What is bi-polar winding? Can a guitar pickup be wound that way? Richard benson, iowa

Last Updated on October 17th, 2019

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. I had two beginnings and two finish eyelets to run the lead wires from. You can use a 43 gauge and 44 gauge single build magnet wire and wind them both simultaneously using the same number of turns. I remember using about 7,000 turns or till the coil was quite full.

Winding with two wires is actually like winding 14,000 turns of one continuos wire. You will get two different dc ohm readings from each coil that give you two different tones. The coil using 43 gauge of magnet wire will sound brighter than the 44 gauge which will have more dc resistance. You can hook them up singularly or in series combining the dc resistance of both coils or put one of them out of phase with one another. With all the experimenting I’ve done over the years, there are still many combinations of things to do with pickups.

Please check your items carefully and confirm they are correct for color, position, etc. We are not able to accommodate order changes or cancellations once you have completed the check out process.

My cart
Your cart is empty.

Looks like you haven't made a choice yet.

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.