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Post subject: Question about pickups
Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2015 1:18 pm
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Aspiring Musician
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I've often wondered about the price point of pickups. You can pay whatever you want for a set. I can see time and effort a manufacturer takes in making the sound they're after, but aren't they all made from commonly sourced parts, just wound by each pickup company and therefore should cost little more that a spool of wire to produce? Not belittling, just curious.


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Post subject: Re: Question about pickups
Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2015 1:23 pm
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Pick ups are worth whatever the person playing them is willing to pay. Nothing more, nothing less. As far as are they all basically the same, using the same materials? No.

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Post subject: Re: Question about pickups
Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2015 2:58 pm
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There's a lot of R&D that goes into designing a pickup. My uncle makes his own and before he made his first poclup, he extensively researched electromagnetic fields for a few years in order to fully understand how to design a pickup for a certain sound. It's not just winding a spool of wire around a magnet, it's a whole lot more than that.

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Post subject: Re: Question about pickups
Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2015 4:27 pm
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tvr1979 wrote:
I've often wondered about the price point of pickups. You can pay whatever you want for a set. I can see time and effort a manufacturer takes in making the sound they're after, but aren't they all made from commonly sourced parts, just wound by each pickup company and therefore should cost little more that a spool of wire to produce? Not belittling, just curious.


tvr1979, jaded ? :lol:

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Post subject: Re: Question about pickups
Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2015 9:57 pm
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The proper magnets are available- even if you get them from old pickups that need to be rewound and the magnets are still good. The wire is more expensive than the rest of the stuff is to make them. No science classes needed. A little "know how" a winder a jig and the proper flat work - No problem. It's really not some big deal magic thing. It's actually very easy to do once you know what's up. All the info is on the net and can be had.


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Post subject: Re: Question about pickups
Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2015 10:17 pm
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Fly Whitlock wrote:
The proper magnets are available- even if you get them from old pickups that need to be rewound and the magnets are still good. The wire is more expensive than the rest of the stuff is to make them. No science classes needed. A little "know how" a winder a jig and the proper flat work - No problem. It's really not some big deal magic thing. It's actually very easy to do once you know what's up. All the info is on the net and can be had.

Cool story. Now tell us about the latest pickup you designed.

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Post subject: Re: Question about pickups
Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2015 10:41 pm
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1neeto wrote:
Cool story. Now tell us about the latest pickup you designed.


+1

And all the artist testimonials rolling in.

:wink:

Arjay

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Post subject: Re: Question about pickups
Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2015 7:10 am
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Good insight, perhaps I am being a little jaded, it's boring wintertime for an old retired guy! It's just that when I'm inspecting my guitars and admiring the beauty and workmanship of all their components, the pickups seem to require the least amount of workmanship, resources and basic skill to produce. Never the less they can cost more that a good neck. Now there I can see the value, or the skill and cost of producing a body, even in a precision set of tuners. Pickups are just so subjective, and that's what dictates their cost.


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Post subject: Re: Question about pickups
Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2015 7:40 am
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tvr1979 wrote:
It's just that when I'm inspecting my guitars and admiring the beauty and workmanship of all their components, the pickups seem to require the least amount of workmanship, resources and basic skill to produce.

If that were the case, far more guitar builders would make their own pickups. Even people who solder their own electronics and pots tend to leave pickups to the pros.


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Post subject: Re: Question about pickups
Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2015 4:33 pm
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Location: In the Land of "Stratocaster"
There's a lot that goes into making a good pickup(s).
It's not just getting a few magnets.... some wire... bobbins and going for it w/ so many winds for this... so many winds for that etc...

Can anyone do it?... sure... but, it doesn't mean the pups are going to be good.

Granted, some pups are priced way off the charts high... To the point where IMO, it's a little too much... I was scoping out the Doyle Coils not that long ago... I would love to get a set of those... they sound incredible... but, honestly... at $250 per pup... It's unrealistically high for a PAF. Not saying they aren't good, though.

Bare Knuckle, Dimarzio, Duncan etc... offer outstanding PAF style pups... of exceptional high quality that are a lot less.
But, as mentioned... the price is worth it if you're willing to pay it...

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Post subject: Re: Question about pickups
Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2015 8:03 pm
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Abigail Ybarra worked for scale... :shock:

A lot of Abby's pickups were happy accidents !

She'd get started and often forget how many winds she'd made... bless her heart !

Highly prized, these were much more than a magnet and some wire...

Image

cheers!

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Post subject: Re: Question about pickups
Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2015 10:34 pm
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If it was easy, everybody would do it. Think craftsmanship and the love of craft. From http://www.buckcannon.com/

Quote:
Awesome vintage pattern...
This old pattern/style of wind/tension/traverse/speed, etc. breaks all the rules! No Ice Pick, No Harshness- pure tone that breathes life into your fingers! A real tool for musicians that has no limits or dead ends!

I feel this wind pattern was by far responsible for some of the best tones that ever left the factory in the 50's thru mid 60's.
The pickups' coil tension is nice and tight around all 6 magnets (not just the ends, so the volume is increased).
My hand wound coils are all done by eye. The coil tension is felt and adjusted constantly by my 2-fingers. This extra fine coil wire trails through my 2 fingers while the tension is continually adjusted to suit each and every wrap.
Next, I control my wire spool's angle to the chassis, and continually adjust my winder speed to be sure the coils are extra tight.
My cloned winding style stays true to the original form. This awesome wind is always recreated and used on each pickup I make, just like it was 1950 all over again!
These pickups are very labor intensive and, what I truly feel, are today's very best ever vintage clones!

-Don Mare


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Post subject: Re: Question about pickups
Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2015 11:11 pm
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1neeto wrote:
Fly Whitlock wrote:
The proper magnets are available- even if you get them from old pickups that need to be rewound and the magnets are still good. The wire is more expensive than the rest of the stuff is to make them. No science classes needed. A little "know how" a winder a jig and the proper flat work - No problem. It's really not some big deal magic thing. It's actually very easy to do once you know what's up. All the info is on the net and can be had.

Cool story. Now tell us about the latest pickup you designed.


Well I've rewound pickups so I know a little bit about them- and I spent time researching on the web and I have the "Pickup Questions" book by Seymour Duncan. Here's my Winding Program from a JOVIL Winder= Number of turns=8350, Left turn=8.500, Right turn=19.000, Wire Pitch=0.1250, Speed =500, Acceleration=5,Slow Speed Turns=0, Wind Clockwise=1, Traverse Start=0,Stop 1=1,Stop 2=1, Stop3= 0.....That's what I used for a nice sounding bridge position Strat pickup @ 6.5 res.- so I guess you could say that is my design for a Strat style bridge position pickup. --- you asked the question.


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Post subject: Re: Question about pickups
Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2015 8:31 am
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People have mentioned the cost of wire, but there is definitely the cost of the magnets. Magnet prices have gone up a lot over the last 20 years.

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Post subject: Re: Question about pickups
Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2015 9:01 am
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Still, parts for one single coil pickup cost about 15$. Or nothing, if you utilize common household items.
And anyone can wind a pup.

But: then starts the magic: anyone's pickups arent like Abby's, Lindy's (etc. etc.) pickups.

PS: Abby never lost count of the windings - they had a ticker counting them. And if it was broke, she'd rely on her heartbeat synchronicity.


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