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Wire gauge, is 40 and 41 too thick for anything?

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  • Wire gauge, is 40 and 41 too thick for anything?

    Hi, first post
    I only found a couple threads on this, so I hope im not annoying anyone, but
    is 40 or 41 awg good for anything other than a couple niche pickups?
    I know 42-44 seem to be the standard for just about everything, but I bought a few rolls and only did a little bit of research before I bought and ended up buying a small roll of every gauge from 40-44.
    The 40 and 41 are heavy build too at .0038 and .0034.
    I figure the 40 can be used for Charlie Christian style pickups and maybe bass pickups, but is it acceptable for anything else?

    Thanks for your help

  • #2
    I keep up to 38 AWG on hand for repairs.
    If you are just experimenting, get it all! It's only a couple bucks for enough poly to wind a few pickups.

    Comment


    • #3
      I wind all of my pickups for my basses with #41 wire. Why? Because I was able to buy about 30 lbs of it for cheap. So I developed the formula for my pickup design to use the #41 wire, and I'm very happy with the results, as are my customers.

      Don't pay too much attention to the conventional wisdom. You can make your pickups any old way that you want to.

      Comment


      • #4
        #41 can make a nice sounding strat style cleanish neck pickup. When I was first starting out winding, I got a good deal on a large amount of some high quality 0.071 metric wire. That is the same size as #41. I wound some pickups with it to the same turns count as I would have used for #42 and they sounded pretty good to me. The larger wire will fit in a typical strat type flatwork bobbin, as long as the turns count isn't too high. 8000 turns will fit fine. From that I eventually developed a set that I sell which has the bridge pickup wound with #42HF and the middle and neck wound with the metric wire. (LMS set on my site for pics and some customers furnished clips) They have been fairly well accepted. I am able to sell them for a lower price because of the lifetime supply kind of deal I got on the wire, (but they aren't just super cheap either), and I do explain about the wire and the lower DCR, but really it is the sound that sells them. The neck and mid have a DCR of around 4.9-5.0k. My wire is single build and mics about .0031. I don't know how much difference there would be with heavy build wire.
        www.sonnywalton.com
        How many guitars do you need? Just one more.

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by SonnyW View Post
          #41 can make a nice sounding strat style cleanish neck pickup. When I was first starting out winding, I got a good deal on a large amount of some high quality 0.071 metric wire. That is the same size as #41. I wound some pickups with it to the same turns count as I would have used for #42 and they sounded pretty good to me. The larger wire will fit in a typical strat type flatwork bobbin, as long as the turns count isn't too high. 8000 turns will fit fine. From that I eventually developed a set that I sell which has the bridge pickup wound with #42HF and the middle and neck wound with the metric wire. (LMS set on my site for pics and some customers furnished clips) They have been fairly well accepted. I am able to sell them for a lower price because of the lifetime supply kind of deal I got on the wire, (but they aren't just super cheap either), and I do explain about the wire and the lower DCR, but really it is the sound that sells them. The neck and mid have a DCR of around 4.9-5.0k. My wire is single build and mics about .0031. I don't know how much difference there would be with heavy build wire.
          They actually sent double heavy 44 instead of 41 by accident, so i'm just gonna keep that.
          But, I did get 40 from the same place and it is 40 double heavy, which will probably be closer to 39 or 38 (I think its .0038), so that will be good to practice with the thicker wire before I get into using the thinner stuff.

          Comment


          • #6
            I use 41 and 40 for some models. You get a scooped/hollow type of tone with less mids.
            It would be possible to describe everything scientifically, but it would make no sense; it would be without meaning, as if you described a Beethoven symphony as a variation of wave pressure. — Albert Einstein


            http://coneyislandguitars.com
            www.soundcloud.com/davidravenmoon

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by David Schwab View Post
              I use 41 and 40 for some models. You get a scooped/hollow type of tone with less mids.
              thanks, I figure at least the thick 40 with double build is good to practice on as it probably won't break as easily.

              Comment


              • #8
                If it's practice you're looking for, try hand winding with 46 ga.! That'll teach you fast...

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by Rick Turner View Post
                  If it's practice you're looking for, try hand winding with 46 ga.! That'll teach you fast...
                  Yes, you won't get a feel for working with thin wire (and not breaking it) while winding heavier wire.

                  I broke a lot of wire when I started!
                  It would be possible to describe everything scientifically, but it would make no sense; it would be without meaning, as if you described a Beethoven symphony as a variation of wave pressure. — Albert Einstein


                  http://coneyislandguitars.com
                  www.soundcloud.com/davidravenmoon

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by SonnyW View Post
                    #41 can make a nice sounding strat style cleanish neck pickup. When I was first starting out winding, I got a good deal on a large amount of some high quality 0.071 metric wire. That is the same size as #41. I wound some pickups with it to the same turns count as I would have used for #42 and they sounded pretty good to me. The larger wire will fit in a typical strat type flatwork bobbin, as long as the turns count isn't too high. 8000 turns will fit fine. From that I eventually developed a set that I sell which has the bridge pickup wound with #42HF and the middle and neck wound with the metric wire. (LMS set on my site for pics and some customers furnished clips) They have been fairly well accepted. I am able to sell them for a lower price because of the lifetime supply kind of deal I got on the wire, (but they aren't just super cheap either), and I do explain about the wire and the lower DCR, but really it is the sound that sells them. The neck and mid have a DCR of around 4.9-5.0k. My wire is single build and mics about .0031. I don't know how much difference there would be with heavy build wire.
                    Sonny--- I seem to be getting good results with 41G in the middle and neck position also. I was thinking about winding the bridge with 41G but with more DCR [ 6K ?] but I'm not sure it would sound as good or better then 42G wound to 6.5 or 7 K. I typically want a hotter bridge pickup to warm things up a bit in that position.
                    Thanx for yer post!

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Brian W. View Post
                      Sonny--- I seem to be getting good results with 41G in the middle and neck position also. I was thinking about winding the bridge with 41G but with more DCR [ 6K ?] but I'm not sure it would sound as good or better then 42G wound to 6.5 or 7 K. I typically want a hotter bridge pickup to warm things up a bit in that position.
                      Thanx for yer post!
                      I wind the bridge pickups in that set with #42HF. I like the bridge to be hotter also, as do most folks. But I had trouble making the #41 fit on the bobbin without causing problems with the covers etc.
                      www.sonnywalton.com
                      How many guitars do you need? Just one more.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by SonnyW View Post
                        I wind the bridge pickups in that set with #42HF. I like the bridge to be hotter also, as do most folks. But I had trouble making the #41 fit on the bobbin without causing problems with the covers etc.
                        I had similar results with my latest experiment for a bridge pickup. I tried splicing about 3K of 42G onto the 41G and came up with a coil that fit on the bobbin [and under the cover!] I'm not too sure about the sound of the pickup, though ....seems a bit muddy.

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