Magnets & Copper Wire: A Pickup Building Thread

[Fred Miller]

Finally got my parts and got to play around a bit with this thing, loaded with ceramic mags… fat, raunchy. I’m liking it so far (but I would say that, wouldn’t I?)

View attachment 4856198 View attachment 4856199 View attachment 4856202 View attachment 4856204 View attachment 4856205 View attachment 4856206

Needs further experimentation with Alnico mags as well, but this one might be a keeper.

Looks VERY cool!

 

[smart51]

Finally got my parts and got to play around a bit with this thing, loaded with ceramic mags… fat, raunchy. View attachment 4856206

Needs further experimentation with Alnico mags as well, but this one might be a keeper.

This is a very neat design. I like it a lot.

 

[NKBassman]

Finally got my parts and got to play around a bit with this thing, loaded with ceramic mags… fat, raunchy. I’m liking it so far (but I would say that, wouldn’t I?)

View attachment 4856198 View attachment 4856199 View attachment 4856202 View attachment 4856204 View attachment 4856205 View attachment 4856206

Needs further experimentation with Alnico mags as well, but this one might be a keeper.

That's very cool. I've always been curious what a single coil split-P type pickup would sound like... ie flat and wide coil instead of narrow and tall like a Jazz bass.

 

[Will_White]

What type of steel do you all use for bars and pole pieces? Just mild steel or something else?

 

[SuperFunkyPete]

Finally got my parts and got to play around a bit with this thing, loaded with ceramic mags… fat, raunchy. I’m liking it so far (but I would say that, wouldn’t I?)

View attachment 4856198 View attachment 4856199 View attachment 4856202 View attachment 4856204 View attachment 4856205 View attachment 4856206

Needs further experimentation with Alnico mags as well, but this one might be a keeper.

How does it sound in your test Ray4 bass? I don’t really need another project with the ‘Wal-ish’ ongoing but it is a very cool pickup…

 

[slowburnaz]

To me, it sounds like a slightly angrier soloed Rick bridge pickup. Maybe a tad more low end… which makes sense given the stronger ceramic mags and more steel.
(Which, now that I think about it, makes me wanna put a pair in my Ray4 HH…. Hmm)

I’m pretty happy with it, since that’s the sort of vibe I was going for. So hard though, given my subjective ears.

I’ll see if I can get a sound clip up later of it in the Ray4…. And in a more P bass position in my Ibanez Roadstar

 

[slowburnaz]

To me, it sounds like a slightly angrier soloed Rick bridge pickup. Maybe a tad more low end… which makes sense given the stronger ceramic mags and more steel.
(Which, now that I think about it, makes me wanna put a pair in my Ray4 HH…. Hmm)

I’m pretty happy with it, since that’s the sort of vibe I was going for. So hard though, given my subjective ears.

I’ll see if I can get a sound clip up later of it in the Ray4…. And in a more P bass position in my Ibanez Roadstar

Ok, so here's a couple quick sample clips... both are with the ceramic C8 magnets. I also have some Alnico 5 and Alnico 2 magnets I’m gonna swap in and try. I figure I’ll also link those whenever I do that.

This first one is this pickup in a SBMM Ray 4, in the typical MM position, through a John East MMSR 2-band pre:


And this second one is the same pickup in an old Ibby Roadstar RB924, in the "P" position, through a Lusithand NFP Special pre, filter wide open, no boost:


EDIT:
And here's the second one again, just with Alnico 5 magnets instead (and the bass tuned up this time... lol):
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[Jon Clegg]

Sounds great.

 

[jeffmensch]

That pickup sounds good in both basses. Lots of grit when played aggressively but also clarity when backed off. Didn’t notice a big difference between the ceramic and alnico magnets. Bonus points awarded for the Rush licks.

 

[slowburnaz]

That pickup sounds good in both basses. Lots of grit when played aggressively but also clarity when backed off. Didn’t notice a big difference between the ceramic and alnico magnets. Bonus points awarded for the Rush licks.

I thought that was a little strange too… I was expecting a bit more of a difference. My guess is that it comes down to the inductance difference due to the change in magnets not being enough compared to the overall inductance from all the steel already present. :shrug:

 

[RichterScale]

Question:
Is the brass plate and bottom board necessary to hold things together? Or possibly playing a part in the function?
I'm curious if it's possible to leave it as is (on the left) to decrease depth.
Would that be possible without too much fuss?

 

[slowburnaz]

Question:
Is the brass plate and bottom board necessary to hold things together? Or possibly playing a part in the function?
I'm curious if it's possible to leave it as is (on the left) to decrease depth.
Would that be possible without too much fuss?

That’s actually just a PCB board with the copper exposed on most of the surface. I did that to serve 2 functions: to act as a way to securely attach the keeper and bobbin to the cover, and to serve as extra shielding (the keeper makes contact with it, and that ultimately connects to the ground wire and the copper tape that’s around the coil itself.

The whole pickup ends up being about .725” deep (.824” with the screws on the bottom).

 

[RichterScale]

That’s actually just a PCB board with the copper exposed on most of the surface. I did that to serve 2 functions: to act as a way to securely attach the keeper and bobbin, and to serve as extra shielding (the keeper makes contact with it, and that ultimately connects to the ground wire and the copper tape that’s around the coil itself.

The whole pickup ends up being about .75” deep.

Oh, I see it now. I thought it was a brass plate. So, it is pretty shallow overall.
What's the depth when all together?

 

[slowburnaz]

Oh, I see it now. I thought it was a brass plate. So, it is pretty shallow overall.
What's the depth when all together?

Including the screws:

 

[RichterScale]

I like this concept for thinner bodies.
Do you know the depth of a typical MM pup?

 

[slowburnaz]

I like this concept for thinner bodies.
Do you know the depth of a typical MM pup?

For the standard dual coil pickups, they’re .625” deep. For the Sterlings with the dummy coil on the bottom, it’s probably closer to an inch.

On the Ibanez I have this in now, the pickup is sitting .6” above the body, so just under 1/4” is sitting below the surface.

 

[slowburnaz]

What type of steel do you all use for bars and pole pieces? Just mild steel or something else?

Sorry this got lost in the mix of me hogging up all the latest posts…

I personally just use cold rolled steel.

 

[Fred Miller]

Sorry this got lost in the mix of me hogging up all the latest posts…

I personally just use cold rolled steel.

Would be interesting to try different grades of steel to see if there's any appreciable difference... Cast iron? Ferrite?

 

[Will_White]

Sorry this got lost in the mix of me hogging up all the latest posts…

I personally just use cold rolled steel.

That's what I figured, Seymour Duncan says they use high carbon steel, but Gibson used a very low carbon steel in the original PAF humbuckers, and I've seen ebay stores with adjustment screws in more exotic alloys.

 

[Fred Miller]

That's what I figured, Seymour Duncan says they use high carbon steel, but Gibson used a very low carbon steel in the original PAF humbuckers, and I've seen ebay stores with adjustment screws in more exotic alloys.

I'm guessing, but maybe the iron content is important - so less carbon and other alloys = more iron! Maybe cast iron would be best, but difficult to machine...