Scatterwound vs. Machinewound Debate!

[Nephilim]

By this I know that a lot of people on this forum really like the Scatterwound pickups, since BKP use this technique, and their pickups are fantastic. But what I really want to know is: Why do pickup companies such as DiMarzio and Seymour Duncan prefer to machine wire their pickups? Obviously it helps when mass producing, but what does machine wound pickups do the the tone that scatterwound doesn't - and vice-versa? There must be at least some pros and cons, because you can't really deny that many famous artists, who have great tones, insist on using brands like DiMarzio, even before their endorsments.

Another question on this would be. If Tim was to wire to wire, say, something like a Duncan JB, with the exact same wire, magnets, as well as how over/underwound the JB is; how would it sound compared to an original Duncan? Would it sound completely different, or would it sound similar, but with some added pros, as well as some added cons?

[Kiichi]

Scatterwound or machinewound is a question of believe rather than of quality, or at least that is how Tim himself states it, if I recall correctly.

I think he said that none is really better. They bring different characteristics to the table (mostly scatterwound being more trebble heavy), but a machinewound PU can be fantastic too, if it is designed well and quality material is used (same goes for scatterwound).

As far as I understand it itīs a bit like making a steak...neither grilling nor frying it garanties a great result, it is all in the execution and quality of the raw product.

[wolfenstein]

There is main reason for me...Scatter winding require special care in whole process by experienced person while the machine winding is just about atach wire and almost job will be done by machine...mas producers especialy Duncan do  scatter winding as custom option but itīs cost almost twice of price standard pickup...

[richard]

Seymour Duncan is totally opposed to the idea of scatter winding humbuckers. My main guitar for many years had a JB in the bridge. The Rebel Yells I now use are superior in every respect - more detail, great clarity and don't mush up when you crank the gain. I believe this is largely due to the scatter wind.

[MAJ Meadows SF]

I have been fortunate to get backstage with a handful of famous artists, like on the G-3 tour, etc. I asked the techs if there was anything special about the pickups those guys use and they said that they are not 100% the same as the off the shelf versions everyone else uses. Most of them are hand made for each artist. Of course this is not the case with everyone, but the information didn't surprise me.

If you check out the "How we make them" page on BKP's homepage it gives a pretty good reason for scatterwinding. Compared to moset other pickups it does add a tremendous amount of clarity to the pickups. I noticed a lot of people comment on how every note in a chord rings out well, where in some pickups they mud up or smoosh together under heavy overdrive (Dimarzio in particular). There is definitely a higher amount of treble to BKPs, but this is controllable with an amp and varies greatly between pickup models, as well as guitar woods.

Because of what a lot of people listen to their ears are trained for a certain tone and are use to SD, Dimarzio, EMG, etc. It's familiar to them is all. However, little by little everyone is seeing a lot fo credible artists jumping on the BKP wagon, which is awesome. It's all about personal taste though and I'm sure there are plenty of people who do not dig the BKP sound. I tend to find people who have good or perfect pitch and a discerning ear for tone gravitate to BKP or some custom pickup tone as apposed to mainstream, off the shelf stuff. All of my guitars with BKPs sound immensely better, and against other brands they really stand out showing more dynamics, harmonics, etc. But, don't forget that most of your tone comes from your own hands. Maybe there's something to go with the idea that uniquely wound pickups complement each person's unique hands and therefore their tone.