Wound my first pickups

[Zhangliqun]

Re: Wound my first pickups

problem with the stewmac wire is that its poly. most all the pups i like use plain enamel wire: p90s, broadcaster, buckers. old strats use formvar as far as i know

The jury seems to be out on whether that matters. Some say insulation = insulation = insulation, it don't matter. Others say they can hear a difference. I'm too new at it to be anything but agnostic on that.

 

[gripweed]

Re: Wound my first pickups

I don't know, even dead 50's pickups might be hard to come by, and I'd surely get shot if I got unwinding a live one!

So where does one find a *dead* '50's pickup? Fleabay only seems to be new pickups nowadays...:cussing: :argh:

 

[Artie]

Re: Wound my first pickups

The jury seems to be out on whether that matters. Some say insulation = insulation = insulation, it don't matter. Others say they can hear a difference. I'm too new at it to be anything but agnostic on that.

I wonder about that myself. If the difference is thickness, that would make sense. Thickness equals layer interaction - capacitive and otherwise. If the difference is chemical, I don't get it.

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: Wound my first pickups

Well, it's possible that even with the same thickness, the difference in the materials might have a different effect on capacitance.

EDIT: The single build of the different materials may also give a slightly different average thickness too, which would also affect capacitance.

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: Wound my first pickups

UPDATE: And of the whoop-dee-doo variety at that.

I soldered the leads all in place last night. The full coil is 9.15k, the tap is 7.8k. (In the guitar they will read about 0.2k each lower.) Was too tired and short on time to bother with putting it in the guitar -- will do that tonight.

 

[OlinMusic]

Re: Wound my first pickups

ZHANG's custom work is pretty killer, he has a GREAT ear for tone. I might have to hire you to do some stuff for me (like you haven't already)

 

[Gibsononly]

Re: Wound my first pickups

There are various theories about why insulation may make a different sound, thickness is one of them. I do believe that different insulations at single build have different thicknesses. The other is the behaviour over time. Some insulations ( plain enamel and formvar as well, I think) tend to fracture around sharp corners and leak signal, at least that's the theory.

My only personal experience with poly nylon was limited to a couple early 80's Dimarzios ( super d and x2n) that I got rid of in favour of a lower output sound. For whatever reason I am partial to plain enamel, even though it is almost twice the price of poly. BTW the wire Stew-Mac has comes from a place in Kitchener, Ontario. At $25 a half pound I think they might get it from a supplier in Toronto who has an equally rediculous price per pound. I can't figure out why Stew-Mac would get wire in such a round about manner when MWS is right there.