Handguided humbucker winding...am I missing something

[John_H]

I just scanned it, was just trying to point out what a T top is.
A lot of things on the internet are marginal.
Anything you can share on T-Tops would be great.
T

I've had a few. They're not my personal preference.
The problem with the article is a large amount of misinformation. It could mislead those that don't know better.

[ric]

Terry, did you read that article? It's crap. I wouldn't be spreading it around.

The mystery deepens...well, thanks for reading Terry's link and letting us know it's flawed. Did you read the article that is linked at the end of the article? If so, what did you think, John? Was that worth remembering?

Well I'll keep my mind open about knowing what a T-top is.

Terry, thanks again, I'll find out the particulars as I go along here. John, thanks for the heads up.

[big_teee]

Probably the main discrepancy in the first discription, is the referral to PAFs being hand wound.
As I understand it all gibson humbuckers were wound on machine.
I think what he meant was that the winder was manually turned off, where as later the machines were auto stop.
So If the PAF machines were turned off manually by the operator, then some bobbins would have more wire on them.
The second document reffered to indicates that.
So It looks like Doc 2 is more correct.
I didn't read all of it either, and the gauss readings don't seem too accurate.
http://musicalilluminism.wordpress.c...l-pickup-tech/

[John_H]

Terry's cool. I figured he didn't read the article too carefully. He does a bunch to help folks around here regularly.
I didn't follow any links from there. The source didn't impress me very much. There's a huge amount of excellent info right here on this forum. Go back to the last page of the pickup makers forum, and start from there. Some of those threads from 2006-2007 have really good stuff that you'll find nowhere else on the interwebs.

[copperheadroads]

Every T-top I've seen had higher DCR than 7.5k . more in the 7.7k to 7.8k range

[larams]

Figured some of the guys on the forum might be able to clear this up. Was recently watching an interview with Seymour Duncan where he was adamant that humbucking pickups must be machine wound (ie not hand guided). Am I missing something? I've made hundreds of pickups handguiding the wire, with fairly consistent results, and great tone. In fact, I think my pickups sound better than many of the Duncans, including pricey custom shop pickups. Settled on a couple of "formulas" that I really like for my own playing....and I use those pickups in many of my guitars. I'm not a manufacturer or an expert by any means, but I enjoy tinkering with my own gear....and making pickups for friends.

I just wonder why he would say that. I can understand if you are trying to create exact and precise pickups that vary only minimally in tolerance why a machine would be more precise.

I guess it intrigues me a bit, as it probably does with all of us on this forum.

Does anyone have any suggestions on machine winders with automatic traverses? I know many people have built their own....I probably don't have the skill to do that.

Jonathan

That's funny because I know in one of the youtube videos where they are doing an interview with him. At the end he is hand winding on a lathe he has in his office. I've seen other interviews with him where he gushes over Abigail Ybarra and talks about hand winding.

[copperheadroads]

That's funny because I know in one of the youtube videos where they are doing an interview with him. At the end he is hand winding on a lathe he has in his office. I've seen other interviews with him where he gushes over Abigail Ybarra and talks about hand winding.

Seymour Hand guiding sure ,but is it on a humbucker or a single coil ?

[Audiotexan]

Thanks, Big_Teee. The article explains it well, then references an even more involved overview of Gibson humbuckers. Appreciate it.

Seconded! Especially like the link it took from there!

[David Schwab]

That's funny because I know in one of the youtube videos where they are doing an interview with him. At the end he is hand winding on a lathe he has in his office. I've seen other interviews with him where he gushes over Abigail Ybarra and talks about hand winding.

That's for single coils, and it wasn't a lathe. It's coil winder.

For vintage style humbucker pickups Duncan uses Gibson's old Leesona Model 102 winder he bought when they moved out of Kalamazoo.

[larams]

That's for single coils, and it wasn't a lathe. It's coil winder.

For vintage style humbucker pickups Duncan uses Gibson's old Leesona Model 102 winder he bought when they moved out of Kalamazoo.

You got me. I misread the OP and I mistook Seymour's winder for a lathe.

[kayakerca]

You got me. I misread the OP and I mistook Seymour's winder for a lathe.

This video exert from the Seymour Duncan interview?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...xrySevfg#t=361

[Rick Turner]

Seymour hand winding is kind of a Hollywood stunt. Ever been to the factory? Dozens of fully automatic machines clacking away. I used to have a desk upstairs there...

[LtKojak]

Seymour hand winding is kind of a Hollywood stunt. Ever been to the factory? Dozens of fully automatic machines clacking away. I used to have a desk upstairs there...

Aren't the single-coil Antiquity series hand-wound by Seymour himself?

Inquiring minds would like to know, Rick.

[Jason Rodgers]

Figured some of the guys on the forum might be able to clear this up. Was recently watching an interview with Seymour Duncan where he was adamant that humbucking pickups must be machine wound (ie not hand guided). Am I missing something? I've made hundreds of pickups handguiding the wire, with fairly consistent results, and great tone. In fact, I think my pickups sound better than many of the Duncans, including pricey custom shop pickups. Settled on a couple of "formulas" that I really like for my own playing....and I use those pickups in many of my guitars.

I've wound a total of five coils, and I can't begin to imagine having hand-guided consistency. If you can get consistent results, by whatever means, more power to ya. To heck with how it's "s'posed to be done." Wind em up: rock on.