Won the Wal pickup on ebay!!!

[benmoore88]

i agree with hopper.
its WAY too dark for me without the pick attack on as well!

 

[beyondhairy]

Wondering what the white pedal with 4 knobs after the boss EQ is...

prunes and custard i think

 

[Oreomeister365]

look up the pedalboards of the stars thread in the effects forum...it was determined to be some fuzz..forgot the name, but not a P & C.

 

[SGD Lutherie]

i agree with hopper.
its WAY too dark for me without the pick attack on as well!

I'n very close to having the first prototype finished. I'm going to give it a try with some neo magnets as well as the ceramics to see what sounds best. So I could probably get it brighter while still retaining the thick low end.

So the question is, would people rather have an accurate copy or something different, like a brighter version? I guess there's no reason I couldn't offer more than one.


Some finished coils.

 

[Jarno]

Cute and cuddly coils, David! Looking good. What did you use for bobbins? They almost look like the ones for sewing machines, maybe that's the reason behind 'em small coils, Ian Wallers mother wound all the pickupcoils

 

[SGD Lutherie]

Cute and cuddly coils, David! Looking good. What did you use for bobbins? They almost look like the ones for sewing machines, maybe that's the reason behind 'em small coils, Ian Wallers mother wound all the pickupcoils

Thanks, they are cute and cuddly!

I made the bobbins from nylon washers and some other parts. They are the same dimensions of the Wal bobbins. They are taller than sewing machine bobbins.

The Wal pickup uses all custom molded parts, but I wouldn't be surprised if they used sewing bobbins in the beginning. The early Wal basses had guild humbuckers and Fender Mustang pickups that they rewound.

Wish I could get my wife or son to wind some coils for me!

 

[Phantasm]

Very interesting stuff! I've been wondering for years why someone wouldn't make a "wal-style pickup and preamp kit."

 

[Jarno]

Loose washers and spacer? That seems a lot of work for each pickup. If you want, I can make you a 3d IGES file, which you can send to a rapid prototyping firm to make either SLA or SLS parts, 3d printing processes in plastic. You can then have plastic parts made up, without the investment of a mold. I would go for the SLS variety (sintered) because of long term stability.

Best regards,

Jarno.

Thanks, they are cute and cuddly!

I made the bobbins from nylon washers and some other parts. They are the same dimensions of the Wal bobbins. They are taller than sewing machine bobbins.

The Wal pickup uses all custom molded parts, but I wouldn't be surprised if they used sewing bobbins in the beginning. The early Wal basses had guild humbuckers and Fender Mustang pickups that they rewound.

Wish I could get my wife or son to wind some coils for me!

 

[PilbaraBass]

David,

To answer your question, I think you should first shoot for an accurate recreation of the original...that would be what people would desire the most...

a brighter-sounding of the original may be better sought after by those who have Wals and are looking for something very close but just a tad different...

 

[SGD Lutherie]

Loose washers and spacer? That seems a lot of work for each pickup. If you want, I can make you a 3d IGES file, which you can send to a rapid prototyping firm to make either SLA or SLS parts, 3d printing processes in plastic. You can then have plastic parts made up, without the investment of a mold. I would go for the SLS variety (sintered) because of long term stability.

Best regards,

Jarno.

Thanks for the offer Jarno,

Those 3D printers are cool! I did this with a custom mini humbucker. A friend (and former partner in SGD) is an industrial designer and has a SLA machine at his job. I drew up the design in Adobe Illustrator and he extruded it in Form*Z, and then brought it into Solid Works.

This was one of the pickups.

The problem is getting time on the machine, and my friend is real busy lately. So I would have to have the work done elsewhere.

The way I make the bobbins is very easy and doesn't take me very long... plus they are inexpensive and the perfect size.

I make most of my own parts for my pickups except the cases, so I have a system to the whole thing.

 

[SGD Lutherie]

David,

To answer your question, I think you should first shoot for an accurate recreation of the original...that would be what people would desire the most...

That's my thoughts as well. Then I can try other voicings.

a brighter-sounding of the original may be better sought after by those who have Wals and are looking for something very close but just a tad different...

My pickups won't fit into a real Wal without some modifications. As it turns out a MM case is the same width as the Wal pickup, but it is longer. And the 2 mounting screws are on the wrong side. The guts will fit into a real Wal cover though.

I might make a mold of the real Wal case before I have to return the pickup to its owner.

I'm also thinking about extending the multi-coil design to other pickups.. even jazz pickups. But those would be one coil per string, and not two (like the old Hi-A pickups).

 

[fullrangebass]

IMHO most Wal owners would be reluctant to mod their bass to make another pickup fit (I would be hesitant, at least). If you can make a copy of the Wal pickup cover (while keeping the original tone intact, initially at least) then more people would be willing to try your "Wal" model.

I am aware that a "custom" case will be a little costly at first but if there is enough demand, things will be much better.

And I am sure many people will come after the "Wal" tone once it becomes readily available (at least those who go the custom bass route)

 

[SGD Lutherie]

IMHO most Wal owners would be reluctant to mod their bass to make another pickup fit (I would be hesitant, at least). If you can make a copy of the Wal pickup cover (while keeping the original tone intact, initially at least) then more people would be willing to try your "Wal" model.

I am aware that a "custom" case will be a little costly at first but if there is enough demand, things will be much better.

And I am sure many people will come after the "Wal" tone once it becomes readily available (at least those who go the custom bass route)

I think for an aftermarket pickup more people have basses with MM style pickups. Obviously for Wals, people buy them because they want a Wal. Although I am surprised when I see Alembic pickups for sale... I wouldn't think someone would buy one of those basses and change the pickups.

An exact copy of the Wal case would probably only appeal to Wal owners looking for something different, or people making Wal copies. I'll try to make one available though, but it would be a cast epoxy shell, since custom injection molding is beyond my means at the moment. I guess 3D printing would work, but that's not cheap either, though much cheaper as far as setup. I might have to hit Jarno up for that job! Pickup cases has been the bane of my existence! (I know you know that FRB! Don't worry... your pickups will be done soon! The laser guy was out of town)

But even fitting one in a MM case is a bit of a challenge since they are twice as tall as the covers.

I'm still working on that aspect.

 

[Jarno]

A friend with access to a SLA machine....wow, treat him well!
By the way, usually you pay for build height, and as these bobbins aren't that tall, costs might not be all that high, especially since they are compact, they can always squeeze a few in in another batch.
Good luck with these pickups!

Best regards,

Jarno.

 

[WarriorJoe7]

I would say that for the first batch just try to get as close to the wal pickup as possible and that will be the selling point to get the people buying. once you have some profit then you can spend some time doing mods for anyone interested. I know you are going to price these pretty modestly for a whole setup.

Also you probably already know but MM, jazz, precision and all the emg sizes for covers are readily available. You probably know exactly wghere to get all thi but I thought I'd mention it just in case. I'd suggest that you find someone who makes wood covers and team up with him for any custom shapes. If you give him all your business then perhaps that person will give you a decent deal, and you can pass the costs on directly to the customer. Just a thought. You probably could actually find someone to team up with on here just by doing a simple search.

 

[beyondhairy]

don want to seem like the party pooper here, but im not really digging those covers...

 

[WarriorJoe7]

Those covers are not for a wal pickup I believe (could be wrong) those are just examples of another pickup he made with the parts made on an SLA machine.

The Wal clone will originally come in regular stingray covers (with or withour the polepice holes I am not sure.) He may be able to get some EMG sizes, but ask him. I also suggested he get wood covers made for any custom shapes.

 

[beyondhairy]

Those covers are not for a wal pickup I believe (could be wrong) those are just examples of another pickup he made with the parts made on an SLA machine.

The Wal clone will originally come in regular stingray covers (with or withour the polepice holes I am not sure.) He may be able to get some EMG sizes, but ask him. I also suggested he get wood covers made for any custom shapes.

ah ok, all is good then lol

id love some with the pole pieces sticking out, cant wait to pick these up....

and who knows... if put in the right bass, it may even replace my rick @_@

 

[SGD Lutherie]

dont want to seem like the party pooper here, but im not really digging those covers...

Those were for a set of custom pickups. The customer specified exactly how he wanted them, and he supplied the wood for me to use. We wanted a particular size and shape. They ended up in a bass he built.

Here's those custom pickups in his bass:

Those are not going to be for the multi coil pickups. They would never fit in that case. It was only slightly wider than a Jazz pickup.

Initially they will be in MM style covers, but I'm exploring making a cover that looks like the original. That wont fit into anyone's bass without some work though. They are also pretty tall pickups, so even in a bass with MM pickups, some routing will probably be in order.

Just so everyone gets an idea of the size of the pickups, here's the Wal next to a 4 string MM cover. And yes, the pole pieces will be exposed.

 

[SGD Lutherie]

I would say that for the first batch just try to get as close to the wal pickup as possible and that will be the selling point to get the people buying. once you have some profit then you can spend some time doing mods for anyone interested. I know you are going to price these pretty modestly for a whole setup.

Yes, the first one is going to be as close as possible to the original. Even though I'm using different parts, they are the same dimensions, even the pole piece diameter and length. The poles will be standard Allen set screws, as the Wal poles are custom machined. It should be very close to the real thing.

Also you probably already know but MM, jazz, precision and all the emg sizes for covers are readily available. You probably know exactly where to get all thi but I thought I'd mention it just in case. I'd suggest that you find someone who makes wood covers and team up with him for any custom shapes. If you give him all your business then perhaps that person will give you a decent deal, and you can pass the costs on directly to the customer. Just a thought. You probably could actually find someone to team up with on here just by doing a simple search.

Wooden covers could be one answer, though they are sometimes a pain to work with because of the wall thickness.

As you can see in the last set of photos, none of the MM covers are deep enough. I have a few ideas though.