Tightening Up Attack

[radrobgray]

First post, be gentle. I've wound up my first handful pickups. I need some tips on tightening attack. I've made two different styles of pickups both sound pretty good, but the attack is not at tight as I'd like. Even though they are different builds they have the same issue. I tried them through my Plexi clone and a Friedman HBE.

Do I need to: wind a little tighter or wind neater? = lower inductance = brighter attack? On both I tried for 75 TPL to the best of my ability. I think they are wound decently tight, the coils are firm and do not bow out in the middle.

Pickup 1:
53mm bobbins
Elektrisola P155, 42awg
A2, 430ish gauss
1022 slug, 5950 turns, 4.81k
1018 screw, 5650 turns, 4.63k
6.1H @ 120Hz
5.8H @ 1kHz

Pickup 2:
53mm bobbin
Elektrisola P155, 43awg
A5, 690ish gauss
1022 slug, 6500 turns, 7.21k
1018 screw, 6500 turns, 7.30k
7.4H @ 120Hz
6.9H @ 1kHz

[rjb]

Do I need to: wind a little tighter or wind neater?

I'm no expert, but I'd say wind a little less.

"Vintage" PAF wind is considered ~5000 turns/coil, ~3.8H @1kHz.
Some like fewer turns for neck, more for bridge: say ~4750 turns neck, ~5500 turns bridge.
With inductance much over 5H, loaded resonant frequency goes down to Sludgeville.
Try being a bit more conservative in varying from a classic formula.

Don't worry- the folks who actually know what they're talking about should be here soon.

-rb

PS: You didn't mention baseplates or covers. A brass cover can ruin your day.

[big_teee]

Welcome!
It being 53mm I presume Bridge? Those turn counts should work for bridge pickups.
Is it possible you just need to raise the pickup, or raise the poll pieces a bit?
A picture of the pickup in the guitar would be nice.
T
++Not an answer to the question, but if you care to experiment?
The less the tpl, the larger the coil, the larger the coil, the futher the wire is from the poles and magnetic field.
Try a 42 SP pickup with higher tpl, this might brighten and tighten the attack?
Let us know how it turns out.

[radrobgray]

Welcome!
It being 53mm I presume Bridge? Those turn counts should work for bridge pickups.
Is it possible you just need to raise the pickup, or raise the poll pieces a bit?
A picture of the pickup in the guitar would be nice.
T
++Not an answer to the question, but if you care to experiment?
The less the tpl, the larger the coil, the larger the coil, the futher the wire is from the poles and magnetic field.
Try a 42 SP pickup with higher tpl, this might brighten and tighten the attack?
Let us know how it turns out.

Correct, bridge pickups. I have the pickups 1/8"-3/16" from the string. What is a "higher" TPL? I did 75ish should I shoot for 100? I wound another set of the pickup #1 I managed to lower the inductance to 5.9H @ 120Hz. I still need to try it out though.

[radrobgray]

I'm no expert, but I'd say wind a little less.

"Vintage" PAF wind is considered ~5000 turns/coil, ~3.8H @1kHz.
Some like fewer turns for neck, more for bridge: say ~4750 turns neck, ~5500 turns bridge.
With inductance much over 5H, loaded resonant frequency goes down to Sludgeville.
Try being a bit more conservative in varying from a classic formula.

Don't worry- the folks who actually know what they're talking about should be here soon.

-rb

PS: You didn't mention baseplates or covers. A brass cover can ruin your day.

I'm trying out a few EVH style winds. Basically the first pickup is a 78 and the second is a Super Distortion with an A5. No covers normal nickel silver baseplate material. They aren't flubby or loose, they just aren't tight and punchy in the initial treble attack.

[big_teee]

Since I am a hand winder, and don't use any auto traverse, I lay the wire down by hand, I guess on TPL.
I would think 90-100 tpl sounds about right.
I would also wind the coils tight, but without stretching.
On my Frankie coils, I use 50mm bobbins.
I wind somewhere around 6000-6100 turns on slug, and 5800-5850 on screw coil.
A2 magnets at full gauss.
If you have several different magnets, I would swap through them, and try different gauss levels.
GL,
T

[Chuck H]

I wouldn't discount the notion of mismatching the coils a little. For very little added noise you can really open up the tone. I have to wonder just how precise the old Gibson pickup coils matched. Pretty close was probably fine as far as a manufacturer was concerned. And they weren't using digital counters

[darkfenriz]

If all else fails, remove the 1022 slugs and put soft ferrites there as I did.

But try everything else first! (hey, did anyone ask about the potentiometer values?)

[radrobgray]

If all else fails, remove the 1022 slugs and put soft ferrites there as I did.

But try everything else first! (hey, did anyone ask about the potentiometer values?)

CTS 500k on both guitars. Pickup #1 is in a guitar with only a volume. Pickup #2 is in an HS with a master volume and tone.

[radrobgray]

I wouldn't discount the notion of mismatching the coils a little. For very little added noise you can really open up the tone. I have to wonder just how precise the old Gibson pickup coils matched. Pretty close was probably fine as far as a manufacturer was concerned. And they weren't using digital counters

Pickup #1 is offset by 300 winds. Which seems inline with the suggestions above.

[Chuck H]

Have you used other pickups in the same guitars with the same amps that gave you better performance? This is along the lines of what darkfenris mentioned about pot value (which would change the resonant peak). That is, it's difficult to know if the pickups you made are under performing without a base line. You said:

"but the attack is not at tight as I'd like. Even though they are different builds they have the same issue. I tried them through my Plexi clone and a Friedman HBE"

But that doesn't tell us the pickups alone are responsible. Another guitar with another pickup doesn't count either. It would have to be the same guitars and amps you're testing your pickups with to know that your pickups are actually under performing in this quality you're after.

[radrobgray]

Have you used other pickups in the same guitars with the same amps that gave you better performance? This is along the lines of what darkfenris mentioned about pot value (which would change the resonant peak). That is, it's difficult to know if the pickups you made are under performing without a base line. You said:

"but the attack is not at tight as I'd like. Even though they are different builds they have the same issue. I tried them through my Plexi clone and a Friedman HBE"

But that doesn't tell us the pickups alone are responsible. Another guitar with another pickup doesn't count either. It would have to be the same guitars and amps you're testing your pickups with to know that your pickups are actually under performing in this quality you're after.

I tried the pickups in both guitars through the same amp rig. Previously the guitars had the same pickup builds, but made by a pro winder. I'll try a higher tpl and see what happens.

[big_teee]

When I first started winding about 10 years back, I used to break wire a lot, winding by hand.
Took a while to get it all worked out.
One thing I noticed when I wound that tight, was good attack and great pick harmonics.
Without the breaking, try winding tighter, with more tpl and see if it makes any difference!
I added some calculated trembucker data.
T
**Also according to your picture, I've found that a tremolo guitar is usually not as hot or have as much sustain, as a fixed bridge guitar, especially if it has a bolt on neck.
But, with a large tremelo block, they usually sound pretty good.

[GunbarrelCustom]

Raise the action a bit on your guitar and if it’s a bolt on larger neck screws can help.

You may want to remagnetize the A2 to get more punch or try a 3, 4, 5 or 5 unoriented alnico magnets. With all the material changes in the 40+ years since VHI matching the sound may require mixing different materials or carefully experimenting with magnet strength with each magnet type.

[copperheadroads]

Take Big T's advise ,the way coils are wound alone can easily tighten up give you a more increased pick attack ,just remember it also gives you a thinner tone .