AWG42 versus AWG43

[erikbojerik]

Warning....noob question coming...

At the same number of turns, what's the difference in tone (or resonant frequency if you prefer), output and inductance when winding with AWG43 versus AWG42.

I would expect 43 to have a higher DCR (higher resistance per km compared with 42) but other than that...

[Mike Sulzer]

Warning....noob question coming...

At the same number of turns, what's the difference in tone (or resonant frequency if you prefer), output and inductance when winding with AWG43 versus AWG42.

I would expect 43 to have a higher DCR (higher resistance per km compared with 42) but other than that...

Hi Erik,

I meant to find you at AGU, but I got distracted. The higher DC resistance can slightly broaden the resonant peak. Whether this is significant or not depends on how the pickup is loaded, that is, the value of the volume pot, etc. I think #42 vs. #43 would only be a big effect if you connected the pickup directly into a high impedance preamp without the vol. pot; that is eliminated all the loading other than the wire resistance. It might seem that a resistor across the pickup would have a very different effect than series resistance, but both tend to dissipate the energy stored in the circuit (L and C), and you can find an equivalence between the two. Well, I forget how to do that at the moment.

There are other small effects, too. The thinner wire means that the coil does not have the same dimensions. This effects the inductance a bit. The capacitance of the coil, due to coupling between the windings, changes a bit too.

[David Schwab]

I recently made two identical bass bridge position pickups, except one was wound with 42, and the other with 43. Same number of turns, magnet, etc.

The pickup wound with 42 had a rounder open tone, while the one with 43 was tighter with more midrange burp.

I commonly use 43 for the bridge and 42 for the neck.

[bbsailor]

I recently made two identical bass bridge position pickups, except one was wound with 42, and the other with 43. Same number of turns, magnet, etc.

The pickup wound with 42 had a rounder open tone, while the one with 43 was tighter with more midrange burp.

I commonly use 43 for the bridge and 42 for the neck.

David,

I have read your posts about pickup tone with great interest. Bass tone clarity seems to be very sensitive to the coil resistance. This is why you notice a difference between AWG 42 and 43.

Pickup output level is determined more by the number of turns rather than the resistance as resistance is only an easy relative measurement while the tone is more determined by resistance.

The next time you go into Wal-Mart, go into the sewing section and pick up a package (package of 4) of Singer class 15 plastic sewing bobbins, part No. 30023, for about 79 cents.

The ID for a magnet is .25" diameter X .5" tall. The bobbin is 25/32" OD and 11/32" tall inside where the wire fits. The Inside diameter wall thickness is about 1/32" making the inside diameter about 5/16". This bobbin has about 1.5 times the available wire space compared to a guitar humbucking bobbin. This means that it will accept about 1.5 times the amount of coil turns than a HB guitar bobbin. This is to give you a relative Singer bobbin size for easy mental comparison.

When I compared the length of a single average turn on a bass bobbin with the strings spaced about .70" apart, the same amount of turns on the Singer sewing bobbin will have about 1/3 the resistance of a 4-string bass bobbin.

This means that you could use either more turns to make the single string coil more sensitive (higher output) or use a slightly heavier wire and have the same number of coil turns at a lower resistance with improved clarity.

If you need to space the coil centers of the Singer bobbins a little closer to match your string spacing, you can easily sand about 1/32" to 1/16" off by pushing the plastic bobbin on a .25" wood dowel placed in a drill and sand off some plastic.

With some K&J Neo magnets and some experimenting, you could come up with some inexpensive, interesting results.

With individual 100K mini pots you could have individual string level controls.

Joseph Rogowski

[David Schwab]

Joseph, I've actually made a few pickups with a coil for each string.

The first one used small coil assemblies that originally came from one of the Edison factory buildings they tore down in West Orange, NJ. My dad had gone through the place looking for interesting stuff... they were letting people take what ever stuff they wanted before it was blasted.

Each coil was about 100 Ohms from what I remember. I used one common ceramic bar magnet under them, and loaded 5 of them wired in series into a Jazz Bass cover. I used a FET preamp to boost the level up. It was an interesting pickup.

I've been planning on making some with the Singer bobbins.

Until recently all my bass pickups have been about 1.5K, and as low as 500 Ohms, but all using 42 or 43 AWG wire.

[erikbojerik]

Hey Mike, good to see you here! Yeah AGU was nuts, I had a poster instead of a talk but could hang around it for only an hour or so.

Staying with the original wire gauge question.....what's the thinnest wire you guys have been able to wind without driving yourself nuts breaking it?

[David Schwab]

Staying with the original wire gauge question.....what's the thinnest wire you guys have been able to wind without driving yourself nuts breaking it?

The thinnest wire I've used is 45, which was a bit tricky until I got the feel for handling it.

[soundmasterg]

I read that Rickenbacker once wound a pickup with 54 gauge!! I can't even imagine that....must have cost a fortune and been a total bitch to wind.

Greg

[GlennW]

I read that Rickenbacker once wound a pickup with 54 gauge!! I can't even imagine that....must have cost a fortune and been a total bitch to wind.

Greg

That might have been a typo...54 instead of 45. Just a hunch.

[soundmasterg]

Could be a typo....though it was in the Brosnac book in the Rickenbacker section.

Greg

[David Schwab]

Could be a typo....though it was in the Brosnac book in the Rickenbacker section.

Greg

I used to have that book, and I found a few things in there that were incorrect. I can't remember what they were at the moment though.