High schoolers making pickups

[4StringTheorist]

I've got some physics students working on making guitar and/or bass pickups as part of a semester-end project series. Updates and info to appear here!

My initial 10 minute proof-of-concept wire coil + ceramic magnets in a Radio Shack project box really worked. Good tone but way way too low in output. Also, it was microphonic enough that the little black box could serve as a neat little handheld percussion instrument.

The students are already tossing around different design ideas. Both single coil and humbucking pickups are in the cards here.

Interesting challenges ahead:

• magnet sizing
• enclosures that fit common guitar/bass pickup sizes
• what to wind the coils around

We have a bell jar and vacuum pump in the lab, so paraffin vacuum potting the pups is a possibility. I think epoxy potting would be out because I don't have a gas trap in the line to catch the exoxy fumes, but I'd love to hear about that one from someone more knowledgeable.

Anyway, this is going to be a fun month!

Take care,
-4StringTheorist

[limfac]

Major kudos to you for getting students interested in this stuff!

[Lo-E]

Cool!!!

[Tommorichards]

Cool.

This site/forum may be of use to you

Pickup Makers

[monkeyking]

Well, this sounds like a good opportunity for me to learn something. (Probably more than I did in high school anyway.) Keep us aprised of the project please!

[4StringTheorist]

Tommorichards:

Thanks!! I will mine that site (and direct my students there) for relevant info!

[spaz21387]

stewmac.com sells kits to make pickups maybe that would be a good start... they come with magnets plastic guide things and covers. I think the wire is extra though.

[RadioPilot]

Neat idea! Here's a link that might have all of the supplies you're looking for at a decent price:

Guitar Pickup Parts & Rewinding Supplies - Guitar Parts USA

I think most bobbins have an extra hole/mounting point in the center that can be used to attach it to winding device via a keyed shaft. You might have to custom make this tool.

If you're planning on making a batch of pups, I recommend making some kind of jig that will let you mount the pickups externally. That way you can swap things out w/o having to re-string.

[OOZMAN]

Wow, when I was doing science we were making bugs mate, you guys are making guitar pickups. Wow, I feel ripped off.

[4StringTheorist]

Initial prototypes are being hand-rolled since... well frankly we don't have much cash to put into this project beyond the $70 spent getting wire from Radio Shack.

The bulk of the wire will go toward students making electric motors from scratch (wire, nails, tape and a cedar board to mount it on, nothing else) but this pickup project will get some students into this concept. I don't think any of our first generation designs will replace anything my students have on their axes (or on mine) but I'm hoping to start a yearly tradition that I can justify a few purchases (i.e. outlaying my own money for the kids) for.

Lessons they've learned so far via exploration:

• Packing foam doesn't make a good bobbin.

*grins*

[4StringTheorist]

One group has their first prototype wound. They made a custom bobbin from laminated cardboard, cross-hatching the layers for stiffness.

The pickup is single coil, but sized to fit as a replacement for the humbucker spot in one of the student's Epiphone Les Paul. The coil and the magnet are just a bit narrow in the direction perpendicular to the strings, and I think I hear the top and bottom strings are a bit quieter than the middle 4 because of it.

An amazingly solid first prototype!

Specs:
cardboard bobbin
approx 180 ft. of 30 gauge enamel coated copper wire.
Number of turns unknown
big honking Radio Shack ceramic magnet
total materials cost ~$5

Pics:






Sound clips for comparison:

Both of these clips are direct into a computer sound card. Both clips were brought up to -3.0 dB peak in audacity so loudness wouldn't alter tone perception.

Differences include:

• type - Epiphone humbucker - Student pickup single coil
• position - Epihone in neck position - Student pickup held over end of fingerboard
• output - Student pickup is waaaaaaaay low output. Not much wire on there!
• signal chain - Epiphone through pots and switch in guitar - Student pickup direct to soundcard

Clip #1 -- Student pickup Prototype 01

Clip #2 -- Original Epiphone Les Paul neck humbucker

Cheers!

[KillerNeuron]

This is a great project. Looking forward to following it!!!