|
Post by pete1951 on Oct 9, 2022 13:19:45 GMT
I was brought a guitar today, the top 3 strings on a Les Paul copy made no sound . I thought it could be a pickup magnet problem, sometimes a surface fixed magnet can come loose, move across and some strings will not work. But this was on both pickups. The poles made plenty of noise if tapped with something iron, so I slackened the bottom string, pulled it across the instrument and found it worked fine over the treble side! Did the reverse with a treble string,pulling it over to the bass side, not a sound So it was not the pickups it was the strings!
The top 3 plain strings were non-magnetic! They look like standard steel, and the wound ones work fine. I guess they are some sort of stainless, and would work fine on an acoustic but they are totally non-magnetic.( at least you can’t pick them up with a small magnet)
In 50 years of messing about with electric guitars I have never come across this before, Pete
Might try to find out where the owner got the strings , very odd!
|
|
|
Post by Stevie on Oct 9, 2022 15:57:03 GMT
Pete I suspect that there's more to this than meets the ear. It's true that the high Chromium content of "good" stainless-steel reduces the carbon content influence of plain steel vis-a-vis slicing through the magnetic field(s) of pick ups. That said, I have had it demonstrated to me that the plinky sounds generated by plucking the strings between a TOM and stop tail piece or after the saddles on a floating "bridge" translates to appropriate sounds emmanating from the amp. I find it difficult to envisage the string vibrating over the pick ups and thus slicing the magnetic fields to create a micro voltage when picking behind the bridge. I guess I'm missing something here, possibly related to harmonic responses, but as I said- not totally clear to me. As a radio ham, I note that the incoming electro magnetic wave is not too fussy whether the length of aerial wire it encounters in its path is ferrous or not, and in that case slicing with a metallic conductor is the same as the electrical principal of inducing a voltage in a coil. I know someone somewhere will educate me! Help!
でつ e&oe ...
|
|
|
Post by pete1951 on Oct 9, 2022 18:54:05 GMT
I have kept one of the ‘dead’ strings. Though I no longer have access to the University materials department, I think I can do some basic tests myself. First I will soak the string ( and a ‘normal’ one) in a mild acid and see if they rust at the same rate. Pete
Come to think of it my bass player is a physicist and works for the uni. he may be able to help solve this mystery
|
|
|
Post by Pickers Ditch on Oct 10, 2022 8:33:17 GMT
Austenitic stainless steel?
Something I remember from a long time ago... Came to me at at 3 o'clock this morning....
|
|
|
Post by tigercubt20 on Oct 11, 2022 23:05:07 GMT
the 18/8 Austenitic stainless steels cover a wide range,everything from kitchen sinks to coocking utensils.the next step up are the Nimonic stainless steels. in the nuclear industries stainless steels, are ranged according to theyre, equilibrian diagrams,which describes the crystaline phase changes.there is also a material inconel, used for welded joins,in certain components of advanced gas cooled reactors.or just maybe its an Alien metal unknowm to terrestrial science.in a galaxy far far away. may the force be with you.
|
|
|
Post by pete1951 on Oct 12, 2022 6:41:00 GMT
The question is ‘why should a guitar string manufacturer make non-magnetic strings.’
Looks like they are some stainless type of steel, after 24 hours in mild acid a standard string has turned black, the odd string is as yet in perfect condition. Very strange Pete
|
|
|
Post by Pickers Ditch on Oct 12, 2022 6:49:34 GMT
Pete, is the string manufacturer known? Maybe this set was designed as an acoustic set not for electrics. Or it could have been a purchasing cockup and the manufacturer got hold of the 'wrong' stainless steel.
|
|
|
Post by Stevie on Oct 12, 2022 9:40:32 GMT
I've definitely seen "stainless-steel" strings for sale ...
Intrigued, I have just applied a rather large Neodymium magnet to an unopened packet of Newtone Electric Masters (I bought two such magnets to make a jig for re-magnetising pole pieces after being forced to use a 100 watts heat gun to solder the "ground" lead onto a P90 chassis) and there is an appreciable attraction. I then applied it to the strings on my acoustic guitar. There was no attraction whatsoever (until I slid the magnet over the frets.) Those strings are the much reviled coated D'Addario EXP16. I use those exact same strings on my Heritage Sweet16 jazz box with a humbucker and the guitar amplifies just fine despite exhibiting zero magnetic attraction from the Neodog magnet. There is an unopened packet of D'Addario EXPs in my acoustic's case and that IS attracted to the magnet. I suspect those are from the more recent "New York Steel" designated batch. A square wheel? Hmmm ...
The bottom line; I can demonstrate strings exhibiting zero magnetic attraction that are working just fine through an amp, and I cannot believe it is pick up microphony.
Discuss.
でつ e&oe ...
|
|
|
Post by Stevie on Oct 12, 2022 12:04:22 GMT
Well I'm not holding my breath for him to show up, but I reckon Faraday would have put his $0.02 in. The key is in the word conductor, so if it will pass Coulombs per second I guess we're in business.
でつ e&oe ...
|
|