Do blade pickup work differently?

[Pierre]

I've read a post on another forum talking about 'blade magnets', however I'm not certain the blades ARE the magnets. Don't they work just like a continuous polepiece? For pups like D sonic, X2N, BL500 or Dimebucker, or even Hot/cool/vintage rails, is there still a bar magnet under the coils? That's what I think but until now I never really got the confirmation.

[Benjy_26]

For the pickups you mentioned, there is a bar magnet underneath the coils.

There are some pickups though, where the rail polepieces ARE the magnets.

Those pickups include the Danelectro Lipsticks, the pickups from the old Yamaha SVG guitars, and if I'm not mistaken, the Duncan Hot Stack for strat.

[Pierre]

Thanks!
What difference in sound do they usually make? I'll also make a search don't worry hehe... But if 2 humbuckers had the same windings, gauge, wire material and magnet strength (as well as polepiece/blade material I guess) how different would they be?

[Benjy_26]

Thanks!
What difference in sound do they usually make? I'll also make a search don't worry hehe... But if 2 humbuckers had the same windings, gauge, wire material and magnet strength (as well as polepiece/blade material I guess) how different would they be?

Do you mean if one has the magnets as blade poles and the other has magnetic slugs as the poles?

If so, I imagine the blades would be thicker, due to the more even dispersal of the magnetic field (similar to the PA Trembucker design).

[Pierre]

No no I meant just standard humbucker design, but one with blades and one with polepieces. Magnet being under and between the coils as usual.

[Benjy_26]

Oh, OK. The one with the blades is *usually* brighter than one with screws and slugs. I'm not sure why, though I suspect that it again has to do with the shape of the magnetic field.

[Pierre]

Alright! All good. I read another thread and apparently they also seem to pickup harmonics easier, and don't make bends less loud. Though I never noticed them losing volume anyway... Thanks!