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Many of the early magnets used on Fender instruments had a rough surface sand cast magnet with an average diameter of .197″. The larger diameter magnets were used from early to late ’50s. The standard size became .187″ in diameter. The early magnets were raw with rough sand casting pits. The outer surface had a…

This is another device I built to calibrate or shape the magnetic field within a coil or pickup. I use the Dun-Stunner to calibrate the magnetic field within coils already installed in a pickguard assembly and intentional reduction of a magnetic field.

I usually use this term when two or more pickups are used with a combination of switches or custom circuits. If two pickups are both wound in the same direction and both have the same top magnetic polarity, the pickups are electrically and magnetically in phase. If both pickups are wound in the same direction…

This is very debatable as I like using various grades of Alnico and Ceramic magnets. I often calibrate my Alnico magnets and prefer weaker magnets for the tone I’m they give. I use strong Ceramic to weak Alnico’s for many models and applications. I don’t like using the rare earth magnets as they have more…

Grinding the pole pieces on a magnetized and wound coil can cause several problems and I wouldn’t do it. I seen pickup done this way and all the ground and chipped magnet dust clings all over the pickup and poles. The heat from grinding can melt the insulation inside the pickup and later cause the…

Pickups with the above magnet (s – south, n – north) field pattern would be out of phase with itself and when combined with another pickup. The first pattern (s s s n n n), half of the coil would be in phase and the other half would be out of phase with another combined…

You can replace the 3/16″ inch diameter ferrous studs with rod magnets of the same diameter and length. You need to keep the same polarity as the studs were magnetized through magnetic induction. Using magnet rod pole pieces can give you a slightly brighter pickup depending on the grade and strength material you are using.

They are used to direct the magnetic field from its magnetic path within the pickup towards the strings. Some pole pieces are rod or bar alnico or ceramic magnets and others are ferrous poles (studs) or ferrous bars that act as pole pieces to magnetize the strings. The further away the pickup is from the…

Most of the flex magnetic strips I’ve seen are magnetized N-S-N-S-N-S per given length and side. You would need a magnetizer capable of remagnetizing it so one side is South and the reverse side is North. I have seen pickups made with flexible magnet strips and many early Sears Silvertone guitars, for example, used a…

I generally refer to aging the magnets as ones that loose magnetism or strength often referred to as gauss and flux. Rubbing magnets together does not age or properly weaken the magnets in a pickup and most likely it will rearrange the magnetic domains and can cause each magnet to be magnetized inconsistently from pole…