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Permalink Reply by Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates on February 24, 2010 at 6:58am

42GA - Stewart Macdonald.

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Permalink Reply by Pineee Johnny on February 24, 2010 at 7:46am

Hi there!

Here is a great place that I purchase all my tools and so on from. They carry the wire and all the parts you'll need to make your own pups!
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_pickups.html

Pineee Johnny

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Permalink Reply by MichaelS Country Boy Guitars on February 24, 2010 at 8:39am

I have an old electric motor with lots of good wire on it, will that work if I could unwind it? It's very fine.

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Permalink Reply by Pineee Johnny on February 24, 2010 at 8:46am

Michael,..It depends if the wire is 42 or 43 gauge,..but,..you can try it and I'm sure you can use thinner or thicker wire. I would purchase the proper wire for pickup winding. Some pickups have a ton of turns on them,..and unwinding a motor you have will be very time consuming!

Pineee Johnny

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Permalink Reply by Jerryrig240 on February 24, 2010 at 8:52am

Check out my pickups on the cheap vids, they are full of some good info. The wire? Best bet is to get it on line,......use a old sewing machine to wind the pups......works pretty good.

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Permalink Reply by Jimbo Cawthron on February 24, 2010 at 3:51pm

I built my own crude winder out of a oscillating fan !

Then I redid the mounting board to a wood disk, cause it is easier to mount the bobbin to it !
http://www.cigarboxnation.com/photo/pup-winder-revamp-3?context=user

I found a roll of awg 30 magnet wite and wound my first pickup with it, used 3/16 Steele dowel for the poll peaces , and the magnets out of a 1991 hard drive that i had took apart , made the bobbin out of ceder wood and i got this...

If you want to here the results go to my page and check out my video !

Now I want to make a better winder out of a sewing machine motor!!

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Permalink Reply by Toadie25 on August 27, 2010 at 10:29pm

Is it possible to make pick-ups literally by hand (no winder or tools, except maybe soldering). It sounds daft but if patience is the only issue. I was planing on giving it a try.

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Permalink Reply by JUJU on August 27, 2010 at 11:16pm

You could do it by hand but it sure would take forever - it takes me about 20 minutes to wind 8,000 winds on a four string doing that by hand would take many many hours - not a job i'd like to take on at all - you could spent the same time making a winder as winding a pickup by hand - my home made winder is based on a sewing machine motor and Foot speed control - cheap to pick one up on ebay second hand
juju :)

Toadie said:

Is it possible to make pick-ups literally by hand (no winder or tools, except maybe soldering). It sounds daft but if patience is the only issue. I was planing on giving it a try.

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Permalink Reply by Skeesix on August 28, 2010 at 3:17pm

You can literally take any insulated wire, and wrap it around any magnet and it will make a pickup. The question is, will it have a sound that you like.

Since the guitar makers have already figured out how to get a good sound, the simplest thing is to go to Stew Mac or other similar places and buy supplies made for guitars and modify them for CBGs.

On the other hand, some people like experimenting with stuff they find laying around, like Jimbo did.

Radio Shack also carries magnet wire and magnets which are fun to experiment with. The wire is on the thicker side.

The smaller the gauge, the more you're going to want to build a winder instead of handwinding. There are many spinning things that will work for winders - I've seen a hand drill, a powered drill, a dremel, a fan, a record player, and a drill press and a sewing machine motor being used. Most people seem to end up with something based around a sewing machine motor.

There is a real learning curve to handling very fine wire like 42 gauge and I can see where some people would not have the patience for it.

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Permalink Reply by Michael R Cossey on August 29, 2010 at 1:30am

For some of us old fellas or if you have a hard time seeing and or feeling that thin wire I'd suggest getting jewelers glasses? the type I have fits a top the head with a head band and has varying magnifying lenses. I'm using a Dremel and varying the speed with a dimmer switch ,all that and I have yet to actually wind a pickup yet. I do have the bobbin ready to go..it's a prototype made of Popsicle sticks..with magnets from a $1 door alarm, P.S. 1 magnet per door alarm.

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Permalink Reply by Don Goguen on August 29, 2010 at 1:34am

Copper is pretty expensive right now but I do have a suggestion for a bargain find. Surplus Sales of Nebraska has 4-5lb Electrosol 42 Gauge heavy build wire for $14 a pound. Compare this to $180 for a five pound spool at Mojo tone, it is a bargain. 42 single build is a bit more common for 6 string single coils but I really like heavy build for CBG's. I wind them fat using Alnico 5 magnets and net good output that is less shrill on the top end. Here are some pictorial tips that might help. In the first picture I draw the bobbin on the computer, print it out actual size and use a glue stick to fasten it to the bobbin material. I use a scroll saw to cut them out. Make sure you sand and file all the sharp edges as the fine wire can get caught very easily.

The second picture shows my drilling set up. Pretty strait forward. I use a small clamp and drill the first hole. I insert a magnet to help keep the assembly lined up. For .185 magnets I use a number 14 drill bit and for .195 I use a number 10. The screw holes are 1/8" and the wire ferules that come from Mojo Tone use a #43 drill bit.

The third picture shows a bobbin mounted. I use simple double sided tape for this. I cut a small piece of blue masking tape and place it where the wire goes through the bobbin. This is important because the double sided tape will catch and break the wire when you remove it from the winder.

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Permalink Reply by Don Goguen on August 29, 2010 at 1:43am

There has been a lot of great advice about winders. Two options to consider in making a winder would be a wire guide and a counter. I purchased a red lion counter on Ebay for $15 and an optical sensor from Newark Electronics. I needed to build a simple power supply circuit for the sensor. I can provide the diagram to anyone that wants it.

For the wire guide, I used a magnetic base for my dial indicator with a shaft and two stop collars that tighten using allen screws.

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