Advice for a Noob

[syker]

Hello all,

Briefly, I have two guitar projects that I am finishing up both of which need pickups, I have one more project in mind, at that point I'll probably be done for a while (at least while the wallet recovers). One thing I like about guitar building is that by spending a little extra time I can make something that is higher quality than what I could normally afford. I would really like to wind the pups myself. Probably about eight or so, total.

I'm not worried about building a winder, I think that will be pretty straightforward. But the more I lurk on this forum, the more I realize how much I don't know. Is it realistic for a noob winder to achieve my goal of getting a better than typical pup? In other words, if I buy the kits from StewMac can I wind them up and get something better than a stock Fender or Gibson pup?

[black_labb]

from what ive heard yes, the problem lies with getting a certain sounds. I have heard that getting a better pup than a seymour duncan or so isnt too hard. i havent tested any of my pups yet as im waiting to finish my current project, so i dont know first hand.

[John_H]

from another noob

Being brand new to this I'm sure it'll take a while to hone my skills, but I anticipate results that should definatly exceed about anything that you could buy off of the shelf. For the time being, I'm just soaking up all the knowledge that my ageing grey matter can handle. It doesn't take long to figure out that there's a little more to it than just magnets, and wire. So far I'm only into this pickup winding science for about a hundred bucks. Thats cheap when you consider the cost of decent pups. The kits I bought from S/M are good quality. Don't be afraid to try them. I've got two glued up. If I have the time I'll wind my first couple this weekend. Yay

[Ruel]

I only started winding pickups sometime last year. Although I purchased a couple of StewMac humbucker kits, I haven't used any of them, saving them for later. What I did was to practice winding using some cheapo Chinese humbuckers. Unlike the StewMac kits with nickel silver base plates and fillister screws for adjustable poles, the Chinese pickups had brass base plates, magnetic bobbin screws and non-adjustable pole slugs.

I replaced the magnets with alnico 5s and rewound them. Much to my surprise, they sounded better, much, much better than my DiMarzios, Seymour Duncans and the pickups in my Ibanez guitar. The experience gave me enough confidence to accept rewinding jobs. I've had several satisfied customers, so far.

I am sure that with some patience and perseverance, you too, can achieve what you are aiming for. So go ahead and start winding. And have fun while doing it!