Plain enamel wire on ebay

[voodoochild]

Maybe for those who are handwinding humbuckers you can't hear a difference, that thought just occured to me. When you're machine winding the way PAFs were done you get way more clarity and the differences there between poly and PE become more obvious I think. Handwound pickups have way less sharp a resonant frequency curve than machine wound, which is good for single coils but not for humbucker PAF replicas...

I use a CNC machine Being a multi tasker and sitting there winding by hand drives me crazy! I think if you are trying to do authentic PAF stuff or anything that used PE originally, then you are doing it wrong by using anything else and calling it a replica. That's true. But you can use other insulations (keeping specs the same or as close as possible) and get tones that cannot be discerned in a blind taste test. Granted you can't wind different insulations the exact same way or they will sound different as different insulations handle tension and build differently. When you look at todays manufacturing methods for wire, it is so computerized now that the consistency is incredible compared to the 50's.

[David Schwab]

Well I can tell you as one specializing in the PAF thing for going on 8 years now, nothing replaces plain enamel. When you specialize in something like that you hear alot more than others do, and everyone here who really has done research into PAFs and uses alot of different versions of PE wouldn't use any other kind of wire. The difference is worth the price and pain of trying to get some thats good. To my ears the difference is really blatantly obvious, going from PE to poly or formvar in a PAF neck bucker brings in alot of mud factor. I'lll buy PE as long as its available and probably sock some away for the future, since its availability and versions are so unstable....

Well Dave, you really do specialize, and that's a good thing. Your pickups have what I can only describe as an "old timey" tone. It just sounds like an old guitar. I guess since I'm not trying to replicate that tone, I don't hear the difference with wires as much as you do.

I've always liked funky pickups like gold foils. If I was playing guitar more, I'd have a Strat type thing with three of those! It's not the same old tones you hear everyday, even if they are very good tones. I like looking for new tones.

Maybe for those who are handwinding humbuckers you can't hear a difference, that thought just occured to me. When you're machine winding the way PAFs were done you get way more clarity and the differences there between poly and PE become more obvious I think. Handwound pickups have way less sharp a resonant frequency curve than machine wound, which is good for single coils but not for humbucker PAF replicas...

Very good point. I hand wind at the moment, so that might be masking small differences in wire. I'll see what I get when I finish my CNC winder.

[Possum]

...

The gold foils used rubber ferrite magnets. I got some samples of that stuff but never got around to trying it out, maybe I should now I think of it.

Sorry, but I don't buy that PE sounds like poly, thats my opinion and it won't change. I recently did another vintage bucker recreation that does use poly and the difference is blatant to me. You can bet if I found wire that sounds like PE I'd be using it on everything. I'm not saying poly or formvar sounds bad, it just doesn't nail what vintage PAFs do. There is PE that there is no equivalent of in the poly world. The more you know about wire the more you notice whats really different about PE.

[Stan H]

Wonder why the OEM discount doesnt apply to PE on the Mojo site?

[kevinT]

The price of copper is driven by the market. Wire, I think, is one thing that can't be priced on a wholesale basis unless you're a distributor and buying large quantities. I don't think MWS sells at OEM prices either. I think they discount when you buy a large quantity.

[belwar]

I'd be interested to see what people pay for wire. I think im paying $28 / lb for PE when buying 100lbs.

[cryptozoo]

I'd be interested to see what people pay for wire. I think im paying $28 / lb for PE when buying 100lbs.

Wow, you're buying 100 lbs of wire at a time? What's the name of your pickup company?

[JGundry]

100lbs. of wire seems more that reasonable as a minimum. $2800.00 for supplies is peanuts if you making pickups with the intention of making a living wage from it.

[cryptozoo]

100lbs. of wire seems more that reasonable as a minimum. $2800.00 for supplies is peanuts if you making pickups with the intention of making a living wage from it.

Oh no, I totally I agree. I just figured someone who was ordering pounds by the hundreds was probably making a blip on the internet 'winder radar.' Just curious as to the name of the company. If it's hush-hush, my apologies.

[belwar]

Im an OEM, not a pickup maker. I just make for my own instruments.

[Possum]

....

Not a huge discount there, I pay $32.59 a pound in onesies twosies. Price changes as copper changes.