Pickup magnet swap success!

Niallmo

Never done this before, thought it looked interesting... 

The Dimarzio/IBZ pickups (that go in some Prestiege) models come with ceramic magnets. I got these off @Grunfeld because they were pink and a full set and likely to sound good in a1992 RG550.

So, sounded pretty good but were harsh in the treble ranges so were ideal for magnet swap to something a bit more sympathetic to my ear. Bought Alnico 5, 4 and 2 magnets from Cermag for a whole £1.20 each. 

Read a couple of blogs on the Seymour Duncan website and off I went...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v375/Niallmo/5A3B8B69-7991-4E1F-AF85-C2909F11264A_zpsmnosigmd.jpg

Pickups out and the screws come out of the back, very carefully cut the tape that's wound around the outside and prise the back off to reveal...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v375/Niallmo/1AA2AFE0-3CB8-49BA-BDE0-0C6C3784E35A_zpsc2sbclfm.jpg

I had a lot of trouble getting the magnet out of this one, very well stuck in. Bent the backplate but got it straight again. 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v375/Niallmo/0D14C5BF-2F0F-4229-BC52-275CA9DD9B68_zpsgwiegu5v.jpg

New magnet in, (used the Alnico 4, wanted to retain some cut) making sure the polarity is correct. Popped the backplate on and put it back in. It worked! 

This is the bridge, (which got the Alnico 5).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v375/Niallmo/25480674-70F9-4226-A0E6-C216B0C75EB5_zpshl1im06f.jpg

I re-wrapped the pickups with electrical tape to give a bit if protection.

Forgot to take any readings after the swap but before they were 12.4k bridge and 8.15k neck so next string change I'll check.

I will also swap the polarity of the bridge pickup as its gone in out of phase with the Middle. Thought I'd made sure the polarity was correct!

Took about 30 mins for the neck, ten mins for the bridge as I knew what I was doing!

Back in the RG.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v375/Niallmo/1DAC1C9B-77FA-487A-896A-D487CA32FC49_zpseuwdtalm.jpg

OilCityPickups

Resistance won't be changed by a magnet swap ... and you need a little pocket compass for polarity ... don't trust to memory! 

Niallmo

Ah ok! Useful. Didn't seem to be an output change but it did seem to shift the response, the neck became bassier without losing detail and the bridge gained mids. Quite happy with the outcome.

Adam_MD

TheGuitarWeasel;528091" said:

Resistance won't be changed by a magnet swap ... and you need a little pocket compass for polarity ... don't trust to memory! 

@TheGuitarWeasel the last time I did this I took readings before/after and they were different - both went down slightly . Was this likely due to using a hairdryer to melt the wax when taking off the covers? Difference between the coils being cold and then heated up slightly.

OilCityPickups

Resistance goes up and down dramatically with temperature ... just warming a pickup by handling can take it from 8.5k to 9.2k!!! This is why resistance is such a poor indicator of output. I quote my DC resistance at room temperature 20 degrees C but how many rooms do you know that stay at that evenly winter and summer!

If you have a sophisticated multimeter ... ours cost about sixty quid each direct from China ... then measuring inductance will give you a better idea of output. 

The only thing that will change the resistance and also up the output is splicing in more wire ... or removing it for the opposite effect.

Adding a more powerful magnet will also increase the output ... though not by as much. The odd effect is that sometimes a weaker magnet can seem louder because of the harmonic frequencies it lets through. There is plenty of science as well as more than a little voodoo and pot luck in all of this!

Fun isn't it? :-)