Fender Lapsteel pickuk Early 50s

[big_teee]

This pickup is for a 8 string lap steel.
The bottom half metal casting, has a built in bridge.
The Bridge has 8 score marks on it.
I had to heat up the bobbin, one more time.
The inside forbon or fish paper inside where the strings goe through the bobbin had bulged some.
I tried to keep tension low.
I put it back in the wax and put a spacer in the middle till it cooled, to maintain the string gap.
Worked great.
The bobbin with 7500 turns, ended up 7.2k at shop temp.
Was a fun project.
T

[jason lollar]

Thats refferred to as the Trapazoid "easiest" way to wind those is with bondable wire but there is a particular way to wind those with regular wire where you sort of tie each layer together. It took me a good 15 or 20 to be able to do it predictably without bondable wire. Looking at the end of the coil it should look like a teardrop shape if you want it to look original. Its not an easy rewind to make it look stock.
Your first attemp was pretty good though- I dont see any flying coil wire. youll know tis but hardly anyone else here will and that is you are winding on a core with a bias so the coil continually wants to slide down hill as you wind. When they short out the coil has often done just that- slid down hill or the core is plastic which shrinks- the best ones have the paper core. I often have to make an entire new bobbin becuase the core has collapsed and its easier to do that than just replace the core. I have probably had over 100 come though my shop.
They have a unique tone because there is no core or pole pieces loading the coil. Most of them are around 10 to 12 K stock and I have seen a zillion of them rewound badly. They should have PE on them- I dont recall ever seeing anything else stock on that model.

[big_teee]

Thank you Jason.
Yes I was hoping you would chime in.
I just used some small 42SPN I had mounted on the reel.
I potted the pickup, which is not stock, but it should be quiet.
I hooked it to my jack with aligator clips, and it made sound held over a guitar.
I don't charge much, so it should be good enough.
I'm not sure if it had been rewound or not.
It had some red looking wire that mic'd .0025, so I'm calling that 43.
T

[jason lollar]

i concur 43 since you measured it - thats what they typically are but the red wire- never seen an original like that. Youll usually be able to tell a rewind because only a handful of people do it right- it should be tear drop shaped and very neatly wound. sorry I cant find photos but the narrow end of the teardrop would be toweards the lead wires- the fat part towards the angled end. dark brown PE and either waxed or schellaced which might actually be bondable wire not schell and I say so because of how bad it reeks when you cut it off- smells like poison or PCB's, really nasty stuff

[David Schwab]

I'll be damned! A trapezoidal pickup. I made trapezoidal pickups for early pre-Alembics in 1969. Didn't do 'em as a sidewinder, though. Cool. Doesn't look like enough clearance for strings, though, unless I'm not seeing something.

Thought people would be interested in seeing those:

[big_teee]

I get to try again.
The guy picked up the first rewind, and brought another one.
So, I'll get to mount another one of those odd shaped pickups on my winder.
T
**Edit
These pickups are all part of a 3 neck lap steel that mounts on a stand.
http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/userp...272_bild_1.jpg
I now have pickup number 2.
They primarily just play neck 1 and I wound it first, I now have the pickup from one of the other necks.