Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Bob Harrison on February 22, 2014 at 7:25pm

Youtube, 7,000 winds and alnico 5 magnets from a ebay vender. Harrisonguitarpickups.com

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Permalink Reply by Richey Kay on February 22, 2014 at 11:21pm

Hi Mel. I'm on my mobile so can't link you direct. I have a couple of blog posts on my page on this topic detailing the steps I took and mistakes I made building my first pups.

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Permalink Reply by The Phrygian Kid on February 22, 2014 at 11:51pm

For a single coil which is not paired with any other the polarity of the magnet and the phase of the coil won't matter much at all, just go with what happens :) winding pickups is much easier than people let on, there's some fiddly soldering, and there some frustration to deal with as you learn to wind without breaking the wire. Just go for it, plenty of guys have succeeded.

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Permalink Reply by Richey Kay on February 23, 2014 at 12:20am

I wholeheartedly agree Kid!

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Permalink Reply by Dan Sleep on February 23, 2014 at 1:23am

Here are some of the ones I wind and sell.

http://www.cigarboxnation.com/photo/hand-wound-pickups?context=user

I use the half inch pole spacing myself.

Like TPK said, just have a go at it. You WILL break the wire, guaranteed. Just be prepared to make your mistakes. But, it is really not that hard.

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Permalink Reply by Skeesix on February 23, 2014 at 4:36am

It doesn't matter what the wind direction and magnet orientation are.

However, if you're using three individual magnets, such as rod magnets like a Strat pickup, they should all be facing in the same magnetic direction. The magnetic direction is referred to as either North up or South up. So you want all three magnets to be either North up or South up and not a mix.

You can check the magnetic direction with either a compass or another magnet which has the poles marked.

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Permalink Reply by Mel Ristau on February 23, 2014 at 5:47am

Thanks guys. Helpful group you have here. It is 42 gauge? And is it total length of wire wound or number (8000?) of windings?

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Permalink Reply by Richey Kay on February 23, 2014 at 9:30am

I think 42 is what most us us use. The amount of winds depends on where you want the pickup. Less for neck position and more for bridge. I do about 6400-7000 for a neck pickup.

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Permalink Reply by The Phrygian Kid on February 23, 2014 at 2:43pm

its the length of wire really, a four string pup, by virtue of being 'longer' than a three string one, will take less wraps to make the same resistance (or inductance) because each wrap is more wire.  Also, as the coil fills up the later wraps will use more wire to go around than at the beginning because the coil is getting larger.  People count the winds because its much easier than counting wire in meters, feet, ounces or grams.  Counting the wraps still gives you a benchmark so you can repeat and get something pretty much the same.  42 AWG is indeed what most people use.  This is the american gauge, there are others.  The main thing to know about AWG is that as the number gets higher the wire gets finer, not thicker; so 48 AWG will be thinner than 42AWG.  If you just search ebay for guitar pickup wire you'll find plenty. 

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Permalink Reply by Mel Ristau on February 23, 2014 at 6:05pm

So, if its length, is there some general amount of resistance that's a good average? (I have an ohm meter.) I've ordered some 42 AWG. Possible to sand off a bit of insulation during the winding process to check resistance? My bobbin is currently 3/4 x 1-3/4" w/ three centered 1/4" dia. magnets. I understand that there's no right way but any suggestions on placement of two pups as questioned in the attached pdf?

Attachments:

• CBG1ristau.pdf, 41 KB

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Permalink Reply by The Phrygian Kid on February 23, 2014 at 7:21pm

Nope. Lol. There is no 'best'. There is opinions. Make one. Make another. Trial and error.. It's easier to make a good sounding one than it is to make a poor one. Trust your senses, If it looks like a pickup, it is one

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Permalink Reply by Skeesix on February 24, 2014 at 6:50am

A good starting place is about 1000 ohms (1 m ohm) per magnet/string, which is what 8000 winds will be for a three string pickup. So it would likely be between 3 to 4 m ohms. Maybe on the higher side because of the longer string spacing which take up more wire and cause a higher resistance.

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