I'm thinking of giving it a try--making my own single coil pickup. I've watched a vid a few times where I guy takes a magnet from a speaker that was in a toy, glues it between two plastic disks that he cuts out to make the bobbin, and winds the wire around that. It works! I have a really small disk magnet, but I'm thinking it would be too narrow to be able to wind enough wire around it. Would I work to put it into something, like a nut, and glue the plastic disks to the nut to make a big enough bobbin?
Should I just buy a bigger cylindrical magnet? I found out they're really cheap.
A friend of mine is a farmer, and he raises hogs and a few cattle. Should I see if he would sell/give me one of those "pill" magnets they give to cattle to pick up any metal they might eat? Would that work, or would it be too big?
Should I just plain buy a one-string single coil pickup? If I do, where do I find them?
Thanks!
Replies
Do you mean too narrow (diameter of the circle) or too thin (height of the cylinder)?
lids from Chinese take-out soup ought to have plenty of flat real-estate for the disks, lots of how-to/how-it-works/history-of-gits videos show that even a hundred turns will produce enough volume for an amp to do something with.
Can't wait to hear the results.
Thanks for your post, JL. I'm referring to its height--too thin. But...it sounds like you're encouraging me to use take-out lids and give it a shot. OK then!
One more Q: Specifically what copper wire should I buy--what gauge? I saw spools of copper wire at Lowe's (LOVE Lowe's--a CBG builder's playground!) but I'm guessing that's too thick.
Thanks!
Yes I am. or plastic coffee lids from smaller tins or the lids on pre-boxed lunchmeat, or other that is big enough to cut down.
One hint, do not 'coil' it on, spool it on. coiling twists the wire, you want the pickup to spin to take on wire and you want the source wire to spin to feed it.
Ever hand-wind the trimmer string on your edger and get frustrated it starts twisting itself into tight loops between the spool and your winding hand?
Most likely the wire at Lowes is too thick,pup wire used in commercial pick ups is very fine, around 42 gauge, you can use thicker of course, and get good results, but as to how many winds, that varies with thickness and tone you are trying to get
You get a very flat form factor. I'd point you to the 90+ page DIY thread on these here at CBN, but it got removed when its originator deleted his account. Check with turtlehead for his video of one he built.
turtlehead's videos on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgCEzGvBElg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-F4SBlQqQAM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH-rxzURxNo
his photos:
http://www.cigarboxnation.com/photo/low-z-pickup?context=user#!/pho...
http://www.cigarboxnation.com/photo/low-z-pickup?context=user#!/pho...
http://www.cigarboxnation.com/photo/low-z-pickup?context=user#!/pho...
Magnets for pickups have to be just the right strength, too strong and they will pull too hard on the strings, too weak and they will result in a weak pickup.
Pickup magnets can be had for cheap these days and they're all over the internet. Mojotone.com - Stewmac.com sell the Alnico and Ceramic types and there's plenty of Neodymium magnet suppliers.
Do some research on them to make the right decision.