Bass Playing and Pacemakers

[silentbob]

Bit of a weird one this, but i've just had an ICD pacemaker/defribulator fitted and have been told i have to avoid strong magnetic forces. Anybody else on here have one, and do you know if there is any risk to the device from pick-up magnets, or speaker cone magnets?

[Mykesbass]

I'm no expert but this interseted me so had a quick surf - apparently you should avoid magnetic fields greater than 5 gauss - Seymour Duncan pickups are around 25 gauss!

I would check with your consultant - hope all goes well!

[BarnacleBob]

Can't take risks when the old tickers involved. Maybe you should switch to upright?

Kidding aside hope all goes well too.


BB

Edited May 28, 2010 by BarnacleBob

[AndyTravis]

I suppose you could look into a Piezo only pickup'ed bass?

[ironside1966]

[quote name='Mykesbass' post='850640' date='May 28 2010, 08:39 PM']I'm no expert but this interseted me so had a quick surf - apparently you should avoid magnetic fields greater than 5 gauss - Seymour Duncan pickups are around 25 gauss!

I would check with your consultant - hope all goes well![/quote]

I had a 3 lead one fitted a year ago, I asked the surgeon if I playing the guitar would be safe, although I did not state electric, and he said I would be ok but give it a month to let the leads attaché themselves properly.
PS, what a strange sensation when the made the pocket

[Mykesbass]

Here's a picture of a bloke playing bass with a pacemaker:

[url="http://beatles.ncf.ca/cave03.jpg"]http://beatles.ncf.ca/cave03.jpg[/url]

(sorry, had to be done, I'll get me coat)

[EdwardHimself]

[quote name='Mykesbass' post='850640' date='May 28 2010, 08:39 PM']I'm no expert but this interseted me so had a quick surf - apparently you should avoid magnetic fields greater than 5 gauss - Seymour Duncan pickups are around 25 gauss!

I would check with your consultant - hope all goes well![/quote]

25 gauss will be at the actual source itself though, that number goes down dramatically as you move further away. You should ask your doctor really with anything like this, but i think there are probably much more potent sources of magnetism in everyday life than the pickups on a bass. Just make sure you don't hold it up to your chest or anything.

[silentbob]

Thanks for all the reply's. The idea about pick-up magnets affecting it only came to me tonight, so i thought i would ask on here as i won't be able to check with the doc's till after the bank holiday. Gonna be so gutted if i'm not able to play anymore, already been told that it's about 90% probable that i will have to give up my job as a welder.

[dlloyd]

[quote name='Mykesbass' post='850640' date='May 28 2010, 08:39 PM']I'm no expert but this interseted me so had a quick surf - apparently you should avoid magnetic fields greater than 5 gauss - Seymour Duncan pickups are around 25 gauss!

I would check with your consultant - hope all goes well![/quote]

I seriously wouldn't worry about it. 25 gauss is nothing.

They're really worried about things like MRI scanners that sit at a field strength of around 10,000 gauss and up.

[NickH]

I'd be less worried about the pickup's field down around your waist and more worried about the magnets in your speakers when you pick your cab up.
Most people heft a cab with the drivers facing towards then and hug it tightly to the upper chest.

Seems to me you just found the perfect excuse to get your drummer to move your cab about. Awesome.

[silentbob]

Just found a thread on an ICD support group forum about this, and the general concensus seems to be that as long as the pick-ups are located at a distance of at least six inches from the device, there shouldn't be any problems, although i will double check with the doc before playing again.

[Musicman69]

Yea just be careful with cabs, powerful magnetic fields there. Get someone else to lift em.

[silentbob]

[quote name='Musicman69' post='850804' date='May 29 2010, 12:09 AM']Yea just be careful with cabs, powerful magnetic fields there. Get someone else to lift em.[/quote]
Every cloud....

[bobbass4k]

5 gauss is nothing (a strong fridge magnet is about 50 gauss), I'd check with your doctor about that, if it really is 5 gauss you gave to avoid, you're in for an interesting life.

Nerd note: who uses gauss instead of tesla?

[dlloyd]

[quote name='bobbass4k' post='850855' date='May 29 2010, 01:54 AM']5 gauss is nothing (a strong fridge magnet is about 50 gauss), I'd check with your doctor about that, if it really is 5 gauss you gave to avoid, you're in for an interesting life.

Nerd note: who uses gauss instead of tesla?[/quote]

It's useful for talking about teeny tiny magnets, even if non-SI.

Magnetic field strength follows an inverse cube relationship with distance, so the drop off is very rapid. A 25 gauss magnet will only exert 5 gauss at a distance of a few cm. To give an idea of how rapidly magnetic field strength drops, the NMR spectrometer I used to work on (7T... 70,000 gauss) had its 5 gauss line at 2 meters. A pickup at waist height is going to exert sod all field strength at nipple level.

[Fat Rich]

Just play songs in the 65 to 80 bpm tempo range and you'll be fine

[Sarah5string]

How bout switching to an electro acoustic if the pick ups are going to be a problem?

[silentbob]

[quote name='Sarah5string' post='850935' date='May 29 2010, 09:46 AM']How bout switching to an electro acoustic if the pick ups are going to be a problem?[/quote]

That was going to be my plan if all else failed, just not very "metal", is it?

[jpdabass]

Silent Bob: You should also check this out: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDeov9S5AEo"]Lightwave[/url]

It's not a cheap alternative, but you won't be needing to quit the bass playing, for sure!

Take care, wish you the best.

JP

[eightball]

[quote name='silentbob' post='851087' date='May 29 2010, 01:34 PM']That was going to be my plan if all else failed, just not very "metal", is it?[/quote]

EMG's - win, win.