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There are a few things you can do if you’re winding or making a pickup from scratch. Wind a single coil (like a Stratocaster bobbin) using two different gauges of magnet wire and wind them both together. Try using a 43 and 44 gauge magnet wire. You would need to put an extra eyelet in…

When I wind coils using a machine with variable “pitch”, I can vary the number of turns depending on the diameter of the magnet wire. When hand winding or “scatter” winding as I call it you will have a coil with a varied number of turns per layer. To keep coils in a production run…

I find that winding by hand allows me to control the shape of the coil, avoids snags on the edge of the bobbins and gives the coil a desired tension. I enjoy layering the magnet wire onto the bobbin to make winding an art like a fly fisherman casting his line. I like winding with…

All three have slight variations in the magnetic field and pole construction. Deluxe Firebird Johnny Smith Cover 6 adjustable poles no adjustable poles 6 adjustable (short poles) Magnet large bar magnet 2 magnets in bobbins 1 magnet in non-adjust bobbin Bottom plate nickel silver steel shim steel plate The Deluxe humbucker has a steel blade…

Pickups can many factors that make them sound different even though they may look identical. There are many variables and some are listed below: 1. The number of turns on each bobbin The number to turns per layer (pitch) The number of layers per total turns Tension in grams when winding The winding speed of…

The bobbins are usually wound with the same number of turns and not equal DC resistance. The 3 pole bobbin is longer than the 2 pole bobbin with both bobbins hooked up in series. The bass side 3 pole bobbin is usually wound “North” polarity and the treble side 2 pole bobbin is wound south…

I am currently doing research on this one and am winding bobbins made of different materials to see how it affects the inductance or Q of the coil. I know plastics have different a dielectric constant and I am working on how it affects the sound of a pickup. Below is the dielectric constant of…

This is a winding process I have been doing since 1977 when I built pickups for Jeff Beck. I used two different types of magnet wire and wound them both at the same time. I experimented with both beginning wires connected together and then decided to hookup each seperately to do some fancy wiring combinations….

Gibson used covers on their original humbuckers designed by Seth E. Lover. It was use in combination with the two coils to reduce unwanted 60 cycle hum often associated with single coil pickups. Seth used nickel silver covers to help eliminate unwanted outside electrical interference from entering the coil. The combination of two coils hooked…