Post Type Archives: SWD

Magnet wire starts out in the manufacturing mill as a ingot usually 4 inches square and drawn through many stages using a series of dies that reduce the diameter of the 99.9% pure copper until the desired wire gauge is obtained. The mills have pretty unique equipment for making many types of magnet wire. The…

AWG stands for The American Wire Gauge, which is the standard in the United States for measuring various gauges of wire. Magnet wire is not the only wire that is gauged and many other countries have adapted their own way of testing and measurements. The majority of time I use measurements in the American Wire…

A typical magnet wire chart includes the following as a reference and guidelines for designs and applications: Diameter: Bare wire diameter is Minimal, Nominal and Maximum. Single Build Insulation: Minimum increase in film diameter. Overall Diameter in Insulation: Minimal, Nominal and Maximum. Nominal Ohms per 1000 feet at 20°C Nominal Ohms per pound at 20°C…

Magnet wire: There are many types of insulation’s used and many companies have their own brand name and insulation types. Some of the most common and their thermal ratings: Plain enamel 105°C Polyurethane 105°C Polyurethane Bond 105°C Formvar 105°C Formvar Bond 105°C Poly-Nylon 105°C Polyurethane-Nylon 130°C Poly H.T. 130°C Polyester 130°C Polyester Epoxy 130°C Polyester…

Magnet wire commonly used in guitar pickups is made from 99.9% pure copper and drawn to the desired diameter and annealed to make softer. There are many custom shapes available and magnet wire can be half sizes, bondable and can be made to be 2-20 conductor, parallel bonded and color coded. Specialty magnet wire can…

The number of turns is usually pre-determined when winding various types of pickups. When I wind bobbins or coils, I usually know the number of turns that I need for a particular tone I need in the pickup. The number of turns is the total turns you desire to put onto a coil or bobbin….

This is a pretty common problem with pickups using two magnets like the Gibson P-90. In your case, the magnets are not put back into the pickup right. What is important to remember is that each magnet has a South Polarity (S) and a North polarity (N). The same polarity (both South or both North)…

8.1 Physical Damage: When replacing or working on guitars always be careful that the coil is not damaged in any way. Breaking one turn of the coil will cause it to fail. Magnet wire is an insulated copper wire. Typically 42 AWG (American Wire Gauge) is .0026″ in diameter single build. Much care must be…

I remember one day playing guitar with a friend in his basement and while jamming, his Telecaster guitar became intermittent. We started wiggling the cord, tapping the amp, and finally realized the problem came from the guitar. When we tapped the bridge pickup we could hear it go off and on. Realizing his pickup was…

Either one of the two coils in the humbucking pickup doesn’t work properly or the switch is bad. When you split the pickup, you activate one good coil and cutting out the bad one. The two coils normally work in series when not splitting. To see if the coil or switch are bad, you’ll need…