to make a video lesson about the differences between Oriented and Unoriented magnetics because the pattern of particles are different between the two. I think the Oriented magnetics are PREmagnetized during the melting process but they still need to be magnetized after the melting process also.
This is the best video I have seen on this topic
Thank you. If you could please describe about the magnet process more that would be much useful
All this content is really interesting. Where do you get your alnico plates and rods? Can you buy them already magnetized?
Addiction-FX on eBay and CE Distribution. Usually they come magnetized but you can get them non magnetized as well.
@@HighlineGuitars thanks for that. i'm looking to buy and honestly don't know the best place. heard a few names float around but not these. (getting into luthier stuff and you know there's always THE place or places the guys get their supplies. (that's not going to eat the pants off your wallet)). stewmac (high $$$ imho) and mojotone namely. so i'll check out these others now! 👍
Is there any point in mixing magnets? I know of 3 pickups that do. One is the gibson iommi signature that has both A2 and ceramic and they do have a unique sound. Another one is the schecter apocalypse with A5 and ceramic which to my ears doesn't sound anything different. The last one I can't remember but I think it was a signature humbucker with A8 and a different magnet.
There is if you have an ear for the differences.
i have HSS set of 2 with neodynium magnets
Also as you explained the difference of bridge and neck pichup, so how we identify single coil pickup?
Usually the bridge has higher output.
Yes please show us the gauss and degauss process
Wow very cool! Can you mix different alnico slugs within one pickup? Say a #8 on the wound strings, and a #2 on the plain strings?
That’s a good question! We’ll hace to experiment
Seymour Duncan has one, I think it’s called 5/2 or similar
Degaussing would be great as well as how to disorientate a magnet?
Is there a recipe book so to speak for different types of pickups?
Not just how to make a winder, but also details on different pickups: www.lollarguitars.com/jason-lollar/winder-book
If you wound the coil to produce a warm sound wouldn't you use a bright magnet like alnico 5 to balance it out?
If that’s what you want, then yes.
Thanks Chris, these last 2 videos on pickups have been awesome! I am trying to learn about pickups currently, and these have really helped. You make complicated stuff easy to understand. Thanks again!
thanks so much for your tutorials! what's a good source for pickup wire and magnets?
I love your teaching Yah 1 EXCELLENT...you are concise...God bless you more
Would the electrical conductivity of a magnet effect the tone? I would assume that the same vibrations in the magnetic field that induce a current in the pickup would also induce some eddy-currents in the magnet if it was a conductor. Which in turn would lead to some kind of signal power loss the same way transformer cores would if they're not laminated. I always figured that was why ceramic magnets have more high end because they're the poorest electrical conductor
Yes
Hi. I had the idea of adding magnet to my single strat pickup. So what exactly will happen if we attach another magnet on back of pick up? Also why manufactures use seramic magnet instead of Neydenuim one which is more powerful ? That 1 pice magnet wont effect the price of pickup for sure
Try it. Neodymium magnets kill sustain and sound way too bright,
The electrons themselves don't move. They carry the charge as a field outside the conductor. I think this may be the biggest misconception about electricity there is; that electrons move along the wire. They don't, at least, not as we might visualize it. They actually stay right where they are, even though they might get excited.
Your videos are really cool BTW.
This is the first time I've heard this in my life, which includes 4 years studying Physics. I am very curious about it - could you point me to something that explains this? What they told us in University was that metals are good conductors of electricity exactly because being so large, they have some electrons in the upper orbits far from the atom cores that the attachment energy is almost zero and so a metal is a crystal with "free-floating" electrons scattered around. It's those free-floating ones that move around, creating the current. At least that's what they've told us.
Have you ever read chapter 1 of the Radiotron Designers Handbook? It contradicts what you are saying here. Have you ever heard of “Free Electrons”? They are constantly moving as they carry a charge.
I read somewhere that the magnet simply magnetizes string, it does not disrupt the field as previously thought, the vibrating string creates a changing magnetic field as it produces its own field. I haven’t tried it yet, but have been meaning to put the magnet there for a minute, then remove the magnet.
When I say the magnetic field is disturbed, that is the same as you saying "a changing magnetic field." Remove the steel strings from an electric guitar and replace them with nylon strings. Plug the guitar into an amp. Turn up the volume on both the guitar and the amp. Strum the nylon strings. In all likelihood, you'll hear a faint guitar tone coming out of the speaker. Why? Because the string's vibration passed through the pickup and disturbed the magnetic field, which generated a faint signal in the coil. Steel strings are magnetized by the pickup's magnet and as they vibrate, their magnetic field changes or disturbs the pickup's magnetic field to a far greater extent than non-magnetized nylon strings. The reason I didn't mention that the steel strings are magnetized is that I wanted to keep my explanation as simple as possible. Since the strings are steel, I thought it would be obvious to viewers they would be magnetized as they pass through the pickup's magnetic field.
Highline Guitars hmm, well now I actually gotta try this. Does just passing non magnetic material through a magnetic field change it? I guess under that logic you’d probably hear your hand passing over it . I suppose it could alter the permittivity of free space , but would that change even be perceptable? IDK. Science!
@@HoffOfAllThings No. Passing non magnetic material won't change or disturb it enough to generate much of a signal. However, if the non magnetic material vibrates with enough force to shake the pickup, it will affect the field and generate a weak signal.
Highline Guitars oh yeah, didn’t think of vibrations from the pickup itself. Thanks for all the great content, picked up some solarez , to try on my next build.
@@HoffOfAllThings "Does just passing non magnetic material through a magnetic field change it?" Broadly speaking NO. What is being said is that if you performed the above experiment with nylon strings you might hear something from the amp simply because the vibrations caused some movement between the coil and the magnet. However taking it to extremes, all materials respond to magnetic fields. For most materials the response is very weak. After all this is how medical MRI CAT scanners work. The magnetic pulses from the machine cause the electrons in the water molecules in your body to flip their spin.
I was thinking about getting a better gaussmeter, but the URL for
the expensive gaussmeter is dead. What was the make and model?
Sorry, I don't remember. Probably an Extech MF100 or an Alpha Labs GM-1-ST.
Hello, in your opinion, what characteristics should a pickup for precision bass have?
10,000 turns of 42AWG wire on each bobbine and fully charged Alnico V slugs.
I just had a guitar arrive with 'PAF' style A5 humbuckers and they are dark and muddy, brittle in the highs. I want new pickups but have no idea what to get.
Try swapping out the A5 for an A8 or a ceramic magnet. That might get you what you want without investing in new pickups.
I just like too know ,(if you don’t mind) could I use an alnico 2 magnet of a humbucher , & put it on a single coil pickup , to replace the ceramic magnet ?? Thanks . I do find your show , very interesting.
Yes you can!
amazing video. Im not planning to make any guitar or magnet myself but your info is highly appreciated
Very timely. Thanks, and perfectly answers my question from last week. Of course you already answered it. Thanks again.
Cool vid. Do any humbuckers have real magnet polepieces?? Thnxx brother ❤
Great videos! I learn so much from your videos. Thank you
great video, thanks. Question, at what strength do you normally charge your alnico pickup magnets to for single coils?
It varies depending on what I want for a particular situation.
Thank you for sharing your profound experience in such a comprehensible manner. Truely appreciated
Thanks,very informative,ive learned a lot,
Also I have noticed 1 out of 3 of my strat pickups has opposide pole magnet direction. Why is that?
Hum cancelling.
@@HighlineGuitars then when they work together wouldnt they cancel their original signal?
Does Alinco 3 and 4 not exist anymore?
I was under the impression that Alnico 4 ( for example) was even better for higher mids? But I have struggled to find these magnets.
I can still get alnico 3 and 4 in the US, but I can't speak to where you are. I get them from www.ebay.com/str/addictionfxguitarandsound
Great video lesson. I appreciate you taking the time to educate us. There’s not a ton of info out there on the subject and if i ask questions people are very hesitant to explain anything. Thankyou. Also what pickup winder should I start with. Im eager to start winding and experimenting
Hello and thank you for this informative episode. I would like to ask you a question on a subject that intrigues me. A while ago, I bought an epiphone 335 with P90 pickups, those pickups aren't crappy, but close. So I tried to upgrade them and upon opening them, I found that these pickups are actually the reverse of humbucker pickups, a single coil with two bar magnets on each side. I changed the polarity of one of the bars, without conclusive result, still bad then I removed a bar, and there, the microphone became exploitable and almost not bad. The DC resistance has remained the same (11-12 K ohm) but the nature of the sound has clearly changed, less bass and mud, more defined and more trebly. I had a friend listen to them, he agrees with me, so it's not a placebo effect but I don't understand what happened anyway... do you ?
Removing one of the bars changed the shape of the magnetic field, which will change the tone. Another option is to replace both bars with new bars that are a different type of magnet.
What megnet best for a humbucker pickup Distraction or metal sound?
Ceramic or Alnico 8.
do you have the magnet color codes many dealers use?
Very interesting and informative video, thanks. However I was confused when you pronounced Gauss as 'gauze', in Europe it is pronounced 'gouse', it rhymes with house. Carl Friedrich Gauss was a German mathematician and physicist.
Then why isn’t his last name spelled Gouse?
Thank you for detailed explanation. Ok. sowhat would happen if I would put an additional flat magnet under my pickup ? ! :O
You would increase the inductance of the pickup.
@@HighlineGuitars Thank you. It means it will be stronger ?
@@brCharlieNagy No. It will have a diminished treble response.
@@HighlineGuitars oh ...:O Nah, I don't want that
Maybe a dumb question, but what happened to the other Alnicos? (3, 4, 6, 7 etc)
Nothing happened to them. Some pickups use those magnets, although, they aren’t as common.
Is it possible to accidentally de-charge my charging magnet with an alnico magnet? Also if i want to change the polarity of say a strat pickup, could I just throw it in my magnetizing jig to flip the polarity?
What kind of magnet are you using to charge? If it's a neodymium magnet, then no, you can't demagnetize it with any alnico magnet. Yes to your second question.
@@HighlineGuitars It uses rare earth magnets. It's the magnetizer sold by mojotone
here you are, summarizing stuff i learned from bouncing all over the internet. thank you, sir. your contribution is noted! SUBBED!
(learned about replacing poles to upgrade a pickup. just now realized that that's only a single-coil thing, and that those ARE the magnets. also just learned about the alnico 2 and 5, and you summed those up so well AND mentioned 8s and ceramic! NICE!
found this vid when looking for more detail on humbukks and then also maybe doing a complete build of any pickup myself. i've seen someone do it on a machine but also know thicker wire exists and so maybe that can be done by hand? tbd.)
Great video! Can you make a video please, about the neodymium bar magnet ? I changed the ceramic H (in my HSS) with one of neodymium. It's like he's on anabolics. Maybe one has to know the diameter and quantity of the coil.
I tried neodymium once and that was enough to steer me away from them. They're just too strong. Way too much treble and the strong magnetic field killed sustain.
Does a magnetic pickup have a negative effect on hip endoprosthesis? This is very important information for me and I do not know the answer.
Don’t ask a question like that on UA-cam. If it’s truly important, you would know to ask your doctor.
@@HighlineGuitars You're right.
i have a question. so the gentleman says stronger the magnet makes the tone brighter and neodymium magnets are considered to be stronger than alnico yet they are shown to be warmer than alnicos in the tests. so whats up with this? google 'the strongest magnet' and it'll say neo but why isnt it giving a brighter tone?
In my tests with neos, the tone was extremely bright. In all likelihood, the tests you are referring to involved coils with a very high turn count to compensate.
Is it difficult to un-orientate a magnets direction or shape of field?
Thank you for the clarity on the explanation
So if you tuned your 6 string to a C, you feel .44 gage and ceramic or alnico8 would be a good match? Oh and what would a
.30 or.34 gage do or be good for? Or why wouldn't you use those?
I don't know. 30 to 34 gauge wire is too thick. The signal would be way too weak for decent sound.
@@HighlineGuitars so what do you think the thickest gage is usable?
@@cromBumny 40awg is the thickest I would use. The signal will be weak, but very full range.
@@HighlineGuitars where do you get the ceramic magnets? I can't find that on stewmac or anywhere else. I can find some cheap ceramic pickups...but do you really want to fiddle with 30dollar parts?
@@cromBumny Addiction-FX
what about alnico 3
Go for it.
@@HighlineGuitars Here is my situation.. I do have a 58 custom shop les paul with custombucker pick ups.. alnico 3's. I would like to get another guitar. I'm thinking of getting the custom shop 68 les paul custom. It has 68 customshop pickups... alnico 2's... im thinking that maybe there pretty much identical...would not make any sence?
@@williamnapolitano1550 Alnico 3 magnets generate a weaker magnetic field than Alnico 2 magnets. Therefore, they do sound different.
@@HighlineGuitars is there a significant difference between 2 & 3 alnico pick ups.
@@HighlineGuitars so i guess that i need to play / compare two of the same gutar (les Paul) with the different pick ups to hear the difference. the only other thought that i have is ...there is a 54 custom shop les paul custom with a p 90 in the bridge and a staple p90 in the neck.. maybe thats the way to go.. i want a black custom, those are my two choices....
I want to buy this pickup winding machine, how to order? Plz reply sir
I offer plans for two different winders on eguitarplans.com and my Highline Guitars merch store.
Sir price indian rupees ...convert ..plz ....
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge. I really appreciate it 🙏
This is so informative Chris, thank you. Do you think Ceramic and 44 awg copper wire would make a nice combination for heavy gain pickups? (For playing extreme music)
Take the neodimium magnet --- they have higher gain from possible.
Thank you so much!
Super instructions!
You sound like a college professor. Great vid!
Did the Alnico contain any iron in composition, or only AL, Ni and Co ?
Most contain iron.
+@@HighlineGuitars
Why no one reviewer not talking about it ?
The obvious things for the experienced are not obvious for the newbie.
This raises the at least 2 question:
1. How can a combination of the same elements, most of which is -- iron, have such a different effect on sound? Or maybe it’s just the power of the magnetic field ?
2. Of price, why the combination of iron, with small additives of other elements, has great variation in price -- or is such a marketing move ?
is it fine to replace one type of magnet with another type?
Yes. Just be aware of how different magnets make different tones.
@@HighlineGuitars it's for the curios.. so it's fine and the result is for the experimenter to make observations and conclusions
It is very interesting, how to make a device for magnetizing and demagnetizing pickups with neodymium magnets. Thanks! 👍
Hi! And I am again. Can you give me recommendations? I bought a humbucker in bridge position 15.5 kohm, 8.21 H , Alnico 8 - very sharp sound. A lot of high fr. on clean and too much sharpness on gain, what kind type of magnet I can replace this Alnico 8 to get soften sound like classic PAF? Thanks!
You could try an Alnico 5, but that may get too dark. At those specs, you may have to degauss the Alnico 8 a bit. This is why high output is a terrible idea. Frankly, I would ditch these pickups for something tamer.
@@HighlineGuitars Very big thanks! 👍
In the mid part it feels like taking physics lectures from professor.. 🙏
Love your videos! I do have a question though: I'm looking to replace the ceramic bar magnets on the bottom of a stock Sterling Stingray
humbucker with Alnico. However, the Alnico magnets I'm finding aren't as tall as the ceramic ones. Is it possible to stack two of them together to replicate a taller magnet? Thanks!
i read somewhere else to make a shim. so, not magnet. probably wood is what you're looking for.
thanks im on reddit diyguitar and I am wondering if you can Analog EQ by adding a movable magnet under the pickups existing magnet like a 1mm thick neodymium coin magnet They cost like 1 dollar or 10 for 10
I ALREADY did it, it worked ENOUGH for me. I sticked hd pc Drive -flat neo mag on the backplate .
Now I WANT more, I WILL place a 52 grade neo inside the coil!!!
& with THIS new knowledge, I WILL twick it with # coil turns!!!
Very informative, Thank You.
Could you talk a little about using Neo magnets in pickups?
I have been making some flatpup type humbucker pickups for my 3 string CBG's with good success using 2mm x 8mm neo magnets, using them mainly for their economy, I can't find the others at a reasonable price.
Can you advise me on this?
What specifically are you looking for? The only neos I use are 4" long bars for charging Alnicos?
@@HighlineGuitars I was thinking about using Neo's instead of Alnico's or Ceraminc's -
Pro's and Con's?
@@samTollefson I tried to make neo humbuckers once. They sounded horrible due to the power of the magnets. You could probably experiment to try and get them to work as I know others have,
@@HighlineGuitars I have made only 4, w/ 2k to 3.5k turns of .043 wire on each side (2k - 7k total) with good results using Joes tutorial as my starting point ua-cam.com/video/g_RUuKsUt-k/v-deo.html
Thank you for your response.
Really great stuff... thanks so much for the awesome video content! All the best brother!~
How about neodymium magnets?
They sound TERRIBLE in a pickup. Think ice pick in the ear.
That gauss meter you linked is no longer available. Can you find another and link to it ?
Don’t be lazy. Google it.
Thank you for another great video! I've tried to re-magnetize a rod magnet using two big neodinium button magnet ( they sell me as "neodinium" ) but didn't worked to me. The little rod din't change much its magnetic force; so how strong ( in term fo gauss ) are the big bar you use to magnetize ? Thak you !
I don't know what the gauss is for my neos as I have never checked them with my meter, but they are the N52 variety.
Incredible clear info
Many thanks for this information, it's very useful. Maybe you can help me out to understand why do we want south pole up in the pickup? Many thanks in advance.
The south pole is stronger.
SORRY, I DONT UNDERSTAND, CAUSE I HAVE BEEN WORKING With out of pc-hard Disk Drive magnets, and the HAVE 2 poles on 1 side. So you are TALKING about 1 pile/ per side? RIGHT?
what are the right wire and magnet for creating a very clear crystal hardly distorted pickup ?
42awg wire and an alnico 2 mag. Low turn count.
@@HighlineGuitars thanks , is 40awg could make it more clear and clean ?
love your videos, i find them really honest and objective
Here's my question:
i've recently seen a couple nice sounding neodymium magnet loaded pickups, do you have experienced using that type of magnet? and if not: in theory, what do you think that would be a good aproach for making a pickup with that kind of magnets?
Thank you a lot!
I have tried neos, but find they aren't worth the effort. Alnico and ceramic are easier to shape tone IMO.
What about neodym? Is not EASY to shape ?
I WANT TO ask? What to expect using 52 grade neo onsidered hambucker?
I ALREADY did it with a neo ( oír ir haré Drive pc) replacing an old weak ferrite AND,....sound was enhanced ,...more trouble & slight more power,vol,
BUT ENEVEN THROUGH STRINGS ...but DONT KNOW THE GRADE I AM USING. (42 OR ???)
How do we measure the Gauss of a magnet with an LCR meter?
Oops! That was the wrong meter. This is the right one: amzn.to/2Rupirz
Fantastic video cheers 👍
Hey I just wanted to ask a quesiton,well I actually put my EMG H4 and H4A both facing each other with one of it upside down when im not using it (now its stick to each other because the of magnet attraction), My question is, will it affect the humbucker in any sort of way?The EMG HZ uses ceramic tho
Sorry Charlie, but I have no idea what you are trying to explain.
@@HighlineGuitars he is saying that when he removes and stores his pickups, he stores them with the neck and bridge pickups magnetically attached to each other via the pickup face. He is asking if this will affect the pickups leaving then like this for any length of time.
@Arvind XVII I have read before that it will weaken the pickups over time leaving them together, but I couldn't tell you how accurate that information is.
THANKS x the TRANSLATION!
What a great video! Thanks!
Hello Chris. Do you please suggest me (us) 2 good NEO bar to magnetise AlNiCo bars? i read below you use 4" long bars for that
Search for 4” x 1/2” x 1/2” N52 bar magnets.
@@HighlineGuitars Thanks!
Well explained!
Technically, I think the correct way to say it is when a magnet field moves through the copper wire it generates the electric signal, so is not the string vibrations, but the fact a metal element affects the magnetic field, making it move thus generating the electric signal of the pickup. Is not that the string waves generate the electricity per se. And this is why a nylon or plastic string will not affect the pickup, since you need a metalic/magnetic element to affect the magnetic field.
That's not what I said. I said the vibrating strings disturb the magnetic field.
@@HighlineGuitars Yes, but I mean said "string" and I wanted to point out the important is to move the magnetic field, not a "vibration" per se. And I know you said electric guitar and you make electric guitars.......just was being nitpicking-grade extreme.
nationalmaglab.org/education/magnet-academy/watch-play/interactive/guitar-pickup
@@tochriss That explanation is exactly right. I wanted to simplify my presentation so as not to lose viewers. Sort of like explaining how an atomic bomb works. You squeeze some plutonium and BOOM!
GREAT VIDEO CHRIS!!! THANK YOU!
Glad you liked it!
Technically, I could make a pickup out of a rattlesnake magnet?!? Will it work and what will it sound like? Many Blessings!
Only you can know the answer by actually making one. I won’t because the effort to benefit ratio indicates probable failure.
Great video
Great info. Thanks!
Great info, thanks