First time Pick up builder needs advice

Hi all

I've recently decided to try and up my game by building my own pick ups, ive already been out and purchased some neodymium rod magnets 5mm(D) X 20mm(L) but I now think these are rather short, they are although the longest I could find online, Ive also go 43awg copper wire and have some split wood for my top cover/ bobin and balsa for the bottom bobin, are these what are required?

Im new to the forum and have often taken a suck it and see approach with my builds but now I'm stuck lol

I am also wondering in terms of winding Ive heard scatter winding is better than machine, is this true and what exactly does this mean? i was planning to jerry rig something for on my drill to do the winding.

and lastly once ive done everything how do I wire these to my jack? usually I have used piezo and thusly my wires are colour coordinated but on these all i will have is start and end wires.

and lastly I planned to pott them in wax but ive seen others add jackets and foil and such to them after this stage and i just wondered if this was acctually necissary?

well my brain has now burst all over the screen and hopefully you can make sense of this

thanks a lot

Ozz

p.s pictures and/or videos if they are out there would be very helpful. thanks again

Those magnets will actually be huge sounding because they're neodymiums, which means they're 5 times stronger than alnicos or ceramics. Any kind of non-ferrous material will work for bobbins. Wood is fine.

Even people who scatter wind or hand wind almost always use a machine. What is meant by scatter wound is are the windings laid in perfectly even rows, or are they somewhat messed up. In this case, messed up is good, as it sounds a lot better. Perfectly laid rows will sound sterile. A jerry rigged drill is fine.

Wiring is easy. Either wire can go to either lug on the jack. Just to keep myself from getting confused, I have designated the start wire always to be hot and the end wire always to be ground, but it could just as easily be the other way around.

The wax is to keep the pickups from being too microphonic and to add some strength. The most important thing as far as microphonics is actually to not wind them too loose. If you do that, you are in effect making a microphone. I wind mine as tight as I can get them without the wire breaking. The wax is optional.

The foil is for shielding. That's optional too, unless you're getting a lot of unwanted noise through the pickup.

Here's a workshop I made a long time ago that has some jerry rigged winders and various pickup designs: http://cigarboxguitars.com/resources/workshops/pickup-workshop

On the P-90 pickup, I wound it too loose and ended up having to shield the whole box. It weighed a ton. Noob mistake - lol.

Replies

Skeesix August 13, 2013 at 3:32pm

Those magnets will actually be huge sounding because they're neodymiums, which means they're 5 times stronger than alnicos or ceramics. Any kind of non-ferrous material will work for bobbins. Wood is fine.

Even people who scatter wind or hand wind almost always use a machine. What is meant by scatter wound is are the windings laid in perfectly even rows, or are they somewhat messed up. In this case, messed up is good, as it sounds a lot better. Perfectly laid rows will sound sterile. A jerry rigged drill is fine.

Wiring is easy. Either wire can go to either lug on the jack. Just to keep myself from getting confused, I have designated the start wire always to be hot and the end wire always to be ground, but it could just as easily be the other way around.

The wax is to keep the pickups from being too microphonic and to add some strength. The most important thing as far as microphonics is actually to not wind them too loose. If you do that, you are in effect making a microphone. I wind mine as tight as I can get them without the wire breaking. The wax is optional.

The foil is for shielding. That's optional too, unless you're getting a lot of unwanted noise through the pickup.

Here's a workshop I made a long time ago that has some jerry rigged winders and various pickup designs: http://cigarboxguitars.com/resources/workshops/pickup-workshop

On the P-90 pickup, I wound it too loose and ended up having to shield the whole box. It weighed a ton. Noob mistake - lol.
- Ozz Griffiths > Skeesix August 13, 2013 at 3:49pm
  
  does this mean I can use the magnets or should Use some disc ones and some bolts?
  - Ozz Griffiths > Ozz Griffiths August 13, 2013 at 3:50pm
    
    sorry ive bocome confused now :S
    - Skeesix > Ozz Griffiths August 14, 2013 at 2:46pm
      
      You can use them, but like the Kid is saying, you'll have to mount them further than normal from the strings. You might even be able to mount them under the box lid without cutting any holes in the box, which would make a cool hidden pickup.
    - The Phrygian Kid > Ozz Griffiths August 14, 2013 at 12:25am
      
      You can use em sure. The magnets being very strong can kill sustain. But you can counteract that to a certain degree by putting it further from the strings. Just go for it
The Phrygian Kid August 13, 2013 at 3:31pm

Those magnets will be waay to strong imho. With neos you want the little discs, 2mm thick by around 6-8mm diameter. Use something else (nails, screws?) for poles and snap a wee disc on the bottom of each one. Have fun with it
Ron "Oily" Sprague August 13, 2013 at 2:09pm

Ozz,

The Search function revealed these gems:

http://www.cigarboxnation.com/video/pickup-winding-lessons

http://www.cigarboxnation.com/forum/topics/pickups-4

http://www.cigarboxnation.com/group/skeesixcbgpickups

You can also talk to Ted Crocker, Bob Harrison, Skeesix, JuJu, Elmar Zeilhofer, and a host of other builders here at CBN who make and wind their own pups.

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