Newbie here needing advise...

[vibrolucky]

Hi guys, I'm very glad to find this forum. I have been reading alot on making single coil pickups for myself and about ready to 'take the plunge' into doing this. I have a budget of $800 to start with, and was hoping to use $380 of that money buying a Schatten pickup winder. The rest of the budget was going to be spent buying wire, Magnets, parts kits, cloth wiring, Wax, etc.

I think I have a pretty good grasp of how they are constructed and wound. The only 'mysterious' part of the process is the magnet charging. I have watched several videos of guys doing this, and its seems very simple. I like to be as precise as possible, and plan to document the process on every pickup with notes.

I guess there in no way around buying a Gaussmeter....

I am currently in need of 2 sets of Strat pickups (6 pickups total), and 3 sets of Telecaster pickups (6 pickups total), for a total run of 12 pickups. If I went to Lollar, Fralin, etc. this would cost we well over the price of the winder, materials, doing it myself....plus I figured I would have fun doing this and learn something in the mean time.

Here is a list of what I am planning on buying...please tell me if you guys can think of anything I am missing from the list:

Schatten Coil Winder
2-3 Spools of 42 copper wire
1 spool 43 copper wire
8 Telecaster 'kits' w/ A5 magnets (maybe a couple with A2 magnets)
8 Stratocaster 'kits' w/ A5 magnets
Eyelets w/ eyelet tool
Cloth wiring (White/Black/Yellow)
Charging magnets
Gaussmeter
Polarity tester
Parafin Wax (80/20 mix)
Multimeter (already have)
Soldering stuff (already have)
Sandpaper (already have)
Vise / Grinder ( for beveling magnets, Already have )

[Dave Kerr]

I'd suggest building a winder, you can knock a very simple one off quickly and cheaply (well under $100 if you're not concerned about automating the traverse). If you're bent on buying a winder, search around this forum. Seems many people who've bought the Schatten were underwhelmed by the quality/reliability. Buy some wire, bobbins and the magnets precharged to begin with, skip potting and measuring gauss, and get winding. You can feed the hobby over time instead of all in one fell swoop, it's more fun to get many packages delivered over time.

[pete n]

Make sure your copper wire has Insulation on it.

[Magnut]

If you are inclined to build your own winder you can save a lot of money and have something that will work well. It's easy with some simple tools. The hardest part is having something to hold the pickup while winding. That can be overcome too.

I would get the flatwork from Mojo which already has the eyelets installed, that way you can forgo the eyelets and tool.

Don't know what the sandpaper is for but if it is to remove the insulation you won't need it most likely as most wires can be directly soldered.

For a polarity tester you can find an inexpensive compass at the store. For initial winding you really shouldn't need a gaussmeter. You will know if you have it charged or not.

You will need to create a "spacer" for assembling the bobbins.

Other than that you have pretty much all you need.

[David King]

With $800 you could buy a hundred sets of magnets and enough wire to go around all of them. I'd buy one kit and see what you get and go from there. I'm thinking there is a pretty limited market for assembled "kits" unless your time is worth nothing to you. You might as well buy finished pickups from Asia and make up a fancy label to sell them under. A finished pickup will cost you less than the parts in most cases and some of them actually sound halfway decent.

[David Schwab]

I have a Schatten winder. Build you own winder, it will be much cheaper, and better too.

[vibrolucky]

With $800 you could buy a hundred sets of magnets and enough wire to go around all of them. I'd buy one kit and see what you get and go from there. I'm thinking there is a pretty limited market for assembled "kits" unless your time is worth nothing to you. You might as well buy finished pickups from Asia and make up a fancy label to sell them under. A finished pickup will cost you less than the parts in most cases and some of them actually sound halfway decent.

David King, I am not planning on selling any of these....they are for my personal guitars. A kit costs about $15 and will save alot of time, and yes my time is worth alot to me. I am doing it for the fun...Do you always welcome new members with such warmth and cheerfulness?

I will take everyone's advise and build my own winder....I think its smart advise to ease into it and not sink alot of $$$ into a system that way not be as good as it is marketed. I was thinking this would be a fun hobby and get to experiment alot with my tone.

I am really into Telecasters and Stratocasters, clean sound though Vintage Fender Amps.

[other1152]

what a great thread. (dont mean to thread jack but) i joined just recently too and was thinking how great it would be to have a schatten winder, but i'm glad to see the general consensus is DIY, ...any good ideas on how to start building a winder?

[pete n]

You might want to check out Jason Lollar's book, Basic pickup winding and complete guide to making your own pickup winder. I think he has it for sale now on his website.

[other1152]

its on the to do list.. money is a factor for me right now (not a great time to start building pickups... lol) but its at the top of my list. though i also need supplies..

[Dave Kerr]

Absolute barebones would be a small wooden box, a shaft with a couple bearings, a pulley on one end of the shaft, and a faceplate on the other. For the faceplate, try fitting a shaft collar onto a piece of 1/8" thick aluminum, carefully centered, with some epoxy. For a wire guide, improvise something. I used a spare U-shaped cabinet door pull with a couple guitar picks. Hook up a cheap, small electric motor to the pulley and you're good to go. There's a gazillion photos on this site and elsewhere that should give you an good idea of what to do.

[Faux Hog]

From a fellow nubbie ensign

$800 dollars! US? Hollow daddy Warbucks.
I wound my first strat set and two extra sets for around 80usd.
I started winding or at least thinking about it three years ago. My advice to the novice: Spend some money on literature first. There's a very recent thread here with about ten books that will get you started. Part of the luke-warm reception you received here initially is to do with the question asked, "Hey guys, I have a fist full of dollars tell me what to do with it." Get winding, then ask when you get hung up.
The Mario Milan book in my opinion is an absolute must read for basics. It includes a section illustrating the most common vintage, modern, and boutique pickups in regards to their magnet material, turn count, turn direction and average inductance and resistance, on a table. I believe it also includes Seymour Duncan's chronological reference chart of Start pickups. If you are trying to re-create some start and tele designs, this book will aid you immensely.
Dave Hunters pickup handbook includes some great interviews with the hoozwho of designers.
Since you are only winding to build a dozen pickups initially speed is not your friend. Both Duncan and Joe Barden began winding on phonograph tables. Barden's ultra high-fidelity pickups are a result of this supper slow winding. Don't get hung up on how you are going to wind, and don't get too concerned with the empirical analysis. Careful computation is the key to consistent pickups; knowledge, experience, and feel are the keys to good sounding pickups. any readings you will get are only going to be useful in reference to the other pickups you make. Remember, you can't spell "analysis" without "anal". I know some highly respected members here have wound on crank handled drills.
Finally, since you have already socked away some decent money for this, source out the best price and buy 3x's more wire then you think you need and be ready to burn through it. Buy at the very least 1.5 lbs of the best wire you can get. And get good at soldering!!! The most useful advice I got was from sticking my pickups in anyone's guitar who would let me and letting them keep them for a week or two. Trust me, if you give some one a set of dogs they will not be afraid to tell you and everyone else about it, and if you give them gold they will give you their first born to keep them.