Topmusicanswers
Holding the magnet near the pickup while moving string will either enhance (if the magnet is aligned such that it is attracted to the pickup) or degrade the gain in the pickup since the external magnet's field will add to the pickup's field either "in phase" or "out of phase".
- Do magnets affect pickups?
- Do magnets affect electric guitars?
- What does the magnet do in a pickup?
- What can damage guitar pickups?
Do magnets affect pickups?
Strong magnets are a BIG no-no especially on the vintage spec pickups. The magnets in the pickups are very sensitive to strong magnets and will ruin your pickups...
Do magnets affect electric guitars?
It's a basic rule of physics (called Faraday's law) that a changing magnetic field produces electricity. So a guitar string will produce electricity only for as long as the magnetic field is changing—in other words, for only as long as the metal string is moving. Once the string stops vibrating, the sound stops.
What does the magnet do in a pickup?
Magnetic pickups, as applied in electric guitars, register the vibrations of nickel or steel strings in a magnetic field. They have the advantage that they can be connected directly to an (electric guitar) amplifier, but in combination with a steel-string acoustic guitar the sound tends to be electric.
What can damage guitar pickups?
Moisture. Industrial strength magnets. All those are things that could damage pickups, but generally speaking they're pretty indestructible as there's not an awful lot there to break.
