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Topic: Pickups attached with magnets |
James Mayer
From:
back in Portland Oregon, USA (via Arkansas and London, UK)
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Posted 3 Dec 2009 8:43 am |
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A while ago, I started THIS thread about a movable pickup system. I currently have one on my Lone Star S6 pedal steel and I've decided it really is worth the effort. In between tones can be a really nice change when my ear inevitably craves a change.
So, I've got an idea for a simple and flexible system for mounting pickups. Why not mount a steel plate, or some other appropriate metal surface, directly to the steel body and use THESE to hold them down. The 1/2" magnets could be simply be attached to the pickup screws. This would mean that any size or shape of pickup could be used, even ones with the telecaster bridge (three screw) mounting.
My question is, would these mounting magnets have any effect on the performance of the pickup? |
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John Roche
From:
England
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Posted 3 Dec 2009 11:35 am
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If you read down,,,,
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| Use extreme care when handling these magnets since they can magnetize, degauss, or re-polarize any ferrous or magnetic material — including electric guitar pickups! |
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James Mayer
From:
back in Portland Oregon, USA (via Arkansas and London, UK)
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Posted 3 Dec 2009 11:41 am
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Wow, missed that one. That's dissapointing. I wonder if connecting one of these to the screw post of a pickup is getting it close enough to damage it. Maybe a weaker magnet would be ok?
I've been reading and I find a lot of contradictory information about magnets demagnetizing pickups. It seems to me that a humbucker, having two magnets in close proximity, survives just fine.
I've also heard rumors that an eBow, being a magnet, can ruin pickups. I use an eBow and I can tell you that the only thing it ruins is 9V batteries.
Anybody ever manage to ruin a pickup this way? |
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Rich Hlaves
From:
Wildomar, California, USA
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Posted 3 Dec 2009 12:09 pm
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| Velcro. It holds stomp boxes to pedal boards, it should hold a PU in place. |
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James Mayer
From:
back in Portland Oregon, USA (via Arkansas and London, UK)
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Posted 3 Dec 2009 12:20 pm
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| Rich Hlaves wrote: |
| Velcro. It holds stomp boxes to pedal boards, it should hold a PU in place. |
I've thought about it. Attaching velcro to the pickup won't be as easy as it seems. The velcro on my pedals peel off constantly when I pull them off the pedalboard because the adhesive is weaker than the velcro bonding. |
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Posted 3 Dec 2009 1:02 pm
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Well,,, how about the other magic material? The Red Green approved Duct Tape!  |
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Rich Hlaves
From:
Wildomar, California, USA
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Posted 3 Dec 2009 1:04 pm
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There is industrial strength adhesive velcro available. You just don't find it in retail stores typically.
Take a look here:
http://www.velcro.com/index.php?page=business-products-all-adhesives
When backed with the 72 or 75 adhesive this stuff is semi there for ever. One of these is what they use to hold freeway toll transponders to windshields.
It might be worth a shot. Maybe if you said you where manufacturing a new type of pickup system for guitar they might send some samples gratis! |
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 8 Dec 2009 5:59 pm
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| On the first lap steel I built, back in 1963, I used model railroad rail contacting the sides of the pickup to allow me to move the pickup back and forth. But it's not that difficult to build a lap steel with a wooden trough in which the pickup slides around. You could also improvise with brass curtain rail, which isn't magnetic. |
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Bob Hoffnar
From:
Austin, Tx
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Posted 8 Dec 2009 10:45 pm
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| Quote: |
| My question is, would these mounting magnets have any effect on the performance of the pickup? |
One of the main things that gives a pickup its tone and output level is the magnet or magnets. Your idea will change the sound quite a bit if it works at all. It might be a cool thing though. Worth experimenting with anyway.
The metal plate that the magnets stick to will also alter the sound.
_________________
Bob |
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James Mayer
From:
back in Portland Oregon, USA (via Arkansas and London, UK)
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Posted 9 Dec 2009 8:12 am
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| Bob Hoffnar wrote: |
| Quote: |
| My question is, would these mounting magnets have any effect on the performance of the pickup? |
One of the main things that gives a pickup its tone and output level is the magnet or magnets. Your idea will change the sound quite a bit if it works at all. It might be a cool thing though. Worth experimenting with anyway.
The metal plate that the magnets stick to will also alter the sound. |
I realize that, but I thought if that if the magnets were attached to the mounting legs and not the pickup body, it wouldn't affect much. Regardless, I've moved on to the velcro idea. Maybe having a platform lined with velcro that could have it's height adjusted by screws that could be accessed from the bottom of the instrument. |
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James Mayer
From:
back in Portland Oregon, USA (via Arkansas and London, UK)
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Posted 9 Dec 2009 8:16 am
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| Alan Brookes wrote: |
| On the first lap steel I built, back in 1963, I used model railroad rail contacting the sides of the pickup to allow me to move the pickup back and forth. But it's not that difficult to build a lap steel with a wooden trough in which the pickup slides around. You could also improvise with brass curtain rail, which isn't magnetic. |
Do you have a photo of either of those methods? A curtain rail is a good idea but I can't see how there's enough room to route out a cavity for both a curtain rail and the pickups. |
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 9 Dec 2009 8:52 am
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| James Mayer wrote: |
| ...Do you have a photo of either of those methods? A curtain rail is a good idea but I can't see how there's enough room to route out a cavity for both a curtain rail and the pickups. |
This is the only surviving photograph of that 1963 instrument. It was pretty crude. You can see the rails. If you used curtain rail you would put it to the side of the pickups, not underneath. This instrument had no routing at all. The entire pickup assembly was above the body. |
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James Mayer
From:
back in Portland Oregon, USA (via Arkansas and London, UK)
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Posted 9 Dec 2009 8:59 am
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Right, for some reason, I thought of a drawer/rackmount slide as soon I read your post. I guess because I'm currently considering this option.
Right now, I'm leaning towards a Rondo SX for the body. It looks like it has low string clearance and would need routing. How do you think something like the image below would work out? Just using one slide where it runs under the pickup itself and the pickup brackets fall to the side.
 [/img] |
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 9 Dec 2009 3:29 pm
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That looks like it has some possibilities. I have to say, though, that I gave up on the idea of a sliding pickup years ago because I found it better to use two or three separate pickups, which allows blending. A single pickup will never allow blending, and I defy anyone to be able to perceive small changes in distance of the pickup from the bridge, so just having two or three discreet positions is no holdback.
For the record, here's a photo of me practising on that 1963 lap steel. It was no New Yorker, but it actually sounded a lot better than it looked. 
Here are some photos of the SX that I fitted with a Multibender. It was just a matter of unscrewing the old bridge and screwing the Multibender on. A five minute job.
As you can see, there's not much room for a second pickup unless you shorten the fingerboard.
By the way, to cut down on string breakage you need to replace the nut with a roller nut, which I haven't gotten round to doing yet. |
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James Mayer
From:
back in Portland Oregon, USA (via Arkansas and London, UK)
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Posted 9 Dec 2009 3:54 pm
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To those who may be confused by the photos, I've also been emailing Alan about the Rondo and Multibender combination.
Actually, my Lone Star S6 has two movable pickups and I hear a significant change when moving the bridge pickup an inch either way. Of course, the neck position sounds totally different than the bridge position. Eh, it may not be necessary, but this is for fun, not necessity. The ear fatigues and wants to hear something new, sometimes. Also, I'd like a way to install different shapes and sizes (even telecaster 3-screw bridge pickups) and this system will allow that.
I plan on lopping off the third octave of the fretboard to make room. I've thought about simply installing a stationary neck pickup, but I'd hate to always wonder if I missed the sweetspot.
I've also been thinking of ways to create a 12-string Rondo that would have tuners on both ends of the instrument, sharing the same 12-string bridge. Not the same instrument with the multibender, of course. |
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James Mayer
From:
back in Portland Oregon, USA (via Arkansas and London, UK)
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Posted 9 Dec 2009 5:00 pm
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| Alan, if I were to simply install a neck pickup, how would I drill a hole for the wires to get from the neck cavity to the bridge pickup cavity. Seems like it's not possible with a simple drilled hole. It would have to be done with a router and that would require some sort of plate to cover it up. |
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