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Jack Casady and adding extra magnets to pickups

#41
NoiseNinja said:
Can you explain this though? :

At some point I experimented with adding a thin neo bar magnet on the bottom of each of the 2 halves of my EMG Geezer Butler P pickup (utilizing some hot glue to secure them), which utilizes Alnico 5 magnet rods, so technically the neo bar magnets were placed right beneath those Alnico rods, but without physically touching them.

And while I did make sure that the bar magnets lined up with the pole pieces and that they with 100% certainty had the right polarity facing upwards, the result when I installed the pickup again, contrary to my expectations, was that they now had an extremely low but unpleasantly distorted output.

However after I removed the neo bar magnets again the pickup worked exactly as it did before I installed the bar magnets.

And, while it wasn't even like the added neo bar increased the magnetic pull of the pole pieces to insane amounts, testing with the tip of a flat screwdriver on the pole pieces of the Geezer they just seemed to now has about the same approximate pull as the pole pieces of my DiMarzio Model P pickup, so, yes, a quite noticeable increase in magnetic pull, as expected, but as said, not insanely so.

Regardless though, as said, quite the opposite effect of what you would have expected.
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You messed with a magnetic circuit you didn't understand, and ended up saturating it somewhat - in post #20, I mentioned this. Adding magnets isn't going to always add output. As it turns out, the person who designed the thing may actually know more about magnetics than someone who's just randomly tinkering at home.
 
#42
micguy said:
You messed with a magnetic circuit you didn't understand, and ended up saturating it somewhat - in post #20, I mentioned this. Adding magnets isn't going to always add output. As it turns out, the person who designed the thing may actually know more about magnetics than someone who's just randomly tinkering at home.
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I asked for an explanation, I never claimed I was an electronic genius, don't know where you are getting that from, in fact that is the whole reason for me asking.

I don't think experimenting should be exclusively for experts, as long as you don't expect yourself to perform miracles.

But God forbid you learning anything from personal experience.

I am sure you never do anything you are not already an absolute expert in.

Ooph, just the thought of people who are not master luthiers modding their basses, makes me furious, how dare they!

Sorry for not being a pickup expert, I am probably not even qualified and worthy to have them installed them in my basses, so ashamed of myself right now, how could I, please let me know if you think I should have someone who are a pickup expert pull them out and confiscate them.
 
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#43
NoiseNinja said:
I asked for an explanation, I never claimed I was an electronic genius, don't know where you are getting that from, in fact that is the whole reason for me asking.

I don't think experimenting should be exclusively for experts, as long as you don't expect yourself to perform miracles.

But God forbid you learning anything from personal experience.

I am sure you never do anything you are not already an absolute expert in.

Ooph, just the thought of people who are not master luthiers modding their basses, makes me furious, how dare they!

Sorry for not being a pickup expert, I am probably not even qualified and worthy to have them installed them in my basses, so ashamed of myself right now, how could I, please let me know if you think I should have someone who are a pickup expert pull them out and confiscate them.
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You're pretty much missing the point. I never said most of the things you're reacting negatively to. In fact, I'll quote my previous post myself:

micguy said:
Feel free to experiment with magnets. The worst thing that will probably happen is a blood blister on a finger from a magnet pinch (if you haven't experienced this, you probably haven't done much with rare earth magnets). But just know that what you get isn't always going to be what you expect.
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#44
No, what you wrote as a reply to my question was this :
micguy said:
You messed with a magnetic circuit you didn't understand, and ended up saturating it somewhat - in post #20, I mentioned this. Adding magnets isn't going to always add output. As it turns out, the person who designed the thing may actually know more about magnetics than someone who's just randomly tinkering at home.
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And I replied to that answer, accordingly to how that looked to me.
 
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#46
micguy said:
You messed with a magnetic circuit you didn't understand, and ended up saturating it somewhat - in post #20, I mentioned this. Adding magnets isn't going to always add output. As it turns out, the person who designed the thing may actually know more about magnetics than someone who's just randomly tinkering at home.
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Gotta admit that was a little harsh, bro. It didn't ruin the pickup except temporarily. He just wanted to see what happened.
 
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#47
JimmyM said:
Gotta admit that was a little harsh, bro. It didn't ruin the pickup except temporarily. He just wanted to see what happened.
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In that post, I referenced another post where I talk about myself and my experimenting with magnets, and also included this as a wrap up:

micguy said:
Feel free to experiment with magnets. The worst thing that will probably happen is a blood blister on a finger from a magnet pinch (if you haven't experienced this, you probably haven't done much with rare earth magnets). But just know that what you get isn't always going to be what you expect.
Click to expand...
 
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#48
JimmyM said:
Interesting thread. Can't say I ever thought of the couple JC's I've played as lacking in mids, but that was years ago so who knows what I'd think now?
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The pickup itself by design has a relatively scooped/hi-fi tone (this is what you are hearing on the 50 ohm impedance on the transformer switch, which is a 1:1 tap) but the transformer in the 250 and 500 ohm settings is adding a lot of mid harmonics that fill the tone out much more like a typical passive pickup
 
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#49
sunbeast said:
The pickup itself by design has a relatively scooped/hi-fi tone (this is what you are hearing on the 50 ohm impedance on the transformer switch, which is a 1:1 tap) but the transformer in the 250 and 500 ohm settings is adding a lot of mid harmonics that fill the tone out much more like a typical passive pickup
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Wish I'd have thought to give one a little more of a windout but oh well, how many basses can I own?
 
#50
JimmyM said:
Wish I'd have thought to give one a little more of a windout but oh well, how many basses can I own?
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I slept on it too for years, drawn in by the idea of his Airplane-era Starfire. Then I played a few vintage Starfires and tried Darkstars in a few basses and moved on. Finally tried a Casady bass a few years ago then started seeing them live all over the place. I picked up a cheap one on Craigslist eventually and it’s quickly become one of my main squeezes. They really hit something there that shoulda been a thing all along. Probably the best import bass made right now IMO, and the electronics rival pretty much any other passive instrument I can think of
 
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#51
Resurrected thread, but I thought I'd jump in and mention I bought 2 alnico magnets cut for a Guild Bisonic pickup from Rick Turner's (RIP) shop recently. My '67 Starfire I (single neck pu) has 2 slots for magnets, yet only one is filled. When I added a second magnet, the volume decreased noticeably, although the tone was clearer and a bit growlier. Jack Casady said something about lowering the impedance to boost the signal back up, although that is probably beyond my limited level of techi-ness. I asked Turner Guitars for additional info on this, but so far no one seems to have an answer on exactly how Jack's Starfire Bisonic was initially hot-rodded. I guess Jack is the only one left to properly answer that (anyone have his email? ha).
 
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#55
dwizum said:
If you want the opposite of clean and clear, then look for overwound pickups in "inefficient" shapes, like a P or a really fat single - stay away from tall, narrow shapes (like Jazz pickups or narrow coil humbuckers). Also stay away from ceramic or exotic magnets - stick with alnico, and possibly just with weaker alloys (2 or 3). Go with a design that has steel in it somewhere, if you want bonus points - think: sidewinders, blades, or things that look like they were designed in the 50's. That'll be a good recipe for a very colorful pickup that's the opposite of clean and clear!
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And yet our beloved and nasty DiMarzio Model P is ceramic.
 
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#57
Mosthigh said:
Resurrected thread, but I thought I'd jump in and mention I bought 2 alnico magnets cut for a Guild Bisonic pickup from Rick Turner's (RIP) shop recently. My '67 Starfire I (single neck pu) has 2 slots for magnets, yet only one is filled. When I added a second magnet, the volume decreased noticeably, although the tone was clearer and a bit growlier. Jack Casady said something about lowering the impedance to boost the signal back up, although that is probably beyond my limited level of techi-ness. I asked Turner Guitars for additional info on this, but so far no one seems to have an answer on exactly how Jack's Starfire Bisonic was initially hot-rodded. I guess Jack is the only one left to properly answer that (anyone have his email? ha).
Click to expand...
Have you tried flipping the magnet?
 
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