Tightening Up Attack

[netfences]

Will raising the pot value or using a lower value tone cap effect attack? I've always been curious about why some guitars are livelier than others. Has anyone come up with a formula for this?

[big_teee]

Caps and Pot values, can effect brightness.
A larger value Tone Pot, can give larger bass, treble rolloff.
Liveliness in a guitar, can be many things, also can be an accumulation of things.
Tone wood
nut type and fit
bridge type and fit
neck pocket fit on a bolt on guitar
pickups
String size and type
And, the combination of all the above.
Good luck finding the attack you're looking for!
T

[netfences]

Yeah, I know all those things contribute but there has to be a way to figure it out so it's predictable. We know how to get resonance peaks electrically but I suppose what we need is a way to sort out mechanical resonance too. There has to be a sweet spot where we can find that sustained resonance.

[big_teee]

Yeah, I know all those things contribute but there has to be a way to figure it out so it's predictable. We know how to get resonance peaks electrically but I suppose what we need is a way to sort out mechanical resonance too. There has to be a sweet spot where we can find that sustained resonance.

Here in the B/H forum, we keep it all nice and simple.
Good luck corralling attack.
T

[LtKojak]

there has to be a way to figure it out so it's predictable.

Unless you wind with a CNC winder with auto-traverse, predictability is simply off the table.

You can find the "sweet spot" where "attack" (do you mean "pick attack" or "articulation"?), but you'll need to wind many bobbins with different turn counts, TPLs, coil geometries and even how you put the start lead in the coil matters, until you "get it". It's NOT something you can get by adding numbers in a spreadsheet.

[big_teee]

This thread IMO is a bit on the Smoke, Mirrors, and Snake oil side, of pickup building.

With that said, there are so many things that attribute to the sound of an electric guitar.
I will attempt to cover some of them.
The guitar itself is a main part of it.
IMO you can't have great pick attack, without great sustain.
The Les Paul that we think about when we consider hot humbuckers is to be considered.
The mahogany body and set neck contribute greatly, also the tuneomatic bridge and stop tail, add sustain.
Before discussing pickups, consider the type and gain of the amp.
When I think hot les pauls, I think of Marshall from days of old.
Pedals also add to the equation.
Volume and tone pot, & cap values, helps set the tone.
Don't forget tone robbing covers, and brass baseplates.
Type of steel in fillister head screws, and slugs, also make a difference.
So last but not least are the pickups.
You can make low, medium or overwound pickups. A multitude of magnet types, and strengths.
So before you go trying to do everything with tpl and tension of the pickups, consider all the above mentioned parts of the equation.

T
**I've never heard the position of the start lead being a big contributing factor, or issue.
However I still do it the old fashioned way, on the bottom through a hole, or notch, cut in the bottom of the bobbin.

[big_teee]

No ads please, in the B/H section.

[LtKojak]

No ads please, in the B/H section.

Do you consider it an ad?

That's... unfortunate, because it shows a pretty obscure, overlooked detail in p'up winding with actual tonal impact, that's not that nuanced, if you ask me.

Sorry if I broke the rules, Tee. I thought it was pretty interesting, specially to the rookie winder.

[Chuck H]

I didn't open the link because I'm not a pickup winder. But since I posted on this thread I'm "subscribed". I did wonder about the edit when I saw that it happened. Are we sure it wasn't simply one of those sites that just brims with popups. I don't really consider that an ad per se. Just a little annoying. If the point of the link isn't selling anything (though of course any popups are) I still wouldn't think "ad".

[big_teee]

IMO everything from that site is an ad.
Since I didn't want the ad to become the debate, I deleted it.
Please convey your point without the use of an ad.
T