Diy j bass pickup kit

[bpclay1]

I'm thinking of trying my hand at winding my own pickups. This is the kit for some regular single coil pickups - Invalid Link Removed

Im wanting to have each pickup split, side by side, like an inline p bass pup. I think i can modify the kit to do this. I would then wire the two coils in series.

I'm also wanting to over wind the coils... I'm wanting to achieve high output, to the point of a little bit of distortion.

Can anyone help me with the logistics of this project? Is this design possible? Do you have to wind the two side by side coils need to be wound in the opposite direction? Can anyone recommend any good how to videos?

Also, would over winding it in a true single coil style give a more raw, distorted type sound? Can anyone speculate on the characteristics of these two options?

 

[Killed_by_Death]

You will not be able to overwind them AND do a split in series, unless you can think of a clever way to insulate each coil from the other in that cramped space between the coils.

 

[bpclay1]

You will not be able to overwind them AND do a split in series, unless you can think of a clever way to insulate each coil from the other in that cramped space between the coils.

Ah! The answer i was looking for and not looking for at the same time... do you happen to know of any over wound single coils i might be able to find a sound demo of?

 

[Low Commotion]

I have done it. I bought that kit from Stewmac, carefully cut the flat work in half by using a cutter and not a saw so I didn’t lose any of the flatwork material, and wound two small coils. I wound each coil with 9500 turns. I might have been able to wind another few hundred turns, but not too much more than that. I installed each coil into the cover and the two coils fit in perfectly. I used some industry strength tape and put a strip on the bottom, but I can’t imagine that the coils would move without it.

I wound each bobbin with 9500 turns of 42 gauge enamel wire. You’ll have to get a couple more of the eyelets to solder the coil wire to the connecting wire for the second bobbin. This pickup is reverse wound reverse polarity. The DC resistance for these are 4.09 k ohms and 4.02 k ohms for a total of 8.11 k ohms. This pickup is wound the opposite of a P pickup and the polarity is also the opposite of a P pickup. The start and finish is labeled on the pickup.

I use a P pickup in the neck position and the split coil in the bridge position.

For the P pickup, I used 42 gauge enamel wire and wound each bobbin 10,000 turns. The pickup is reverse wound reverse polarity. The DC resistance for each coil is 5.19 k ohms and 5.24 k ohms for a total of 10.43 k ohms.

The two pickups (P pickup and J Split coil pickup) are reverse wind/reverse polarity with each other.

The pickups were wax potted

I have these installed in the bass that's on my avatar and it sounds great.

 

[bpclay1]

Very nice. How's the sound? How did you, if you had to, insulate the two coils in the j from each other? Does the reverse winding directing make a difference?

I have done it. I bought that kit from Stewmac, carefully cut the flat work in half by using a cutter and not a saw so I didn’t lose any of the flatwork material, and wound two small coils. I wound each coil with 9500 turns. I might have been able to wind another few hundred turns, but not too much more than that. I installed each coil into the cover and the two coils fit in perfectly. I used some industry strength tape and put a strip on the bottom, but I can’t imagine that the coils would move without it.

I wound each bobbin with 9500 turns of 42 gauge enamel wire. You’ll have to get a couple more of the eyelets to solder the coil wire to the connecting wire for the second bobbin. This pickup is reverse wound reverse polarity. The DC resistance for these are 4.09 k ohms and 4.02 k ohms for a total of 8.11 k ohms. This pickup is wound the opposite of a P pickup and the polarity is also the opposite of a P pickup. The start and finish is labeled on the pickup.

I use a P pickup in the neck position and the split coil in the bridge position.

For the P pickup, I used 42 gauge enamel wire and wound each bobbin 10,000 turns. The pickup is reverse wound reverse polarity. The DC resistance for each coil is 5.19 k ohms and 5.24 k ohms for a total of 10.43 k ohms.

The two pickups (P pickup and J Split coil pickup) are reverse wind/reverse polarity with each other.

The pickups were wax potted

I have these installed in the bass that's on my avatar and it sounds great.

View attachment 2002155 View attachment 2002209 View attachment 2002288 View attachment 2006108 View attachment 2006129

View attachment 2002155 View attachment 2002209 View attachment 2002288

 

[Low Commotion]

Very nice. How's the sound? How did you, if you had to, insulate the two coils in the j from each other? Does the reverse winding directing make a difference?

The sound is great. The P pickup is wound to the same specs that Fender uses, so the P pickup sounds just like a P pickup should. The pickup is also assembled the way a "real" P pickup is made. Stewmac does a good job with instructions, so this sounds just like a '65 Precision.

Both pickups are RW/RP to function properly. If they weren't, they'd sound pretty thin. And it's important to wind the two pickups opposite of each other to properly work together.

The two coils in the split coil J pickup are not insulated from each other. You want it this way so the pickup functions properly. It works the same way as a P pickup, but the two coils are inline and not offset like the P pickup.

I might add that the number of turns for the split coil J pickup is wound on the high side. The first one I made had about 8700 turns and the output seemed to be a bit lower than the P pickup.

Here is some useful info:
http://music-electronics-forum.com/...schatten-p-u-winder-instructions-pu-specs.pdf
http://music-electronics-forum.com/attachments/23372d1368412088-skgs-fender-gibson-etc.pdf
http://music-electronics-forum.com/attachments/23334d1368391635-pickupediaspecs.pdf
Invalid Link Removed

 

[juanaguinaga]

great job but if i want to make the same but with a jazz bass V pickup?

 

[Low Commotion]

great job but if i want to make the same but with a jazz bass V pickup?

good question!

I assume that you want to make two jazz split coil pickups for a five string bass. There are several manufacturers that make them, so I assume that they make them the same way that I did, except that one bobbin has two poles and the other has three for each pickup. It makes sense to make them this way to get the benefit of the split coil and to get a good sound.

I can't help you with the design - meaning what side to put the two pole bobbin and what side to put the three pole bobbin. But IMHO I don't think it really matters. What matters is the number and direction of turns. Also, IMO, I would make both pickups the same number of windings for each of the bobbins.

Seymour Duncan has a forum that you might find some additional information [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Music-Electronics-Forum is another resource for pickup makers: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Good luck! Let us know if how you make out!

 

[Matt Liebenau]

I think @RobbieK did something similar with a 5 string pickup in one of his YouTube Project Berroca videos.

 

[juanaguinaga]

Thanks for the nice response, the truth is that I already made them but there are some details that I did not like, the most likely thing is that I did something wrong the first is that I did not count the turns just fill with wire until I no longer fit more wire, the most Notorious is that the hum is little compared to a single coil but it is present and the second is that one of the coils has more trebble and the other warmer sound so I have 3 and 2 strings that sound slightly different
and the another diference is that i use AWG 43 wire

 

[El Güero]

Does the 2-string coil have more treble than the 3-string coil?

Is yes, it might be because the 3-string coil has more wire/resistance. You could use an ohmmeter to determine which coil has the highest resistance, and confirm whether or not the coil with the higher resistance is also the coil with less treble. It usually is.

If that's what's going on, I'd take the hit-and-hope approach. Unwrap some wire from the hotter coil and test; repeat as necessary. You can "float" the end of the hot coil wire to lead connection to keep from soldering the eyelet over and over. Once you get it so you like the sound, solder it for keeps. Might want to record your ohmmeter readings for future reference.

 

[Low Commotion]

The three pole coil should have a higher resistance than the two pole coil. There is more wire around the larger coil, so the resistance will be higher. You could compare the two larger ones to each other. Ideally, you’d like these to be close. The same with the smaller ones - you’d like these two to be close in resistance.

You’re right about removing some of the windings on the hotter coil. It might takes a few tries before you find the ideal sound that you’re after.

 

[juanaguinaga]

This is confused because there are 2 coils one to be for 3 strings is larger and the other for 2 strings that is smaller, if I put the same number of turns in each coil the logical thing is that the 3-string has greater resistance than the one of 2 strings since the 3 string is larger than the 2 string
So should I just look at the resistance in DC not the turns?

if I do it that way then the smaller coil will have more turns than the three-string one, is it correct?

 

[Low Commotion]

This is confused because there are 2 coils one to be for 3 strings is larger and the other for 2 strings that is smaller, if I put the same number of turns in each coil the logical thing is that the 3-string has greater resistance than the one of 2 strings since the 3 string is larger than the 2 string
So should I just look at the resistance in DC not the turns?

if I do it that way then the smaller coil will have more turns than the three-string one, is it correct?

This is confused because there are 2 coils one to be for 3 strings is larger and the other for 2 strings that is smaller, if I put the same number of turns in each coil the logical thing is that the 3-string has greater resistance than the one of 2 strings since the 3 string is larger than the 2 string

This is correct. If the larger coil has the same number of turns as the smaller coil, the dc resistance will be higher for the larger coil because there will be more wire on the larger coil.

Ideally, you want the same number of turns on each coil (the larger one and the smaller one). The signal output of the pickup is based on the number of turns. The more turns of the winding, the higher the output. But the trade off is you lose some of the high end with more windings. The dc resistance is a measurement of the wire that is wound on the coil.

If you wound the coils by hand (with a pickup winder or on the end of an electric drill), the dc resistance would be higher if you loosely wound the coils, and on the other hand, the dc resistance would be lower if you tightly wound the coils. This is because there will be more wire on a coil with a loose winding than on a coil that is tightly wound. Therefore, the dc resistance is just an indication of the number of winds on the coil.

You would also want both pickups (bridge and neck) to have the same number of turns on each coil. Meaning all four coils should have the same number of turns.

A matched set of regular single coil jazz pickups normally have the same number of windings on each pickup. The bridge pickup would have a higher dc resistance because it is physically larger than the neck pickup. But they both have the same number of windings.

I hope this helps. I’m by no means an expert, but I have done quite a bit of research on this.

 

[juanaguinaga]

Thank you very much for the prompt response, forget to mention that the bass was made by myself and the model is a jazz bass v, but the neck pickup is a pbass and on the bridge put a jbass pickup, I bought some Alnico v magnets that would arrive to me at the end of this month, I will make the pickups with the same number of turns and i will use a 42 AWG wire instead of 43 AWG, and I see what results

 

[El Güero]

I think that using 42 instead of 43 is a good move.

Once I rewound a MIJ Fender J pickup with 43 just to see how much wire I could get on it. No turn count, just filled it with wire, and the resistance was over 15k. Sounded bad, as in muddy, no definition to the sound because of all the wire. So I unwound some wire and retested, a few times. It didn't start to sound half decent until it was somewhere in the 8-9k range, and that was nothing that I wanted to keep. My conclusion was to forget about using 43 on regular JB pickups.

It might be different with the smaller 2- and 3-pole coils, but if it was me I'd go with 42 anyway, especially with A5 magnets.

 

[juanaguinaga]

I returned to rewind the pickup of the bridge with 9000 turns each part with the same amount of turns and one resulted in 6.2 k ohm and the part that takes 2 strings gave me 4.6 k ohm, the result was very good the part of the 2 strings left for the thicker string, so I wanted to thank a lot for your great advice

 

[Low Commotion]

I returned to rewind the pickup of the bridge with 9000 turns each part with the same amount of turns and one resulted in 6.2 k ohm and the part that takes 2 strings gave me 4.6 k ohm, the result was very good the part of the 2 strings left for the thicker string, so I wanted to thank a lot for your great advice

That's great news! isn't Talkbass a fantastic resource. I'm glad it worked out. Now to rock that bass!

 

[Ben Bass1]

Hi to all,

I've just received a DIY J Bass pickup set, bridge and neck.
I've cut both flatwork in half and wound the bridge in separate halves, in opposing directions with AWG42.
The neck pickup would not take enough turns of 42, so I will try again later with 43 gauge wire.

I am wondering how you would wire up these pickups?

Of course Treble and Bass sides can be wired in series to achieve humbucking, that is the point of splitting these pickups. Then both pickups could be treated as normal 2 wire single coils with regard to the Bass guitar wiring schematic.

It will be easy to achieve Bridge, or Neck or all pickups on at once, humbucking achieved by the split coils.
Is anyone able to offer any thoughts on how I would achieve switching also for - Neck Bass side and Bridge Treble side operation?

I'm very close and don't typically seek assistance, but this one is circling just outside my grasp at the moment. A schematic would be a great help if anyone has experience wiring say, a P Bass with 2 P Bass pickups or another Bass that uses 4 coils.

Any ideas appreciated.

Thanks for your time.

Cheers, Ben.

 

[Low Commotion]

Hi to all,

I've just received a DIY J Bass pickup set, bridge and neck.
I've cut both flatwork in half and wound the bridge in separate halves, in opposing directions with AWG42.
The neck pickup would not take enough turns of 42, so I will try again later with 43 gauge wire.

I am wondering how you would wire up these pickups?

Of course Treble and Bass sides can be wired in series to achieve humbucking, that is the point of splitting these pickups. Then both pickups could be treated as normal 2 wire single coils with regard to the Bass guitar wiring schematic.

It will be easy to achieve Bridge, or Neck or all pickups on at once, humbucking achieved by the split coils.
Is anyone able to offer any thoughts on how I would achieve switching also for - Neck Bass side and Bridge Treble side operation?


I'm very close and don't typically seek assistance, but this one is circling just outside my grasp at the moment. A schematic would be a great help if anyone has experience wiring say, a P Bass with 2 P Bass pickups or another Bass that uses 4 coils.

Any ideas appreciated.

Thanks for your time.

Cheers, Ben.

If I’m to understand what you're asking, is that the one coil of the bridge pickup be paired with the opposite coil of the neck pickup (and vice versa).

Im sure it can be done, but I don’t understand the significance of wiring the pickups this way. The purpose of split coils is to operate as a humbucker. Having one coil on one pickup paired with a coil of the other pickup sort of defeats the purpose IMHO, based on the physical distance. However, I can’t say for sure, and it might produce some cool results.

Would this be a permanent configuration? If so, just follow the diagram that I provided above, but connect the start of the neck coil to the start of the opposite coil of the bridge pickup. At least, this is how I’d do it.

If you want it switchable, I’d have to finish off my coffee and put some thought into it.

(edit): you’ll also get some different results by having different gauges of wire on each pickup.