First hand wound pickups, success at last! Updated

ThePrettyDamned

This is such a cool thread! The sound is really clear, and (considering it's a cheap, small practice amp) no ice pick shrillness going on! Just a clear, stratty sounding pickup.  Nice

And it makes me love @theguitarweasel even more than I already do. He really does know his onions. 

OilCityPickups

I have never gotten over the joy of making my first working pickup ... that's why I do it pretty much every day ... seldom taking a full day off, and really looking forward to 'going to work' every day. Tone is a passion ... and once you are bitten, you're addicted. 

xmrchi

Thanks guys and I totally agree, with @steamabacus for 3 core components you can make a tone which can evoke emotion in people, musical electricity it is!
@ThePrettyDamned cheers bud, The best part for me in all honesty is the comments you guys have said, as it shows this last week has not been a waste of time!

Nomad

mrchi said:

Thanks @Nomad Its a home made guitar/monstrosity, I bodged together for the purpose of the test, pine hollow body maple neck, The Amp is a cheap Hiwatt g15 Maxwatt which cost me 50 quid, but does the job in the living room. and the pickup is in the neck position

Neat! The tone is far better than one might expect on seeing the gear. Can you do some lead noodling?

xmrchi

@Nomad cheers bud! Yeah ill get it hooked up to the proper set up in the studio tomorrow :-)

Nomad

TheGuitarWeasel said:

You have just learned a valuable lesson! Scatter winding produces sweeter non ice pick top ends on single coils in particular. This is what people pay for in hand wound pickups. You will go on to learn that different winding patterns on different parts of the coil can vary this effect :-)

Can you describe the scatter pattern a bit more, Ash? For example, does the scatter traverse the whole width each time, or is it more a case of filling in bits as you go? 

TheGuitarWeasel said:

Full marks for making a polarity checker! 

Here's mine...

http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/y521/Nomad_Zamani/Misc/Checking%20Magnet%20Orientation%20With%20A%20Compass_zpsg3pvf1hu.jpg

Took reference photos like these of both pickups before I did the magnet swap and removed the out of phase setup on the Lemon Drop. The top one shows that the north pole of the magnet is towards the bridge, and the second confirms that the south pole is away from the bridge. When moving the compass between the two positions, the needle flipped round.

OilCityPickups

Nomad said:

Can you describe the scatter pattern a bit more, Ash? For example, does the scatter traverse the whole width each time, or is it more a case of filling in bits as you go? 

Ah asking a pickup winder about his scatter pattern is like asking him what his technique is in bed! 

That is kinda his bit of dark art  ... A hint is that ...  it's both ... depending on what you want to achieve :-) Experiment!

Chalky

Praise to the Master @TheGuitarWeasel for his generous spirit and kind help! And kudos to @mrchi for leading the way as a Student and inspiring the rest of us to think "Now I'd like to have a go at that!" =D>

xmrchi

@Chalky totally m8, its 100% worth it, and as Mr weasel says, takes a lot of the snake oil and mystery out of pickups :-)

Chalky

So how to make a pickup winder? I can probably put together a motor and foot operated speed control but I'm stumped on the counter and the best way to mount the single coil on to the rotating spindle. Any guidance?

OilCityPickups

A flat plate and double sided tape is the way most people start out ;-)

Both my current winding machines have tailstocks that trap the bobbin against a faceplate ... one was built by me and is totally manual ... the other is an expensive, specialist machine that can be computer controlled if necessary.

Chalky

Double sided sticky it is then! Will research a counter more. There must be some cheap thing from Hong Kong that would work....

xmrchi

@Chalky yup you can get a unit from China that does the job its self contained and uses a coin battery.

Rocker

@mrchi, awesome work and well done. Wow! Awarded. To complete the "I built it myself" thinking, anyone built their own pots or stepped attenuators?

xmrchi

@Rocker Thanks for the kind words!  thats a unique concept!  possibly a nightmare to execute  but would be a real boon to have  ompletely hand made pickups and pots, the bragging rights would be insane!

OilCityPickups

Petty easy to make your own Paper In Oil Capacitors too! Though consistency is an issue.

Nomad

TheGuitarWeasel said:

Nomad said:

Can you describe the scatter pattern a bit more, Ash? For example, does the scatter traverse the whole width each time, or is it more a case of filling in bits as you go? 

Ah asking a pickup winder about his scatter pattern is like asking him what his technique is in bed! 

That is kinda his bit of dark art  ... A hint is that ...  it's both ... depending on what you want to achieve :-) Experiment!

Well, I wasn't looking for (or expecting) trade secrets. Just trying to home in on what scatter winding actually means beyond it not being having each turn neatly placed next to the previous one, rinse and repeat, layer by layer. Your hint, and suck-it-and-see, is close enough for me.

xmrchi

Hi again, so made my first good soinding pickup as you know,... Great

Come to make the 2nd and no sound.. Ok I thought maybe a break in the wire, attempt 3 again same procedure as the first which was successful and again nothing, im not getting anything from the multi meter either, does anyone know what I'm missing? Magnets are all pointing the same way, wire is being wound clockwise and the beginning and end soldered to the output wire and bugger all.

I'm so pissed off its untrue can anyone please shed some light before it all goes in the bin??

WezV

step back and do something else for a day or two - it will come to you later

sounds like a break in the wire, but figuring out why and where its breaking may take a little longer

OilCityPickups

Highly unlikely to be a break in the wire ... wire breaks as you wind it ... 

Your soldering to the brass/aluminium eyelets is almost certainly the cause. Do again! perhaps even using some flux paste  ;-)

If you still have an issue you may have over heated one of the wires leading to the eyelet the first time ... this can lead to a break in the wire as it enters the solder ... but the wire may still be glued to the solder blob by a mixture of solder flux and gunk... but not making proper contact. If you are lucky he fault is on the finishing end of the wind ... in which case just unwrap a turn and have another shot. If you are unlucky it will be on the start wire ... in which case kiss the pickup goodbye ... cut off all the wire and re do.