There are many different types of coils wound directly on magnets, paper bobbins, thin fibre bobbins, and rewinding bobbins that have been distorted from hot wax or shrink with age. Most bobbins can be easily wound if using the proper winding fixtures and proper tooling. Winding coils onto magnets such as Dan Electro pickups are fun to do and use no bobbin and don’t have walls to hold the coil windings.

Many old National pickups are made with what looks like old time cards and straws glued together to form the bobbin. The old National pickups use 6 or more bobbins each wound to the desired number of turns and hooked up in series with each other. If one coil fails, the circuit is incomplete and the pickup stops working.

Many old Fender Lap Steel pickups have to be rebuilt as many use a plastic celluloid to hold the fibre sides together. Over the years the plastic shrinks and the bobbin can fall apart. Others have cardboard that can deteriorate in time. It is important to make proper holding fixtures when winding so the pickup doesn’t shoot out from the winding mandrel when spinning. You need to use slower winding speeds when winding coil forms that are fragile and can’t withstand extreme winding tension. Slower winding speeds keep the bobbin from distorting and falling apart when winding. Winding at faster speeds adds more tension to the winding and puts much pressure on the bobbin.

Always take care when handling or taking pickups apart. Many are fragile and disturbing them can make the pickup in operative. Always move the hardware slowly from the coil forms as the coil can become easily snagged.