first wind - a few questions

[SonnyW]

Thanks Sonny & Cru. Should be ready to start soon. I'm going to use a sewing machine as a winder just as soon as I figure how to clamp a bobbin on the end. Shouldn't be too hard.

Incidentally Louth do have 42awg etc but yeah some pages on their web site rather confusingly say they don't...!

I used a sewing machine for years, still do sometimes, just use double sticky tape. I have found it handy to put the tape on, then use a marker pen to make a mark for the center before sticking the bobbin on.

[mcgruff]

Double sticky tape - didn't think of that. That's a nice simple solution

[Branndon77]

Coil Estimator Elaboration

Just wondering if you could elaborate on the bottom table labeled "Windings by Fill Factor"? Your help would be appreciated..Thanks

[big_teee]

Just wondering if you could elaborate on the bottom table labeled "Windings by Fill Factor"? Your help would be appreciated..Thanks

Here lets analyze this one.
Ask away?

[Branndon77]

Lets start with the top section.....How are the percentages based and what exactly does it mean?....Is it in relation to tension and how loose the coil is wound?

[big_teee]

Lets start with the top section.....How are the percentages based and what exactly does it mean?....Is it in relation to tension and how loose the coil is wound?

The top line is how often you go back and forth.
With more scatter you have more layers with less turns per layers.(TPL)
Ranging from 62% to 100% . 62% would be less TPL, and 100% would be more TPL.
So the more you scatter the less wire you can get on a given bobbin size or wind area.
T

[Branndon77]

Thanks I appreciate the response...

[big_teee]

Thanks I appreciate the response...

Sure, glad to help.
The estimator is just a rough guide to tell what is in and out of bounds for a given Spec, and bobbin size.
The Red numbers on the Layers Line, are the layers required to meet that DCR spec, with that scatter percentage.
They are red because they won't fit on the bobbin, at that rate.
Most hand winders try to scatter less, and to get close to the 90% range.
If you hand wind you will have some scatter, even if you try not to.
In your experimenting with the estimator, be sure and try different pickup bobbin types, and different DCR.
Good Luck,
T

[mcgruff]

Well I just finished my first humbucker and eagerly installed it in my guitar... dead as a dodo

However, it was just the screw coil which wasn't working. The slug coil is fine and wow! It sounds great with bags of bite and attack compared to the old mud-and-cotton-wool Epiphone 57CHG I had. That's exactly what I was looking for. OK it's going to sound different connected to another coil but I definitely feel like I've taken a big leap forward. No doubt I've got lots of experimenting to do and some failures to expect along the way but that's it: I'm officially hooked.

Lessons learned so far...

(1) don't break the wire

(2) don't break the wire

It's actually not hard to avoid that if you're careful. My biggest problem was getting some kind of side-to-side limiter thing set up for my sewing machine winder. I ended up using two bottles carefully positioned side by side. It seems to be crucial to get the gap just right otherwise you can end up with the odd stray turn going under the bobbin. That's a pain in the butt if you don't notice for another thousand turns because in effect it means you've got a break buried in the coil. The strand of wire gets pulled tight under the bobbin onto the sticky tape and if it isn't broken yet it probably will be by the time you've finished trying to fish it out.

(3) Don't forget to zero the counter before starting a new coil. Doh!

(4) A bicycle computer (ie speedometer) makes a great counter. First I counted out 200 turns of the wheel on the bike and then read off the mileage. From that you can calculate your target turn counts / mileages.

All the soldering is pretty straightforward and overall this is something I'd recommend to anyone as a fairly easy skill to learn. Of course I've still got lots to learn, but so far it all seems very do-able.

A question: sometimes the wire gets a bit of kink in it which, when you pull the wire out straight, leaves a kind of sharp little lump behind. I guess you should dump that section of wire, in case the insulation has broken down?

[kayakerca]

My biggest problem was getting some kind of side-to-side limiter thing set up for my sewing machine winder. I ended up using two bottles carefully positioned side by side. It seems to be crucial to get the gap just right otherwise you can end up with the odd stray turn going under the bobbin. That's a pain in the butt if you don't notice for another thousand turns because in effect it means you've got a break buried in the coil. The strand of wire gets pulled tight under the bobbin onto the sticky tape and if it isn't broken yet it probably will be by the time you've finished trying to fish it out.

The old guy in this video seems to have no problem winding with no resting bar and no guides, with the pickup just mounted on a pair of square edged rectangular bars.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIux...utu.be&t=6m10s

I guess maybe he's done one or two in his day.

Sounds like you are moving along just fine. I'm just a old guy new to winding and I know if I tried winding "freestyle", my wind would look like a pack of Chinese noodles just after you throw them in the pot of boiling water.

[SonnyW]

The old guy in this video seems to have no problem winding with no resting bar and no guides, with the pickup just mounted on a pair of square edged rectangular bars.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIux...utu.be&t=6m10s

I guess maybe he's done one or two in his day.

Sounds like you are moving along just fine. I'm just a old guy new to winding and I know if I tried winding "freestyle", my wind would look like a pack of Chinese noodles just after you throw them in the pot of boiling water.

Listen carefully to what he says in the video, the key is in the lighting. If you arrange bright enough lighting so that it illuminates both the spinning bobbin and a white surface behind it, then it becomes much easier to see where the wire is filling the bobbin and where the edges are. Try it. Concentrate on the top edge of the bobbin and where the wire is going onto it. There is something kind of like a strobe effect going on. You might not need stops with a little practice. Also google up videos of other famous winders at work such as Abigail Ybarra. They do it the same way, and arrange their lighting the same way. Just my opinon.

[big_teee]

Listen carefully to what he says in the video, the key is in the lighting. If you arrange bright enough lighting so that it illuminates both the spinning bobbin and a white surface behind it, then it becomes much easier to see where the wire is filling the bobbin and where the edges are. Try it. Concentrate on the top edge of the bobbin and where the wire is going onto it. There is something kind of like a strobe effect going on. You might not need stops with a little practice. Also google up videos of other famous winders at work such as Abigail Ybarra. They do it the same way, and arrange their lighting the same way. Just my opinon.

I've experimented with different color backgrounds and with light colored wire I like black the best.
The natural colored wire just shines against the black background.
Just another option, and food for thought.
T

[mcgruff]

That's something I need to improve on. While I was winding, the bobbin was just a blur and I could barely see the wire.

[kayakerca]

Interesting little side bar on the Seymour Duncan video snip. If you watch the counter and his traversing speed, he is laying down about 30 tpl on that Antiquity.

[mcgruff]

I rewound my humbucker screw coil and... success! I've now got a working bridge humbucker which sounds really nice. Much more responsive and musical. I didn't expect that on my first attempt.

Now for the neck. I've got some 42awg double-coated wire and an A3 magnet which I've heard is "very transparent, low-output and clean" so I thought that might be a good choice for a neck pickup. Any tips to get the best out of that? Should I just stick with the usual 5,000 turns per coil?