Nd humbucker

[David Schwab]

Clint, cool guitar! I didn't know you had a guitar version of that. I remember the bass though. What does the chicken head knob do? Pickup selector? I'm rewiring my FirstAct Guargemaster like an L-6S.

Jedd, the thing with neos is, they can be brighter, but that also allows you to wind more wire on the pickup, if thats something you want. I also find them to have more low end than ceramic magnets.

Clint's probably right that the N45 rods shouldn't be an issue. If you want to warm the tone up a bit, use steel poles charged with a neo magnet. The tricky part is finding one the right shape.

[Jedd]

I think that's what I was looking for, a bright clean sound. Then, I can hook up the Tube King to it If I want nasty distortion

Again, I really really appreciate that you guys are willing to share your years of experience and knowledge with me. I understand how much experimenting goes on with winding and people can be very guarded with that information, and rightly so. Hopefully, I can share information I have discovered down the road.

[David King]

Jedd, If you have a variable speed hand drill or just a small drill press, you're all set. Don't make the winder more complicated than it has to be. Sewing machine motors are only good if you can get the speed pedal too. Alternatively you can get a really nice Bodine DC motor with VS controller for pennies on the dollar if you have a surplus place or are patient and spend some time on ebay. The 1/50 HP Bodine should be plenty. Any DC motor can be driven with a PWM (pulse width modulator aka dc motor speed control) Pickup a kit for a 12V PWM for about $17 delivered.

[Jedd]

Thanks for the info David. What do you guys use for counters? I saw some ideas using reed switches and a pedometer, but it seems a bit inaccurate. I saw another using an optical switch that looked a lot better. I haven't had much luck finding an actual counter online, though.

[Mike Sulzer]

Thanks for the info David. What do you guys use for counters? I saw some ideas using reed switches and a pedometer, but it seems a bit inaccurate. I saw another using an optical switch that looked a lot better. I haven't had much luck finding an actual counter online, though.

Bycycle computer works well. The sensor on mine is Hall effect. Just stick a neo magnet somewhere convenient to mounting the sensor. I calibrate for 1000 turns = 1 km. As someone else here mentioned a while ago, the speedometer is nice, too, because you can wind at a controlled rate.

[Jedd]

Right after I posted that, I found a post on another thread on the tools and winding gear from Magnut. He posted a link to a great counter for what seems a reasonable price. I think I'll go with that.

Durant E402400 Electronic Counter

Now I need to find an optical switch.

[David Schwab]

Right after I posted that, I found a post on another thread on the tools and winding gear from Magnut. He posted a link to a great counter for what seems a reasonable price. I think I'll go with that.

Durant E402400 Electronic Counter

Now I need to find an optical switch.

That's not a bad price, but look on ebay first. I just got one of these:

Durant 58821-400 Counter

For $75! I needed to add a relay that cost me another $17.

[Jedd]

Holy crap! For $75? Thanks for the heads up. I'll be buying all my stuff from ebay I guess

[Clint Searcy]

[QUOTE=David Schwab;105872]Clint, cool guitar! I didn't know you had a guitar version of that. I remember the bass though. What does the chicken head knob do? Pickup selector? I'm rewiring my FirstAct Guargemaster like an L-6S.[QUOTE]

Yea, I have built a few variations on that idea. I'm working on a 5 string fretless bass version now.

The chicken head on that one is a BigD Varitone. Love those! The lowest know is a rotary switch that is wire like this
1. Passive
2. Runs through a Mark Swanson clean boost preamp
3. Runs through the Mark Swanson super boost on the preamp
4. Blow by switch

The other knob is a volume.

It's a guitar only I could love...

I've build a lot of winders over the years. My first was made from an old cassette player. Since then I've built them mostly with sewing machine motors and old industrial totalizers from Ebay like that one Schwab mentioned. If you’re looking to build one on the cheap you can beat an old sewing machine from GoodWill or the Salvation Army.

[David King]

Any preset or programmable counter / totalizer will work out fine for you.
RedLion Cub 2,3,4,5 counters are all popular for a super simple set up.
My Durant 1800 counter cost me $8.99 with $12 shipping on ebay. It does everything I'll ever need. I got a stack of different infrared optical switches as free samples from the company website and used the one that seemed the easiest to hook up. You don't have to pay for parts if you don't mind giving out your mailing address to a manufacturer's web site.