Tried making my own pickups...How many turns?!

[Rich78]

Hi everyone.

I recently tried to make my own PAF style pickup with a pickup kit.

After researching how to do it, I made a winder and a counter out of a drill, a calculator, a reed switch and a small magnet...

So, I started to wind the first bobbin and noticed that I didnt even get half way when the space was totally filled with turns.

Each bobbin needs 5000 turns but it was full and bulging with less than 2500.

The wire Im using is AWG 42 plain enamel.

Ive got a feeling its the tension but Im giving it enough Im sure. Any more and it will snap...

Any thoughts?

Cheers. Rich.

[HTH AMPS]

I don't know of anyone here that winds pickups (apart from Tim and the BKP team, but I doubt they're gonna be giving away any secrets).

Check out the pickup winders forum on Ampage, lots of knowledgeable guys on there ...  http://music-electronics-forum.com/f11/

[MrBump]

which pickup winding kit?  that sounds interesting...

[MrBump]

crikey!  there's a pickup winding forum!!!

another marvellous way for me to waste time!!!

:)

[Rich78]

HTH Amps. Cheers for the link. Ive just tried joining but theres a "random question" I have to answer. Im not sure of the answer even tho it seems obvious...

Mr Bump. A pickup kit. Not a winding kit... :?

[ToneMonkey]

I'm sure I used to be a member of that forum. A long time ago I made a pickup winder out of mechano, a remote controlled car and a toy plane.  It has to be the first (and last) Impreza shaped one and I used the remote control and the floor to control the speed with my foot which kind of worked but was rather on/off. Another guy on projectguitar.com made one out of lego that had a little lego man going up and down while it was winding.

Afraid that I didn't actually wind any pups before the it went in the shed so I'm afraid I can't help. Even if I did know I'd be a bit dubious about giving pickup winding knowledge out on Tim's forum..............

............. But I do know a fair bit about transformer windings which are essentially a bloody great big pickup, so let's see a photo  :lol: I presume the you have a nice flat coil and not a big bulge in the middle.

[JacksonRR]

http://www.salvarsan.org/pickups/Coil_Estimator.html

Coil estimator. Had typed up a good bit, but remembered this is BKP forum. Music electronics is great. People tend to break wire finding the right feel as beginners. I just built a winder this weekend and am waiting on a cheap kit to come in for testing beyond turn counting.