Neodymium magnets

Capricorn

Do any other manufacturers use neodymium
magnets for guitar pickups besides:

GFS
http://store.guitarfetish.com/coju20nepino.html

and Q Tuners
http://www.q-tuner.com

And secondly, what characteristics or advantages does a neodymium
magnet provide as opposed to alnico or ceramic magnets?
(in terms of pickups and not speakers)

AlanRatcliffe

They are the only production models AFAIK - and only the higher output Neovin models from GFS use neo. I know Bill Lawrence and Seth Lover both experimented with it at some time or other, but both decided against using it. Lots of negatives against using it and the main positives are weight and size - which aren't an issue with pickups.

Capricorn

thanks alan... would you mind elaborating
on the negatives?

AlanRatcliffe

It's an expensive earth magnet
It causes allergic reactions
It has to be plated or coated to prevent oxidation (a polepiece will rust away in months if scratched)
Most importantly, it causes major fire and explosion hazards - many of the pickup builders on the pickup maker's forum have had experiences of two charging magnets pulling together so hard that they explode!

Capricorn

So how can it be legal for GFS and Q Tuners to
retail their pickups if they are potentially very dangerous?

AlanRatcliffe

It's not dangerous in finished form - it's the manufacturing process that presents the problem.