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Permalink Reply by Tim on December 4, 2009 at 10:42am

i have been wanting to make my own pickups. but 42 awg wire is expensive but 38 awg is still farily cheap.

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Permalink Reply by Matt Philip on December 4, 2009 at 11:45am

I'm going to try 32 tonight I'll let you know

Tim said:

i have been wanting to make my own pickups. but 42 awg wire is expensive but 38 awg is still farily cheap.

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Permalink Reply by Skeesix on December 4, 2009 at 2:25pm

It will work, you just may not be able to get enough wire on the bobbin to make it as loud or as crunchy as you want.

Skeesix

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Permalink Reply by Ben on December 5, 2009 at 3:05am

I've found that the length of the wire is the important part. The thinner the wire, the more of it you can get wrapped into the same amount of space (longer length). There's also usually some difference in tone but this can also be attributed to the magnets, pattern of winding, etc. If you want to hear an example of 30 gauge, listen to "In the Pines" on my page. These will usually not be as loud as a pro wound one but I fix that by running it through a little mixer first to boost it.

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Permalink Reply by Outhouse Instruments on December 5, 2009 at 5:02am

Ben said:

I've found that the length of the wire is the important part. ....... running it through a little mixer first to boost it.

It's not so much the length as it is the resistance provided by the length. The thinner wire gets greater resistance at less length. The thicker wire would require more length to get the same resistance. So I guess that does kinda go along with the length theory.

Also, I have one of the che ... inexpensive ... Danelectro EQ pedals. "Fish&Chips" .. 7 band EQ. Works great with piezos or other low outputs for the cost.

Matt

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Permalink Reply by StarGeezers on December 6, 2009 at 2:20am

Quote: "The thicker wire would require more length to get the same resistance. " That's practically about it !!!

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Permalink Reply by Matt Philip on December 6, 2009 at 6:18am

well I tried it but no luck it doesn't even make a sound I have wired it straight to the jack with no ground for testing, that should work with extra with extra hum for testing shouldn't it?

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