Singer Pickup winder project

[Mr. Bill]

If you take two similar pickups, let's say a couple of single coil Mosrites that are both made with the same gauge wire and the same coil forms and magnets and you read the resistance of both coils, the one with the higher resistance will probably sound louder and hotter.

This will probably be caused by the fact in order for the resistance to be higher, there are more turns of wire on the one pickup. So in this case the higher resistance means a hotter pickup. There are too many other factors involved to make a blanket statement that the higher the resistance the hotter the pickup.

If we take the same two pickup coils that we had before and change the lower resistance coil pickup's magnets with a stronger type the output of this pickup could become hotter than the one with the higher resistance. So dc resistance can be an indicator of relative output, but it should not be used as the main rating system.

[cmiller0034]

If you take two similar pickups, let's say a couple of single coil Mosrites that are both made with the same gauge wire and the same coil forms and magnets and you read the resistance of both coils, the one with the higher resistance will probably sound louder and hotter.

This will probably be caused by the fact in order for the resistance to be higher, there are more turns of wire on the one pickup. So in this case the higher resistance means a hotter pickup. There are too many other factors involved to make a blanket statement that the higher the resistance the hotter the pickup.

If we take the same two pickup coils that we had before and change the lower resistance coil pickup's magnets with a stronger type the output of this pickup could become hotter than the one with the higher resistance. So dc resistance can be an indicator of relative output, but it should not be used as the main rating system.

TESTIFY! Mr. BIll, TES TI FIIIIIIII!

[Greg_L]

Ah, very cool. Thanks for the clarification. So a meaner magnet but less winds could still result in higher output. I get it.

So when building a pickup, how would one know what magnet/wire gauge/number of winds to use to get the sound you'd want? Besides experience? Is there like a master reference guide somewhere that says "if you use this type of magnet with this gauge wire for this many turns it will sound like _____"? Is there some reference guide somewhere like that? Or is it just trial and error and lots of experience?

[John H]

Ah, very cool. Thanks for the clarification. So a meaner magnet but less winds could still result in higher output. I get it.

So when building a pickup, how would one know what magnet/wire gauge/number of winds to use to get the sound you'd want? Besides experience? Is there like a master reference guide somewhere that says "if you use this type of magnet with this gauge wire for this many turns it will sound like _____"? Is there some reference guide somewhere like that? Or is it just trial and error and lots of experience?

Much of it comes down to experience, and experimentation Greg, but there's plenty of reference material out there.
The size, and shape of the coil also have a huge influence on the tone. Think 'strat pickup vs. jazzmaster pickup. They're basically the same construction, but the coil dimensions are hardly comparable, and neither are the tone characteristics. When I first started making pickup's, I immersed myself in this stuff trying to make sense of the science involved, and to try and separate the fact from fiction. There's a lot of fiction out there. Something that is so simple on the surface (magnets, and wire) is incredibly complex when You start dissecting each element. Some examples are; magnet alloys, screw and slug alloys. type of wire insulation, size of wire, baseplate material, cover, etc. Every component of the pickup will alter it's tone in some way or another. That's where the experimentation comes in.
Here's a table that has construction data for several common types. If you study the numbers, You can draw your own conclusions as how coil shape, magnet type, and number of winds affect the tone.
Check this out>https://www.dropbox.com/s/auvazik8ak9d24a/PickupediaSpecs.pdf

[cmiller0034]

Finished and in use