Depends where you are, I guess. Old sewing machines are easy to find at rummage sales and reuse shops where I live. (edit: Unless you're holding out for genuinely vintage machines from the mid 20th century or something... but even then, one of the reuse shops hereabouts almost always has a handful of late-19th/early 20th century sewing machines, either treadle powered or powered by bulky outboard electric motors with cloth-wrapped power cords and Bakelite plugs.)
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Magnets & Copper Wire: A Pickup Building Thread
- Thread starter Freekmagnet
- Start date
My homebuilt winder uses a motor and pedal from a sewing machine.
IIRC it was the variable speed pedals that made sewing machines desirable for winding pickups. Counters were optional in the early days.
slowburnaz
Commercial User
Personally, I use an older version of this: CNC Guitar Pickup Mini Coil Winder - MK6 - CNC Design Ltd
But I may have to spring for one these sooner rather than later: CNC Guitar Pickup Quad Coil Winder - MK2 - CNC Design Ltd
The one I have is a very high quality machine!
This is another option for a CNC-type machine: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
No idea what that one’s like…
But I may have to spring for one these sooner rather than later: CNC Guitar Pickup Quad Coil Winder - MK2 - CNC Design Ltd
The one I have is a very high quality machine!
This is another option for a CNC-type machine: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
No idea what that one’s like…
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Yeah, if not too picky or in a huge hurry if you go in and find no sewing machines that day, any of the major or minor thrift stores in my area have plenty of sewing machines on average over time. People who are dying off and having their houses cleaned out pretty much all had one. Younger folks have to be into making or crafting or some such to want one, and some percentage of them don't want an old one without software and overlock and embrodiery frames. So there's generally a supply of perfectly good (or in some cases, would be with a cleaning and grease/oil) 50+ year old ones to be hand, in most cases pretty cheaply (some thrift stores think they are upscale. You can usually find the other sort, too.)
I have installed one Alnico 3 and one Alnico 5 in the current set of pickups. I can't say anything detailed about the sound yet, though, as I don't have enough time at the moment.
In my WBO24 build thread there are a few more pictures and information about the pickup and also about the winding machine (starting here), in which I am now using @Jeff Siddall 's code.
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I'm curious about your combining A3 and A5 magnets? What are you trying to do?
In general, I'm not necessarily interested in high output. It's a test. I've never played a bass/pickup with A3 myself. According to the internet, the sound should be warmer and darker. Who knows. There's not much on the subject of bass and A3 except a pickup from Nordstrand. I will wind another set with A5, maybe later one with ceramics. There are endless possibilities: Number of windings, different magnets, different wire gauges.
The combination of A3 and A5 in such a setup has probably never been done before. Not really research rather curiosity and fun for the first setup of the WBO bass. I know A5 best, also in terms of different turns. That's why I'm going to look at the winding numbers with these first.
In any case, I'm always happy to receive suggestions!
To my knowledge, the A1 to A8 designations are an indication of the permanent field strength of the magnet. The metallurgy of the casting is higher grade on the higher strength ones, which allows them to hold a higher charge strength long term. How finely the ferrite is ground, or something. But it's all about the field strength, the power of the magnet. The different grades don't really have different "sounds".
But....If you increase the strength of the magnets in a pickup, like switching from A3 to A5, the output level will go up, but it will go up more at the highs and lows. So, a pickup with A3's will probably be warmer and darker. The same coil with A5's will be louder and brighter, more highs and lows as compared to mids. Switching to ceramics or neos goes even farther, because they have even more field strength density. Using high powered magnets can get tricky, because the overall EQ curve can get dramatic lumps. Weaker magnets, like A3's, are generally used when you want a softer, narrower-range, more "vintage" sound.
FWIW Seymour Duncan uses a combination of Alnico 5 and 2 as the polepieces in one of their Tele pickups. I have one in one of my guitars with a Tele bridge and it sounds pretty good. Could be the polepieces, could be the strings, could be good construction, maybe I got an exceptional piece of veneer for the tone shim?
Five-Two™ Tele | Seymour Duncan
Five-Two™ Tele | Seymour Duncan
Tim shaw mixed different combinations. It wasn't a popular configuration.
I'm not sure if it was push to sell aftermarket pickups for the first American pro?
I thought It was a great pickup. My light weight pro am jazz has a sound that I describe as expensive.
I would think using two different magnets on the same string would be more gradual sounding I would be most interested in the effects of different magnets on opposite sides of a string like in the configuration of a jazz pickup it would split the material tone and the field strengths , the opposing field strength wouldn't add much to how the string vibrates, the idea of tonal harmony peaks my interests...
I'm not sure if it was push to sell aftermarket pickups for the first American pro?
I thought It was a great pickup. My light weight pro am jazz has a sound that I describe as expensive.
I would think using two different magnets on the same string would be more gradual sounding I would be most interested in the effects of different magnets on opposite sides of a string like in the configuration of a jazz pickup it would split the material tone and the field strengths , the opposing field strength wouldn't add much to how the string vibrates, the idea of tonal harmony peaks my interests...
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They're just different steps in the scale of field strength. They aren't as commonly used and much more expensive.
They way most of us adjust the strength of our magnetic fields is with the size of the magnets. Increasing the diameter and length of the magnet increases the strength much more than going to a higher grade. Magnetic field strength is the product of the Volume (cubic inches or meters) of the magnet. Increasing a rod magnet from 3/16" dia to 1/4" dia nearly doubles the field strength, at the same length and grade. Increasing a 3/16" diameter magnet from 1/2" long to 3/4" long will be a 50% increase in field strength. I don't remember the number, but going from A5 to A8, of the same diameter and length, is more like a 40% increase.
The sound of a magnetic pickup comes from:
- The power of the magnetic field
- The shape of the magnetic field around the strings and the coil
- The number of turns on the coil
- The fit of the coil within the magnetic field's shape
- The wire gauge and impedance of the coil.
Decide:
- What strength and size magnets you are going to use
- How the magnets are going to be positioned in relation to the string
- How the coil will be positioned within the field
- How many turns you need for that combination to get the signal level you want.
- Then, work with the wire gauge and impedance to shape the EQ curve of the signal "sound".
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slowburnaz
Commercial User
Do you have any thoughts on *why* this made a difference?
I can’t think of any reason why that would make any difference, outside of the placebo effect.
More magnetic field lines along the strings direction, from one pickup to the other... There was no need to cut wires or solder... I just rotated the P pu 180º.
slowburnaz
Commercial User
Right! It is the same principle that determines that the poles of the D and G strings have the opposite polarity to those of the A and E strings.
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Hi all. I grew tired of dabbling around the edges of pickup construction and daydreaming about being able to tinker with my own so this weekend I placed an order for a few small DC motors, PWM boards, a counter, an AC-to-DC converter, and some odds & ends I knew I'd need off the bat. No supplies, just what I'll need to get a winder up & running. I have a lot of reading to do still, obviously, but once everything's here I'll order what I need to get a few P, J, and Tele pickups under my belt.
slowburnaz
Commercial User
Not quite... the reasoning for that, in the same pickup, is to eliminate hum, typically along with reversing the winding direction (and therefore the direction of current).
This the RWRP (reverse-wound, reverse-polarity) concept. In the case of your pickups, each one has separate coils that are RWRP, so are self-contained humbuckers.
This the RWRP (reverse-wound, reverse-polarity) concept. In the case of your pickups, each one has separate coils that are RWRP, so are self-contained humbuckers.
