BKP and wire

[FELINEGUITARS]

The higher the number the thinner the wire
The thinner the wire the higher the resistance per foot
polysol insulation is considered to somehow introduce and upper midrange spike to the sound
Formvar insulation is thicker than polysol or PE and each coil of wire is held slightly further apart from the previous layer  as a result
This has an effect on the capacitance of the coil


PG blues neck is formvar, as are Apaches and Blackhawk
Blackhawk has very tall coils too and that has an effect on the sound too.

[Slartibartfarst42]

Post deleted following conversation with Tim.

[Slartibartfarst42]

As above.

[Kiichi]

This certainly does a lot in terms of undstanding PUs, but as you said it is not all, as seemingly similar PUs do sound different.

Two other factors which contribute and make the difference are:
1. The Magnet. Not just the general type like AV or AII, but also the shape, thickness, maybe it was aged or treated otherwhise, multiple magnet designs, etc.

2. The shape of the coil. Is the coil flat or high? Is the upper part thicker? Etc.

Far as I understand it these two factors make a huge difference. Combine that with symmetrical / asymmetrical winding and you can basecally make two PUs with lets say AIII, 42 plain enamel and about 8,2k and they would sound very different.

[Slartibartfarst42]

This is very true and I wouldn't want to suggest that knowing about the wire will answer all the questions people may have. That wasn't my intention at all and I would always encourage people to read Tim's excellent thread on magnets in conjunction with this thread and the reviews thread you started. Nevertheless, I did feel that this thread helped my understanding greatly so I wanted to make sure the list was completed.

It is perhaps also worth noting that Ben told me that the DC resistance of a pickup can go up and down with the temperature, thus affecting the tonal characteristics of a pickup, which explains why some days my guitars can sound very different to other days.

[Kiichi]

I am fully aware what you were trying to do and as I said it does a lot in terms of understanding.
I was not meaning to imply that you said that was all there was to it.

I just wanted to add this in so that someone looking over this thread does not put too much weight on the wire type and is reminded that there are many other factors to the tone, although the wire certainly is an important part.
This together with Tims magnet thread, as you said, is very informative, yet I still just wanted to point out in which way the PUs can still differ for completions sake =)

The way this stands it is very helpful and I certainly learned a lot about wires, so thanks for putting this list up and explaining with practical examples.

[ericsabbath]

main difference between the crawler and nailbomb is probably the coils symmetry
both are quite overwound for 43 awg, but the nailbomb has heavily offset coils, so it has a more deeper bass and a more pronounced and focused treble, and the midrange is more controlled
bet the crawler is more simmetrically wound, like the aftermath (which is also around the same dc resistance with the same wire)
I'm not sure about the crawler magnet length, but the nailbomb has the long "vintage cut" bar, like the VHII

I still miss some ceramic 43 awg poly model in the super distortion ballpark
like a toned down ceramic warpig or something