Five string bass pup question from a new guy.....

[FatStrings]

Hello all,
I'm new to the forum and to pickup making. In fact, I haven't even made one yet! I've been reading as many threads here as possible and I really appreciate the shared knowledge. I plan on picking up a copy of Jason Lollars pickup book very soon.

I'm currently attempting to build two single coil bass pickups very similar to the early p-bass pup except with less space between poles for a short scale bass. I plan on winding these to around 7.3 ohms. Nothing special, just trying to get them to work and sound OK.

My real question is about five string single coils that I'm planning on for a custom bass build. This bass will basically have three single coils, something like a Fender Jaguar or Bass VI.

Does anyone have opinions on what ohm reading I should shoot for when winding these? I may be way off here, but I thought if I divide the ohm reading from the four string pup (7.3) by each string (1.825 per string) then multipy that by five (for each string on the fiver) I should be close. 9.125 ohms is what I come up with. Sound like a good starting point?

Thanks for your help!

-Pat

Here's the pup dimensions:
coil overall length: 2.6"
coil overall width: .52"
coil overall height: .50
Awg 42 wire
.187 alnico 5 magnets

[FatStrings]

Actually the coil overall length: 2.6" isn't right. That's actually the measurement over the two outside most magnet poles.

[Bruce Johnson]

As a starting point, I would wind by turn count rather than the DC resistance. 5000 turns of Awg 42 wire on that bobbin/magnet configurations will probably end up in the range of 8K to 9K ohms. For a bass pickup with those magnets, that should be in the right range of output and tone.

For that arrangement of three single coils, you might want to consider building the center one with reverse magnetic polarity form the other two. Then, with the correct wiring and switching, you can make them work as two humbuckers (neck & center or bridge & center) or three single coils.

[copperheadroads]

Welcome to Lindy Fralin Pickups: Fralin Bass Pickups - the Finest Guitar Pickups Available Today!
Guitar pickup makers - Pickupedia
go for a browse you can find quite a bit of info

[David Schwab]

If you like the way the four string pickup sounds, wind the same number of turns on the five string pickup. They are just longer than 4 string pickups, so you don't have to do anything special.

[David King]

In my opinion the 5000 turns might be a bit thin sounding, better for guitar-like tones.
If you want something fuller sounding I'd shoot for 8500-9500 turns. You might run out of space on your bobbins before you get there and so you can stop and try. If you want more turns you can use longer magnets, thinner forbon, thinner wire or larger bobbins.

[FatStrings]

Thanks for the advice all! I'm winding the the four pole pups now. I'll let you know how it goes.

[FatStrings]

So... all went well. I wound the 4 string pups to 8500 turns which ended up being almost exactly 6k. They do sound a little bright, but if I roll the tone knob back just a little they sound fantastic! Very Rickenbacker-ish. I was really digging the sound while playing a couple Beatles bass parts

I also wound the (3) 5 string pups. After hearing the 4 stringers, I decided to over wind a bit. 9000-9300 turns and from 7.8k -8.4k. It'll be a while before I build the bass to test these out, so I'll have to wait

Thanks very much for your help in this thread and from all the others I've read here!!

Here's a few pics for the curious.

[FatStrings]

Just thought of another question. If you look at the 5 string pup pic I just posted, the top two are wound CW and will have south up magnet orientation. The other pup (will end up being the middle pup) was wound CCW and will have north up mags.

I soldered all pups with black wire at the start of the coil and white at the end. Is this correct for RWRP ? or will I have to reverse which way I solder in the middle pup?

Thanks again.
-Pat

[David King]

Pat,
Those are looking very cleanly done. It's hard to say for sure until you try them out but it seems like you have it right. Some strat PU winder might come along and say for sure. I, for one, never worry because no matter how much I think it through I end up getting it wrong about 60% of the time.

[FatStrings]

Pat,
Those are looking very cleanly done. It's hard to say for sure until you try them out but it seems like you have it right. Some strat PU winder might come along and say for sure. I, for one, never worry because no matter how much I think it through I end up getting it wrong about 60% of the time.

Thanks David
Yes, I suppose I'll just try it and if it sounds too thin I'll reverse the middle pup wires, no biggie. Funny though, I've read several articles on the RWRP subject and I think I just get more confused, lol.

[RedHouse]

I think you're on your way to some good pickups.

[FatStrings]

Thanks Brad!

Hey that's a great website you have there.