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If you wind Fender-style pickups, you connect the magnet wire to eyelets. Simple.
But if you make Gibson-style pickups, the magnet wire needs to be first connected to a short piece of 28AWG wire.
You can buy black & white wire from Mojo, Stew-Mac, etc., and I wholeheartedly endorse these fine suppliers.
But as I'm winding more & more, and as my "recipes" have morphed into a wider product offering, I was finding myself with a bit of a conundrum:
"How can I tell the difference between finished coils that are on my bench awaiting assembly or sitting around as leftovers?"
I mean, seriously...they all look alike! How many turns are on this one or that one? I was using my LCR meter to try and determine any unknown coils that had become mis-handled or confused on the bench, but that was just guesswork. There had to be a better way, I figured.
I needed a uniform way to tell one from another. Then this idea hit me! It works great for me....maybe it can work for you.
Recognize this? Bad pic, I know....but this is an old IBM-style "PS2" connector. Remember when they interconnected the world?
Well, strip the jacket, and what do you find? Voila! Six different colors of 28AWG PVC-insulated wire!
Monitor cables are the same thing, and they have even more conductors. Different brands use different colors, too!
So I've standardized:
5000 turns of 42 poly....."yellow"
6000 turns of 42 poly....."green"
4000 turns of 42 enamel....."orange"
etc.
This way, a "lone coil" on the bench will tell you what it is....zero doubt!
Here's an extra / leftover coil from a recent Firebird order. See the brown leads? Brown = 4400T-42P. Easy-Peasy!!
So 2 monitor cables & 3 PS2 cables later, I have a lifetime supply of wire...10 different colors, each of which immediately tells me at-a-glance what a particular coil is.
Best of all....it's free! Wherever your local electronics recycling happens, you will find what you need. Guaranteed!
Anyway......it works for me. Maybe it will work for you, too!
Enjoy,
mn
But if you make Gibson-style pickups, the magnet wire needs to be first connected to a short piece of 28AWG wire.
You can buy black & white wire from Mojo, Stew-Mac, etc., and I wholeheartedly endorse these fine suppliers.
But as I'm winding more & more, and as my "recipes" have morphed into a wider product offering, I was finding myself with a bit of a conundrum:
"How can I tell the difference between finished coils that are on my bench awaiting assembly or sitting around as leftovers?"
I mean, seriously...they all look alike! How many turns are on this one or that one? I was using my LCR meter to try and determine any unknown coils that had become mis-handled or confused on the bench, but that was just guesswork. There had to be a better way, I figured.
I needed a uniform way to tell one from another. Then this idea hit me! It works great for me....maybe it can work for you.
Recognize this? Bad pic, I know....but this is an old IBM-style "PS2" connector. Remember when they interconnected the world?
Well, strip the jacket, and what do you find? Voila! Six different colors of 28AWG PVC-insulated wire!
Monitor cables are the same thing, and they have even more conductors. Different brands use different colors, too!
So I've standardized:
5000 turns of 42 poly....."yellow"
6000 turns of 42 poly....."green"
4000 turns of 42 enamel....."orange"
etc.
This way, a "lone coil" on the bench will tell you what it is....zero doubt!
Here's an extra / leftover coil from a recent Firebird order. See the brown leads? Brown = 4400T-42P. Easy-Peasy!!
So 2 monitor cables & 3 PS2 cables later, I have a lifetime supply of wire...10 different colors, each of which immediately tells me at-a-glance what a particular coil is.
Best of all....it's free! Wherever your local electronics recycling happens, you will find what you need. Guaranteed!
Anyway......it works for me. Maybe it will work for you, too!
Enjoy,
mn
,maybe some sort of "sticky" is in order
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