Low Gauss Pickups?

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SquierTap

SquierTap

Squier-holic
Jul 14, 2018
3,815
Nashville, Tn
So, what's the deal with low gauss pickups? They're poppin up EVERYWHERE lately... ESPECIALLY in my Musiclily FB group... I read an article that basically said, the higher the gauss, the more magnetic pull the magnet has, and the brighter the pickup sounds... So, are all these low gauss pickups I've been seeing lately just aimed at people interested in a lower output "vintage" sounding pickup? I, personally love the bright, bell like tone of single coil Strat pickups, and I can't imagine why someone would want less brightness or highs...

Someone please inform me, here...
 
Ken Rose

Ken Rose

Squier-holic
Sep 23, 2010
2,068
Northern California
I could not answer this in a magnetic sense as it's such a mystery, but I can say that charging Alnico 5 to roughly the strength of Alnico 2 produces a more desirable high end. I've been doing this for some years now on the Robusta set. Gauss strength of 900-1500 would be a fully charged A5. I like to charge to roughly 600 ish. I didn't personally know that this would be the outcome until I read about it in an old Seymour Duncan book from the 80s.
 
SquierTap

SquierTap

Squier-holic
Jul 14, 2018
3,815
Nashville, Tn
Ken Rose said:
I could not answer this in a magnetic sense as it's such a mystery, but I can say that charging Alnico 5 to roughly the strength of Alnico 2 produces a more desirable high end. I've been doing this for some years now on the Robusta set. Gauss strength of 900-1500 would be a fully charged A5. I like to charge to roughly 600 ish. I didn't personally know that this would be the outcome until I read about it in an old Seymour Duncan book from the 80s.
Click to expand...
I'm gonna throw y'all a link to this article and see what y'all think about it... He actually talks a LITTLE bit about the process of "charging" magnets, and he's claimin that most big name pickup companies buy their magnets pre-charged, (which I doubt, honestly) and he makes it sound like MOST pickup companies don't even check the gauss levels, which, again, I highly doubt...

And check out the highly detailed chart, lol... At first I thought this was an article about gauss levels, and the more I look at it, the more it seems to be a thinly veiled advertisement for HIS pickups...
 
SquierTap

SquierTap

Squier-holic
Jul 14, 2018
3,815
Nashville, Tn
Well, before we get TOO deep, here's that article;https://wgsusa.com/blog/exactly-wha...charge-level-means-and-why-its-important-tone

That chart to me is kinda pointless... He already said that the higher the gauss, the brighter the pickup... I guess it's handy to know which ones sound brighter... Most people are sayin that gauss levels are just ANOTHER factor in how a pickup sounds, along with magnet composition, and resistance... But in this article he claims that gauss level is VERY important, and he even says that HE thinks that resistance is the LEAST important thing... Like I said, I don't know about this article, lol...


And one lil quick question; So if you charge an Alnico V to the same gauss level as an Alnico II, it WILL have a different sound than an Alnico II? I "get" it, but I don't, lol... I'm guessin there's a LOT of factors and variables to how a pickups sounds, and I'm JUST learnin what the sonic differences to different Alnicos are... And then I gotta learn about ceramics! It's enough to make your head spin, man...

All's I know is that my vintage blonde '50's CV Tele CE with Alnico IIIs (vs the Alnico Vs that came in the BSB version) and I LOVE those pickups... Twangy, CLEAR, and bright... But the neck pickup also can be very warm sounding at the same time...
 
Ken Rose

Ken Rose

Squier-holic
Sep 23, 2010
2,068
Northern California
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Ken Rose

Ken Rose

Squier-holic
Sep 23, 2010
2,068
Northern California
Having a Gauss meter has another benefit of being able to help reverse engineer a good sounding pickup and checking things like strength and if the magnet is iso or anotropic. . I’ve never had a supplier send pre charged magnets though some will ask if you want it done.

stewMac used to sell a BS gauss meter made by some other company that had a gauge on it equivalent to yes/no black/white hard/soft. It’s readings meant absolutely nothing to the end user and wouldn’t be able to tell you what magnet you were looking at.
 
Last edited:
Ken Rose

Ken Rose

Squier-holic
Sep 23, 2010
2,068
Northern California
SquierTap said:
Well, before we get TOO deep, here's that article;https://wgsusa.com/blog/exactly-wha...charge-level-means-and-why-its-important-tone

That chart to me is kinda pointless... He already said that the higher the gauss, the brighter the pickup... I guess it's handy to know which ones sound brighter... Most people are sayin that gauss levels are just ANOTHER factor in how a pickup sounds, along with magnet composition, and resistance... But in this article he claims that gauss level is VERY important, and he even says that HE thinks that resistance is the LEAST important thing... Like I said, I don't know about this article, lol...


And one lil quick question; So if you charge an Alnico V to the same gauss level as an Alnico II, it WILL have a different sound than an Alnico II? I "get" it, but I don't, lol... I'm guessin there's a LOT of factors and variables to how a pickups sounds, and I'm JUST learnin what the sonic differences to different Alnicos are... And then I gotta learn about ceramics! It's enough to make your head spin, man...

All's I know is that my vintage blonde '50's CV Tele CE with Alnico IIIs (vs the Alnico Vs that came in the BSB version) and I LOVE those pickups... Twangy, CLEAR, and bright... But the neck pickup also can be very warm sounding at the same time...
Click to expand...

When WGS started selling pickups they didn’t even know what magnet was what or what wire was being used. They were all over the map a few years ago. Any one who is an expert in magnetism is alright with me, but WGS isn’t what I would call an expert.
 
VM51SQ

VM51SQ

Squier-Nut
Apr 14, 2017
550
oregon
I guess the devil is in the details! I also have always heard that magnet strength has a huge impact on a pu' s sound, as does the shape of the magnetic field. That's why the tele bridge pu has such a distinctive sound, it's attributed to the plate on the bottom. In the end, the heart wants what the ear likes!
 
howserx

howserx

Squier-holic
Apr 20, 2017
1,319
Winnipeg Canada
I'll repeat squiertaps question because I had the same one...

"And one lil quick question; So if you charge an Alnico V to the same gauss level as an Alnico II, it WILL have a different sound than an Alnico II?"
 
DougMen

DougMen

Squier-Axpert
Jun 8, 2017
21,212
Honolulu, HI
howserx said:
I'll repeat squiertaps question because I had the same one...

"And one lil quick question; So if you charge an Alnico V to the same gauss level as an Alnico II, it WILL have a different sound than an Alnico II?"
Click to expand...
Ken already answered that. He said it will have softer highs than a normal A5, but not as soft as an A2.
 
SubSailer671

SubSailer671

Squier Talk Member
‎‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎
Jul 4, 2019
2,914
Ohio, United States
Electromagnetics is difficult to understand because it is not simple. Period. It is now more than 15 yrs. since I worked in electromagnetic coil and transformer design, so I'm just a bit rusty. :confused::confused:

Faraday's law of induction states that any change in a magnetic field induces an electromotive force in a current carrying conductor. Lenz's law states that this electromotive force is always in opposition to the change in flux. Here is a link that explains it pretty well (warning, there is calculus involved): https://phys.libretexts.org/Bookshe...tion is a basic law of electromagnetism,∂→B∂t.

So, what does this mean to us guitar players? In short, the magnet in our pickups create a magnetic field, or a flux. The strength of this field depends on many factors including magnet material and charge, or how strongly the magnet creates a flux. When our guitar strings vibrate inside this magnetic field, it disturbs the field creating a change. Remember Faraday's Law says that any change in magnetic field induces an EMF in a coil. The coil of wire in our pickups accept this EMF, and convert it into an electrical current. That current is the signal that drives our amplifiers and makes our wonderful sounds.

Lenz's Law is basically a form of the law of conservation of energy. Changes to a magnetic field require energy. For our guitars this is provided by our hands when we strum the strings causing them to vibrate. But remember that Lenz's law also states that the induced EMF is always in opposition to the field. Combine this with Faraday's Law and we get that while the vibrating strings induces a current in the pickup's coil, the changes in the magnetic field as the string passes through it also induces an EMF in our strings, and always in opposition to the existing field. This means that while our strings are inducing a current in the pickup, the pickup's magnet is dampening the vibration in our strings. It works both ways.

EMF is directly proportional to number of turns and strength of the magnetic field. EMF is inversely proportional to delta-t (change in time). This means that higher frequencies of vibrations create more EMF, and lower frequencies create less. But the mass (the amount of metal per volumetric area) of our strings is also inversely proportional to frequency (higher pitch strings are thinner), so these are in opposition to each other.

Our pickups are a delicate balance between size and number of conductors, strength of magnet and magnet material/size, and height of the string from the magnet. Understanding the effects of a change to any of these is difficult because all of the equations are related--a change in one parameter in one equation has second and third order affects in others, often in an opposing manner. Inductance and Gauss measurements matter most, but are difficult to measure and non-linear in understanding and use. Resistance matters least (it really is a measure of how much energy is lost due to heating of the coil) but it is the easiest to measure and understand as it is linear.
 
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