Winding Stratocaster Single Coil Pickups
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- Опубліковано 13 чер 2024
- Welcome to the Next Project!
Today, we are undertaking a learning curve event - and I have a lot to learn.
This video will hopefully show the path I'm on to learn more about winding guitar pickups. I tend to forget most of what I learn in-between attempts to wind these things, so be warned, there may be some skewed information within.
Link to interesting winding information:
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/1ruiap...
00:00 - lights, camera, action
00:04 - intro00:30 - single coil: 101
03:39 - round n' round
04:15 - thread the needle
04:43 - bridge: 8,000
06:18 - middle: 7,680
06:40 - neck: 7,360
07:05 - hookup wires
08:07 - polarity charge
09:02 - the results
10:59 - wax potting
12:16 - bode plotting
12:50 - sound samples + noise warning
If interested, the Bode Plot software I used in this video can be found at:
www.axetech.com/products
The software can be run on either a PC or Apple computer. I'm only using it on a Mac at the moment, but will be testing on a PC laptop very soon. I am also using a FoucsRite Scarlet USB box and an AxeTech driver coil to run my tests.
I hope you enjoyed the project, and I do apologize for any errors in the process or documentation. It's a learning process.
Take care!
#electricguitar #stratocaster - Розваги
When I get the notification of new videos from you, I always say “Wahoo!”
Those sound nice! All three have a great voice of their own and compliment each other.
They make your Starcaster a damn fine guitar now. Or, really, even more of a damn fine guitar.
We’ll done, good sir.
Tim, thanks for watching!
LOL, glad you enjoy getting the video notice, that make me happy!
They do sound pretty good, and I wish I could do a better job of displaying the sounds...I'm working on that part - It'll be a few more years.
Many thanks.
Be safe and take care!
Hi, this comment isn't about this vid. I just want to thank you for the inspiration and the can do attitude you incite in viewers. The way you take some guitar and then basically gut it and bring new quality in is great. It gave me the courage to rip apart some bad epoxy pour in one of my earlier builds to start my own 'next project' ;-) thx n cheers
Thanks for watching and that great compliment. I'm really glad to hear that you're getting some inspiration to jump into projects. That's what this channel is about for me. I hope friends like you will see something, get the itch to take something apart and make it your own.
Very cool, and good luck with your project!
That’s got to be very satisfying to play through pickups that you built from scratch. ❤
Lyricbread, thanks for watching!
It is very satisfying, and honestly, I like every part of build or mod projects - when things work out.
Pickup winding is a bit of a mystery to me, I'm guessing at a lot of things, even after reading about them.
I need the hands on approach, then attempt to refine the process with the next attempt. The coil wind count is one of those things, and honestly I'm finding there are a lot of factors that push the wind count one way or another from the target.
All good stuff and definitely satisfying, also a bit mystifying at times.
Hope all is well, take care!
Always learning curves. Always working out fine.
Steve, thanks for watching!
Yep, if I keep working at whatever the task, eventually it works to fine.
I gotta say, I always confuse myself when attempting to wind pickups, CW, CCW coil, CW, CCW bobbin... just when I think I know, I then question myself and have to start all over. Ha, my brain is toast.
Take care!
Bro, some got it and some don't. I know a guy on here that teaches a class on what you just did essentially for free. This is what UA-cam was made for. Now, car you wind me a set! Lol!
I don't have it, but I'm workin' toward it, LOL.
I'm just trying to share what I'm up to. I get some people selling a class, but most of this content is all over the internet.
: )
@@theNextProject psttt, some people live here.
I love your content. Really appreciate the technical stuff. It speaks to my inner engineer brain. Thank you.
914, thanks for watching!
I like that "inner engineer", I think I have one of those too.
You're welcome, but be sure to do your own research, as I do make errors...daily. LOL
Take care!
I just saw this is ur 100th video! 🎉🎉
Baddest..., thanks for watching and letting me know.
I really didn't realize and am surprised I've made 100 videos, dang!
Hope all is well, take care!
Oh no! Way too much information for this old man to comprehend. But then again, building a guitar is way too much! So I’ll just take your word on everything. Hi Laura 😄
Hey Mike, thanks for watching and I'll let Laura know you say Hi.
I'm looking at a set of hot rails and some P-90s.... Thinking they are going to join up soon. Homemade P-Rail experiment on the near horizon.
Hope you are doing well. Take care!
@@theNextProject , please not on my account! I don’t know if I’ll ever get that far. But it’s nice of you to think about me.
Really smooth sounding pickups, I wish that I had a set like these for an old guitar I got rid of. Really spiky sounding. Personally I don't know what you are doing but it sounds right to me!
Gunsmith, thanks for watching!
Thank you, they did turn out pretty good. I was a bit worried when they tested out a bit below my goal, but they work great regardless.
I like the test where they are all in the bridge location, that gives me the best "sound comparison", and as we could hear a great difference in the pickups once spread out over the strat body.
Fun stuff.
Hope all is well, take care!
Very informative, thanks for this!
Chris, thanks for watching, glad there was something in there to take-away.
I realize that I wasn't specific enough in my google searches when looking for what I needed for frequency response measurements...meaning, I found your video by chance and BAM! Your link to AxeTech saved me! Thank you. Great video.
Would you consider doing a video demoing the setup and run of the AxeTech system? Also, my pickup testing guitar is similar to yours, but less refined. A video with a little tour and breakdown of the build would be appreciated. I'm always looking for ways to improve/ modify my builds. Anyway, thank you again for video! Very well produced!
Cheers!
Jeff, thanks for watching!
Glad you found the channel, sounds like we are very similar. I too like to find ways to improve and modify stuff. Cool!
As for the AxeTech, I have a video started and may merge 2 different videos together to answer your question. So, yes, I am/may/will be putting a video togther going over the AxeTech. Currently I'm running it on a old iMac, but I'm thinking of loading it on a PC laptop as well. Assuming i can get it working and capture some content, I'll add that into the video build.
Might be a couple weeks, as I'm also thinking of contacting Alex at AxeTech for a preview, and ask him for corrections and such.
Also, If you are asking about my pickup mule guitar, I do have a couple videos of that build.
Part 1
ua-cam.com/video/Mh4ksCV2FOw/v-deo.html
Part 2
ua-cam.com/video/_Ruu89fZmrY/v-deo.html
Hope this helps and I should get an AxeTech vid wrapped up soon-ish.
Be safe and take care!
Awesome, man! Keep up the great work. Appreciate it.
Very cool....👍
Thanks for watching, it went well.
Take care!
They sound just great to me. What would be an average cost per pickup John? I'm seriously considering investing in a winder (homemade of course) after often being disappointed with cheaper store bought pickups.
Martin, thanks for watching that that is a GREAT question!
Ballpark: $15 - $35 (US) per pickup just for the pickup kit and wire.
Here are some ballpark numbers, and it really looks "affordable", but that may be a bit of an illusion, as I can't really factor in all the research and testing, and potential failure/heartache time. Luckily, even the failures have something to offer.
Approximate Costs -
Tone Kraft pickup kit* $ 20 - $ 30
(*cost varies greatly per pickup type and kit)
Remington Wire $ 3 per pickup ( based on 1 lb spool cost/yield )
( 1 lb spool / 49,600’ = $ 60 )
Total per pickup ± 15 - $ 35*
Initial Costs
Winder $ 5 - $ 600, use a sewing machine, or drill, up to a MOJO winder etc.
Misc $ 50
Also, get a really good headband magnifier. ($60 ?) 42g wire is soooo small, it's almost invisible at times, then when you start winding with 43, 44....
Estimate of ± 2,000 feet of wire per pickup could get about 24 pickups from a 49,600 foot spool. (unless my math is wrong = probably).
There are less expensive kits, bobbins, magnets and hook-up wire available.
These numbers are a ballpark, and actual cost can be higher or lower depending on pickup type and kit style.
It is fun, and challenging. The "Christmas present" moment when things work is great, hearing it for the first time is great. Cutting away a complete bobbin of wire is... what's the word? Not fun.
Hope this helps, and good luck!
Pickup MULE? Multiple Use Labor Element? I've figured I might end up with something like that, someday, with a big gaping hole and no pickguard, probably with velcro blocks to be able to reposition pickups fast without restringing...
And say what you will about metal baseplates on pickups, but I liked that bridge pickup a lot (even in comparison to the others in the bridge position test on the MULE).
That MULE has been a fun tool to have, and what a huge difference moving a pickup location just a little bit makes in the sound.
Not sure if you've run across the Tele-Mule project yet, it's a short project series, giving the basic rundown on the idea.
ua-cam.com/video/Mh4ksCV2FOw/v-deo.htmlsi=CndxXvwxN7R3rFxz
I'd probably change a few things if/when I make another, but for now it's easy and fun to use. If I do make another MULE it will be the shorter 24.75" scale, with a TOM or Wrap-around style bridge. Hmm, maybe a third would be a Strat style with a tremolo...I'm getting ahead of myself now.
The metal baseplate has so many +/- reviews and comments. I'm not sure where I am on the topic. I felt it didn't hurt the sound, and there are plenty of positive opinions on the plate, so I stayed in place.
I should have run a couple boadeplots, one with and one without the plate, to see how/if it changes the resonant peak, but again, that information is above my true understanding of all this magic.
I'm happy all the pickups sound good, and are unique.
Thanks for watching!
About base plate - all depends from what material it made off. And how this material change magnetic field and inductance. You can measure this, you have needed tools.
Arwndr, thanks for watching and I agree with your comment.
I thought about doing a side-by-side BodePlot, but didn't take the time - at the time. Actually sound difference seems to be very subjective for most people, I didn't do a ln A-B test, with/without, and just decided to go with the plate. Maybe I'll do a BodePlot comparison and A-B test on another pickup soon. That might be an interesting little video experiment.
Hope all is well, take care!
@@theNextProject Yea, A-B tests that would be great! With inductions and capacity measurements 👍🏻👌🏻
Thanks for your channel and your explorations! 🙌🏻🤝🏻✨☀️🌿
Also size and form of plates from different magnetic and non magnetic materials change inductance and size/shape/dynamic response of magnetic field, and output sound from pickup as result.
Gladly with interest will watch your new video with explorations ✨
Take care! 🌍🌿☀️
Great job, man!
And how do the in betweens sounds? Are you sure you don't take the left contact for hot on all pups?
I'd love to do much more guitar building than just doing pup-swaps and some wiring jobs.
My F-spaced Tonerider Generator ended up being soldered without any fancies, no coil split, no series/parallel, no nothing, just two pots and 50s tone cap. And a killswitch.
I even used the self-cut-out scratchplate, although it wasn't cut out well, and it has a crooked slot for a lever switch, that isn't in use.
The only real speciality is the position of the pup, around 10 mm (2/5th of an inch) further away from the bridge than usual.
Achim, good to hear from you and thanks for watching.
Great question about the left contact for all pickups - Yes, and No.
Really seems to depend on the direction the pickup(s) were wired. I've seen some use the start as the hot, rather than the start being ground. So, It may depend on the direction the coils are wound. In this expirement, I did the RWRP type winding on the middle pickup, so my ground/start is opposite side compared to Neck and Bridge pups.
However, I'm still learning.
I had read that on plastic bobbins, the hot/ground leads can be swapped with little issue, but on these exposed magnet pole pickups, the chance of added noise becomes an issue if the hot wraps to the magnet poles. Lindy Fralin has a good article on that.
This pickup stuff makes my eye twitch, LOL.
Hope you are doing well, take care!
I found the part about the shielding plate interesting. If I had a pickup with the backplate and cut the wire that it has soldered and added another wire to ground, would I have a three conductor pickup?
Fab, thanks for watching!
That's a good question. Don't know that it would really be a 3 conductor pup, as the coil is still one loop.
If I get what your asking, you'd basically just be adding a separate ground lead for the base plate.
Maybe someone else here will have a better answer for you.
Take care!
Can you repost the dropbox link to the winding information please as it's not working ? Also what make is that gaussmeter that you are using ? Interesting video.thank you.
Andrew, thanks for watching and sorry the link is acting up.
Here's the link:
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/1ruiapwv3hyyy759c25pm/Pickup-Winding-Links.pdf?rlkey=gd4agtsn9uwk14cay1os8z6wv&dl=0
You may need to copy/paste, as I've noticed that when some links "wrap" to another line, they don't work. If you copy the full URL, and paste it - hopefully it'll work.
Let me know if it is still wonky.
Take care!
Hi John,
very interesting video. I am a little bit confused. Does the winding direction make any noticeable difference? Shouldn't it be enough just to swap wires for hot and ground?
Stay safe
Jens
Hey Jens, good to hear from you and thanks for watching!
The middle pickup is considered (RWRP) reverse wind, reverse polarity. It is simple to creat a humbuckers effect. As for swapping wires on a pickup the isn't reverse wound, yes that may be an option. Or it may not work properly. The magnet polarity will also need to be swapped, so that could be an issue depending on how the pickup is made and the type of magnets.
I've also read that bare magnet type pickups are prone to noise if the hot is used as the start.
Here is where I say " I really don't know enough to give you a better answer ".
So, Yes, and maybe no.
Ha, that sucks.
Hope you are doing well.
Take care my friend!
@@theNextProject
A pickup uses the effect of induction due to the change of the magnetic field. For hum canceling, You want the current to flow 'the other way around' and the magnetic field to be reversed in the second pickup. That is more or less clear. But I just don't know that it makes any difference whether the current flows first through the outer windings or first through the inner windings.
I think that it is more important to have same materials, similar strength of the magnetic field and similar number of windings for almost perfect hum canceling.
But enough of that stuff.
What is really important: the latest tNP guitar is great and if I will ever visit Florida, you'll have to hide that beauty well from me, even if the middle pickup is RWRP.
I am looking forward to the next project...
Yep, basically swapping the wires and the magnetic direction will achieve RWRP. So, if 3 pups were identical, the middle position could have the wires swapped if the magnet polarity could be reversed and the hum canceling should then be possible. From what I gather.
If (when) you visit Florida, I'll buy the first round and you can play whatever guitar is available.
👍
Excellent video. A question. Using alnico 5 and heavy formvar 42awg wire, what should be the approximate resistance of the neck and middle pickups so that the mid frequencies are a little scooped (attenuated)?. Thanks for answering.
Nilton, thanks for watching!
Excellent question, and I'm sorry to say that I do not have the answer.
Personally, to find the correct wind count with the parameters you mention, I would need to wind a number of pickups to "find" the goal you seek. If I had vastly more expirenece, I'd likely have a good idea where your goal would be found.
At this time, I don't have enough personal experience data to make that call. We could look up the suggestions and specs offered by others who have a long background in winding pickups, but would then need to use their information to help target our own abilities in winding.
Sorry, not the answer you were looking for, but I don't want to mislead you so I'm calling it like it is.
Be safe and take care!
Oh, I just thought to add, the goal you seek may not be best constructed of the components you listed. Perhaps change in magnet and wire would also get closer to the goal. Then there is magnet charge, pickup height... Okay, I'll stop rambling.
@@theNextProject Thank you very much for your attention. The information you provided is very important. After doing some research I have come to the conclusion that 8000 turns of wire is approximately 6K resistance in a standard coil at an ambient temperature of 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21 degrees Celsius). This gives us a result of 1333 turns for 1K resistance and 133 turns for 0.1K resistance. After the study he carried out and his results (1320 turns for 1K of resistance) I have come to confirm that said information is correct, the minimum difference is absolutely nothing. Regarding the scooped mid frequencies, I concluded that alnico 5 is the appropriate magnet above the rest to achieve this objective. As for the wire, apparently there is not much difference with respect to plain enamel. In relation to the ideal resistance to achieve a naturally scooped sound, many agree that there is a range from 5.0K to 5.6K, between very scooped to slightly scooped. All this taking into account only the resistance (number of turns). Obviously the final tonal result depends to a greater extent on the shape of the coil, the strength of the magnet, the tension and the way the wire is wrapped, and the guitar itself... Greetings. I repeat, excellent video.
Great bit of information you have there. Thank you for sharing it all.
Good luck with your pickup and guitar project.
Be safe and take care!
@@theNextProjectThank you.
Thank you for this video. I wonder what make you think the goal is DCR instead of just wind count or inductance value?
Thanks for watching!
Great question regarding resistance, wind count and inductance. I guess the reasoning for my approach on this set was based on wanting to target older strat style pickups. There was a lot of info available on the resistance reading of those old pups, not as much on actual wind count and even less info on inductance.
So, I used lessons learned from a few previous pickups I've wound, and knowing the approximate resistance I wanted, I was able to get an idea of the wind count needed to reach that resistance reading. So, in a way I was using wind count, to get resistance. The inductance was a mystery until I was done and had the magnets charged.
Final reading help me fine tune my winding style even more, I hope to get closer to the target every time I try this.
A lot to learn and more experiments to do yet. A fun and interesting project.
Hope that explains how I went about this set of pups.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you!
@@theNextProject 1320 winds per 1kohm you have achived is perfect ratio. If you know vintage pickup data Seymour Duncan gatherd, it is placed right in 1962. Good luck with your projects!
@@zbyszekolko3998 That's great to hear! I like when things (mostly) work.
I'm having fun and slowly learning stuff too.
Thanks for the info.
Be safe and take care!
You like a quack! My 89 has that on all
LOL, I don't know what you're talking about.
I am a bit kooky, but a quack...? Oh, maybe a little.
@@theNextProject , the plate makes the pick-up quack. Lol too funny sure ya are one now.
hm I didn't watch the video but it looks good
Now wait a minute... come back when you have a few minutes. Okay!?
Hope all is well, take care!
@@theNextProject oke
Wow so many calculations 😅.
Ahmad, thanks for watching!
The reality is, the calculations are just for show, I just wing it, LOL.
Take care!