For all those out there that make there own pickups, I have a questions on cost etc.
Do you find it cheaper to buy pickups or build your own? What is the rough estimate cost to make a 3 string pickup, wire, magnet, etc. I looking at making the "flat pickup" or mini humbuckers.
Trying to figure out if it would cost effective to make them myself or to keep buying them, similar to the ones below, 3k or 6k. Thanks
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Okay, so take this for what it is worth. I just started making my own pickups and I have nothing to compare with but what I have put into it. I love making anything that can and does scratch the inch in my brain cells.
So you can make a winder for around $50 +- Chases workshop on you tube has some excellent videos on a build process. A eight oz. roll of 42AWG coil wire will cost about $20- $30 depending on who you buy from on ebay a two pound roll will cost around $100. Plus you will need magnets, some material to make the coil wire border stops, and some roofing flashing made out of metal or use tin cans so add in another $20 to $50. At this point you have $100 to $130 invested. Not bad for a hobby.
Gitty has flat buckers at just under $15 and $5.99 for black ice single coil pick ups. mbg has flat buckers for $9 and flat single coils for $ 8. So if you are just going to make a few cbgs less than ten you will need to decide how much is to much.
So for myself I choose to make mine. In the year that CBGs have caught my interest I have made over 40 and only 3 have been without pickups. Two have piezo disks and about eight have rod piezos. All the rest have mag pickups. For me it was not too hard of a choice.
Good luck, Happy building
I asked myself, "Do I want my cbgs to sound like every other electric cigar box guitar with Chinese pickups?" Is it about the money, or the sound?
I build my own. I do leave myself the option to buy good pickups, though.
The first flat pickup I made was a single coil flat pickup and I used a cordless drill and a wide paddle bit. I used a grinder to knock the point and the spurs off the paddle bit then used a fairly large magnet to hold the metal plate of the coil base on it attached to the drill and started winding. You will not have a count on the winds but it will still produce a signal. It may surprise you. I'll post a picture if you are interested in trying to do it.
Great advice Tom, those pickups are only $8 ea. And they’re made in the U.S., at that price, I’m willing to let the manufacturer shoulder the overhead costs?
I guess a lot depends on the volume you are planning to build. There will definitely be some equipment purchased to produce a quality-wound pickup. Then there is the cost for raw materials (magnets, wire, etc).
You might want to look into the cost of equipment and materials and calculate how many pickups you would need to build (and sell) to offset your investment. Another way to look at it is to figure how many guitars / pickups you expect to build in a year and use that to calculate your actual cost per pickup.
Also, do some research on the cost of the pickups you like if purchased in volume.
On the other hand, if you are really into just 'building stuff, then then the investment costs might not matter to you.
In the end, you will be able to determine that best fits your style.
Can't speak to this type, but there is a lot of satisfaction to be had by winding your own. My cent and a half. I wrote a blog about how I make mine as of now, but they are the more conventionall style using thin wood stock, wall-wart wire and machine screws.
https://cigarboxnation.com/profiles/blogs/pickup-winding-troglodyte...
There is also something to be said about building rather than buying. I never got much satisfaction out of the buying process. Building, on the other hand is personally rewarding for me.
Factor in equipment & materials