Originally posted by bbsailor
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In response to your questions:
1. The problem regarding soundholes is that I have some guitars without them, so this pickup will have to be thin enough to fit between the strings and the top.
2. String width at end of fingerboard = 50mm
3. String ht = 12mm, down to 9mm when using the higher frets.
4. I am using Daddario gypsy strings which have silver plated copper windings, gauges from 10 to 44 thou.
5. Not much left except a roll of 44ga which I have had no luck with!
6. No grounding on acoustic guitars generally. Could be done however, since these all have metal tailpieces.
7. Yes, in fact that is how I will have to get my wire in future, having exhausted the supply in town here.
To add some more experimental results to this, today I wound 2 split coil pickups with 44 ga wire, with mixed results, generally poor. The first pickup had 135 windings per coil, the second had 500. I used plastic for the plates between which I glued the magnets.
The first one was definitely an improvement regarding hum cancelling, compared to the previous single coils, but it was very low output. I used the same 10mm x 3mm ceramic magnets from a dollar store, one set of 3 for the 456 and one set for the 123 strings, reversed windings, and opposite polarity.
The second try was not so good, and I couldn't get a good DC resistance reading, although the pickup actually produced a signal. I though I might have it wired out of phase but even switching the coil ends did nothing to improve the signal.
I suspect that heavier wire is the way to go here, the question is what gauge next? Also, would more powerful magnets improve the signal? These little ceramic magnets seem about as strong as an alnico bar magnet, judging by how well they stick to things.
Cheers,
Don Nathan
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