Humbuckers always Weak and Thin

[littlewyan]

I've just recently got back into pickup winding again, never had much success before and unfortunately I'm not now. I'm winding humbuckers, my standard is a Gibson Super 57 (Alnico 2, 5750winds, 8.8K) and every humbucker I wind sounds thin and weak in comparison. I've tried 5400 winds, 5600 winds, 40TPL, 60TPL, all with an alnico 2 long magnet but they all just sound weak. I'm at loss. When I compare to my Super 57 pickup the difference is night and day, so much more power and clarity. I'm not expecting to be the same of course, but my pickups are miles away. Any suggestions?

I'm using as much tension as I feel I can without snapping the wire. My pickups always read a bit low in my opinion, 5400 winds comes out at 8K and 5600 winds comes out at 8.3K. After winding I can push the wire in a little bit and I can stick my nail into the coil and move it about slightly, is that normal?
I've checked I'm wiring up correctly, in series and in phase. Inductance is fine, measured 5.124H 1Khz, 5.562H 100Hz for my last 5600 wind.

[Helmholtz]

Your inductance values look fine. The rest (DCR, TPL, winding tension) is rather insignificant.for overall sound and volume.
Are you sure the A2 magnets are fully charged?
What are you using for srews, slugs and keeper?

Not sure what is a Gibson Super 57. Do you mean Classic 57 instead?

[big_teee]

Check the magnets like suggested, and try again.
I would also question your wiring.
The turns sound fine for a bridge pickup, but too hot IMO for a neck pickup.
Make sure you are wiring in series.
In and out on the starts, and tie together the finish leads.
T

https://music-electronics-forum.com/...etch?id=979769

[littlewyan]

No it’s the Super 57, not very well known but essentially a super hot 57 Classic. 5750 turns, Alnico 2 long magnet.

The magnets come pre charged from Axesrus. Slugs and screws are 1018 I think, baseplate nickel and keeper is just down as steel.

I’ve checked the wiring and I’m wiring in series same as that Dimarzio diagram.

[Helmholtz]

For a test reverse the wires of one coil.

[John_H]

Humbucker wiring requires Hooking either the 'start' or 'finish' ends of the coils together. If you connect the 'finish' of one coil to the 'start' of the other, you'll have the symptoms you described.

[Helmholtz]

Wrong phase of one of the coils results in weak output, no hum-bucking and about 20% lowered PU inductance.

[littlewyan]

So I wind both coils the same way and attach end leads together. Wondering if the magnets I’m buying are fully charged, they are supposed to be pre charged and I’ve bought a few of them from the same place.

Speaking to someone on Facebook they say it should still sound close enough to my reference pickup, the Super 57.

[big_teee]

You need to give us some pictures, and show more of your process.
Do you put your start lead out the bottom, or both start and finish out the top.
Does this pickup have a cover on it?
The metal in covers, the thickness, the amount of chrome, or nickel effect tone.
Your at the point you need to do lots of experimenting.
It can be a hard task to make a pickup and duplicate something.
On bar magnets it can be challenging to get the edges the same strength as the middles.
Please give us more to go on?
T