magnetic pull

rightintheface

Senior Member
Messages
326
hi guys, quick question: what is the magnetic pull o the strings like with a set of 3 humbuckers?
i am planning a tele with HxP90xH, and someone brought up in another thread that i could have a problem with magnetic pull.
what's the general opinion on guitars with three HBs?
oh, and they are hot wound too, does that make a difference?
 
That was more of a musing, rightintheface, a wondering aloud about the possibilities. All I know is I had my pickups placed too close to the strings once, and it killed my tone and sustain, and people say it's more of an issue with stronger pickups, although it's also supposed to be more of an issue with single coils than with Hbs, because the magnetic field is more focused. I've also heard one reason those old LP juniors sound so amazing is because of no neck HB affecting what's going on, but I don't know anything about the truth of that.  Plenty of Les Pauls and SGs have had 3 medium-strength humbuckers for many years, so that tells you it's clearly possible to do. To me, it seems like overkill (which maybe is the point?). I like a middle single coil on a strat only because I love the 2 position.
The new hotness pickup combo here is neck P90, Bridge Hum. I've got a neck P90, bridge tele-size HB in my thinline in progress. But, if you're gonna use a super-hot neck pickup a lot, by all means don't let me advise you not to.
 
Magnetic pull becomes a problem when the magnetism is concentrated.  With humbuckers, its not.

Notorious for magnetic pull - Fender Alnico V pickups - the Texas Specials - they warn you about getting them too close to the strings to avoid wolf notes and weird harmonics.

With P90's you COULD have the problem, but... I've got P90's on an SG set VERY close to the strings - no issues, no worries.... so maybe its more of a magnetic slug thing, rather than steel slug thing.

The sustain killing properties of pickups would be something to consider - but then again... the string type and wood type and thickness will be more a determining factor than magnetic pull.  Pull is waaaaay down the list of things to worry about.  Don't be overly concerned.
 
i had noticed the fondness towards the H-P90 combo (in fact i almost bought a les paul BFG about 6 months ago because i really loved the combo), however i do use the neck hummer alot for solos (not so much rhythm), and i figure i'll keep it as versatile as i can  :toothy10:

the HBs i have are wound like P-90s (hum-cancelling P-90s), and the installation sheet warned against wolf notes etc etc as well. however, they are a HB sound. at the moment they are in my epi sg, only about 6 or 7mm off the strings and they arent a problem so far. i wonder if it will cause a problem... that has the potential to b annoying. thanks for the replies guys.

wish me luck  :redflag:
 
IMG_0927.jpg


I like that combination~~
 
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