Ever built a Suhr/Ilitch type dummy coil?

[Mark Hammer]

I was recently given an old Sears-catalog Strat-type guitar, whose 3 pickups measure in at around 4.3k. Because of the switch - an older 3-position that only allows for selecting individual pickups and NO combinations - I've had to rewire it to make it usable, in addition to doing some serious work on the fretboard. I figured while I was busy at all of this, I would also explore a DIY backplate dummy coil. The Suhr/Ilitch system involves a lot more than a mere dummy coil, but I'm happy for any potential reduction in EMI; it doesn't have to be dead quiet, so the additional electronics the Suhr/Ilitch system employs might be gilding the lily from my own perspective. Does anyone know what the DCR of the dummy coil is, and/or what wire gauge it uses, and/or how many turns it might employ? I have nearly every gauge of magnet wire available to me, from #32 up to #44.

[Helmholtz]

I once estimated the turns to 300-400 depending on coil area and PUs.
Coil resistance and wire gauge shouldn't be critical.

[Mark Hammer]

Well, that's a start. Thanks!

[mozz]

Sounds like you need to employ the "trial and error" method, which takes some time. Hum inducer, (ballast, light bulb, ?), measurement system or scope for 60hz, plastic strat bobbin, even a humbucker bobbin would work. I don't think you have to go as far as adding active components.

[freefrog]

Does anyone know what the DCR of the dummy coil is, and/or what wire gauge it uses, and/or how many turns it might employ? I have nearly every gauge of magnet wire available to me, from #32 up to #44.

My archives mention 460 Ohm of 36 AWG for an Ilitch Strat backplate.

For low resistance/ low inductance single coils, I've personally got satisfying results with less than this on a slightly bigger area: 180 to 220 turns of what seems equivalent to 34,5 AWG (giving 110 to 130 Ohm for a rectangular coil of 19cm x 16cm).

YMMV. HTH.

[madzub]

I made a couple back when I first learned about them, and they basically worked. As others say the numbers aren't critical, but larger wire will give less resistance at the cost of taking up more space. But I used something like 300-400 turns of 34 awg I think. Then there's a small trim pot attached to fine tune/balance it, and an additional trim pot with capacitor, just like a tone pot.

The larger the area the better. And even better is having it on the same plane as the pickups, i.e. on the front of the guitar, if possible.

Pretty sure I got the info from the patent, so u could look that up.