Subliminal lanimilbuS
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2023
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- 358
You can, or have been able to in the past, get guitar pickup magnets in Alnico 2,3,4,5,8,9. Some in both sintered and cast varieties. Sintered being the cheaper to produce and weaker of the two. Some, also, in both oriented and un-oriented varieties. They all have different properties and strengths. The strengths for Alnico magnets generally go in the order of sintered 2,5,8 cast 3,2,4,5,8,9. Residual induction does not completely go in the same order. A properly magnetized/aligned Alnico 3 magnet can be stronger than a poorly magnetized/aligned Alnico 5 magnet.
Alnico magnets shouldn't loose more than 1% of their strength over a period of 100 years unless affected by high heat or impact. The very high heat required is unlikely to happen with a guitar pickup. Most will likely never see impact as they are usually housed inside a guitar. They are also housed inside the pickup. A magnet removed from a pickup and dropped onto a hard surface can be affected. A guitar played by Pete Townsend can be affected. A sintered Alnico magnet has a much greater tensile strength than a cast Alnico magnet. A cast Alnico 3 magnet has 2.3 times the tensile strength of a cast Alnico 5 magnet. If your pickup magnet has cracks or fissures it is compromised. The higher the tensile strength the less the possibility of this happening.
Play around with magnets in your guitar pickups if they are not living up to your expectations. You may find a variety more to your liking. A poorly magnetized/aligned or damaged magnet can detract from your pickup. Magnets do play a big role in how a pickup may sound. There are other factors involved, too, but this thread is for magnets only. Feel free to post any any great improvement you have noticed with any pickups you have changed the magnets in.
Alnico magnets shouldn't loose more than 1% of their strength over a period of 100 years unless affected by high heat or impact. The very high heat required is unlikely to happen with a guitar pickup. Most will likely never see impact as they are usually housed inside a guitar. They are also housed inside the pickup. A magnet removed from a pickup and dropped onto a hard surface can be affected. A guitar played by Pete Townsend can be affected. A sintered Alnico magnet has a much greater tensile strength than a cast Alnico magnet. A cast Alnico 3 magnet has 2.3 times the tensile strength of a cast Alnico 5 magnet. If your pickup magnet has cracks or fissures it is compromised. The higher the tensile strength the less the possibility of this happening.
Play around with magnets in your guitar pickups if they are not living up to your expectations. You may find a variety more to your liking. A poorly magnetized/aligned or damaged magnet can detract from your pickup. Magnets do play a big role in how a pickup may sound. There are other factors involved, too, but this thread is for magnets only. Feel free to post any any great improvement you have noticed with any pickups you have changed the magnets in.