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Permalink Reply by Don Goguen on April 13, 2011 at 11:31pm

First question, how much wire? Next question is what type?  Are you particular on that?  I ask because the cheapest way to get wire is in a large spool.  I'd recommend going with 42 gauge SPN.  Where?  That is where the how much comes into play. 

Cheapest per pound will be from a distributor where the minimum is a 7 pound spool.  At about $20 a pound, your looking at just under $140 plus shipping for 42 SPN. Google search MWS Wire.

If you just want to do a couple of pickups, a half pound spool from Stew Mac or Mojo Tone.  Mojo Tone has 42 poly in a half pound spool for $25

If you are not to fussy about what, surplussales.com has Electrisola 42 gauge but it is heavy build (which I kind of like for CBG pickups) for $14 a pound in 4-5 pound reels.  Ask for one closest to 4 pounds and they will accommodate you.  The last one I got the spool was a little beat and the first 1000' crap but I sanded the spool and threw out the bad.  Still lots left of 5 lbs.

Copper is not cheap right now so wire is at a premium.  Even the prices for small spools on Ebay are way high.

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Permalink Reply by Don Goguen on April 14, 2011 at 12:55am

Why does everyone call me Ron ;-)

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Permalink Reply by Dan Sleep on April 14, 2011 at 9:46am

No, I'm Don.

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Permalink Reply by Craig Cox on April 14, 2011 at 10:01am

I am Spartacus!

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Permalink Reply by Edgel R Gillespie II on April 14, 2011 at 3:38pm

I am Maximo 8-)

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Permalink Reply by Edgel R Gillespie II on April 14, 2011 at 3:38pm

Thanks for the lbs tip too

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Permalink Reply by Don Goguen on April 14, 2011 at 4:22pm

Damn, I wanted to be Spartacus. 

UPS delivered a 1.79lb spool of 43 gauge single PN wire today.  I paid $58 total with shipping on Ebay.  Not a lot of cheap bargains for the most commonly used stuff. That why the heavy build surplus stuff is a good bargain.  In this case I just didn't want to pay $200 for a larger spool as I don't us the lighter stuff much with what I do. 

Glad you guys found the information useful.

I am Copernicus!  (Just doesn't have the same ring to it.)

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Permalink Reply by mark "mudcat" quigley on April 15, 2011 at 3:13am

i am lost

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Permalink Reply by Don Goguen on April 15, 2011 at 5:01am

The Electrisola is good stuff.  The heavy build insulation adds a bit more space between the conductors and limits the amount of wire you can get on a given bobbin by a small amount.  This has a slight affect on output and tends to soften the tone to give it a bit of a old vintage vibe.  This is what I like about it for CBG's which given what they are made out of and that many are shorter scaled instruments,  I like that the pickups I build are not shrill sounding on them.

As I mostly build pickups for CBG's, I mostly use 42 heavy formvar which is what this stuff basically is.  That and it is a pretty good bargain.  I hope yours comes in better shape than mine but it wasn't too bad.  1000' is really not a lot to loose at that price.

4-5 lbs will wind quite a lot of pickups.  Happy winding.

Dan DeBruler said:

Don (not Ron) - I just ordered some of the 42 guage surplus on your recommendation. If it ain't good, I guess I'll have a nice ballast for a small catapult I'm making.

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Permalink Reply by Don Goguen on April 15, 2011 at 8:22am

Winder, that's easy.  Go to a thrift shop or flea market, yard sale and pickup an old sewing machine.  One of the ones with a large flat knob on the end wheel.  Take apart everything not needed between the motor and shaft like the assembly that raises and lowers the needle.  Done.  Just use double sided foam tape to attach the bobbin.

The counter I use is a Red Lion that I picked up on Ebay for about $15.  The counter itself runs off an internal battery that is good for 10 years but has no kind of sensor, just an input and ground.  I purchased a reflective type of optical sensor online.  This one in fact.  I went with this because it is tailor made for mounting.

It's only 4 leads and two are ground.  One side is a non visible light LED and the other side is the light sensor.  I had to make a small current source circuit to power this.  There is an really good discussion on winders and I post a picture of the circuit somewhere around the end at Pickup discussion

The model number is the QRB one on the picture.  If you have trouble finding it on the web let me know.  I ordered a few and only used one.  So I have a spare.  You will want to download the data sheet because the lead numbers are not sequential.

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Permalink Reply by Craig Cox on April 15, 2011 at 10:00am

We are all Spartacus!

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Permalink Reply by mark "mudcat" quigley on April 15, 2011 at 10:15am

not me.  i'm still

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