There are over 30 partys in a humbucker pickup. There is a picture on my web site ( http://mysticpickups.com/MysticPickups/pictures.html ) Everything contributes to the "tone" a pickup gets. There are a lot of different types of wire and the wind pattern makes a huge difference (how many wraps per turn, scaterwound, etc). Even cheap ones sound good in the right guitar, but "boutique" pickups have had more R&D go into what they sound like. It takes me about 3 hours from start to finish to make a pickup. Even a few hundred turns + or - makes a difference that can be heard. Whether it's potted or not and "how it's potted makes a difference too. Some cars cost over a million dollars and some cost verry little, It's the same thing with pickups, Made by hand one at a time or made on a machine twenty at a time and assembled in China.