Winter Build Off 2022 - Back to '56

[41hzthunder]

Still waiting for parts so will do the math on pickup wire today.

I'm winding three different pickups so I have a choice on the final sound. I built a cnc winder a few years back so winding really isn't time consuming. The winder allows specification of number of turns, will track bobbin width based on positioning of guides, and specification of a wire-feed traverse pattern. It can lay the wire uniformly right next to the last wind or spread it out and even change the pattern during the wind.

The first step is determining the length of wire to be put on the bobbin and then the number of turns to accomplish it. I use a wire resistance chart found on the web. 42 AWG has a resistance of 1668.8 Ohms per 1000 feet. So the formula is: desired resistance/1668.8 X 1000 = total length of wire. The next part is to determine the average length of a single wind. I use the length of one wind about 66% out from the magnets. Granted, this gets a little fundgy not knowing the thickness of the coil, but the change in each turn is more exagerated as you move outward on the coil. In the past, I've done the math to figure out how many winds per layer using the manufacturer's stated wire diameter, but this fails when the wire is not tightly/uniformly wound with each wind sitting right next to each other. The wire used here is .0028" and the bobbin is going to be around .65" so 232 winds per layer is tightly wound. But its not going to be that uniformly wound. I'm assuming the coil will be about 3/16 thickness and work with that.

Designspark can provide a perimeter calculation if you draw a loop of wire. Doing this it gives me 5.8186". (Total length*12)/5.8186 will give the number of winds to get to the resistance desired. For 6500 Ohms its:
6500/1668.8 = 3.8950X 1000 (to get to feet) = 3895 feet. (3895 X 12 (inches)) = 46740")/5.8186" = 8032 winds.

This represents what I'll do for the single coil wind. The split and stacked coils will go through a similar exercise dividing total desired resistance by two to give the individual coil numbers. When connected in series they will double to the final resistance.

 

[41hzthunder]

There is a person on eBay that offers re-makes of the old phenolic saddles.

BASS SADDLES P-STYLE PHENOLIC BAKELITE 1951-1954 REPLICAS AGED (RELIC) | eBay

I've also seen the Wilkinsen swivel/compensated saddles, the 5 degree compensated "fatties" and notched Squire saddles. I'm just trying the stock original two saddles for now, but may experiment with others in the future.

 

[41hzthunder]

I was reading about a 7ender change up on the reverse polarity/reverse wind humbucking wiring on P-bass pickups. According to what I read, at some point they actually did both coils in a clockwise direction with magnets on one North up and South up on the other. The connection between the two is outside end to the other outside end with the inside wires becoming the leads. Different from the clockwise wind and counterclockwise wind I'm used to hearing about. Anyone familiar with this?

 

[1bassplayinfool]

Have fun with your build. I just got done with a 54 replica myself... on left.

 

[1bassplayinfool]

I've also seen the Wilkinsen swivel/compensated saddles, the 5 degree compensated "fatties" and notched Squire saddles. I'm just trying the stock original two saddles for now, but may experiment with others in the future.

lots of choices...

 

[41hzthunder]

Got the single coil pickup wound today. I was aiming for 6.5K with 8032 winds of 42AWG. It reads 6.29K, so a little short of the mark. Overall, I'm please with the coil. Its uniform, the wire is firm, but not over tight to deform the bobbin. I'll get the eyelets in and leads soldered up tomorrow. I'm going to wind a stacked version later this week and possibly a split coil version. Included picturs of the coil and the "Frankenwinder" Its really a prototype winder, but works well. I'm turning the bobin at 800 rpm, but could probably get 1200 to 1500 rpm. Not bad for $60 of hardware.

Most of my parts have arrived, just waiting for the control plate and strap buttons now. So, it will be time to start cutting wood tomorrow!

 

[41hzthunder]

Most of my parts have arrived. Yay! I'm please with the pickguard, as the neck pocket fits the neck pretty well. It will need are very small amount of work to make the corners just a little tighter. The tuning machine ferrules are just a hair bigger than the factory drilled pegholes, so a little work there too. Maybe 1/64th off.

So I turned to making a template and started on the body. The template is close, but I'll give it a touchup tomorrow. The alder was actually 2", so planed it to 1 3/4" and ran it across the jointer. All was looking good and thought I'd drill the holes for wiring the bridge ground and pickup wires before gluing the two parts. That's when it went wrong. The drill bit is self augering, with a little screw tip that pulls it into the wood. Its also a long bit that isn't as stiff as the small ones. It veered off and came throught the top. Moments prior, I had thought, "Its been a long day, maybe I should drill this tomorrow." I'll get a new slab of alder in the next few days. Dang it!

 

[T_Bone_TL]

Moments prior, I had thought, "Its been a long day, maybe I should drill this tomorrow."

At least it was a wood accident, not an injury accident. Listen to those thoughts. They were a consistent theme in an ancient Fine Wood Working accident survey (no I haven't been able to find it online to refer to, but I do recall it, and it was not something they asked about, IIRC, it just got self-reported enough that it came up as a theme anyway. Or that's what I recall.)

This refers to it. Still can't find it, though. https://joneakes.com/jons-fixit-database/2063

 

[Matt Liebenau]

Take another 1/4” or so off the body and find a nice top? Save it and do that later? Nail it to the shop wall as a painful reminder?


See…. There’s options.

 

[41hzthunder]

At least it was a wood accident, not an injury accident. Listen to those thoughts. They were a consistent theme in an ancient Fine Wood Working accident survey (no I haven't been able to find it online to refer to, but I do recall it, and it was not something they asked about, IIRC, it just got self-reported enough that it came up as a theme anyway. Or that's what I recall.)

This refers to it. Still can't find it, though. https://joneakes.com/jons-fixit-database/2063

Its definitely good it was only wood. But, yes, I should have known better than to try and do "just two holes" before quitting. It was also a bad bit choice, which I also thought before drilling! New wood and a fresh perspective tomorrow.

 

[41hzthunder]

Take another 1/4” or so off the body and find a nice top? Save it and do that later? Nail it to the shop wall as a painful reminder?


See…. There’s options.

Yup! I had all of those thoughts. It will go in the wood bin for later . . . with the other painful reminders.

 

[Flamingo21]

Listen to those thoughts. They were a consistent theme in an ancient Fine Wood Working accident survey (...) it was not something they asked about, IIRC, it just got self-reported enough that it came up as a theme

That's very interesting. Thanks for mentioning it.

 

[NKBassman]

Following along

 

[T-boneParish]

Fascinating thread!
I am also doing a 56 Precision build at the moment, and I'm using an old 70s Tele neck. I am also noodling different pickups including single coil, split, etc. Unlike you, however, I'm not ready to wind my own pickups from scratch. Your single-coil pickup looks great!
You said you were aiming for 6.5k of resistance. What resistance are you considering for the other pickups?
Best of luck!

 

[Flamingo21]

I am also doing a 56 Precision build at the moment, and I'm using an old 70s Tele neck

A Tele neck? That means it's a short scale bass, correct?

 

[T-boneParish]

A Tele neck? That means it's a short scale bass, correct?

No, it is a full scale neck. It is one of the 4-bolt necks from the early Telecaster bass reissues that Fender started in the 60s. I'm not aware that Fender ever made a short scale version of that bass.

Sorry, didn't mean to hijak the thread.

 

[41hzthunder]

A Tele neck? That means it's a short scale bass, correct?

Its a '51 reissue Precision Bass neck, so 34" scale. The Tele basses were also 34". I owned one in the early eighties and it was just a reissue of the '51 P-Bass. Mine had the humbucker.

 

[41hzthunder]

I got a new piece of alder and got back into the build. I used a stiff 6" twist drill bit to drill the wire paths from the pickup and bridge to the control cavity. Glue up went smooth. I rough cut the body with the bandsaw, about an 1/16" oversized. After that, it was just a matter of using a flush trim router bit and template to get the body shape ready for sanding. I'll work on the neck pocket, pickup and control routing next weekend.

I also worked on some additional pickup bobbins. I want to wind a stacked humbucking pickup and a true split pickup in the space of the single coil. That's something to work on during the week. Also worked on a telecaster pickup for my guitar.

Airbrushing dye seems like method that may give me a two-tone sunburst, so the dye and airbrush kit was ordered. Kind of looking forward to playing with it when it gets here.

 

[T-boneParish]

@41hzthunder, your pickups and new body are looking good! Really nice work.

Your issue drilling the hole for the ground wire to the bridge got me thinking about how it was done on the raw bass body I bought. I wondered if it was drilled from the large hole from the jack mount on the side of the body. I checked. While the ground-wire hole is visible from the jack hole (or whatever it's called), the angle is not right to drill up to the bridge. Therefore, the ground-wire hole was drilled starting from the bridge and going down at an angle into the control cavity. That makes sense, since there's more room for error if the drill bit is off by 1/4 in the control cavity. If you drill from the top and the bit flexes, it's not a disaster. You may already know this, but I thought I would pass it along.

Good luck!

 

[41hzthunder]

@41hzthunder, your pickups and new body are looking good! Really nice work.

Your issue drilling the hole for the ground wire to the bridge got me thinking about how it was done on the raw bass body I bought. I wondered if it was drilled from the large hole from the jack mount on the side of the body. I checked. While the ground-wire hole is visible from the jack hole (or whatever it's called), the angle is not right to drill up to the bridge. Therefore, the ground-wire hole was drilled starting from the bridge and going down at an angle into the control cavity. That makes sense, since there's more room for error if the drill bit is off by 1/4 in the control cavity. If you drill from the top and the bit flexes, it's not a disaster. You may already know this, but I thought I would pass it along.

Good luck!

T-BoneParish, I believe 7ender does drill after the routing and from the top. I just prefer to drill before the glue-up. My choice of drill bit was the problem. When I used a stiffer twist bit the holes came out as expected. They will be exposed when the rest of the routing is done. There's more than one way to accomplish these.