Polyurethane insulation, Maximum Coil Taps, and Book recommendations?

[Newbie]

Hello again pickup makers,

I've got a few more newbie questions I'd like to ask if you don't mind.

1. I was just looking at the 'enamel' wire I bought (back in 2002!). It had a code on the base under the word 'enamel' that said PUR1. I did a bit of searching and it looks like that's shorthand for Polyurethane 1. So it's not the Plain Enamel or the Formvar I would have ordered. Anyway, I was just wondering is this still a reasonable insulation to wind with, or should I be looking to get hold of PE / Formvar?

2. Also, I've got a 1.4 kg (3.08 lbs) spool of wire - I'm just wondering how many pickups I'd be likely to get out of that?

3. I've got hold of my Forbon now and the eyelets. The eyelets are extremely small, and I have 50 of them, so that gave me the idea of maybe adding some coil taps to my next wind. I was just wondering though, flatwork space limits and crazy wiring nightmares aside, is there any negative tonal impact of having a lot of coil taps?

4. Also I was just wondering if anyone has the following books - "Pickups, Windings and Magnets: And the Guitar Became Electric" by Mario Milan and "The Guitar Pickups Handbook" by Dave Hunter? Do either of these books provide accurate and comprehensive specifications (eg bobbin dimensions, magnets, wire thickness, wind count etc) for a wide range of classic pickups including the usual PAF, P90, Tele, Strat and Jazzmaster but also the less common classics like Gold Foils, Lipsticks, Charlie Christians, Filtertrons, Toasters etc There's a lot of scattered information on the internet, but I'm not sure of the accuracy of a lot of it, so I'm looking for quality researched data.

5. Finally I was wondering if there's a way of shielding a coil from the magnetic field of an immediately neighbouring pickup?

Thanks again, and sorry again for the annoying questions.

Matt

[Helmholtz]

5. Finally I was wondering if there's a way of shielding a coil from the magnetic field of an immediately neighbouring pickup?

Shielding of static magnetic fields requires ferrous materials.There is no way of shielding against magnetic fields without changing the PU's response. The outer magnetic field of a PU doesn't reach far, so if the distance is more than maybe 1 inch, interaction should be more or less negligible.

[big_teee]

I did a bit of searching and it looks like that's shorthand for Polyurethane 1.

42SP, or 42SPN is probably the most used wire of all.
PE, and HFV are used primarily for Vintage Reproductions, and Vintage Rewinds.
PE, and HFV are both great, but are getting very expensive.
IMO 42-44SP, and 42-44HP are good replacements, when you want to keep your costs down, and vintage correctness is not an issue.

Eyelets are great for single coil pickups.
Three eyelets are practical, beyond that, it's whatever you want.
I made some, but usually the pickup is used mostly with all windings.
IMO it is more trouble than its worth, but that is your decision.

As far as coming up with accurate data on all pickups, good luck with that.
Most winders keep their data, & info close to the vest.
I maintain a pickup library, with bobbin data.
If I can help let me know.
A lot of what I have posted in the past, is in this B/H forum.
Check here.
https://music-electronics-forum.com/...ad.php?t=40189
https://music-electronics-forum.com/...ad.php?t=39746

GL,
T
**If anyone else has anything to add, please do!

[Newbie]

Thanks Helmholtz and Terry. Regarding the bobbin dimensions thread I did notice that, but unfortunately most of the attachments aren't showing for me (just a picture of a paperclip and the word attachments, but nothing I can click on). I may buy both books anyway.

[big_teee]

Can everyone else see the attachments at the bottom?
You may be needing an app or something?
What are you using to view the forum?
T

[Helmholtz]

Can everyone else see the attachments at the bottom?

Yes, no problem here (Firefox).

[Newbie]

Okay, that was really strange. I was having the same problem on both my phone browser (which admittedly is terrible) and my PC (Firefox also).

It looked like this:


Then just now I spotted at the bottom of the page:


When I select "Full Site" I get:


I'm not sure why it was giving me the limited site before. Anyway, problem solved. Thanks again Terry

[SonnyW]

Hello again pickup makers,

4. Also I was just wondering if anyone has the following books - "Pickups, Windings and Magnets: And the Guitar Became Electric" by Mario Milan and "The Guitar Pickups Handbook" by Dave Hunter? Do either of these books provide accurate and comprehensive specifications (eg bobbin dimensions, magnets, wire thickness, wind count etc) for a wide range of classic pickups including the usual PAF, P90, Tele, Strat and Jazzmaster but also the less common classics like Gold Foils, Lipsticks, Charlie Christians, Filtertrons, Toasters etc There's a lot of scattered information on the internet, but I'm not sure of the accuracy of a lot of it, so I'm looking for quality researched data.

I have both of the books you mention. For someone that is just starting out I would definitely recommend having both of them, but I don't know of any books out there that are going to give every specification that you might need. The Mario Milan book was a great help to me in understanding the basics when I was learning to wind years ago. It has a lot of good theory and history information. I still use it often, and have about worn out my copy over the years. The Dave Hunter book has specifications on hundreds of the commonly encountered pickups, but it is generally limited to Magnet type, wire gauge (if published), DC resistance, and a few notes on construction. That comes in handy from time to time for me when I am looking for comparison data on a pickup that I haven't done before. It also has a CD with sound clips of many of them, and also has a lot of basic theory and interviews with some of the major pickup makers. Other than those two books, there are some others out there that have some pickup construction info, such as Guitar Electronics for Musicians by Donald Brosnac, but in my experience some of the data in that book is kind of dubious.

Of course, searching the particular pickup you are interested in at the time on this forum will often give you more of the kind of information that you are looking for.

hope this helps,

[Newbie]

Thank you very much for the information on the books Sonny, really appreciated.

[Joe Gwinn]

Thank you very much for the information on the books Sonny, really appreciated.

Newbie, where in the world are you located? Many questions depend on this bit of context. Please update your user profile with the name of nearest major city and state, or country if state is not the US.

[Newbie]

Hi Joe. I'm in Australia. I'll update my profile. ☺