Magnets & Copper Wire: A Pickup Building Thread

[ardgedee]

Every time I think I know what I want or think I have a good enough grasp on how things work, I end up in a new direction, through a new door, wormhole, into a whole new room with all new sights, sounds smells and flavors and I get all jumbled up again.

Sounds like you need to hunker down, build one thing, and use your disappointment in that to help narrow your options for the next thing.

Signed,
the guy who just hangs out in these threads to spitball weird ideas.

 

[Beej]

No affiliation except for being a very satisfied customer, but @Jerry Catanescu sells the J-Tex filter control on ebay and it is highly satisfactory for a relatively inexpensive filter unit. Love mine, and planning to order a few more.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

To be completely honest, I don't really know what I want. Every time I think I know what I want or think I have a good enough grasp on how things work, I end up in a new direction, through a new door, wormhole, into a whole new room with all new sights, sounds smells and flavors and I get all jumbled up again.
I thought I wanted to build a diva-like fretted passive that was dumbed down to a single pup with a tone and vol pot.
So I ended up in this thread to see if I could figure out a good pup for a setup like that,.... now I'm in a build-your-own preamp thread. But I haven't made it to a pup decision yet.
I think the smart thing would be to gather more Intel before I decide what I want. Or maybe not. Maybe just pick a config for a bass, build it, if I don't like it, build another one. But I feel like I'm late to the game and want to figure it all out first and build the single perfect bass for me, so I can start noodling again before I go deaf and my hands completely stop working.
As you can see, my issues are probably better suited for a psychiatrist, than an electronics thread.

I’d echo what @Freekmagnet said. Despite what the manufacturers tell us there’s no one, true and holy bass or pickup or preamp. Gotta build a bunch to try things.

 

[slowburnaz]

No affiliation except for being a very satisfied customer, but @Jerry Catanescu sells the J-Tex filter control on ebay and it is highly satisfactory for a relatively inexpensive filter unit. Love mine, and planning to order a few more.

I've got one of those too. I dig it as well.

 

[RichterScale]

I know, I know.
I keep trying to convince myself that I can control this and not get "too" into it. I'm just gonna lightly cruise around this site, cherry pick what's most relevant to me, build one or 2 basses for myself that are perfect for me and only me and move on.
The DIY parts of the building really weren't s'posed to extend much passed the lumber part of the bass. Now I'm getting dragged into looking at homemade bridges, pups, preamps,.....
I'm not sure there's room in my head for all this. I'll have to delete a ton of other crap.
And speaking of room, where in the wide world of sports would I put all the tools needed for all this?
Let me finish reading the preamp thread and if I don't stroke out, well take it from there.

 

[ardgedee]

No affiliation except for being a very satisfied customer, but @Jerry Catanescu sells the J-Tex filter control on ebay and it is highly satisfactory for a relatively inexpensive filter unit. Love mine, and planning to order a few more.

Do you have a link to his ebay store?
Found it: jtex-electronics -- nothing there right now.

 

[BTL]

Missed af

 

[Haroldo]

Do you have a link to his ebay store?
Found it: jtex-electronics -- nothing there right now.

He seems to have been on vacation for the month of July.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[sikamikanico]

I know, I know.
I keep trying to convince myself that I can control this and not get "too" into it. I'm just gonna lightly cruise around this site, cherry pick what's most relevant to me, build one or 2 basses for myself that are perfect for me and only me and move on.
The DIY parts of the building really weren't s'posed to extend much passed the lumber part of the bass. Now I'm getting dragged into looking at homemade bridges, pups, preamps,.....
I'm not sure there's room in my head for all this. I'll have to delete a ton of other crap.
And speaking of room, where in the wide world of sports would I put all the tools needed for all this?
Let me finish reading the preamp thread and if I don't stroke out, well take it from there.

well, I’ve been reading and learning for about 5 years now, and have yet to build a single component (I did, however, end up with a parts bass, somewhat by accident). Along the way, I have learned to experiment with what I got, which is more in the modding than building category. But I learn the most from folks that hang out in the luthiers forum.

The best learning tool I found for figuring out pickups is a mule type bass - one with a swimpool route (or another similar solution) that allows moving and switching pickups easily. Trying a bunch of pickups in a few different places can help you figure out a few key parameters before you commit to a build. At least that’s how I’m approaching it…

so, I guess what I’m saying is, maybe just get started? Maybe not a whole build, but modding a bass, or putting together a parts bass? Tweak this and that, make mistakes, learn a lot…

 

[Passinwind]

He seems to have been on vacation for the month of July.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Jerry mentioned that he was waiting on some specialty pots from the UK before he could build another run. That’s a common sticking point for many of us who want to build this general style of preamp, unfortunately.

 

[dwizum]

Having done pretty much every component of a modern electric bass from scratch, except tuning machines, I can say this: the magic is in the pickups. Yes, everything else contributes. But if you really want to get "control" of your tone, or you really want to just go down the rabbit hole of tonal experimentation, you need to be building pickups. Or working closely with someone who's building them.

And if you think you're scared of losing yourself in the process of finding your own perfect bass, I'll tell you this: I already built my own perfect bass, but I've still probably got a good 20 years of ideas in my head! Once you start scratching the itch, it never goes away!

 

[Beej]

Having done pretty much every component of a modern electric bass from scratch, except tuning machines, I can say this: the magic is in the pickups. Yes, everything else contributes. But if you really want to get "control" of your tone, or you really want to just go down the rabbit hole of tonal experimentation, you need to be building pickups. Or working closely with someone who's building them.

And if you think you're scared of losing yourself in the process of finding your own perfect bass, I'll tell you this: I already built my own perfect bass, but I've still probably got a good 20 years of ideas in my head! Once you start scratching the itch, it never goes away!

Totally. In my recent move I found a box of rolled up old bass and guitar plans that I'd forgotten about, and now have no choice but to build.

 

[RichterScale]

The best learning tool I found for figuring out pickups is a mule type bass -

Already got a donor.

Having done pretty much every component of a modern electric bass from scratch, except tuning machines,

I'm drawing the line at strings. I don't even wanna know how they're made and I refuse to even read an article about it. The madness has to stop somewhere.

 

[Bruce Johnson]

Aw come on Richter, you need to have a basic understanding of these things:

A String Winding Lathe

 

[RichterScale]

Aw come on Richter, you need to have a basic understanding of these things:

A String Winding Lathe

You know I have ADHD, no self control and a bunch of other emotional problems that are hard to spell.
kinda messed up that you would post that.

 

[RichterScale]

The funniest part? As soon as i said I would never make strings,....the first thing that popped in my head was,...
I'll bet Bruce has some kind of contraption, or has tried or made strings at some point.

I frikkin knew it!

 

[Bruce Johnson]

The funniest part? As soon as i said I would never make strings,....the first thing that popped in my head was,...
I'll bet Bruce has some kind of contraption, or has tried or made strings at some point.

I frikkin knew it!

I'm like you. I just dove into the pool a long time ago. You're still standing on the diving board with your knees shakin'. Come on in, the water feels good.

 

[RichterScale]

You're still standing on the diving board with your knees shakin'.

And for good reason. I know me. Any time I get into something, it's all in, off the deep end. There's been a few endeavors that I got so wormed down into that I burned myself out on it after a few years.
I joke around a lot, but I am a little concerned that I'll get all wrapped up in this, buy a pup winder and 1000's in specialty luthier tools, life will change again and in 20 years from now, I'll be unpacking this stuff out of dusty boxes, saying, "oh yeah, remember when I was into building guitars for a while?"
But, between you, me and the lamp post, I'll probably end up going all in.

 

[RichterScale]

Not that I'm thinking of getting one any time soon,...... but are there any winders that people made or bought in this thread?

 

[Freekmagnet]

And for good reason. I know me. Any time I get into something, it's all in, off the deep end. There's been a few endeavors that I got so wormed down into that I burned myself out on it after a few years.
I joke around a lot, but I am a little concerned that I'll get all wrapped up in this, buy a pup winder and 1000's in specialty luthier tools, life will change again and in 20 years from now, I'll be unpacking this stuff out of dusty boxes, saying, "oh yeah, remember when I was into building guitars for a while?"
But, between you, me and the lamp post, I'll probably end up going all in.

I’d recommend building your own winder. Most of the consumer-grade commercial winders are basically just a motor with a counter on it.