• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

U.S. Peavey Club

#12,601
kodiakblair said:
Given that "ferrite" is just another word for ceramic,didn't they stick with ceramics/only less winds ? I reckon if they'd went with AlNiCO it'd be in the spec sheets. Seems like every other company blows the Alnico trumpet if they use them :laugh:
Click to expand...

I used to work for a magnet company. Not meaning to correct but actually ferrite is a type of magnet material. It is ceramic in that it is made in a ceramic fashion...pressed and heat cured like powdered metal. Usually when someone is talking about a ceramic magnet, it means ferrite and the terms can be interchangeable. The actual material uses iron oxide....which is "ferrous" for its magnetic properties.

Alnico is a totally different magnet material and is actually more like a metal. Aluminum, nickel and cobalt blended with iron and can be cast or pressed. As many know it was in short supply for a time and that is why speaker drivers actually moved to ferrite which was considered slightly inferior although now ferrite magnets can exceed flux density of Alnico by addition of other elements and improved processing.

The other thing about Alnico was that it was less susceptible to demagnetization than ferrite but that has largely become equalized with the newer ferrites. My guess is that the "super ferrite" pups used the newer "hard ferrite" with better magnetic properties.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Supadope, dangnewt, mech and 1 other person
#12,603
@Runnerman

Probably the reason Peavey went with "ferrite" instead of saying ceramic was it easier than saying "new improved ceramic",as you say the 2 are interchangable. For some daft reason folks playing basses/guitars think there's something wrong with ceramic :( Check this nonsense

" Ever played a $400 Jazz at your local guitar Barn? LOUD isn't it?? That's cause it's loaded with inexpensive ceramic pickups overwound to compete with the din of the retail environment."

:banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead:
 
#12,604
kodiakblair said:
@Runnerman

Probably the reason Peavey went with "ferrite" instead of saying ceramic was it easier than saying "new improved ceramic",as you say the 2 are interchangable. For some daft reason folks playing basses/guitars think there's something wrong with ceramic :( Check this nonsense

" Ever played a $400 Jazz at your local guitar Barn? LOUD isn't it?? That's cause it's loaded with inexpensive ceramic pickups overwound to compete with the din of the retail environment."

:banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead:
Click to expand...
That's funny on so many levels. As if Fender would design it's pickups for Guitar Center background noise. Hahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!
 
#12,605
kkaarrll said:
with the one super ferrite on my patriot---it is pretty quiet

how are they as a pair on the foundations? When both volumes are on full is quiet like a jazz? and if it is one volume only on,, is it quieter than a jazz?
Click to expand...

That's kind of how I feel also about my Patriot but then again, I haven't checked against my Foundation to see if pickup heights are equivalent. I might try that and do a comparison. I have Chromes on both. It may be affected by position as well...vibrating string nodes???
 
#12,607
Alnico or Ferrite?

upload_2018-10-25_16-11-22.jpeg
 
  • Like
Reactions: Runnerman and kodiakblair
#12,608
kodiakblair said:
@Runnerman

Probably the reason Peavey went with "ferrite" instead of saying ceramic was it easier than saying "new improved ceramic",as you say the 2 are interchangable. For some daft reason folks playing basses/guitars think there's something wrong with ceramic :( Check this nonsense

" Ever played a $400 Jazz at your local guitar Barn? LOUD isn't it?? That's cause it's loaded with inexpensive ceramic pickups overwound to compete with the din of the retail environment."

:banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead:
Click to expand...
Actually the resistance on my 04 MIM Fender J bass and 85 Foundation pickups read almost exactly the same around 5.2 each, but we know these dont sound the same.

The height of any pickup needs to be optimized as we know, but ceramics and strong A5 and A8 magnets are particularly prone to sounding loud and harsh if set too close to the strings as well as causing tuning issues.

In the early 80's, i talked to Larry Dimarzio (yes he picked up the phone) about an issue with a Dimarzio guitar pickup (which he replaced for free btw) and the discussion turned to magnets in which he stated you cannot easily tell what magnets are in a guitar pickup....too many other factors in a pickup design.

I am convinced that ferrite and alnico magnets can vary somewhat....i think the actual strength of the charge can vary.

I tend to be a pickup fiend with guitars in general, having swapped magnets in many humbuckers and P-90's LOL!
 
#12,609
kkaarrll said:
with the one super ferrite on my patriot---it is pretty quiet

how are they as a pair on the foundations? When both volumes are on full is quiet like a jazz? and if it is one volume only on,, is it quieter than a jazz?
Click to expand...
My Patriot has pretty loud output, but relatively low noise. I added another SF to the neck position, but the 50/50 nature of buying orphaned SFs resulted in a pickup with the same polarity and magnetism as the stock one. The noise level is still rather low for single coils, but you can hear a slight addition of hum with both pickups up full vs just one. FWIW, the pickups meter at 5.38 and 5.41K, pretty closely matched! I don't really care about the hum cancelling, being rather used to older singles that hum in all positions. While I had the bass fully deconstructed and the body wide open, I put a layer of heavy foil over the control cavity area of the pickguard and 2 layers of shielding paint in the cavities and channels of the body. Can't say with scientific certainty that it helped the noise, but it certainly didn't hurt.

My SF equipped Foundation and Dyna are 99% hum canceling when the pickups are set at the same volume since they are installed as a set with reverse polarity and magnetism to be quiet. Their output is exactly the same as the Patriot, the usual small drop in volume when you use both pickups due to the phasing scoop. I can't really comment if these are more quiet than a Jazz, as my Jazzes all have hum cancelling pickups.

I also set all SFs at pretty much the same height: about 4-5/32" (3-4mm) away from the strings, measured with the strings pressed down at the 21st fret. There are tiny adjustments to balance the string to string volumes and so both pickups are about the same volume.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ack, kkaarrll and JEDI BASS
#12,610
Guys I mentioned a while back that I was getting my banana fury looked at. Well the diagnosis came back that a reliable fix by straightening the neck was a no go. So a new neck looks like the only option. The quote is reasonable. He asked about wood preferences of which I have no idea and a dual action rod. While keeping original dimensions he wanted to try and increase the neck stability with a fretboard. Currently there is no separate fretboard. Sounds fine to me but I have no idea.....any advice.....
 
#12,611
Since we're on the topic of Super Ferrite pickups and hum cancelling, how many have the humbucking SF pickups? I have at least two. The bridge pickups in both of my first generation TL-FIVEs are humbuckers. A little birdie told me he had heard that they were experimenting with those toward the end of first run of SF pickups, before they changed to the new mold. I don't have either bass here to post pics of, but I'll have them next week. Storage, 100 miles away.
 
  • Like
Reactions: PeaveyPlayer
#12,612
Mark Andrew said:
Guys I mentioned a while back that I was getting my banana fury looked at. Well the diagnosis came back that a reliable fix by straightening the neck was a no go. So a new neck looks like the only option. The quote is reasonable. He asked about wood preferences of which I have no idea and a dual action rod. While keeping original dimensions he wanted to try and increase the neck stability with a fretboard. Currently there is no separate fretboard. Sounds fine to me but I have no idea.....any advice.....
Click to expand...

I'd hold for a used neck or different bass...

Does anyone know what necks will interchange (like a GV directly to a Millenium etc)?
 
  • Like
Reactions: RobertUI
#12,613
MNAirHead said:
I'd hold for a used neck or different bass...

Does anyone know what necks will interchange (like a GV directly to a Millenium etc)?
Click to expand...
Tried that but apparently nothing quite fitted from the old US basses..... Maybe a Chinese one Indeed. The guys builds acoustic guitars and knows his stuff. He mentioned he could repeat the original design but he one of those perfectionist types and thinks it will bend again.....
 
#12,615
BassikLee said:
Since we're on the topic of Super Ferrite pickups and hum cancelling, how many have the humbucking SF pickups? I have at least two. The bridge pickups in both of my first generation TL-FIVEs are humbuckers. A little birdie told me he had heard that they were experimenting with those toward the end of first run of SF pickups, before they changed to the new mold. I don't have either bass here to post pics of, but I'll have them next week. Storage, 100 miles away.
Click to expand...

Would the Gen 1 Fury slant SF pup be humbucking? If so, I have one of those. It's dead silent. I've been told they are different....but not sure how.
 
#12,616
Runnerman said:
Would the Gen 1 Fury slant SF pup be humbucking? If so, I have one of those. It's dead silent. I've been told they are different....but not sure how.
Click to expand...

All Super Ferrites are single coils except a few at the end of their run as @BassikLee mentioned. I've only seen or heard of them in the bridge position on late run 1st model TL-5s and they are stacked humbuckers. The magnets and pole piece are grounded and I think there is a grounded copper shield around the coil. I know they are the quietest single coils I've used.

HB Super Ferrite. The magnets are between the stacked coils in the middle of the pickup. Bottom pic is a 1st model used in the T-20 and slant Fury. Note the copper tape that grounds the magnetics.
Super Ferrite HB.jpg

T-20 Super Ferrite 2.JPG
 
  • Like
Reactions: Runnerman, jmlee, RobertUI and 1 other person
#12,618
Welp, when it rains, it pours. Just scored a 2nd Mill 5+, from the same store as the first one. They had it listed as a 4-string, so i didn't pay any attention, until the pic finally uploaded. It's trans green, matching headstock, and appears to have the same birdseye maple neck and fingerboard. I'm guessing someone traded them both in at the same time. Will post pics when it gets here (likely Monday). :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: dangnewt, BassikLee and Runnerman

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back