Swapping a pickup magnet

So, I decided to swap out the magnet on the neck pickup of my Les Paul Custom. This picture shows the magnet, which I labeled "Seymour Duncan AlNiCo 2" in case I use it in the future. The pickups on this guitar were changed out in the mid-nineties to the Seth Lover model (SH-55) which is a basic, no-thrills pickup with medium strength magnets. New metal music probably requires ceramic magnets, or at least something stronger than the alnico variety that has been used since the 1950s, and more. This particular pickup model is based on the original design that ultimately was used in the late 1950s P.A.F. pickups. His design called for AlNiCo 5 magnets (a little stronger), but economics dictated that AlNiCo 2 would be used.


As it turns out, this is about perfect for the bridge pickup. With the turn of the GAIN knob on my single-ended 5-watt amplifier, I can go from vintage rock to Van Halen. (EVH uses only one pickup, usually a real 1950's PAF, in the bridge pickup.) Both pickups at the same time usually sounds good - and when I play clean I often end up here. However, the neck pickup was always a little too muddy for me. I don't mind mids, but I want them to be clear. So, I bought another magnet from StewMac and jumped in with wild abandon.


Above, you can the guitar in my workshop, ready for the procedure. Swapping a magnet is the electrical equivalent to open-heart surgery. You literally take the pickup apart to get the old magnet out. First, you have to loosen and remove the strings. It's easiest to just take the stopbar off and push everything to the side. This photo does a good job of showing the economics of 1979 Gibson, the Norlin days. The top is not a fancy book-matched maple, it is actually three pieces that are not really lined up well.


Next, the metal cover needs to be removed. I like the look of covered pickups, but a lot of the purists remove these for more top end or something. They are better shielded this way anyhow, and I hate noise - so the covers stay on.
I perform this kind of work with the pickup still connected to the guitar, so I throw a rag on top to keep the top from getting scratched, or melting the finish or something. I probably don't deserve a guitar any nicer, if this is how I treat them. To remove the cover, I first cut through the solder with a cut-wheel on a Dremel tool.


After cutting the solder, I heat it up with the soldering station and use a combination of braid and a solder sucker to get the rest out. This is a little tricky, and I would not be comfortable working on a vintage pickup. I overheated the cover and blistered a little of the gold plating in a previous procedure. That would make me sick if this was a 50-year-old pickup. However, it's never seen since only the top comes up through the pickup rings. The whole thing heats up, which could be dangerous if you melt any of the varnish that surrounds any of the pickup wires (there are hundreds, or even thousands, of turns of this fine wire). I am using a soldering tip that looks a little like a screw driver, so I wedge that a little to separate the cover and slip a screwdriver in there. In about one second, the solder should cool and the cover should be separated. If it isn't I try a little pressure to snap the solder, but not too much. If I can't get it undone, I heat it up again and try to remove more solder.


I picked this little tool up from StewMac. It is a polarity tester to make sure I know the difference between N and S. If you get this wrong, you would end up with a popular modification called the Peter Green mod. This is how to get the two pickups in a Les Paul out of phase, but still quiet (shielded from hum). I like that sound, but only if the gain is up. Also, I am too much of a fan of the middle position (both pickups on), and I would hate to miss out on this. So, I'll make sure to get this right (took a second try, btw). The new magnet is nearby, sitting on the pickguard.


Sorry that I haven't figured out the macro-setting of this camera. Actually, it is from work - I don't own a camera. The screwdriver shaft is in focus, though. To get at the magnet, loosen these four screws. Nothing else needs to be messed with. I guess you have questions about the writing on this pickup. They are just stamped or screened on there - they are not autographs. Believe me, if I got Seth Lover's autograph, I never would have asked him to sign the bottom of a pickup... The pickup plate is starting to look a little haggard, isn't it? As I mentioned, I have been in here before, reversing the magnet, and then putting it back to normal. Maybe, just maybe, if I had two Les Pauls, I would keep one of them like Peter Green's guitar.


Action shot! I am proud of this picture. With those four screws loosened under the plate, I use some pliers to pull out the old magnet. With my other hand, I was holding the camera! You need to keep things pretty flat here, there are two wooden spacers (Seymour Duncan's fidelity to the original design, like it matters if it were plastic or not). In fact, I just noticed that an 1/8th of an inch of one of these spacers is exposed in this picture. I think if you go to Seymour Duncan's website, you will see that they even mention that the tape used to wrap the wire is authentic. Whatever. They are, however, very good pickups - so I do recommend them (with this mod, perhaps).

So, I lined up the magnets, and even used the tester, but I still got this wrong. For about 5 minutes, I played my guitar with the out-of-phase sound and debated if this was meant to be. However, I told myself that I would not be happy unless I went back in, loosend the strings, cut the solder, heated it up, snapped off the cover, swapped the magnet, and then put it all right. So, that is what I did. Funny how I hate having stuff ahead of me, but I really don't mind doing the work. The entire operation can be done in less than 5 minutes, really. So, I'm glad I went back in.


You probably don't want me working on your guitar. Here is the last stage (before re-stringing). A little bit of solder needs to be replaced here. It sort of locks in the cover (keeps it from becoming microphonic) as well as electrically connecting it to ground to complete the shielding. I have cut and soldered/unsoldered this cover about 5 times now, and it kind of shows. Of course, as I mentioned before, it's not something that you would ever see from outside. You may have noticed that there was no wax in any of these steps. That is what would double the time here. Theoretically, the pickup can be microphonic at high volume and gain settings. I never play like this, and the old pickups were not wax potted anyhow.

Review:
Okay, basically this whole operation was done to swap out the AlNiCo-2 magnet, and replace it with the AlNiCo-5. The difference is a little on the subtle side (which I am pleased with). However, I can tell that the neck pickup has more clarity, and even sounds good dirty (higher gain). I am now wholly satisfied with the pickups in this guitar and am not tempted to swap them out for anything else in the near future.

Can you hear the difference?*
Original alnico-2:


Replaced with alnico-5:


--gh

*disclaimer: I don't really have access to real audio editing tools or microphones. I used a laptop's internal speaker near the amplifier, on moderate settings. I did, however, keep the amp's settings, and the laptop's recording settings, exactly the same during the magnet change. Also, I kind of forgot what I played the first time (a CM7-Am9-Dm9-G13 progression, and some noodling in C major) but I tried to make it the same the next time. Also, sorry about the hiss, I don't have any editors with filters, normalizers, etc.