formvar vs enamel wire
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Evan Skopp
SDUGF Founder
Re: formvar vs enamel wire
The wire is copper in both cases. The words "Heavy Formvar" and "Plain Enamel" refer to the insulation. Obviously, you can't have copper touching copper in the coil, because it would short out. So, as thin as the wire is, it still has insulation on it. And that insulation affects the tone because of its thickness and other properties.
Plain Enamel was used on all the vintage Gibson humbuckers and P-90s. It was also used on the very first Fender pickups (the Broadcaster, the early single coil P-Bass too, I believe). But then Leo Fender switched over to Formvar, which is used on Strats, Jazz Basses, Jazzmasters, etc.
If you buy a Seymour Duncan pickup that is a vintage reproduction of an early Gibson or Fender pickup, it will be wound with magnet wire with the same insulation as the originals. That's part of why our repros sound so authentic.
The wire is copper in both cases. The words "Heavy Formvar" and "Plain Enamel" refer to the insulation. Obviously, you can't have copper touching copper in the coil, because it would short out. So, as thin as the wire is, it still has insulation on it. And that insulation affects the tone because of its thickness and other properties.
Plain Enamel was used on all the vintage Gibson humbuckers and P-90s. It was also used on the very first Fender pickups (the Broadcaster, the early single coil P-Bass too, I believe). But then Leo Fender switched over to Formvar, which is used on Strats, Jazz Basses, Jazzmasters, etc.
If you buy a Seymour Duncan pickup that is a vintage reproduction of an early Gibson or Fender pickup, it will be wound with magnet wire with the same insulation as the originals. That's part of why our repros sound so authentic.
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