So I've been experimenting with some different styles of wrapping pickups and have a question I'd like to throw out to the group. I am not using ideal materials (all purchased at Radio Shack or Craft Stores). I guess maybe I should start by telling you a little about the different styles. The first one I made was 3, 1/2" ceramic magnets sandwiched between two pieces of plastic (you know that packaging that you need a blowtorch to get into?) and wrapped with 30 gauge mag. wire from Radio Shack. Because the magnets were so short and fat I was able to get about 525 winds out of the spool. It turned out better than I was expecting. You can hear an example of it on "In the Pines" on my page and on the WCBN page. Needless to say I felt I needed to improve on it. The next version I tried was a P90 style that had 3 screws going through wooden bobbins with the magnets making contact on the bottom. Since there was more room between the bobbins and the diameters of the screws was smaller I was able to get about 800 winds out of the same length of spool. The other version I made was similar except it was more of a blade pickup. I stuck 4 bar magnets together and cut a rectangular hole in each bobbin to inbed the magnets. This pickup also got about 800 winds. Here comes my question...they all sound the same. Some of my initial research suggested that the more times you wrap the wire, the louder it will be. I was wondering if maybe I misunderstood and it is all relative to the length of the wire rather than the number of times around. If you have a smaller wire then you can get a longer length of wire into the same space (rather than it being based on number of wraps). Does this make sense? Am I on the right track? I know I should try other wire and magnets, etc. but I'm just kinda exploring this question at the moment. The wire I bought comes in packs of 3 with something like 22, 24, and 30 gauge. I only use the 30 gauge. Any ideas for what to do with the bigger wire that I wouldn't want to use for a pup? Thanks for any input!
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Thanks Juju. Interesting reading. I like the sound of my first one. Mellow when clean but has plenty of crunch on OD. I guess I'll find out about how my next one really sounds in a few days when I've got it done.
Ah, I like the idea of the wind generator...I've seen some of those charts online but as you say, they're hard to compare. I'm also reluctant to order a big spool online because I like the idea of making it all from commonly found pieces. Thanks for your input though. I haven't found a big difference in shape affecting it however, maybe I haven't made a big enough difference.
I've done a couple pickups in the past. They say the impedance is more important to the volume than the actual number of wraps. I ordered some 42-gauge wire online (couldn't find it locally). It's so thin I almost can't feel it between my fingers. You could fit more wire in a given bobbin, and more wire equals higher impedance. There are charts online that show the impedance of various pickups, but they're all for guitar or bass pickups, not 3-stringers, so it'd be hard to compare.
I also think the shape of the coil is a factor. They say tall and thin should sound brighter than short and wide, all else being equal.
You could use the extra wire to make bigger coils and build yourself a wind power generator.
The one I'm building now it going to have mag and piezo on seperate volume controls that both click off. I like having options. You know those greeting cards that play music? Even easier than cracking the RS piezos. just unstick them from the card. I wouldn't recommend buying one just for that though.
man, Ted is the winding professional...I dunno nothing bout it, but I think its fairly easy to get into the plastic casing of the RS piezos. Take a pair of needle nose and grip the hole in the top middle, and you can pull a strip up all the way to the side, then crack the side down to the base. From there you just break the glue around the base...easy peasy. 30 seconds
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juju.
I also think the shape of the coil is a factor. They say tall and thin should sound brighter than short and wide, all else being equal.
You could use the extra wire to make bigger coils and build yourself a wind power generator.