Air New 7 Neck?

ZeroSignal · 03-11-2008, 04:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ibznorange

all they do is use a smaller magnet or some sort of spacer. not a big deal really. shit you could slide anything nonmagnetic in between the poles and magnet and be good to go

Um... yup!

TMatt142 · 03-11-2008, 05:12 PM

Hmmm I think the "New 7" neck pickup is just fine. I actually like it more and more. It's the Bridge one I can do without

giannifive · 03-11-2008, 06:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ibznorange

all they do is use a smaller magnet or some sort of spacer. not a big deal really. shit you could slide anything nonmagnetic in between the poles and magnet and be good to go

Yeah, that's right. In most standard pickups, on each side of the magnet there is a metal bar w/ holes for each row of studs that the studs go through. This completes a magnetic circuit. If you remove the metal bar and instead put some plastic or other non-paramagnetic or non-diamagnetic material between the studs and the magnet you weaken the magnetic field at the strings and reduce the pickup's power without changing it's tonal response too much. I think Dimarzio uses thick plastic washers on a few studs for their airing process, along with studs that narrow as they reach the magnet.

I've aired one coil of an old Dimarzio IBZUSA pickup, and it sounded much more interesting!

giannifive · 03-11-2008, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TMatt142

Hmmm I think the "New 7" neck pickup is just fine. I actually like it more and more. It's the Bridge one I can do without

That's what everyone says but I just don't get it. Do you do a lot of metal riffage? I don't so much, which is why I love the New 7 bridge. It's beautiful for creamy distorted solos. And I also find the New 7 neck way too hot for my tastes. I like more dynamics. For the record I should probably mention that although I do play metal sometimes, I also play blues, jazz, rock, and other less-compressed, lower-gain stuff...

frank falbo · 03-12-2008, 12:04 AM

You guys are missing some of the details.

First, as far as I've seen, no Dimarzio Airbucker uses a smaller magnet. The gap is created by removing the spacer surrounding screw poles, and using tapered slugs on the slug poles.

Second, the New 7 has fat threaded poles. That means they don't taper on the way down like a typical PAF pole. Instead they're like threaded slug poles, fat all the way down. That means there are NO SPACERS in a New 7, Super D/II/III, Evolution, or any other Dimarzio that has the same pole pieces. So now, in order to "air" one of those pickups you either have to convert the bobbins for screw-style poles, and or use tapered studs from another airbucker, OR you have to find a non-standard, smaller magnet.

Thirdly, as far as I've seen, Airbuckering is done with Alnico 5 magnets only. Alnico has a way of softening and "dithering" as you introduce the air gap. It's not really that different than simply using an Alnico II or III, but Dimarzio has created the tones of many of their pickups this way, and then they only need to stock A5. Ceramic is different. Ceramic is more rigid in it's magnetic field. I spoke with a not-to-be-named Dimarzio employee who agreed that to Airbucker Ceramic is really not that different than lowering the poles or the whole pickup just a little bit. the Airbuckered Ceramic really just gets a slight volume drop, not much else regarding the character or "airiness" of the note's attack and decay.

The New 7 is Ceramic, as are all of Dimarzio's 7-string pickups, including those with Alnico 5 6-string counterparts. So the Air Norton 7 should be aired, right? And I believe it is, but it's aired Ceramic. So any of you that have an AN7, if you think it sounds and feels airy, then I guess trying to air a New 7 could be good. But my estimate? I would guess you'd like the New 7 a lot with an Alico 5 magnet. I've had New 7's and I liked them, but they were a little compressed. The coil isn't anything magical though. So if you converted to screws and slugs, and aired one or both coils, you'd probably have a cool pickup.

Oh yeah, here's my cool Airbuckering mod:
I call it "vari-air". You know how some guys like a half-aired pickup? Well I've taken non-aired pickups, removed the spacers, and then arranged the magnet in a diagonal manner so that it's touching the treble pole of one coil and the bass pole of the other coil. Now high and low notes are clean and clear because they have one coil with strong magnetism and the other "fully aired". Then the middle strings have half the air but on both coils. The signal coming off the strings is also strong in a diagonal pattern, so it's kind of like an angled pickup that way too. You can have so much fun with this mod it's silly.

Holy crap did I just write like a whole page? Sorry...

The Dark Wolf · 03-12-2008, 12:13 AM

Wow, Frank F dropping knowledge bombs.

Nice info, Frank. You're the man.

giannifive · 03-12-2008, 12:22 AM

Wow, thanks Frank!

Looks like I need to pick up some 7-sized Alnico magnets...

ibznorange · 03-12-2008, 12:46 AM

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