Build a Wind Harp!

Step 3 Winding pickup coils

Wind the coils on the nails with a table top drill press or use a hand drill. I used #40 enamaled wire, but it could be a bit thinner or thicker. Use AWG size 36 to AWG 43. You can get the wire at Stewart-MacDonald. http://stewmac.com They also have kits for making electric guitar pickups.

I haven't actually tried using an electric guitar pickup, but I don't see why it wouldn't work. After all, what you are building is a guitar that is "blowing in the wind". With a guitar pickup, the strings would need to be spaced 1 cm from each other, just like in a real guitar.

The magnets I got from a local Arts and Craft store. Use the super strong neodymium type. You can use just one coil, but it will also pickup surrounding ambient ac "hum". To make it "humbucking",two coils are used. Because the coils are connected with opposing phases, any hum pick up is bucked out.

Notice the magnets on the other coil is reversed. This will cause the other coils pickup polarity from the wire to be reversed. Connecting the two coils in series makes the pick up from the wires to be additive. Just like placing batteries plus to minus in series.