Cast iron would be worse then carbon steel, paradoxically cast iron has the most carbon, around 2-3%
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Magnets & Copper Wire: A Pickup Building Thread
- Thread starter Freekmagnet
- Start date
A question here from a novice winder: I'm wondering how many turns of #42 to put on this:
The idea is to have the two halves of the bridge pu (jazz style) to be rwrp coupled in series, just as a precision style pu. Should it be about 8000 turns like on a strat pu (the only type I wound so far)?
The idea is to have the two halves of the bridge pu (jazz style) to be rwrp coupled in series, just as a precision style pu. Should it be about 8000 turns like on a strat pu (the only type I wound so far)?
slowburnaz
Commercial User
8000 winds of 42awg is in the typical range for a Jazz bass.
Check out Coil Estimator for wind counts of other typical pickups.
Check out Coil Estimator for wind counts of other typical pickups.
slowburnaz
Commercial User
A couple, yeah.
One was in a sort of Bartolini soapbar size, and the other is a wide aperture MM size.
slowburnaz
Commercial User
Ok, well... curiosity got the best of me, and I put a couple of the "Gordo" single coils into my SBMM Ray4 HH bass:
IMO, due to the positioning of the pickups on these HH basses, it does kinda get into Rickenbacker territory. I dig it.
IMO, due to the positioning of the pickups on these HH basses, it does kinda get into Rickenbacker territory. I dig it.
Very nice clear sound, good range. I don't think I could live with that fret buzz though...
Interesting, I didn't hear fret buzz, so I listened to it through my stereo with my good headphones. I still don't hear fret buzz, though I do hear an incredible amount of treble-burp from those pickups. 
slowburnaz
Commercial User
Yup… this bass is in need of a good setup. Been in its case for a at least a year before I started molesting it.
slowburnaz
Commercial User
Interesting, I didn't hear fret buzz, so I listened to it through my stereo with my good headphones. I still don't hear fret buzz, though I do hear an incredible amount of treble-burp from those pickups.
There’s some on the E string. But, you’re also not wrong about the burp! These pickups along with the new Slinky Cobalts make for some really nasty (in a good way) burping.
Setting up guitars and basses used to be my job lol! I woulda raised the bridge saddles AND the nut up a hair...Interesting, I didn't hear fret buzz, so I listened to it through my stereo with my good headphones. I still don't hear fret buzz, though I do hear an incredible amount of treble-burp from those pickups.
*but only if the customer wanted it, of course.
I've just built up a bass with two of my pickups in. Both work fine individually, but it goes odd when they're combined. With one volume up full and the other anything up to 90%, all you hear is the first pickup. With both volumes up full, they sort of cancel out.
Both are side by side dual coils, one north up, the other south up. Both are wired with one coil going to the +ve input of an opamp and the other coil going to the -ve input. Each output is wired to the wiper of its volume pot. The bottom of both pots are wired to ground. The top of both pots are wired together and go to the tone pot and output.
I've checked with a compass that one of them has the North up coil at the front and the other has the south up coil at the front. Could that be the problem. Do you think that swapping the the +ve and -ve inputs on one of the opamps might solve the problem?
Both are side by side dual coils, one north up, the other south up. Both are wired with one coil going to the +ve input of an opamp and the other coil going to the -ve input. Each output is wired to the wiper of its volume pot. The bottom of both pots are wired to ground. The top of both pots are wired together and go to the tone pot and output.
I've checked with a compass that one of them has the North up coil at the front and the other has the south up coil at the front. Could that be the problem. Do you think that swapping the the +ve and -ve inputs on one of the opamps might solve the problem?
slowburnaz
Commercial User
That sounds a lot like the pickups are wired out of phase. Can you swap the leads on one of the pickups?
Swapping the coils on one of the preamps has changed the behaviour. When both pickups' volume controls are on full, they no longer cancel out but all the treble is lost. Turn one volume control down even a fraction and what you get is all of the other pickup with no discernable contribution from the other. I was hoping to get the bright tone from the bridge pickup and dial in some warmth from the neck.
I wasn't expecting this. Swapping the coils on the pickup has exposed something. One of the coils is not sensing the B string at all. The good coil was the one that was used in single coil mode, and the defective one as part of a humbucker. Now I've swapped them, the fault is plain to see. As the coils are identical, I'm surprised that one can miss out a string and the other can't. A bit more investigation is required.
Is it possible one of the pole pieces has become demagnetized, or disconnected from the base magnet? Base magnet broken?
Maybe you've slipped into another dimension where the laws of physics, as we know them, don't apply?
Is it true that you can use less coil with stronger magnets?
I'm thinking about a MM style double coil, but trying to figure out how to get it shallow.
Could this be done using neodymium magnets and shorter coils?
I'm thinking about a MM style double coil, but trying to figure out how to get it shallow.
Could this be done using neodymium magnets and shorter coils?
