Ben Posted July 26, 2006 Report Share Posted July 26, 2006 (skip past the rant if you want to read the constructive part of this post ) [rant] All was going nicely for a while... I got my pickup winder working as I wanted it to. The speed control knob works as it should. I managed to set up a reed switch, then connect it to the PC so I could count the number of turns automatically etc Basically everything was going great .. until I started winding the damn thing I discovered that jazzmaster style pickups are a complete bitch to wind, - because they're thin. (especially when youve squashed them even more so you can fit a sustainer driver in there too). This means that its very easy to accidentally let the wire touch the top/bottom of the bobbin- in my case it snagged (without me noticing)- and by the time i stopped winding and noticed the snag, I had about 6km worth of wire to unwind from the bobbin (by hand) to reach the snag and correct it I probably spent more time un-winding than I did winding! I also seem to have a huge problem with measuring the resistance with the multimeter- removing the insulation from the copper wire seems to be much harder than it should be, and then I can never get the thin bits of wire to stay put under the probe things on the meter. Anyway, now that I've vented my frustration at my lack of pickup winding skills... [/rant] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ...heres the less pointless part; I have a problem; I've filled at least 1/3 of the bobbin already, and the thing only measures about 2K on the multimeter Not good, since I intend to wind this up to 16K in total! Theres absolutely no way that I'll fit 8x more wire on the bobbin, so I'm pretty sure I'll have to remove it all and start again. My question is, how do I get the wire on there more tightly next time? As it is now, its really loose ;If I poke the coil it's kind of 'squishy'- Ie theres a lot of empty space in there. I'm not sure what to do to sort this, as it seems I can prevent it if i wind REALLY slowly, but it would take me about 12 months to finish the thing at that speed I'm presuming the issue is because of my 'technique' or something, heres a description of my winding set up, just incase anyone could suggest a modification to it that may help; a motor (to which the bobbin is attatched)a pot to control the speed of the motoron/off switchmy hands to guide wire onto bobbinspool of wire (which is on floor below table)Any suggestions of what to do differently/ how to modify my set up to make the wire wind more tigltly onto the coil? Thanks in advance, Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaam Posted July 26, 2006 Report Share Posted July 26, 2006 If you're trying to get 16k from a single coil you better get a bigger bobbin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted July 26, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2006 If you're trying to get 16k from a single coil you better get a bigger bobbin. I was planning to remove the bottom of the bobbin and stick some steel on there to extend it a little, not only to make it easier to fit the 16K on there, but also to increace my chances of guiding all the wire onto the bobbin properly too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psw Posted July 26, 2006 Report Share Posted July 26, 2006 You can only get so much on there you know...reducing the size will result in less and jazzmaster pickups were never designed to be that much anyway.... Anyway...you might want to check out the site designed2wind ...this guy uses some plastic on either side of the bobbin so the wire can not go beyond the out side edges...kind of a guide. Also, you should have some kind of tension device. I use a bolt with two washes and a bit of felt between them...the wire passes through the felt and you screw down on the washes to give an even light tension. The all you need worry about is guiding the wire on between the two guides and the speed. Also, make sure your bobbin/winder spins exactly parallel, you cant afford any wobble!!! A bit of light sand paper will take the varnish off, but the wire is hair thin and will be hard to get the probe on to. It is a tricky operation, and I am surprised you haven't had the wire break on you already I seemed to find that the resistance of the coil greatly increases as it's size. So half a bobbin may give you 2K and a full bobbin 10K for instance (made up figures)...that is to say it is not directly proportional. Bear in mind that a bigger coil may give more output, but a really crappy tone. Lower impedance is often better...if you want louder, turn up the amp...distortion, hit the muff fuzz! My 2c Good luck, keep trying and look into some kind of guides and tension device to help you with it... pete PS...maybe show how you were able to count using the computer, that sounds interesting... PPS...do yourself a favour and wind the sustainer by hand, it is much easier and not at all as frustrating as winding a pickup (thicker wire and far fewer turns and a 3mm bobbin, it will be impossible on a winder to use my formula) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted July 26, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2006 Cheers pete, Anyway...you might want to check out the site designed2wind ...this guy uses some plastic on either side of the bobbin so the wire can not go beyond the out side edges...kind of a guide. Also, you should have some kind of tension device. I use a bolt with two washes and a bit of felt between them...the wire passes through the felt and you screw down on the washes to give an even light tension. The all you need worry about is guiding the wire on between the two guides and the speed. I've seen the designed2wind site before, but never noticed that... I'll have to look again, sounds like a good idea. I also like the idea with the washers- I may have to steal that Also, make sure your bobbin/winder spins exactly parallel, you cant afford any wobble!!! It does I made sure of that. It is a tricky operation, and I am surprised you haven't had the wire break on you already tongue.gif Thats the one pitfall I seem to have avoided so far . Bear in mind that a bigger coil may give more output, but a really crappy tone. Lower impedance is often better...if you want louder, turn up the amp...distortion, hit the muff fuzz! My 2c The pickups are going to have 4 independant coils on them- 4K per coil. Its then going to be set up with a rotary switch to select how many are in series. I.e. the pickups resistance will be variable, and could be set as 4K, 8K, 12K (and maybe 16K if it will fit!) Theres 2 pickups on the guitar and a rotary selector switch to allow either pup alone, both in series, both in parralel, both out of phase. It should allow me to have all sorts of combinations, like the equivalent of an 8K humbucker (both pups at 4k and in series), or a 12k single coil... ...etc. I'm sure you get the picture- lots of combinations PS...maybe show how you were able to count using the computer, that sounds interesting... I get zero credit for the computer counter idea- I just did exactly what it says on this site. I found that every time the magnet passes over the wire the counter goes up by 2 instead of one for some reason, so that has to be taken into account PPS...do yourself a favour and wind the sustainer by hand, it is much easier and not at all as frustrating as winding a pickup (thicker wire and far fewer turns and a 3mm bobbin, it will be impossible on a winder to use my formula) I've already wound it I'll get a pic tomorrow if you like. I followed all the advice- 3mm core, 3-4mm high bobbin, etc. Came in at about 8.1K, IIRC. It was much, much nicer to wind than the pickup! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarGuy Posted July 27, 2006 Report Share Posted July 27, 2006 Thats a cool site for the counter ben. Many thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DreamSeller Posted July 27, 2006 Report Share Posted July 27, 2006 Another thing I found for a counter is to solder the reed switch in place of the equals button on a cheap calculator, press 1 + 1 then start spinning. Found that here by the way: http://galileo.spaceports.com/~fishbake/index.html -Dream Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Sulzer Posted July 28, 2006 Report Share Posted July 28, 2006 Another thing I found for a counter is to solder the reed switch in place of the equals button on a cheap calculator, press 1 + 1 then start spinning. Found that here by the way: http://galileo.spaceports.com/~fishbake/index.html -Dream A bycycle computer works well, too (not my idea, but a good one). Set it for 1 km = 1000 turns. Ben it sounds like you have good equipment; it just takes some time to develop the skill, like anything else. Why not try a simple single coil pickup first? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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