Sidewinders, Multi-coils and other hard to find pickups

[12bass]

The most recent Q-tuners are neodymium sidewinders, without the adjustable pole pieces of the earlier design. I have a Q2.0 in the neck position of my Waterstone 12-string bass; it sounds fairly balanced across the spectrum with a healthy output, and not as aggressive in the treble resonant peak as the adjustable model. It makes my Lane Poor wide aperture sidewinders sound relatively "polite" in comparison, though the LPs have a delicate airiness which I like. FWIW, I have also had EMI issues with the LPs in some venues, though they do cancel normal 60 Hz hum.

 

[big_teee]

I had some EMI issues with my Sidewinders until I went to a full copper foil shield.
I ground the foil with the shield of the 4 wire cable.
That along with a final wax potting in the cover, makes them quiet.
T

 

[12bass]

I had some EMI issues with my Sidewinders until I went to a full copper foil shield.
I ground the foil with the shield of the 4 wire cable.
That along with a final wax potting in the cover, makes them quiet.
T

Curiously, I don't think Erno uses any shielding inside the Q-tuners, yet they are still very quiet as long as the instrument is properly shielded. I went to great lengths to shield my Hamer 12-string, even adding ferrite chokes... but the Lane Poor's "bizzy" noise is still there. Dimmers are one of the worst sources.

 

[big_teee]

Has anyone measured the Ohms DCR of a Q-tuner Neo Blade?
Curious what they measure, and what they do different?
T

 

[Hopkins]

Hey @big_teee, Do you have a website? I am always interested in smaller suppliers for my builds.

 

[big_teee]

I have a website, but not much on it!
Just a small shop boutique winder, I enjoy doing it.
If I can help anyone, please let me know.
http://big-t.bc-enterprises.com/
T

 

[orange joe]

I've had no hum issues with Big T's sidewinder in a multiple sized rooms.Speaking of unusual pickups,I also have a set T wound for me with MM sized pole pieces in an EMG 35 cover.I haven't tried them yet but the curiosity is killing me

 

[big_teee]

OJ came up with the MM sized pole size 35 pickups.
I reworked them for him.
I too am curious what they will sound like?
T

 

[IWieldTheSpade]

Well, here are my poor man's pickup coils wound on sewing bobbins, each potted with paraffin wax:


Now, I know what you're thinking - "But there are only 7 there". This is what happens when cats get a hold of one :


But anyway, one more to go and I can start on the wiring. A thing to note though for anyone thinking of doing similar, sewing bobbins are too large to arrange in a standard perpendicular row as you would see on a Wal pickup. This wasn't an issue for me, as I will be installing the pickup on an angle, but I just thought I should point that out.

 

[BTL]

Lindy Fralin's Big Singles are sidewinders and are compatible with 4 string basses.

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They come standard in either a humbucker or Firebird case.

I have them wound under a nickel P90 cover with no holes and mounted on a dogear plate.

They are height-adjustable like a humbucker.

Here's one side-by-side with a Lollar Thunderbird:

 

[Becky Lawrence]

Hi everybody. Just saw your thread and wanted to add more helpful info. For those of you who want to learn more about the Sidewinder, Bill Lawrence redesigned it back in the 70's during his tenure at Gibson! (Thank you LowB-ing for the correction. Bill would have wanted it to be corrected.) Anyway, it was incredibly innovative work for the music scene, then in the 1970's and still today in 2015.

To learn more about it, his Sidewinder is one of these three patents listed here from 1975 (not exactly sure which one) which I believe are available online to read at www.uspto.gov to read [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Btw, Bill would appreciate seeing musicians taking interest to learn more about our industry's innovations and gain valuable knowledge about products available to them.

All the best,

Becky
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[BTL]

Becky,

Have you ever considered offering a new sidewinder?

It seems like an obvious opportunity, but I understand the demand may not be there like it is for some other designs.

 

[LowB-ing]

Bill Lawrence originated this design back in the 70's during his tenure at Gibson

The Gibson EB-1 came out in '53 and it had a sidewinder pickup, right?

The EB-0 and EB-3 had sidewinders at least, so definitely before the 70s.

 

[Becky Lawrence]

BeeTL, I made a few sidewinders as large size humbuckers and even one for steel guitar! We could do one as there is a gaining popularity for them today.

LowB-ing, Bill's Sidewinder is a Noisefree design. He followed the mantra, "Thy pickups shall not hum." Lane Poor's bass pickup basically followed Bill's Sidewinder design though if not made right, it will buzz.

Also LowB-ing, Bill was very careful to not file frivolous patents during his career. Since Bill Lawrence is not here, I'll do research myself.

Becky
www.billlawrence.com

 

[12bass]

Bill's Sidewinder is a Noisefree design. He followed the mantra, "Thy pickups shall not hum." Lane Poor's bass pickup basically followed Bill's Sidewinder design though if not made right, it will buzz.

Hi Becky,

Nice to see you here!

Regarding Lane Poor pickups, I have a pair of M3.5W which are wide aperture sidewinders. Very nice sounding pickups! I definitely think that sidewinders are an excellent choice for bass and that there should be a market for them.

My Lane Poors do not have any significant 60 Hz hum, so they are effective at hum cancelling. However, they do pick up stray EMI from various sources like dimmers. This is a higher frequency "bizz" sound rather than a hum. They are grounded and installed in a shielded cavity, with ferrite chokes on the output wires. As I recall, Lane sent me replacements which were no better. Given what you stated above, I'm curious if this is due to a manufacturing error or perhaps is an artifact of the design?

 

[Becky Lawrence]

Made the correction in my writing, LowB-ing! Thank you.

Becky
www.billlawrence.com

 

[LowB-ing]

BeeTL, I made a few sidewinders as large size humbuckers and even one for steel guitar! We could do one as there is a gaining popularity for them today.

LowB-ing, Bill's Sidewinder is a Noisefree design. He followed the mantra, "Thy pickups shall not hum." Lane Poor's bass pickup basically followed Bill's Sidewinder design though if not made right, it will buzz.

Also LowB-ing, Bill was very careful to not file frivolous patents during his career. Since Bill Lawrence is not here, I'll do research myself.

Becky
www.billlawrence.com

Bill made valuable contributions to the world of pickups and I'm sure any patents he was granted were well earned. He did not invent, and I'm pretty sure he never tried to patent, the sidewinder concept. Pickups with the coils lying down have been around since the 50s, even humbucking ones. That's what inspired the nickname for the 'mudbucker' (which is a sidewinder) after all.

Edit: Oops, Becky beat me to it while I was typing my post, sorry.

 

[big_teee]

Hi Becky:
Thanks for checking in!
I make soapbar Sidewinders, but mine are a Narrow Aperture design.
I can maintain the brightness better that way.
The original EB-0 and EB-3 Mudbuckers are great designs.
Thanks,
Terry

 

[Becky Lawrence]

12bass, I've had some of Bill's customers who have told me that they can put one of Bill's Sidewinder pickup model he previously made on a transformer and there is no buzz! The ones I made were amazingly quiet too. Yes, manufacturing procedures are very important.

Becky
www.billlawrence.com

 

[BTL]

Bill did, in fact, patent the sidewinder in 1974:

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Here's a link to the design:

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