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Reccomendations On Pickup Building

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  • Reccomendations On Pickup Building

    Hey guy's i was windering if anyone had experince making "homeade pickups" or something similar. I wanna get in to guitar building and pickup building because people are always wanting "Boutique" guitars and pickups these day to where they shell out ridiculous money. I was wanting some help and Reccomendations on where to buy things like the magnets (bar and pole piece), copper wire, bobbins (or how to make them), and how to wire them. And also the what gear would I need. I probably should buy one of those pickup winders from stewmac but what else also what wax do you use to pot them.

    Thank you

  • #2
    Re: Reccomendations On Pickup Building

    Skip it, is my advice. Everyone and their dog is building guitars and winding pickups. The market is flooded. Find a niche that hasn't been exploited.
    aka Chris Pile, formerly of Six String Fever

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    • #3
      Re: Reccomendations On Pickup Building

      Maybe so but I haven't realy noticed my idea was being done and that was boutiqe replicas of famous guitars / basses like the only one i ever saw was I think it was Knaggs made a version of Duane Allmans Les Paul but with their single cut shape and those weird one piece bridges. The ones like a tune o matic but there is a metal bars connecting the tail piece and bridge.

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      • #4
        Re: Reccomendations On Pickup Building

        You need to look harder. The stuff you are talking about is everywhere.
        aka Chris Pile, formerly of Six String Fever

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        • #5
          Re: Reccomendations On Pickup Building

          Hm probably so

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          • #6
            Re: Reccomendations On Pickup Building

            ICTGoober is right, as usual. I really recommend walking away from these kinds of ideas. Gibson has released a TON of replica's, you can get guitars to your specs from a billion builders from all across the world. Just look on instagram. It's extremely hard to come up with something new. Building guitar(parts) is just a dead end commercially. Just do something you enjoy doing, on the side. Don't quite your daytime job.

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            • #7
              Re: Reccomendations On Pickup Building

              Agreed. I started to get into pickup building, then realized how impenetrable the market is. I've seen lots of "good" ideas and talented builders get squashed because they didn't originate from the big names. Too many people doing vintage designs and not enough buyers. The only room left in the market is for new technology. That's why ZexCoil, Kinman, Fluence, etc have been able to create a name for themselves. Unless your design is a true game-changer or you're bored and need a hobby, there's no money in pickup making.

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              • #8
                Re: Reccomendations On Pickup Building

                Hm that sucks

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                • #9
                  Re: Reccomendations On Pickup Building

                  +1

                  Desmond, it's definitely worth digging in to build stuff for yourself to learn how it works. And if along the way you have an original idea, as others have said, you might find something that you could make your own.

                  Otherwise the market is flooded with high quality instruments...

                  The way we make money, is finding people who have already found a guitar that they love but need it to do something else. Most of the time we are thickening long scale, single coil designs or thinning short scale humbuckers.

                  depending on your geographic location, mods can be a good market...However note that there's not a tremendous amount of demand so you have to be at the top of your game.

                  Again don't want to discourage you. Start with some warmarth parts, modify existing pickups, and learn the ins-and-outs of modifications and then you'll be in a place to look at the market for yourself.

                  Sent from my SM-G960U1 using Tapatalk
                  What's so Funny about Peace Love and Understanding?

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                  • #10
                    Re: Reccomendations On Pickup Building

                    I know thats how Seymour started he just rewound pickups to be more clear and stuff. Do those stewmac pickup winders work any well for doing that. And just buy random warmoths and start with making parts casters basically?

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                    • #11
                      Re: Reccomendations On Pickup Building

                      Well, the world of aftermarket parts was mostly non-existent when Seymour started- he essentially started a whole industry!
                      Administrator of the SDUGF

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                      • #12
                        Re: Reccomendations On Pickup Building

                        Originally posted by Desmond_G_Baggins View Post
                        I know thats how Seymour started he just rewound pickups to be more clear and stuff. Do those stewmac pickup winders work any well for doing that. And just buy random warmoths and start with making parts casters basically?
                        Start with what you or your market needs.

                        We've done a number of long scale mahogany body builds to get the combination of long scale snap and mahogany warmth. Definitely useful in our market but there may be no demand in yours.

                        Sent from my SM-G960U1 using Tapatalk
                        What's so Funny about Peace Love and Understanding?

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                        • #13
                          Re: Reccomendations On Pickup Building

                          Over hundred pickup building companies and no end...


                          Here is a list of pickup companies to make your pickup buying easier. Also if I am missing a pickup maker please post the link. I am going to try to put as many MLP Winders on the top of the list. GuitarForce Pickups: Custom Handwound Pickups MHD Pickups: Mhd Pickups | Facebook...
                          I get the feeling the A8 will blow your skirt up more so - Edgecrusher

                          Smooth trades with Jerryjg, ArtieToo, Theodie, Micah, trevorus, Pierre, pzaxtl, damian1122, Thames, Diocletian, Kevinabb, Fakiekid, oilpit, checo, BachToRock, majewsky, joyouswolf, Koreth, Pontiac Jack, Jeff_H

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                          • #14
                            Re: Reccomendations On Pickup Building

                            That is true

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                            • #15
                              Re: Reccomendations On Pickup Building

                              If you'd got into the game about 6-8 years back, you would have tapped right into the new cottage industry of PAF and other vintage replica pickups that was just starting to expand.

                              Of course you really would have needed about 4-5 years worth of experience before just winding to get the mechanics of the process down pat........plus extensive prior knowledge of the intricacies of vintage pickups from years having opened them up and looked at detail at precisely how they are made with the attention to detail of a brain surgeon.

                              Otherwise you are in the 'generic pickup' area, and you cannot even buy the materials you need for the pickup cheaper than a set of GFS shipped......and without a name that is who you are competing against.

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