Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Skeesix on March 10, 2017 at 11:13am

It might work as a shield?

I think the low impedance pickups use aluminum for their loop of wire. I haven't messed with them enough to know if copper would work as a substitute. 

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on March 10, 2017 at 11:20am

Skeesix,

Of course it will. Go read the "How Is This Done?" Lace Alumitone 90+-page thread. Buried within are plenty of designs and experiments using copper, both plate and tube, for a pickup.

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Permalink Reply by Skeesix on March 12, 2017 at 5:10am

Good to know! 

I had read/skimmed that thread, but it's been awhile. Looking at that thread and the Build Your Own Induction Mag thread, I'm seeing copper on the first page - doh! Makes sense that copper would work. I bet silver or gold would too. 

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Permalink Reply by darryl kernaghan on March 12, 2017 at 9:00am

I imagine gold would work very well, especially re conductivity Skeesix, but every time i ask at the scrap yard, they say they have none, and it's rare in dumpsters too

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Permalink Reply by Paul Craig on March 12, 2017 at 11:28am

Silver gets used a lot in cell phone and laptop computer circuits and is a good bit more affordable. Also easier to solder too.

Don't think anyone is going to use gold. If they could afford to use that, they would probably just buy a pickup instead of making one. ;)

Wish I could find some gold in a dumpster.

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Permalink Reply by Timothy Hunter on March 13, 2017 at 12:36am

silver is best.followed by copper then gold then aluminium... silver at 6.3 is almost twice that of aluminium at 3.5

https://www.thebalance.com/electrical-conductivity-in-metals-2340117

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Permalink Reply by Timothy Hunter on March 13, 2017 at 11:52pm

yes it would be interesting but unless we can come up with a spot welder for aluminium then we may never know. just did a bit of googling ...

Copper is a superior electrical conductor. Aluminum's conductivity is about 62% that of copper 

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Permalink Reply by Timothy Hunter on March 13, 2017 at 11:55pm

https://www.copper.org/environment/sustainable-energy/transformers/...

this article says that they could use either Al or Cu but highlight the problem with connections for Al ie corrosion but more importantly say the equivalent transformer in Al would be bigger even though it would be lighter. 

so for us as backyard pickup experimenters i think copper is going to be the best/easiest to work with.

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Permalink Reply by darryl kernaghan on March 10, 2017 at 12:32pm

Perfect for a low impedence pup, i've made them with 1/16" and even copper tape

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Permalink Reply by Paul Craig on March 14, 2017 at 7:40am

You could use aluminum if you drill holes and use press in screw terminals. Then attach wires with crimp on eyelets to the terminal and use a nylon lock nut to prevent loosening from vibration. They would have to be small though.

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Permalink Reply by Nathan T. Logsdon on March 15, 2017 at 2:21am

Thanks for all the input! So I guess I'll have to do some more research before diving in. I am new to all this(and having a blast).If I can figure out how to use a solid piece of this 1/8 by 1 inch copper for a pup then I suspect I have enough on hand to build at least 200 of them.

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Permalink Reply by Timothy Hunter on March 16, 2017 at 3:12am

was looking for a bit of bus bar like that when we first started discussing these pickups but trying to find a small quantity at a decent price in Aust is murder...

a drill and a coping saw with a metal cutting blade and you could do some fancy looking pickups.... pot them in a clear resin to show them off....

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