questions about pickups and magnets

[big_teee]

another question,
i have shopped out sheets of nickel-silver [german silver] online, its a fair bit cheaper than buying precut baseplates.
the standard baseplates are aprox .03" thick.
i understand that the more metal in the h.b., the less bright it becomes.
not that i want an overly bright pickup, but what is the thinnest nickel-silver [or any other material for that matter] i can effectively use for a baseplate before it stops serving its purpose well? i have heard of winders using a thinner b.p.?

I use these here.
Guitar Pickup Parts, Humbucker Baseplate, 50mm
I think you have to be in the states to get them.
They have a medium length leg.
I have had good luck with them.
B_T

[beinz]

thanks, good to know. if i do covers, it will be plastic. just trying to see how thin i can buy, thinner = cheaper, but still have it act well as a baseplate, if it doenst effect the tone much, even better...

[copperheadroads]

If you are still planning on using those Mojo covers with the legs you could buy nickel sheet & make a bottom to fit in your cover (kind of like a p-90) & where it don't need to be so rigid ,Its only holding everything in a cover ,keep in mind you will have to attach your bobbins to the cover with wax or glue or something

[big_teee]

If you are still planning on using those Mojo covers with the legs you could buy nickel sheet & make a bottom to fit in your cover (kind of like a p-90) & where it don't need to be so rigid ,Its only holding everything in a cover ,keep in mind you will have to attach your bobbins to the cover with wax or glue or something

Hey Copper:
That's why most of Us got our start with a Stew Mac Kit.
Fairly easy to build.
You can perfect a lot of the process, test and try different wire, magnets, & etc.
Terry

[copperheadroads]

I do certainly agree with that Terry

[beinz]

so, my copper wire just came in the mail. not happy with ups, shipping was ridiculous, but thats another story. got a 1.7lbs spool of awg43 spn from bae. got a pretty good price on it until ups destroyed it with shipping and brokerage, ugh! anyways, wire looks good except for a small ding on the outer layer, ill try to post a pic later today. is this common? also,
is this spn insulation solderable, or am i going to have to learn the painful art of sanding down a hairs-width [or less] of insulation? aside from stupid ups, looking forward to familiarizing myself with the use of copper wire. how much trouble am i going to have winding with 1.7lbs of wire. not sure on total weight, package said 3lbs, so spool is likely around 1 lbs?
is this going to be too heavy and snap the wire? any suggestions?

[big_teee]

so, my copper wire just came in the mail. not happy with ups, shipping was ridiculous, but thats another story. got a 1.7lbs spool of awg43 spn from bae. got a pretty good price on it until ups destroyed it with shipping and brokerage, ugh! anyways, wire looks good except for a small ding on the outer layer, ill try to post a pic later today. is this common? also,
is this spn insulation solderable, or am i going to have to learn the painful art of sanding down a hairs-width [or less] of insulation? aside from stupid ups, looking forward to familiarizing myself with the use of copper wire. how much trouble am i going to have winding with 1.7lbs of wire. not sure on total weight, package said 3lbs, so spool is likely around 1 lbs?
is this going to be too heavy and snap the wire? any suggestions?

You will want to feed the wire off the end of the roll.
Some guys set it on the floor, I put it behind me on a stand I made.
Take a look at this.
It tells a lot about the process.
STEWMAC.COM : Instructions for Schatten Pickup Winder
What color is the wire?
The most common color for SPN is red.
Terry

[beinz]

yes, it is red. i have read about this method of feeding the wire, just wasnt sure how heavy is too heavy? i'll make sure to check the spool for any rough snag spots, likely set it on the floor. is the insulation solderable?
im guessing ill have to unwind wire to get past the ding?

[David Schwab]

so, my copper wire just came in the mail. not happy with ups, shipping was ridiculous, but thats another story. got a 1.7lbs spool of awg43 spn from bae. got a pretty good price on it until ups destroyed it with shipping and brokerage, ugh! anyways, wire looks good except for a small ding on the outer layer, ill try to post a pic later today. is this common? also,
is this spn insulation solderable, or am i going to have to learn the painful art of sanding down a hairs-width [or less] of insulation? aside from stupid ups, looking forward to familiarizing myself with the use of copper wire. how much trouble am i going to have winding with 1.7lbs of wire. not sure on total weight, package said 3lbs, so spool is likely around 1 lbs?
is this going to be too heavy and snap the wire? any suggestions?

I get most of my wire from BAE. I just got one today. Lately they put the roll in a small box, and then stick that in a larger box filled with packing peanuts. Sometimes you see a ding on the outside of the wire, but that's fine.

You don't need to sand the insulation. Just solder it. What I do is tin the lead, and then wrap the magnet wire around the tinned end about dozen or so times, and then solder that, holding the tip of the iron on it until the lead's insulation starts to look soft. I set my solving station to 750°, but I have accidentally used it down around 300° and that also worked fine. But the hotter the better. I do this all day long, so there is really no need to sand off the insulation. As long as you heated up the magnet wire enough the insulation burns right off.

You won't have any trouble winding with that spool of wire. Place the spool on the floor in front of the winder, and let it feed off the top. My spool is marked "1.67" and weighs 1.14 lb. Not sure how they weigh these.

[big_teee]

What David said about soldering and all is spot on.
when I solder the wire on the lead wire, when the solder makes a puddle around the wire you know it is soldered correctly.
Good luck, and have fun.
Let us know what you come up with.
Later,
Terry

[copperheadroads]

so, my copper wire just came in the mail. not happy with ups, shipping was ridiculous,

Ups loves to Rape Canadians for anything coming across the border
I always ask if a seller will ship USPS & BAE will shipped using USPS

[beinz]

thanks for the help david. solderable insulation is a big help, especially for me, a noob! one less thing to fight with.
yeah, not sure how they come up with those numbers?... so using "dinged" wire wont hurt anything? it wasnt too bad, you can catch it in a certain light...

[big_teee]

Ups loves to Rape Canadians for anything coming across the border
I always ask if a seller will ship USPS & BAE will shipped using USPS

UPS likes to tear things up for us state-side also.(What Can Brown TearUp for You!)
I use USPS, and Fed-Ex whenever possible.
T

[beinz]

for sure, i bought off of ebay, and it was the only shipping option available. in the future i will contact bae directly to ask for usps, i have had good experience with them so far.