First guitar build - considering making pups....

[Freakazoid]

Just as I have spent most of my sunday afternoon and evening reading the threads on this forum, thought I perhaps should introduce myself and plunge in with some questions.

I've just finished putting together my first guitar, a "partscaster"
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3529/...ea8197b67b.jpg

I'm now at the stage where I gotta get the electrics sorted, originally planned on something like some standard or slightly hot Seymore Duncans, but now I'm thinking
1) I'm sure SDs would Sound fantastic, but they cost as much as the rest of the project so far.
2) How hard can it be to put 3 single coil pickups together?
3) I would enjoy the satisfaction of knowing I had made the pups.
4) If I didn't like them, I could always wind another.

My plan is very low tech: I'll use an old hand-wind drill already have in my tool box, which has a turns ratio of 1:5. I'll mount it in my vice, turn the handle with one hand and use the other to feed from the bobbin. I'm only making 3 single coils, so I don't intend to spend time creating fancy counters etc, I can count the turns and keep a notch tally on a notepad.

After winding and checking the resistance I'll solder up tails and wax them in solvent/beeswax.

So that is the planned method, planned materials are....
43 AWG wire
250G ENAMMELED COPPER WINDING WIRE /MAGNET WIRE 43 AWG on eBay (end time 24-Oct-09 01:43:00 BST)
Magnets
10 Alnico Rod / Reed Switch Magnets 5mm x 19mm on eBay (end time 06-Nov-09 12:35:47 GMT)
Single coil "flats" from Allparts UK
Pickup flat set for Strat

(I prefer to buy within the UK where I can, keep it homegrown etc.)


So to questions:
If I use 43 AWG wire, how many turns should I aim for before I trim up and measure with my DVM? I'm looking for slightly hot sound with probably a few more turns on the bridge. Are there any good rules-of-thumb or starting points?

Are there any gaping flaws in my plan that are plain to the experienced winders who frequent this forum?

Cheers!
Dan

[David King]

Freakazoid,
Welcome to the mighty entourage of the self-absorbed.
I have no idea what to tell you other than to wind some wire on there and see what you get. If you don't have a counter that's ok. Just set a timer and figure out how many turns of wire you get every 6 seconds and then go for it.
I'll toss out a number: 5750 turns. Plug it in and if you hate it, try more and then less and then decide which direction you want to keep heading in.

[Dave Kerr]

I'd suggest going here:
Specifications - Pickupedia
for info to get you started. Focus on turns counts, and use DC resistance as a confirmation that your count is about right.

[Freakazoid]

Perfect, 5750 it is... I'd LIKE to end up with something slightly hot like late '60s early 70s fenders, but Rome wasn't built in a day, and I won't be surprised if my first attempt ends up a bit average

I'm still waiting for bits, but now I've bodged myself up a counter with an old USB mouse with a reed switch soldered across the left click button.. works perfectly with a magnet gaffa-taped to the side of the drill chuck on my Makita. Scrub the hand drill, I've gone high tech!

Pole peices confuse me a little too. The ones I'm looking at are 19mm not the standard 17mm, this will make a taller pickup - but does it actually make any difference? Is the convention that south poles or north poles should face to the top ?

Sorry for the silly questions, I'll have driven you all mad by the time I've got my full set done

[Freakazoid]

Well - no real drama. My "winder" worked a treat, with the cordless drill bolted to a board / modified netbook mouse!

I decided in the end to plomp for hot pickups, and ended up with 6.3k, 6.5k RW/RP, and 7.4 on the bridge. My skills at winding improved as I went, the first was a bit baggy and messy.

They sound really nice to me, but I think I'll wind another set.. I have a hairbrained idea to split the coils to give the option for hot/standard sounds. I never saw the need for two tone controls, on a strat, so I'm considering using a 2 way 3-pole rotary switch in place of the middle knob.