New to site and have a question!

[guitar4life]

First I would like to say hello! I have been following this forum for several years and really enjoy it. I have also learned a ton! I finally decided to registrar because I have a question I'm hoping someone can help me with. I have been trying to make a pickup for my father like the cream T mash or the guerrilla warfare tactical tele. I just love the look and sound of these pickups and think my father would love a pickup like that (especially hand made by me!) in the bridge of his partscaster with a p90 in the neck. My father is a huge Billy Gibbons fan! I just cant seem to figure out how they are getting the tones they get from them. They both are using tele neck bobbins with both 43 and 42 wire for the mash and 44 and 42 for the tactical tele. My question is how many turns do you think they are using and are they doing one bobbin with one wire size or combining the two wire sizes on each bobbin? I know nobody gives up trade secrets but maybe somebody could give me some advice on how to wind two tele neck pickups together to get a humbucker sound. I added the links to the pickups below. Thank you in advance!

Cream T Pickups - Handmade in the woods of Norway

Guerrilla Warfare Pickups Introduces the Tactical Tele Pickup | Premier Guitar

[Jazz P Bass]

Here is a good read on the 'specs' of the Pearly Gates made by Seymore Duncan.

GUITARISM: Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates (SH-PG1) Review

maybe something will leap out.

[guitar4life]

Thanks Jazz P Bass, I think my problem is getting a thicker hotter sound out of the two tele neck pickups. I tried winding one bobbin with 43awg 6600 turns and the other bobbin with 42 awg 6500 turns. It doesn't sound bad but it isn't hot enough I guess. Should I try 44 awg on one of the bobbins or maybe both? I guess the problem trying to get a humbucker sound with the tele neck pickups wired up as a humbucker is the size of the bobbins maybe the magnets? I am using alnico 5 pole pieces, one bobbin north and one bobbin south orientation and then wiring them up just like you would a regular humbucker. Do you think maybe they are adding a bar magnet to their pickups also?

[Jazz P Bass]

Do you think maybe they are adding a bar magnet to their pickups also?

You got me on that one,

When it comes to fine tuning, it's like "Black magic" to me.

Note: I am not a pickup winder. Simply trying to help.

[kmensik]

That is a lot of wire you have on them. Should be vey powerfull. You have them wired in series, in phase. You charged A5 the rods full. Now what is left? The baseplate, the covers, internal shorts. Make sure the baseplate is not steel, maybe try just a strip of steel between the poles, to shape the field like a HB with a bar magnet. Try the pickup without covers, then get some thin nickel-silver ones. What are the DC resistances of the coils? Did you use tele bobbins with exposed magnets or with plastic around them? Try resistance from coil start to each of the poles.

[big_teee]

Here's a thread on making humbuckers with rod Magnets.
You might get some ideas from it!
http://music-electronics-forum.com/t40371/
T

[guitar4life]

Thanks everybody, kmensik I'm using a nickel silver base plate with Nicole silver tele neck covers. The dc readings are 7.3 on the 43awg bobbin and 4.4 on the 42awg bobbin combined about 11.5 dc. I have them wired with single conductor wire. I'm wondering if I should wind them both with 44 awg to make them more powerful. I know the maker of the cream t mash says that each bobbin is wound half with 43 awg and then 42 awg is soldered to the 43 to finish winding the bobbin. I don't understand how that would work, perhaps someone could break it down for me. It doesn't seem to make since from a electronics standpoint. Is it just marketing hype? And thanks Big Teee for the link to your post. It was very helpful. I never thought it would be this difficult to build a humbucker out of tele neck pickups and have it sound decent in conjunction with a P90 neck pickup! Thanks again everybody!

[big_teee]

More info might help?
How your bobbins are made, what the height is between the flats?
Winding both coils the same direction, or RWRP?
Are you using 4 wire hookup cable?
Check your phasing, and make sure you're not making the pickup out of phase.
On a new complicated pickup I always use 4 wire, gives you all options to find phasing problems.
Another issue with tele bobbins for a bridge parts caster, would be string spacing.
The tele neck bobbins would be a bit narrow for a strat or tele bridge pickup IME.
T
**More questions.
Are the magnets fully charged, you lose some strength through the covers?
Are the pickups seated all the way in the cover?
I suggest perfecting the pickup without the covers until you get it all worked out.
Pictures of the pickup without covers might help.
I would try making each bobbin with full coils of 42, IMO 44 will just be weaker and thinner sounding.
YMMV

[copperheadroads]

I remember seeing a video with the creator of Cream T talking about his pickups & he starts winding with 43 gauge wire & stops & uses 42 gauge wire .
here it is .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ee0H5YWxvhw

[guitar4life]

Big Teee, the bobbins I'm using are mojo tele neck bobbins. Both coils are wound the same way CCW. They are wound just like making a set of normal Humbuckers and Wired with a single conductor wire. I always follow the stew Mac wiring instructions. The magnets are fully charged alnico 5s. The bobbins are connected with screws to the base plate and wax potted. The pickup doesn't sound awful and doesn't have phasing issues it just doesn't have enough bite I guess. I guess I may try using 42 awg on both bobbins. The reason I was asking about the 43 and 44 for a bobbin or combined on the same bobbin with 42 awg being used on the other bobbin is because both of the examples of this pickup from two different manufactures say that's what their using like copperheadroads posted above in that link. And both of those pickups have a great sound. Thank you for helping with all my questions!

[big_teee]

I hear what you're saying!
However P/U Builders don't always tell the whole story, when it comes to advertising!
Start experimenting, and wind a lb. or so of wire until you find what you like.
With .500" between the flats, you will have no trouble getting 7800 turns or so of .00268" sized 42 on a bobbin.
I would try that before I did the multi-gauge, and see what that sounds like.
That should give you around 5.6k per bobbin, and that should not sound weak.
GL,
T