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Hi All!
It's been a while since I have posted, as I am only making pickups for a few friends and myself these days. I thought I'd share this:
Factors Affecting Inductance : Inductors - Electronics Textbook
I have been on something of a quest to understand inductance. I had read here somewhere that the insulation on the wire we use has some inductance, in descending order Poly, enamel, and formvar. This spurred on a great deal of thought as to how modifying inductance might change tone. In short, the more inductance, the "fatter" or fuller the sound, and metals that are magnetically conducive increase the inductivity of a coil.
This explains a ton about why a Dearmond/Kay pickup with a weak ferrite magnet and a steel base plate sounds any good at all, or why an "air" coil, like a Burns, can generate any volume.
Further the width of a coil also effects inductance. A simple illustration is how a Jazzmaster or P-90 pickup, although single coil, sounds big like a humbucker, but a strat sized coil wound like a P-90 still sounds mostly like a strat ( some increased inductance with screws and keeper bars.)
With the big boys listing so many pickups in the 14 to 16 k range, I was asking myself, "What differentiates these tonally when the readings are not so different?" This is especially true of the Dimarzio pickups. The key there is the Patent number. Dimarzio uses it's virtual vintage on many pickups, and thus achieve lower output, big sounding pickups that clean up pretty well.
There are many ways to "add some metal" without using dimarzio's techniques, and get that bigger tone, especially if you are fabricating some parts anyway.
I did have one question for anyone who might have tried increasing inductance by adding steel to the core: Does the steel have to touch the magnet, or does its proximity to the magnetic field suffice?
Just wanted to contribute to the place that helped me so much in the past. This is by no means comprehensive, but just a pointer. Any corrections or expansions on content welcome. Peace!
Shannon
It's been a while since I have posted, as I am only making pickups for a few friends and myself these days. I thought I'd share this:
Factors Affecting Inductance : Inductors - Electronics Textbook
I have been on something of a quest to understand inductance. I had read here somewhere that the insulation on the wire we use has some inductance, in descending order Poly, enamel, and formvar. This spurred on a great deal of thought as to how modifying inductance might change tone. In short, the more inductance, the "fatter" or fuller the sound, and metals that are magnetically conducive increase the inductivity of a coil.
This explains a ton about why a Dearmond/Kay pickup with a weak ferrite magnet and a steel base plate sounds any good at all, or why an "air" coil, like a Burns, can generate any volume.
Further the width of a coil also effects inductance. A simple illustration is how a Jazzmaster or P-90 pickup, although single coil, sounds big like a humbucker, but a strat sized coil wound like a P-90 still sounds mostly like a strat ( some increased inductance with screws and keeper bars.)
With the big boys listing so many pickups in the 14 to 16 k range, I was asking myself, "What differentiates these tonally when the readings are not so different?" This is especially true of the Dimarzio pickups. The key there is the Patent number. Dimarzio uses it's virtual vintage on many pickups, and thus achieve lower output, big sounding pickups that clean up pretty well.
There are many ways to "add some metal" without using dimarzio's techniques, and get that bigger tone, especially if you are fabricating some parts anyway.
I did have one question for anyone who might have tried increasing inductance by adding steel to the core: Does the steel have to touch the magnet, or does its proximity to the magnetic field suffice?
Just wanted to contribute to the place that helped me so much in the past. This is by no means comprehensive, but just a pointer. Any corrections or expansions on content welcome. Peace!
Shannon
I'm considering adding mild steel rods between the magnets on rod humbuckers as well, but they would not touch any magnets.
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