How many turns on a Strat Pickup

[texan]

I wound a strat pickup with 8200 winds using 42 AWG and was just barely able to get a cover over the pickup. Since I liked the sound of 8200 winds I wound one to 9000 winds, the pickup cover would not go over the winds. My winds were a bit loose, I am new to winding pickups. I am trying to find out how many winds will fit onto a strat pickup using 42 AWG, I dont want to waste any more wire. I am a guitar player interested in fine tuning my guitar sound. Any information would be appreciated.

[truetone]

Try getting more tension on the wire, that helped me

[Mark Hammer]

While it is not what one might call a "best practice", I've found that loose winds can be compacted/compressed down a bit using teflon plumber's tape. Since it has no adhesive, but just adheres via conforming to the wire itself, you can tug on it a bit without risking damage/tearing of the coil. As you add turns of the teflon tape, your tugging will pull the coil inwards, like wrapping a mummy.

Alternatively, potting the pickup - itself a recommended practice in general, and a highly recommended practice where wind tension is poor - can provide a circumstance where the outside of the coil can be gently pushed inwards towards the polepieces while the wax is soft, and will remain there once the wax has cooled. You can then try a bit of teflon tape over top of that.

The thing I like about the tape, besides the lack of adhesive, is that it provides a sort of smooth non-stick surface for the pickup cover to slide over. It's thin enough that you can put 10 turns of it on the coil to cover any exposed area without adding appreciably to the overall outside dimensions of the coil. Plus, it's cheap and widely available. I pay 50 cents a roll at my local Home Depot.

[mkat]

While it is not what one might call a "best practice", I've found that loose winds can be compacted/compressed down a bit using teflon plumber's tape. Since it has no adhesive, but just adheres via conforming to the wire itself, you can tug on it a bit without risking damage/tearing of the coil. As you add turns of the teflon tape, your tugging will pull the coil inwards, like wrapping a mummy.

Yep, it works really well. I used some teflon I had on hand on my last strat set. The bobbin was so full I couldn't get the cover on without risking damage to the wire. As you say, the cover fits smoothly after taping.

[texan]

Thanks for the tip. I was able to wire up a pickup that I thought would be too fragile to use.

[David Schwab]

Stock Strat pickups have 8000 turns. Use 43 gauge if you want to over wind it.

[chevalij]

At a request, I wound a bridge pickup last night to about 6.6k. It took about 8600 winds with no problem. I probably could have fit another 3-400 hundred. You probably need more tension on the wire.

[Mark Hammer]

Hi Jeff, Hope my respooled wire isn't causing you grief.

I can easily fit some 8000+ turns of #41 wire on a Strat coil and fit the cover over top...and that's thicker wire. Indeed, tension is a big part of the compactness of the coil, but "scatter" should not be overlooked either. One can generally fit more wire in the same physical space if the turns come as close to being parallel on each "layer" as possible. Whether that achieves the tone one desires is another matter, but if more wire for more output is the goal, then you need to lay out those turns neatly as well as tightly.

[nhall]

Turns Tension

Just chipping in here, but when winding strat coils I've found that a) if I wind is done too fast, the the wire goes on too loose (this then necessitates potting - which some feel kills tone!!), and b) if you pinch too hard (wire between guiding finger & thumb) the wire tension at the coil ends has a tendancy to force the flatwork up (at the ends) making for a rather banana shaped top peice of flatwork....this has happened to me a few times..esp. when winding whilst rather tired...and on Fralin bobbins that were (carefully) stripped for a rewind....not quite sure how to advise a newbie on how to avoid this, especially if you don't want to 'pot', but don't want too loose a coil to avoid feedback problems......maybe others can pick up this point and advise here!!??

[chevalij]

If you wind with a piece of folded felt between your fingers and the wire, it will be very hard to apply too much tension. I typically wind about 1300 rpm with no problems.

[madialex]

Hi Jeff, Hope my respooled wire isn't causing you grief.

I can easily fit some 8000+ turns of #41 wire on a Strat coil and fit the cover over top...and that's thicker wire. Indeed, tension is a big part of the compactness of the coil, but "scatter" should not be overlooked either. One can generally fit more wire in the same physical space if the turns come as close to being parallel on each "layer" as possible. Whether that achieves the tone one desires is another matter, but if more wire for more output is the goal, then you need to lay out those turns neatly as well as tightly.

Yup, too much scatter can actually get you a lot less winds on there as Mark stated, fine line between scatter and tension, too much or too little of either can be bad.

I think Wolfe said at some point that Duncan singles were wound tight and very tight scatter, hence more output and brighter.

Funny thing is, I wound a neck tele pickup last night with tight scatter, moderate tension and even with a distorto pedal it still sounds very vintage, true it has great output but still vintage toned. Go Figure.

[Ruel]

Yup, too much scatter can actually get you a lot less winds on there as Mark stated, fine line between scatter and tension, too much or too little of either can be bad.

I think Wolfe said at some point that Duncan singles were wound tight and very tight scatter, hence more output and brighter.

Funny thing is, I wound a neck tele pickup last night with tight scatter, moderate tension and even with a distorto pedal it still sounds very vintage, true it has great output but still vintage toned. Go Figure.

Well, it's got your mojo in it, even if you vary your winding pattern.