1st post-Winding my first Pick-up

[75Destroyer]

I'm working on a 59 Les Paul copy with plans from Stew Mac and wanted to build my own Pick-ups as well. I have most of what I need for winding including some good motors with speed controls and an electronic counter that I'm trying to incorporate.

After a week or so of research I decided to start the simple way and practice on a couple of Humbucker kits also from Stew mac. Like many others I wanted to aim for the vintage sound as much as possible. Here are a couple of questions I haven't had any luck with to date.

1
If I wind a pickup by myself the very nature of the coils will be less than uniform for sure. Is this the nature of scatter wound?

I'm afraid if I randomize to much I'll waste bobbin capacity and not get the 5500 winds the Stew Mac plans suggest. I've read allot of posts here and think I have a good handle on the basics but I'm just not sure about the degree of randomization.

2
I wanted alnico II but stewmac sells 5's, should I care? I looked through the vendors on the faq page but the 2's I found don't look like bars, I only found the round pole magnets in Alnico 2.

On a separate note. I have a pickup in a box that may have come from an old Gibson L6, so I'm told. I can't find any pics on web the and just wondered If anyone has ever seen a Gibson pickup encased in plexi-glass?

I usually don't mess with my electronics unless they need fixing, otherwise I'd just solder it in my guitar and give it a try. I'm curious as to the sound that It might have.

Thanks

[spud1950]

I believe the correct designation is a Gibson L6-S.

Here's a picture of the pickup.

http://home.comcast.net/~jjoel76/GIBSONL6SPICKUP.jpg

Here's the guitar.

http://www.rocknrollvintage.com/prod...atural%20b.jpg

The pickups were designed by Bill Lawrence.If you Google "Gibson L6-S" there's actually quite a few hits.Maybe one will have a description of what the pickups sound like.

[David King]

I got my AlnicoII bars from Allstar magnetics but they have a $75 minimum order. You could try begging around here if one of the guys will sell you a couple. You can also check mojomusicalsupply and Steven Kersting (skguitar.com). It's possible that Allparts has some as well. If you get desperate, I'll sell you mine because I'll probably never get around to using them anyway.

[75Destroyer]

The pickups were designed by Bill Lawrence.If you Google "Gibson L6-S" there's actually quite a few hits.Maybe one will have a description of what the pickups sound like.

Thanks ,that's it, I didn't know the pickup had originally come with a cover. I'll look for audio samples now to see if it's worthy.

Dave, I appreciate the offer. I hope I'll be building more than one of the 59 LP copy's. If my current build turns out well I'm going to build 2 more with better Maple tops. I hate to bother anyone for a couple magnets but if someone here would rather have the money than the magnet I'd be happy to send someone the money with a postage paid return box.

If I decide to build a couple more guitars, $65 not to much to invest to keep it as close to vintage as I can.

[Peter Naglitsch]

the 5500 winds the Stew Mac plans suggest

Might be too much for a vintage sound. It all depends on the rest of your parts and how you wind it.

[David Schwab]

On a separate note. I have a pickup in a box that may have come from an old Gibson L6, so I'm told. I can't find any pics on web the and just wondered If anyone has ever seen a Gibson pickup encased in plexi-glass?

When you say plexi-glass, do you mean the front of the pickup is clear plastic?

If so, thats from a Gibson Marauder... also designed by Bill Lawrence.

[David Schwab]

I believe the correct designation is a Gibson L6-S.

Here's a picture of the pickup.

Weren't those pickups epoxy potted?



I always wondered what the inside looked like.

[belwar]

If I wind a pickup by myself the very nature of the coils will be less than uniform for sure. Is this the nature of scatter wound?

I'm afraid if I randomize to much I'll waste bobbin capacity and not get the 5500 winds the Stew Mac plans suggest. I've read allot of posts here and think I have a good handle on the basics but I'm just not sure about the degree of randomization

That shouldnt be a problem. I've wound humbuckers from 18 turns per lay to 150 turns per layer and can still fit almost 6000 turns on a bobbin. As long as you are winding with enough tension you should have any issues. If the wind is loose you wont fit the wire. Only one of the four coils in my standard humbuckers is wound over 5500. I range from 4700-5500 and I still have at least 1/32 to go.

As for the A2, if you really want 2 bars just PM your address and if you're in america i'll send you two for free.

b.

[spud1950]

If so, thats from a Gibson Marauder... also designed by Bill Lawrence.

Maybe that's it.Here's one for sale on eBay.Great pictures.You can really see how they're constructed.The two pickups look very similar.Maybe basically the same pickup with different covers?

70's Gibson Marauder Pickup Original Vintage 1974 1975 - eBay (item 370160663396 end time Jun-16-09 10:14:44 PDT)

[David Schwab]

I'm pretty sure they are the same pickups, but one is cast in some kind of clear resin... Bill Lawrence used to like to use polyester resin, so it might be that.

Gibson used to call a lot of those pickups "Super Humbuckers" ... including the EB-0 mudbucker.