Andoer N3X0 black mini humbucker teardown

[stratotarts]

This pickup is an Asian import and can be purchased for about US$7.00 from various online vendors. Some of them incorrectly list it as having an Alnico V magnet, it is in fact ceramic. The names "Andoer" and "N3X0" are not always associated with it, it is often sold as a no name product. The "N3X0" name is interesting as there is also an Asian humbucker labelled "A1B3" and thus the alpha-numeric-alpha-numeric nomenclature may be a pattern common to the same manufacturer.

As dictated by the price, the design and materials severely limit the pickup's performance. The poles consist of two thick steel plates, which create a very large inductance which lowers the resonant frequency. However, the result is not too bad compared with PAF form factor humbuckers. The really serious problem with this pickup is the covers.

Edited for a correction...
These are the only ones that I have ever seen that are composed of copper. As cover losses are inversely proportional to conductivity, copper is arguably the worst material that you could possibly choose for this purpose, as it has the highest conductivity of any economical metal (that is why it is used for most wire). Brass is also inferior to nickel-silver, but copper is slightly worse. Strangely, the covers are chrome plated before spray painted black. Bare copper would have better adhesion for paint, but the manufacturer is likely obtaining covers in chrome, unable to source the bare covers. The inference from this, is that some other chrome plated covers on the market might also be composed of copper.

In fact, the covers are brass. I was confused by a copper base plating that I guess is used to facilitate the chromium plating.



The baseplate is brass. Strangely, some of the online listings show a Seymour Duncan logo stamped on it. The ones I obtained did not have these. The price includes a steel mounting ring and screws, not shown.

Attachments:

[stratotarts]

[stratotarts]

[antigua]

Thanks for this analysis. I love seeing what shenanigans the Chinese are up to when it comes to their pickups.

> The inference from this, is that some other chrome plated covers on the market might also be composed of copper.

Truth be told, I'm never certain when a cover is brass or copper, given that brass is just copper zinc alloy, of varying proportions. How were you able to tell it was one and not the other?

>  Strangely, some of the online listings show a Seymour Duncan logo stamped on it

Can you link an example? I'd love to see how closely it matches an actual Seymour Duncan.

I've long suspected, and it would be naive to think otherwise, that when a US based company OEMs with China, China uses the same molds and machining for their own cut rate knock offs. A reputable pickup maker in the US said he had got a good deal on manufacturing materials from China on the provision that they could use his specifications to make and sell the same parts wholesale to others, but the truth is that they would certainly do this with or without consent. 

[stratotarts]

Here is an Ebay pickup with the SD logo: link

I don't have metallurgical tools to analyze the metal. I'm judging by comparing the colour of the cover with the gold coloured sample which is familiar to me as brass (from another pickup cover). That's the best I can do. I guess I should have mentioned that.


Important Edit:

I just found out, the copper is just a plating! Under it, is the brass. I guess they use the copper plating as a base for the chrome.

[stratotarts]

I just realized that guests can't expand the attachments. So:

DC resistance (ohms): 7050
Inductance (H): 4.78
Calculated Intrinsic Capacitance (pF): 111

Loaded Resonant Frequency (Hz): 2800
Loaded Peak (dB): -1

[wgen]

Hello, I'm replying to this thread because I have been looking closely to the analysis of these mini humbuckers.
I'm particularly interested in one specific topic;
what it does seem uncommon the most to me is the fact that, with the LOADED analysis, the cover has THAT much of an importance in this case.
If you look at the 3 khz area, which is where the resonant peak lives in the loaded WITHOUT the cover analysis, there is, then, a huge loss of decibels, around 3.5-4 db of damping of that frequency area, if you look at the loaded analysis of the same pickup WITH the cover, instead.

Now, I read from many threads of Antigua that eddy current losses are important especially with UNLOADED comparisons between covered and uncovered pickups, for example in PAF style humbuckers. The effect of those losses is always there with LOADED pickups, but much less evident, let's say, around 1 db of loss only, generally speaking.

Here we have around 3.5-4 db of loss in the LOADED analysis comparison between covered and uncovered pickups instead.
Why that much? Am I missing something?

Hope that was clear enough, please excuse me for my English..

[antigua]

The graph shows dramatic losses in both the loaded and unloaded context, but the drop in dB is still greater in the unloaded plots, the two lighter plot lines to the right. Losses like this appear to be common with brass and other high conductivity covers. I'd say the use of brass covers is the number one reason not to trust metal covered pickups from China, unless there is assurance that the cover is nickel silver, specifically. 

[stratotarts]

Indeed, it seems that all the economy pickups from China have plated brass covers. It's really unfortunate for them, because they have learned all the other lessons so well.

[wgen]

Thank you very much!
Do you know if brass covers are used from bigger manufacturer, too? I think I read, here around and somewhere on the web, that Duncans had brass covers...maybe not for every model (ie brass for the '59, nickel silver for Seth Lovers...?)
How about Dimarzios and Gibsons..?
Thank you again!