Standing by!

Something should be materialising in your transporter bay right about now...

Cheers - C

Howdy!

Not much to add here....

I reckon you could make a pickup using any kind of magnet. I've seen one made with the magnets you find on kitchen cabinet doors! There was also a chap from Poland (i think) who posted a thread here on a couple of guitars he made from scratch including the pups. That might well be worth another peek to see what magnets he used (but i can't find it at the mo!)

Personally type and gauge of wire and how it's wound makes a "more" of a difference as far as pickups go.

A pickup wound with 8000 turns of 47 AWG wire will have a higher DC resistance than one wound with 8000 turns of 42 AWG wire. DC resistance doesn't always equate to the power /output of the pups but more the overall clarity of tone.

Scatter winding lowers the capacitance and should give a brighter tone than a machine wound pup with the same number of turns. The only issue I can see with scatter winding is the increased potential for unwanted microphonic noise as a result of the gaps within the coil if its not potted properly. My solution to this would be to apply some kind of fixate every few hundred winds or so.

Although there are many very decent pickup manufacturers out there I'm very keen to have a go at making a Set of my own "Big Hairy Custom Wound Pickups" and have started gathering parts to make a winding machine. Unfortunately the sowing machine I was intending to use burst rather spectacularly into flames last week, so I'll have to see about blagging another one from somewhere!

Once thats sorted I've got a few switches and a good selection of counters to try out.



I wouldn't expect anything too soon though as this is very much a hobby for me and I'm and incredibly slow worker!

Enjoy!

Andy

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Pending Greatness

stew macdonald sells a very affordable winder andy.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

Where's the fun in that!

Besides I reckon I can make one that works just as well for free.

Andy

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Pending Greatness

Or you can buy it slightly cheaper direct from Schatten. Here:

http://www.schattendesign.com/winder.htm

However, the reviews are less than promising. Several people reporting it as low quality in performance and breaking down very soon, with little support offered by the company (look further down this page):

http://www.stewmac.com/?PCR=1%3A100%3A1 ... rencyid=17

Anyone who is capable of making pickups should also be capable of making a decent pickup winder. Go, Andy!

BTW Andy, for affordable electric motors there is of course Maplin, but have you also looked at Brocott?

http://www.brocott.co.uk/electric-motor ... r95qb2im70

They also do many high grade pickup wires:

http://www.brocott.co.uk/enamelled-magnet-wire/

Much cheaper than Stew-Mac (even excluding shipping) and that wire claims to be made right here in the jolly old UK, for those as care about such things. They are also to be found on Ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/500G-GUITAR-PICKU ... 19c14d0f6b

That's where I recently bought a couple of kilos of 42 and 43 AWG copper wire from. Oops - cat out of the bag!

Thanks to Mr Nutter for that recommendation - that fella is a wiz at internet searching!

Cheers - C

Hi Mr C!


I have indeed. Thanks for the links though.

I'm waiting to see if I can blag a few reels when the Science Tech at work places and an order from a very cool catalog (thats name I can't for the life of me remember!).

Blag...

I'm going to stick with the sowing machine as most come with a little pedal that varies the speed, which would be a really handy feature on a winder. Saves me having to wire that up to a Maplins motor. Again, I reckon I can blag another sowing machine for free!

Blag Blag...

I've done well with the counters. They we're all free too!

Blag, Blag, Blag...

You can see where I'm going with this....

Andy

Edit: I forgot to ask! Are you building your own winder? If so I'd be very interested to hear more....

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Pending Greatness

Nah, you wouldn't. At this stage I'm strictly in it for experimental purposes so I'm not going to expend energy on a winding machine - yet. Mine will be a simple hand job (oo-er, missus!). Slow and basic. Still, experience in a different area tells me I can do 7000 winds in about 20-25 minutes on a hand-powered spindle, which is cumbersome to be sure but quite enough for someone who may only make a couple of pickups... ever.

Still, if I get a taste for it I shall then invest in mechanisation. I'd been putting that Schatten gizmo somewhere down my shopping list till Signore Nutter drew my attention to the bad reviews. So instead I shall be keeping a very close eye on your doings. From what I've seen anything Schatten can do Mr BigHair can do better!

So no competition here: fly with it and amaze us with your best stuff. I shall then make like a midget standing on a giant's shoulders. If that.

Therefore, for starters tell us more about those counters. Whither, whence, wherefore and how, if you please.

Cheers - C

Yeah, The Nutter knows his stuff. I'm still getting over his awesome wiki-skills!

Those are some pretty bad reviews. Still reckon its going to be more fun to build one.


I thought about taking the job in hand (oo-err indeed). For me a doing it all by hand would take a lot longer than 20 mins. I'd probably end up rushing it and making a mess everywhere. Sometimes its nice to just sit back and let a machine do all the work for you.

Also I'd be pretty pissed if I hand wound my own pup only to find out its a dud and have to rewind the whole thing (which is likley to happen, as this is a Big Hairy product), so a mechanized winder I hope will take some of the sting out of the first few disappointments. I want to experiment a bit and hope bosh out quite a few to see what works.

Nothing special there. Blagged 'um from work. I have quite a few more of the smaller ones (bottom left in the pic) If you want a few give me a shout.

Still haven't decided how best to attach the counter yet or which type to use but thats all part of the fun. Really could have done without the last sowing machine setting itself on fire. Still I'm sure another one will become available soon.

HA! You'll probably have several sets made and played before i finish making my winder!

Either way I'll keep those interested posted.

Enjoy!

Andy

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Pending Greatness

please do! *he said, with eager anticipation*

As for all the kind comments: Thanks, chaps, but it really is unnecessary. I'd rather fiddle with wires and tools and such than doodle on the comp, but since all my gear is in Germland I am happy to assist anywhichway I can.

Wind on, boys! And Ceri, mind your tendons when your on your ... eh, how shall I put it, manual labour. How about re-constructing a hand-powered sharpening device such as this? they usually have a pretty good gear ratio and it could save some time - maybe 1:5 or something.



Ah, I enjoy my day off!

-Nutter

I reckon Mr C's got something like this on the go....



...Before he up grades it to....



That model comes with a warehouse and a chap to operate the machinery!

Andy

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Pending Greatness

Nicey!

Surprisingly, I do happen to own an old knife sharpener similar to that:



It used to belong to my grandfather. It has a fly-wheel inside the closed bit and as a small kid I liked sneaking into his workshop, turning that handle and getting it spinning round as fast as I could, which made a very satisfying wizzing noise. Drove him mad when he'd catch me: he was very easy to annoy and I was very annoying (still am ). A combination made in purgatory!

I'd never thought of using it as a pickup winder. Hmmmmm...

No, he really hasn't. That is so high tech compared to what I have in mind! You are going to be SO disappointed!

Guess I'd better get on with it in the next few days. Want to try my hand at some P90s.

Amongst other things...

Cheers - C

Reel Housing, Main Gear and Shaft
•Inside the housing of the fishing reel are the gears. The reel housing is kept in place by three or four screws, depending on the model of reel. Once the housing is removed you will have access to the gears. You will also see the shaft, which is the rod that travels from the gear housing to the rotor cup where the line spool is located. The shaft pushes the line spool up and down when the reel turns, so that the line is distributed evenly onto the line spool


[img][img]http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll140/kukiamir/fishingreelkuki016.jpg[/img][/img]

Just a thought guys. happy winding