Hi Alan, Thanks! I forgot to add the most relevant thing about the practical relationship between Coercivity & Remanence in guitar pickups.
Coercivity in layman's terms can be described as the average magnetic field strength measured 1 cm from it’s north or south magnetic poles whereas
Remanence can be described as the level of magnetism to which a material can be magnetized to.
Thus if you were to compare say Alnico V with Alnico VIII you will find the following:
- With Alnico V, by moving the pickup nearer to (or further away from) the strings it will have a definite effect on the magnetic pull of the strings and will influence tone and level of output (generally in millivolt). This is largely due to the fact that Alnico V can be charged to a high level of magnetism (Remanence 12800 Gauss), but because it's smaller magnetic field does not extend very far beyond itself and isn't that large (Coercivity 640 Qersteds) you will be able to find a nice sweet spot just by adjusting it's height in relation to the strings.
- By contrast in Alnico VIII (Remanence 8200 Gauss) the degree to which it can be magnetized is a lot less than Alnico V, but the sheer size of it's magnetic field (Coercivity = 1650 Oersteds), combined with its level of magnetism, will extend much further away and exert strong magnetic pull irrespective of its set distance away from the strings.
So there is always a trade of, and those country or trad players who love the ringing sweet sound of Alnico II will sacrifice (to a degree) the ability to do powerhouse riffs and rock solo's. Luckily we aren't all the same and there is a place for every style.
Although magnetism was a favorite subject at College I am ging to stop talking about it now........unless specifically asked (and then I'll have to get my old theory books out of the cupboard, and THAT'S not going to happen soon). This thread is already long enough!
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