How to make a single coil guitar pickup!
This will show you how to make your own guitar pickup. It won't look or sound exactly like a regular pickup, but its a fun and interesting project.
What You'll Need:
Stuff:
-Paper
- 42 or 43 gauge copper wire (very thin)
- Six steel machine screws and nuts
- Neodymium (super strong) magnets or one long bar magnet
- Thin plastic (like that on a cd case) or Thin pieces of wood
- Wax
- Wire
- Solder
- Superglue
Tools/equipment:
-Dremel and dremel accessories
-Screwdriver
-Sewing machine (optional)
You can go out and buy all these things, but you can probably find most of them within old crap you already possess. For example, I found the copper wire in a pair of broken dog clippers. And if you don't have some of the equipment you can always improvise.
Here are some links I found useful while learning how to make my pickups:
Stew Mac--Pickup Building (especially "Single Coil Pickup Kits")
A guy who made a humbucker.
GuitarAttack Look at Winding pickups "Guerilla Style" to see more about the sewing machine pickup winder idea.
This will show you how to make your own guitar pickup. It won't look or sound exactly like a regular pickup, but its a fun and interesting project.
What You'll Need:
Stuff:
-Paper
- 42 or 43 gauge copper wire (very thin)
- Six steel machine screws and nuts
- Neodymium (super strong) magnets or one long bar magnet
- Thin plastic (like that on a cd case) or Thin pieces of wood
- Wax
- Wire
- Solder
- Superglue
Tools/equipment:
-Dremel and dremel accessories
-Screwdriver
-Sewing machine (optional)
You can go out and buy all these things, but you can probably find most of them within old crap you already possess. For example, I found the copper wire in a pair of broken dog clippers. And if you don't have some of the equipment you can always improvise.
Here are some links I found useful while learning how to make my pickups:
Stew Mac--Pickup Building (especially "Single Coil Pickup Kits")
A guy who made a humbucker.
GuitarAttack Look at Winding pickups "Guerilla Style" to see more about the sewing machine pickup winder idea.
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Signing UpStep 1: Make your pattern
There are just a few parts to a pickup, and the bobbin(the thing that holds the coil) is the first thing you need put together.
To do this, you'll need to do is make up some kind of pattern for your bobbin. You need one piece for the top and one for the bottom. Look at the pictures and factory made single coils to get the general idea. You can make it in the traditional shape, with rounded ends, or you can be lazy like me and use a more squarish design. Either way will work.
Then you'll need to transfer this pattern onto the material you're using for your bobbin. You can use plastic (from a cd case, for example) or thin pieces of wood. Wood works well because it's easy to work with and has a unique look, but I decided to use plastic for this pickup.
Last of all, cut out your bobbin pieces.
To do this, you'll need to do is make up some kind of pattern for your bobbin. You need one piece for the top and one for the bottom. Look at the pictures and factory made single coils to get the general idea. You can make it in the traditional shape, with rounded ends, or you can be lazy like me and use a more squarish design. Either way will work.
Then you'll need to transfer this pattern onto the material you're using for your bobbin. You can use plastic (from a cd case, for example) or thin pieces of wood. Wood works well because it's easy to work with and has a unique look, but I decided to use plastic for this pickup.
Last of all, cut out your bobbin pieces.
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The more windings you put on, the stronger the signal output, but higher frequencies will suffer.
Thinner wire cuts highs more than thicker
Tall skinny coils give a cleaner sound and shorter fat coils sound more "dirty"
More wire = greater resistance measured by multimeter
3-6 K ohms = clearer tone
9-13 K ohms = loud heavy tone
Just a word to the wise. You can customize, and experiment to get exactly the sound you want
2. You can use a thicker gauge, but try and get the thinnest you can.
3. You can count your winds, but I just put as many winds onto the bobbin as I could.
4. A single coil is only one coil. A humbucker is two single coils wired together to "cancel" (reduce) the hum.
Single coilSingle coil
HumbuckerHumbucker
cheers!
how about doing a little research before posting something that is of no use to the topic. ---- this comment is certified as being constructively-positive! (;D)
2) You have to get some potentiometers to modulate the frequency and IDK how exactly to do that.