My Alnico 5 Magnet Test

[David Schwab]

I recently made an approximation of a DiMarzio Super Distortion for a customer who wanted that tone. He'll be installing them in the next day or so and right now I'm crossing my fingers in hopes he'll like the tone. After all, I could only approximate it.

That's not a hard pickup to copy. Just get a same size ceramic magnet and the steel set screws and wind about 6500 turns of 44 AWG on each bobbin. And don't forget the brass baseplate.

I've got a Dimarzio Al DiMeola pickup here that sounds much nicer than the SDHB. When I get a chance I'm going to try and copy it for one of my guitars.

[Possum]

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I don't think you'll ever see the only remaining available plain enamel wire maker run a batch of vintage wire. They CAN do it, but a minimum run is probably around what you said. From the samples I sent it looks like around 1965 things started to change., but its hard to nail it down to one sample of wire from then.

[LtKojak]

I would love it if one of the big wire makers would show up on this forum and say something like, "Hey guys, we're going to do a 1,000 pound run of vintage spec plain enamel. Can you help us to get the spec right?"

This is actually Possum's recurring nightmare.

Strangely, he doesn't wake up screaming, but he start screaming AFTER realizing he woke up.

Interesting case...

[tonedeciple]

This is actually Possum's recurring nightmare.

Maybe we should form the International Federation of Pickup Winders. Not a union, but an organization of large and small pickup makers set up to primarily to establish a spec for plain enamel wire designed specifically for pickup coils and make a big group buy from a manufacturer who'd agree to do a run.

[David Schwab]

Maybe we should form the International Federation of Pickup Winders. Not a union, but an organization of large and small pickup makers set up to primarily to establish a spec for plain enamel wire designed specifically for pickup coils and make a big group buy from a manufacturer who'd agree to do a run.

Wouldn't you want to actually try some PE first to see if it's worth it?

[tonedeciple]

Wouldn't you want to actually try some PE first to see if it's worth it?

I had a small spool of some a while back, which I tried out on a pair of humbuckers. They had a nice warm tone, but my limited experience since then is that I think I can get close to the same tone with HF. Maybe even with SPN if I really play with it.

The reason I suggested pickup makers should band together is because so many distinguish their product as being made with plain enamel. What's going to happen when they run out?

Personally, I'm happy with SPN and HF. I'm even thinking of trying out some HPN. But if a big batch of plain enamel came up, I'd be interested in a few spools.

[David Schwab]

What's going to happen when they run out?

They will use SPN like everyone else.

Heavy formvar wont sound like single build PE or even SPN. It has a thicker insulation.