Teisco pickups

[Mark Hammer]

Does anybody know anything about these pickups? Featured on many guitars here: http://www.mark-cole.co.uk/teisco/myteisco.htm

I've got the case and base, and the magnet, but no coil. Thinking about winding myself one. Love to know what was in them.

[voodoochild]

I know you can yell into them and hear your voice Other than that I can't provide useful information.

[jason lollar]

its like a gold foil dearmond with poles to one side- 44 gauge around 8000 turns

[Mark Hammer]

Thanks for the info. Much appreciated.

But 8000 turns? Where in the heck would they stuff that? I'm looking at the chassis parts, and thinking back to when I foolishly took the coil out years ago, and my initial response is the same as looking at a woman who's 4'11" and 105 lbs who gave birth to full-term quintuplets that each weighed 8lbs; where the heck did you put those kids when you were pregnant?

Or is it the case that there are higher and lower-profile versions of such pickups? After all, I'm going on the basis of the top view and not a cross-section.

I'll try it, since I have the wire, but my nerves are gonna be shot by the time I'm done!

[jason lollar]

Because its 44 gauge- 8000 turns would be about 10K

I tried to verify it by looking up my drawing on that pickup and it looks like that pickup is slightly different than the DeArmond- it might have alnico rods in the coil .25 tall rather than a bar magnet but if it is indeed wound like a gold foil thats what it is. i drew it 10 years ago so some of the details are fuzzy!~
Now that I looked at the drawing I am not as sure as I was about turn count but I do regularly wind those gold foil types with 8000 turns to get the stock 10 to 12 K on the rubberised magnet versions- its somewhat fussy and everyone I have heard that has tried to rewind those struggles with it, Right guys?.
you know those split coil supros have about 6000 turns on them and the coil cross section size is only 1/8" X 1/8" - thats 44 gauge for you!

[roundmidnight]

They are similar to what I have on a SS2L except with only 2 pickup mounting screws. Mine measure 6.15K neck and 6.30K bridge resistance. The coils are not very deep with very thin bobbin material. Don't know about the wire gauge but would use 44 gauge per Jason's advice. Mine have rubberised magnets.

They sound just great particularly for slide.

RM

[Mark Hammer]

They are similar to what I have on a SS2L except with only 2 pickup mounting screws. Mine measure 6.15K neck and 6.30K bridge resistance. The coils are not very deep with very thin bobbin material. Don't know about the wire gauge but would use 44 gauge per Jason's advice. Mine have rubberised magnets.

They sound just great particularly for slide.

RM

That's sorta what I'm aiming for. Whether it'll make me Ry Cooder is another thing. The ultra low profile also means I can monkey around with placement between neck and bridge PU on a 2-PU guitar and just stick it where it sounds best.

As noted earlier, the bobbin crumbled to bits long ago, but the gold foil, cover, base, and magnet are still intact (though the magnet needs some re-charging). I'm going to try making a bobbin from some very thin PCB board I have, that should be able to provide a top and bottom yet still fit inside the cover. I'll crazy-glue the top and bottom to the magnet itself. Purists might be concerned about some PCB between the magnet and base, but it really is quite thin, as thin as I remember the bobbin being.

The original bobbin was not all that wide, so I think I may go with #43 and a slightly wider bobbin to accommodate it, since I have greater confidence in both the roll of wire itself (principally the edges of the spool where it is possible for a snag to happen and snap the wire mid-wind), and in my capacity to carry out a full wind without breaks (in comparison to #44). I should be able to stick 5500-6000 turns in there with ease.

[roundmidnight]

Mark - Not sure if any of these photos will help or match the pickup guts you are after. Haven't taken apart the working pickups on my SS2L so no gut shots of those.

However, the 1st picture is the guts of a gold foil with adjustable poles in the center of the coil. The 2nd picture is the front of that pickup. This one has qty 2, ceramic magnets outside the coil. Seems these are regarded as weaker than one you want to rebuild. This one I plan to rewind with 44 gauge (start of coil broken with no end in sight) but haven't got to it yet.

The 3rd pic is not a gold foil but is a similar Teisco type and appears to have an alnico magnet in the center of the coil.

Good luck and have fun.

RM