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  • Wal Bass Pickups?

    Anyone making the wal type independent coil bass pickups?
    If so what parts do I need.
    Can I get premade coil bobbins?
    T
    "If Hitler invaded Hell, I would make at least a favourable reference of the Devil in the House of Commons." Winston Churchill
    Terry

  • #2
    You need to talk to David Schwab or Belwar about that.

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    • #3
      I think Chris Turner has made them too.
      Maybe they will jump in.
      T
      Last edited by big_teee; 12-14-2014, 09:56 PM.
      "If Hitler invaded Hell, I would make at least a favourable reference of the Devil in the House of Commons." Winston Churchill
      Terry

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      • #4
        I've made multicoils too. I made the bobbins myself as I couldn't find suitable ones. For adjustable poles I used M5 set screws, nonadjustable poles were M5 steel pole pieces. I use ceramic magnets in these pickups.

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        • #5
          Coils are 0.752" in diameter, 0.451" tall and have 10 000 rounds of 42AWG wire. With nonadjustable poles I've made smaller diameter coils for narrower string spacings. 17mm or a bit under is doable, smaller than that gets a bit tight.

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          • #6
            Thanks for all the measuring.
            I was hoping there was a bobbin source.
            "If Hitler invaded Hell, I would make at least a favourable reference of the Devil in the House of Commons." Winston Churchill
            Terry

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            • #7
              I have not searched for bobbins as the amount I need is so small that I can just fine make the bobbins myself.

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              • #8
                So to get me on board?
                I would make 8 coils for a 4 string bass?
                Wind 8 bobbins to 10000 turns??
                Wire 4 in parallel, and wire the two rows in series?
                The bobbins would be total 3/4 inch in diameter, and the total bobbin height is .451"?
                Or is that Inside the flats?
                Thanks for all the help.
                I think because of all the labor involved, very few guys fool with them.
                The 8 10,000 turn coils alone is pretty intense.
                So I am interested in nonadustable poles.
                So couold I make the poles out of 1/4 inch rod material, and let them stick out the bottom and use ceramic magnets on the bottom of each row?
                Thanks so much!
                T
                "If Hitler invaded Hell, I would make at least a favourable reference of the Devil in the House of Commons." Winston Churchill
                Terry

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                • #9
                  .451 is the inside of the bobbin. Wal pickups were wired four in a row series and rows in series or each string pair coils in series and pairs in parallel. I make the bobbins just as you described. These multicoils take quite some time to make.

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by big_teee View Post
                    So to get me on board?
                    I would make 8 coils for a 4 string bass?
                    Wind 8 bobbins to 10000 turns??
                    Wire 4 in parallel, and wire the two rows in series?
                    The bobbins would be total 3/4 inch in diameter, and the total bobbin height is .451"?
                    Or is that Inside the flats?
                    Thanks for all the help.
                    I think because of all the labor involved, very few guys fool with them.
                    The 8 10,000 turn coils alone is pretty intense.
                    So I am interested in nonadustable poles.
                    So couold I make the poles out of 1/4 inch rod material, and let them stick out the bottom and use ceramic magnets on the bottom of each row?
                    Thanks so much!
                    T
                    There's two styles of Wal pickups. The older version on the Pro series basses, both active and passive, had the two rows of coils in series (like the two coils in a conventional humbucker), and then those two rows in parallel for the active bass. The passive bass had a series/parallel switch.

                    The newer version has each pair of coils per string in series, and then all the pairs in parallel.

                    It's a LOT of winding! I make one version with adjustable poles that's pretty close to the real thing.



                    The poles thread into steel bars, and the ceramic magnets are between them. It's a lot of work.

                    I'm also doing a version with non adjustable poles.
                    It would be possible to describe everything scientifically, but it would make no sense; it would be without meaning, as if you described a Beethoven symphony as a variation of wave pressure. — Albert Einstein


                    http://coneyislandguitars.com
                    www.soundcloud.com/davidravenmoon

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                    • #11
                      I'm just messing around, thinking out loud, gathering info, and trying to come up with something that would be similar, but easier to build.
                      With the availability of 1/4 inch A5 Rod magnets, has anyone tried making independent coil pickups using 8 coils wound on rod magnets.
                      This would look more like a MM pickup, but use the 8 coils wired in series, or parallel.
                      Last edited by big_teee; 12-16-2014, 01:48 PM.
                      "If Hitler invaded Hell, I would make at least a favourable reference of the Devil in the House of Commons." Winston Churchill
                      Terry

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                      • #12
                        I've made A5-versions too. Work just fine and has that multicoil sound too.

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                        • #13
                          This sounds like what EMG did for the Steinberger CR electric upright basses though I'm guessing that they are stacked coils in each unit.

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                          • #14
                            Someone posted a link around here to a place that sells inductor bobbins but I'm not finding anything in a search. Belwar must have tracked down the correct bobbins or he had them made. A 3D printer might be the way to go.

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by David King View Post
                              Someone posted a link around here to a place that sells inductor bobbins but I'm not finding anything in a search.
                              Maybe it was this post from David Schwab? http://music-electronics-forum.com/t32770-6/#post305976
                              cycfi (the thread OP) got bobbins with surface mount terminals from Chipsen in China- but I think their minimum order is pretty high.
                              DON'T FEED THE TROLLS!

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