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Bare copper wire?

Hi all,

i have recently decided to have a go at making my own pickup.

There are dosens of pages on how to do this but none say where to get the "bare" (no plastic surround) copper wire in the UK. I have tried electrical wholesalers near by but no luck.

Does anyone know of any places that might sell them (preferably Herefordshire/Worcestershire or West Midlands).

Thanks

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on May 13, 2011 at 6:16am

I'm sure someone will know...but by the way, it's not bare wire, it's enamelled/lacquered to insulate it when you wind the coil. Brocott in the UK supply it, but I'm not sure if that's the best place, neither am I sure what gauge you'll need. I'd like to wind my own pickups too..but goodness knows when I'd find the time to get a winder set- up and actually do it.

Permalink Reply by Chris Tinker on May 13, 2011 at 6:52am

Maplin?

They tend to have most things

www.maplin.co.uk/

Permalink Reply by Sherb on May 13, 2011 at 9:20pm

Rapid electronics they have a really good web site.

Permalink Reply by Michael Fred Johnson on May 13, 2011 at 11:55pm

Try Maplins- they list reels of enamelled copper wire on their website

Permalink Reply by Hayden A Butler on May 14, 2011 at 10:44pm

Thanks - I'll have a look at Maplin's website now.

Permalink Reply by Hayden A Butler on May 14, 2011 at 10:55pm

I have found what i need on the Maplin website

all of the 'how-to' sites gave the wire gauge in AWG (the American measurement) so I found this page to convert it our sysytem:

http://wires.co.uk/acatalog/data-awg.html

Permalink Reply by Sean Laffey on May 15, 2011 at 12:25pm

I've seen somewhere on the web a bloke making pickup from the coils of wire in transformers. He said a 12V transformer akes a good pickup... I mean to gett round to having ago over the next couple of weeks. I'm thinking of getting some magnets from an old hard drive to see if I can use the coui from a transformer as a pickup.

Anyone tried it?

see this You Tube clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQkRVgLDgho

Permalink Reply by Hayden A Butler on June 1, 2011 at 12:17am

Hi Sean,

Yes I have seen this before and have taken apart a couple of old transformers - but haven't but them to use yet.

Also (great minds think alike) i have two old hard drive magnets I have thought of using. :)

Permalink Reply by Mark on June 1, 2011 at 1:09am

Watch out with those hard drive magnets - they can be very powerful. It's possible for magnets to be too strong for use in pickups - a very strong magnetic field can choke the strings.
I took a pair of neodymium magnets out of a defunct drive and they're lethal - if you get them close to each other they'll snap together with enough force to really f***ing hurt any fingers that get in the way.

Permalink Reply by Hayden A Butler on July 3, 2011 at 1:22am

Crap - my first attempt at winding a pickup just went horribly wrong. :(

Permalink Reply by Hayden A Butler on July 4, 2011 at 8:15am

hurray IT LIVES

stupidly i forgot to scratch off the enamel coating at the ends of the coil to make a connection

doh!

Permalink Reply by Michael Fred Johnson on July 5, 2011 at 2:19am

Congratulations ...must be like giving birth !