Magnet Polarity

dan77

I have read some very interesting threads here from the Tonerider people about magnets. What I would like to know is how to change a magnet around on a humbucking pickup to bring it in or out of phase with another pickup. What I mean is which direction do I swivel the magnet in order to do this? I want to avoid having to solder any wiring and just complete the work by changing the magnet around.

AlanRatcliffe

For the Peter Green mod? Flip it 180 degrees along the short axis. I usually mark one side of the magnet with a white marker/Tipp-Ex like this:

Then when it's flipped, it looks like this:

dan77

I get it. So the magnet's polarity is across its width then?

AlanRatcliffe

In a humbucker, yes.

dan77

Excellent, thanks Alan.

Next thing - How do I determine what is the south and north polarity of the magnet? ???

AlanRatcliffe

dan77 wrote Next thing - How do I determine what is the south and north polarity of the magnet? ???

Use a compass. Put it close to one pole if the needle swings to the pole, it's south, if it swings away from it, it's north. Otherwise use a magnet with a known polarity to see which pole attracts which.

dan77

Thanks Alan once again. I know someone with a compass. I'll ask him tomorrow to lend it to me. I'll then mark my magnets with a permanent marker. ?

Will a GPS work too? ?

tonerider

Alan Ratcliffe wrote Use a compass. Put it close to one pole if the needle swings to the pole, it's north, if it swings away from it, it's south.

Alan - Sorry to have to tell you but you've got it wrong mate - it's just the other way around! A compass is indeed the right instrument to check the magnet's polarity, but the fact is that a compass's needle (which always points to the earth's north pole) will be attracted to the SOUTH pole of a magnet, not the north. ?

This is because the earth's north pole (as man refers to it) is actually a SOUTH magnetic pole. This is a common mistake people make since we tend to look at the earth in a one-dimensional way, from top to bottom, and then we assume that the top is magnetic north - which it isn't! - its SOUTH! ?

AlanRatcliffe

:-[ Damn - I knew that! Senior moment! Lol!

Thanks - Fixed.

Gearhead

It's actually BS about North and South - it needs to be opposite to the other pup for a Greeny. I'm almost agreeing with Alan's second statement on this (known magnet), just saying that you don't even need to know.

dan77

My question was about determining the polarity of my alnico magnets and I think Andre explained it great. 8)

I'm confused about what Gearhead is saying, in fact I think he's a bit confused himself. ??? What's this about a Greeny? What is a Greeny anyway, not that it matters. Are you not perhaps on the wrong thread? ???

MikeM

Peter Green. The man that made OOP famous.

Nobody cares about polarity in pickups, what's important is relative polarity.

dan77

MikeM, I'm trying to decipher what you guys are talking about. I see with greeny you're referring to Peter Green, why I don't know, and what is OOP?

Why, in your opinion, does nobody care about polarity of pickups? It seems that it is of utmost importance to me, especially since if the magnet polarity of the pickups are opposite to one another then they will be out of phase and then the sound will be thin and metallic sounding. Other than messing with the wiring, turning the magnet around and knowing what its polarity is is something that I care a lot about ???

AlanRatcliffe

Just to expand on that - Peter Green accidentally flipped the magnet in the neck pickup of his LP, which is one of the reasons he has a unique tone. OOP is Out Of Phase.

By far the vast majority of humbuckers follow the original Gibson spec, so you don't usually need to worry about polarity. Working out polarity is something you need more often to figure out if a single-coil is RWRP. That's why we presumed you were asking about flipping the magnets to do the Green mod.

dan77

I've been thinking RELATIVE POLARITY ?

OK it's starting to make sense now. Do you mean relative polarity in the context of one pickup's magnetic polarity when compared with another one in the same guitar? Then if they're out of phase you just turn one magnet around and then their relative polarity will be right? ???

MikeM

OOP - Out Of Phase ?

Relative polarity ? If both your pops are north-top, then it's fine. If they're south-top, what's the difference? ? As long as they're the same polarity relative to each other, it's fine ?

I actually run my bride + mid out of phase for a different sounding tone ?

(Just saw you posted - YES ?)

dan77

Thanks Alan, pardon my ignorance.

dan77

MikeM, better leave your bride out of this! ?

dan77

Off to bed for me guys - thanks for all the "confusing" but nonetheless very helpful advice. I'll come back tomorrow and write down some notes about this thread to help me remember for future. ? ? ?