Honestly, how difficult is a magnet swap?

[Grandturk]

Re: Honestly, how difficult is a magnet swap?

[ QUOTE ]
"Be careful you push it out without tearing any of the wires"

That's the part that scares me

[/ QUOTE ]

Typically they have all of the wires on one side, so you just push it out the other. I tore the ground wire on a Duncan '59 I did a magnet flip on. I just soldered it back to the plate - no muss, no fuss.

[Chuckracer]

Re: Honestly, how difficult is a magnet swap?

Jazz. Nuff said.

[Ace]

Re: Honestly, how difficult is a magnet swap?

You guys are all talking about ceramic magnets, whch are a bar underneath the bobbins. Alnico magnets are the slugs that sit in the middle of the bobbin. Ceramic magnets have plain steel slugs.

[Jester700]

Re: Honestly, how difficult is a magnet swap?

There are also pickups with a bar made of alnico underneath and steel slugs, screws, or a comination. Like the PAF and its many clones, the Duncan JB, and too many others to mention.

[Newc]

Re: Honestly, how difficult is a magnet swap?

I've got an 84 Gibson V pickup around here somewhere that the previous owner basically butchered. He removed the cover, but I guess in doing so he loosened the baseplate and the bar magnet under the coils. I put it back in the guitar when I saw it and it still worked [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

But yeah replace the rod magnets with steel rods from another (el cheapo) pickup or more screws (like a Dirty Fingers) and slip a bar magnet under the coils.

And I'd recommend a Custom for the neck over the 59.

Newc

[Grandturk]

Re: Honestly, how difficult is a magnet swap?

[ QUOTE ]
You guys are all talking about ceramic magnets, whch are a bar underneath the bobbins. Alnico magnets are the slugs that sit in the middle of the bobbin. Ceramic magnets have plain steel slugs.

[/ QUOTE ]

When you're talking about single coil pickups, you are correct - the majority of single coils are constructed with the magnets serving as the pole pieces, others, have ferrous poles that touch a magnet mounted under the poles. All humbucker type pickups are constructed with one or more bar magnets underneath the coils. Typical PAF style pickups have a single magnet, while hot pickups might have a center magnet and one on each side of the coil.

[Ace]

Re: Honestly, how difficult is a magnet swap?

It's been a few months, and a lot of pot, since I did any serious pickup work.

[jgcable]

Re: Honestly, how difficult is a magnet swap?

It is fairly difficult and I would suggest not trying it unless you know what you are doing.

[kickinsomeaxe]

Re: Honestly, how difficult is a magnet swap?

magnet swapping is very simple AFTER you do it once [img]/images/graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]
I will say this,that it is safer on a duncan than a dimarzio [img]/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif[/img]
I know many a person that did a swap on a dimarzio only to find they broke the pup [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
dimarzio uses very cheap wires and one small tug renders them DEAD! [img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img]

[Zerberus]

Re: Honestly, how difficult is a magnet swap?

[ QUOTE ]
.....

But yeah replace the rod magnets with steel rods from another (el cheapo) pickup or more screws (like a Dirty Fingers) and slip a bar magnet under the coils....

[/ QUOTE ]

A duncan 59, like 99% of the humbuckers out there (The Duncan Stag Mag and Pickups like the motherbucker being notable exceptions), has a bar magnet under the strings, between the rows of pole pieces. The pieces themself are either steel slugs or steel screws, depending on which coil were talking about. The Stag-mag is the only fullsize humbucker I personally know of where the poles are the magnets.

Changing it is a simple matter of loosening 4 screws, and either sliding the magnet out opposite the wires (push with a screwdriver for example), or as I prefer to do it simply raising the plate off the pickup, leaving the "wire side" as close to the original position as possible. Then pop out the old magnet, pop in the new one, rescrew, and you´re done. Covers need to be removed before (and replaced afterwards if desired).

You can do it with the pickup still soldered in if the leads are long enough (You do have to "unmount" it, of course [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]) <font color="blue"> </font>

[1trussell]

Re: Honestly, how difficult is a magnet swap?

I just took out the magnet from an old JB I've got laying around. It was incredibly easy. As for the 59, since it has that cover, I'll have to practice my soldering skills before I go there.