Constructing Pickups (coils, etc) without bobbins.

[peskywinnets]

Just for reference, another great product for repelling glue is clear packaging tape, the 2" wide tape for closing up boxes. It's amazingly resistant to glues and epoxies. I lay down strips on fixtures where glue may drip, and on blocks to seal up silicone molds, etc.

You could stick a piece on your bobbin flange and trim it with an Xacto knife. It's like a permanent wax. If it gets chewed up, peel it off and put more on.

Now *that* (if it works with Epoxy!) might be the best tip I'll ever get! (it's getting late here in the UK, so not sure if I'll be able to test it out tonight, but certainly will give it a go asap!

[David Schwab]

Here's the same proto taken from a different angle....

Oh, I thought it was on top of a pickup. Is that a Variax?

The coil has to have a ferrite core.

Doesn't it have to have a magnet?

I remember having a discussion on sustainers one time and I figured you only needed the coil, but was told that they need to have a magnet.

I've been wanting to get one... I'm building a Les Paul, so maybe I'll stick one at the neck like Robert Fripp.

I have an Ebow, they are a lot of fun.

[peskywinnets]

Oh, I thought it was on top of a pickup. Is that a Variax?

Yes & no...it's a Variax body but with no electronics - I removed the electronics to do a transplant.

Doesn't it have to have a magnet?

I remember having a discussion on sustainers one time and I figured you only needed the coil, but was told that they need to have a magnet.

Yes, you're correct there - a Sustainer needs a magnet on the bottom.

By the way...I've just tried winding another bobbinless coil - I can happily report that a combination of sellotape (I couldn't find my reel of packing tape) & silicon oil sprayed on top of the sellotape worked a treat - the bobbin edges parted fine!

Many thanks guys ...thank heavens for forums like this!

[shane1b4u]

hmmm

put a pc of plastic from a clear 2 litre pop bottle inside the top and bottom of that coil while winding, and use superglue to bond the coil... it has alot of trouble sticking to that kind of plastic. Just my 2 cents...

[Zhangliqun]

I may have poor reading comprehension or something and missed the answer, but what is the purpose of going bobbinless?

[kevinT]

...what is the purpose of going bobbinless?

To let it all hang out ....sorry couldn't pass that one up.

[peskywinnets]

I may have poor reading comprehension or something and missed the answer, but what is the purpose of going bobbinless?

There are a few reasons for going bobbinless...

1. You can't find (or don't want to pay!) for custom bobbins in the size you need. (Or can't make them)

2. Bobbin height Space is at a premium - & the bobbin sides add up to about 2 x1mm (& that's 2mm of 'lost' available 'height' once the finished bobbin is mounted on the guitar)

3. To look different.


My reason is number 2....I wanted to make a coil where the guitar didn't have to be routed to accomodate....that restricts me to about 5.5mm in height - I can't afford to have 2mm of that heght wasted with bobbin sides.

[soundmasterg]

To find out more about air coils, do a search on Burns Tri Soncs, and go look at Adeson's page. He's over there in the UK and happily talks about his products if you email him. I've got a couple to go in a guitar when I get around to it.

Greg

Adeson - Classic Vintage Pickups

[chevalij]

If you use a temporary bobbin and have problems with the glue, try a product know as mould release. It's a spray or brush on thin film that is used a lot in moulding. It's basically a waxy type product and I doubl the glue would stick to it at all. And they're almost all water based, so clean up and removal is easy.

[guitician]

Couldn't a coil be wound with a very thin adhesive added on to the wire as the coil is being wound? Running the wire through some glue then some kind of squeegee? Of course it would have to be after the wire guiding mechanism. Then, left for a time afterwards, for the glue to set. Mold release, or some very smooth mylar, will resist adhesion and allow removal of bobbins.

[David Schwab]

They make bondable magnet wire. You wind it on a form of some type, and then either apply alcohol or stick it in the oven.

Q-tuners are made that way.

Kent Armstrong also makes bobbinless coils. He dips them in wax after they are wound, and after they are removed and cooled, he removes the form they were wound on.

[Zhangliqun]

I'm with you on the extra bobbin height, on humbuckers anyway. (Longer rod mags easily solve the problem on Fender style pu's.)

Consider my own solution, arrived at with an assist from Spence. Cut the bucker bobbin in half (vertically) and insert a strip of styrene between the two halfs to make it taller. I make 8mm bobbins this way.

It's a bit of a pain but I would think no more work than a bobbin-less pu. One tip: On the screw bobbin you want to make the cut barely above the bottom flange to keep the recesses in the top half intact. You could just cut them even and redrill the recesses but that risks jacking up the finish on top around the hole edges.

There are a few reasons for going bobbinless...

1. You can't find (or don't want to pay!) for custom bobbins in the size you need. (Or can't make them)

2. Bobbin height Space is at a premium - & the bobbin sides add up to about 2 x1mm (& that's 2mm of 'lost' available 'height' once the finished bobbin is mounted on the guitar)

3. To look different.


My reason is number 2....I wanted to make a coil where the guitar didn't have to be routed to accomodate....that restricts me to about 5.5mm in height - I can't afford to have 2mm of that heght wasted with bobbin sides.