Newbie with possible parts sources

[Possum]

sheesh part two...

I just find it kinda annoying that you just don't use common sense with your parts. The holes are too small, drill them out larger, how big of an intellectual jump is that? Injection molded stuff shrinks when it cools so those holes aren't drilled they are cast so of course they're not all going to be equal size because shrinkage doesn't happen equally all over the product. On P90s the keeper holes are too small to fit a correct size screw to mount the base plate, so of course I drill it out, otherwise you tear your hands up forcing a screw into metal that has no clearance. I think all this talk about tapping is a waste of time, all you do is drill slightly smaller than the screw and then drive the screw in which threads the plastic as it goes in, pretty easy. I ordred a 5-40 tap from McMaster and 5-40 screws fit way too loose if I use it, driving the screws into a drilled hole makes the threads when they go in so they fit nice and snug. My P90 bobbins are vintage correct but they also don't have a hole to run leads from the coil to the outside of the bobbin, so why complain about stuff like that, drill a hole and be done with it :-) If I was running a pickup school the first thing I would do is make everyone make pickups from scratch, no premade parts, this forces you to think about what you're doing and how to invent things you need. I use alot of SM tele and strat flat work and even this stuff I work over real good before I use it, its not ready out of the box, none of this stuff is.

[David Schwab]

If I was running a pickup school the first thing I would do is make everyone make pickups from scratch, no premade parts, this forces you to think about what you're doing and how to invent things you need.

Preach it brother Dave! I wish I could buy some parts for the pickups I'm making. I have to make every part myself. Boy that really does make you think and rethink how to do things. I came up with some jigs to cut slots in the bobbins, and then I didn't like it and had to think of another idea... things sort of evolve after a while, if you let them.

Eventually I'm going to have parts made... but that's a long way off.

Everyone complaining about available parts... try doing it this way!

(they aren't pretty, but that's OK... no one will see them. )

[NightWinder]

IS this directed toward someone.....or generally speaking? Kinda like being streetsmart, or book smart. Both can be a deadly combo.

[madialex]

On second thought Zamm, just dont offer any parts at all, save your money. Obviously a few people here are smarter than the rest of us and can make their own parts so they dont need anything at all, and the rest of us are too dumb or dont have enough common sense to figure it out.

I know how to drill the holes out for gods sake and I am not a dumbass. I was just stating why the hell cant someone make some parts that are end user ready without having to drill this, shave that, sand this, enlarge or reshape this and that. I didnt ask for the belittle treatment nor did I derserve it. The comments of a few ass's here fuck it up for everyone. Did you ever think not everyone can be as smart as some of you so called experts here. No wonder the same old shit gets rehashed here because of posts like this one where a few decide to belittle someone because they dont seem to be as smart as they are. Why would someone who needs to know something even ask a question here with treatment like that. Good luck with this place, if I want to be treated like an idiot I can go to Don Mares site.

[NightWinder]

base pickups i presume. Is that 1/8 in steel? That is a niffty alternative. BAse stuff is hard to come by. Is there even anyone that makes bobbins and plates for pickups, or is it strictly DIY? I bet they sound good. Do you have a standard block(same spacing you would normally find in a base bobbin) for the bottom and top, or custom spacing dependant on the job?

[David King]

Medialex, I don't want to say you are overreacting here because you are the only one who can judge that. I also don't think anyone meant any harm by you personally. I try to ask a question about who wants a new mold and how many parts they are willing to buy and these guys who have the patience to mess with the crappy parts tell us they don't need a new mold so I guess that means there isn't enough interest to make one pay for itself in a reasonable period of time. If I were a pickup maker I'd make my own mold and tell the beginners to get lost too. Everyone else here is looking for a good quality part but apparently they are too shy to speak up so I guess that means they aren't that interested?

[Joe Gwinn]

BTW, if your baseplates have a clearance hole for the screw rather than a tapped hole, you're going to need some sort of screw thread in the bobbin. Simple. How you cut it is up to you but using a tap is the conventional method. If the screw fit is loose just rub some wax over the thread.

And when the wax smears out, the screw will again be loose. One can rewax, but why impose this on customers?

One standard approach is to tap small, for an interference fit. One can buy such taps, but the amount of interference they yield is predicated upon metal, not plastic.

As regards using a reamer in a drill press...overkill.

Well, you can put the reamer in a handheld drillmotor, but a drill press (even a crappy one) is going to be faster overall because alignment is assured without fiddling, and so one simply holds the bobbin in one hand and operates the handle with the other. If the bobbin tends to spin out of the hand I would make a fixture of maple having a set of deep bobbin-shaped holes in one face, so one can put the bobbins in the holes and slide the whole affair around on the drill press table doing one hole after another.

Don't forget the tap-water coolant.

[David Schwab]

base pickups i presume. Is that 1/8 in steel? That is a niffty alternative. BAse stuff is hard to come by. Is there even anyone that makes bobbins and plates for pickups, or is it strictly DIY? I bet they sound good. Do you have a standard block(same spacing you would normally find in a base bobbin) for the bottom and top, or custom spacing dependant on the job?

Yes, those are bobbins for bass pickups. That is 1/8 steel. The first couple of prototypes I made had pole pieces, kind of like a Jazz Bass pickup. But I like blades better... I think they sound smoother, and the string spacing on basses is all over the place. These fit into an EMG-40 size case.

There's no base plate or anything like that... they just fit in the cover.

For Fender style P and J pickups, parts are pretty easy to get. But for soap bars I've only seen two places that had bobbins... one is Guitar Jones, but just as with the covers, they are special order. And then I don't know the dimensions and stuff, so I figured I'd just make them myself. Eventually I'll use something like forbon or even single sided copper clad PCB, but for now the perf board is easy to work with... I just score it and snap it to size. And the holes allow the epoxy to seep through.

Next I have to make a mold to cast the entire pickup... I'll tell you, the winding is the easy part!

[Spence]

"And when the wax smears out, the screw will again be loose. One can rewax, but why impose this on customers?"

What? Have you actually tried it or are you just being argumentative for the sake of it? I use this method all the time; never had a complaint. generally don't need to put wax in with the screw either, and when I have it hasn't worked itself out.

Are you actually making and selling pickups now Joe?

[David King]

I don't mean to be argumentative either but with the types of plastic I see in bobbins the tap always seems to stretch the hole rather than cut it so the screws always go in tight. A dull tap is the surest way to a tight fit.

[SkinnyWire]

Indeed, pretty much any part seems to need some measure of TLC or tweaking. Very few exceptions. I too have chosen to simply work with them and do what's necessary to get the job done. With the GJ bobbins, there are slight differences in hole diameter - most problematic with their metric screws which while they don't require tapping can be quite loose in some of the holes. I used to dab super glue in each hole to tighten things up (gotta be careful - the fumes can make fingerprints permanent and cause other damage to the flatwork). A good 5-40 is well large enough to fit tightly, but mauling can be pretty bad if you self tap with them especially with the black bobbins (why are they harder than white or cream)?

I have a nice sharp 5-40 tap, and have found that the screws are a bit loose for my taste when driving it all the way through so I tap down about 1/2 to 2/3 and leave the last bit to add some grip on the screw. This allows for decent centering as you can finger start the screws and decent grip by self-tapping the last bit of the hole. YMMV. Could be the type of tap I have, so maybe one of the machinist types can recommend the proper tap for a tighter fit (grades or whatever they go by in terms of fit)

Other than covers, the only parts I think I don't have to mess with are (were?) those awesome 1/4" frames from GJ that seem on eternal backorder and Andrews keepers. Stuff that works "out of the box" would be fantastic, but ...

[Joe Gwinn]

"And when the wax smears out, the screw will again be loose. One can rewax, but why impose this on customers?"

What? Have you actually tried it or are you just being argumentative for the sake of it?

I've drilled and tapped many things, and I know a few things about machinery. Threads into plastic where the screw cannot be tightened down against something are going to be loose. The standard approach to this is some kind of interference fit, so the hole elastically pinches the screw, so it cannot rattle around.

I use this method all the time; never had a complaint. generally don't need to put wax in with the screw either, and when I have it hasn't worked itself out.

Reading the other posts, lots of people find the tapped hole to be too loose. I'm glad you haven't yet been bitten.

Are you actually making and selling pickups now Joe?

No, but what has that to do with it? Screw in hole isn't rocket science, and isn't limited to pickups either.

[NightWinder]

YMMV, your material may vary/ I use the same methods. I also have noticed the black bobbins are harder. Forcing the screw through the white ones will creat a hairline split down the center. Ther are weakest at this point for some reason?

[Spence]

Screw in a hole isn't rocket science. But I wasn't asking you about rocket science; I asked you if you were making pickups.

The screw holes in every humbucker baseplate I've been able to purchase are not quite in line with the bobbin holes. These have the effect of keeping the screw tight anyway. So tap the bobbins and stop your fussing.

[corduroyew]

I don't know about you guys, but I'm kinda glad things don't fit together just right. Too much emphasis is placed on the name already. We need the minor differences in the way we put these things together to help us to look and sound different from each other, or more importantly, the ebay kit winders.