1/16" Blades for humbucker?

[bmcd]

I'm in the planning process of designing a pickup for a bass I recently built. It will be a humbucking type with blades instead of polepieces. I plan on making a few different variations to test, including different blade thicknesses. Since 1018 steel seems to be a well used alloy in pickup making I figured I'd start there. I've been able to find 1018 in 1/8" thickness, but no luck so far finding 1/16". McMaster does have 1/16", but they say it's either 1018 or A36, which seems a wide margin in compositon (not sure what I'd actually get). I've found possible sources for 1008-1010 and 430 stainless (also generically labeled cold rolled steel), but thought to start with 1018. Machining the parts to size is not an issue, finding the raw material in 1/16" thickness is.

My previous pickup building has been on Fender types (J & P bass, strats and teles including side by side hum cancelling). This will be my first foray into humbucker land.

Any thoughts or recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks!

Bob

[big_teee]

Hi Bob:
On bass humbuckers, don't overwind them if for the mid or neck position.
You can do more turns at the bridge location.
On blades I like thin better than thick.
The more steel in the blades, they get dark quick!
T

[bmcd]

Hi T

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I am concerned with having too much metal with 1/8" blades, hence my search for 1/16". Definitely planning on keeping the turns down to start with. I may have to go with a different alloy than 1018, which is fine, but I was hoping to compare a 1/8 blade to a 1/16 blade. I already have 1/8" 1018, so was hoping to use the same for the 1/16. Available supply may require a change in plans.
Bob

[rjb]

Your post seems to indicate you are making your own blades. A kindred spirit.
1018 is the most common mild steel, and is sold most often in cold rolled form.
A36 is most often sold in hot rolled form.
Cold rolled steel has smoother surface and tighter dimensional tolerance than hot rolled.

Just by playing the odds, I would bet that the smooth 16 gauge steel sheets sold in hardware stores is 1018 steel.
That's what I use, anyways.
MD Building Products 6 in. x 18 in. 16-Gauge Steel Sheet-56078 - The Home Depot
Shop The Hillman Group 6-in x 1.5-ft Cold-Rolled Weldable Steel Sheet Metal at Lowes.com

Refs
A36 vs. 1018 Steel Comparison | Capital Steel & Wire
AISI 1018 Mild/Low Carbon Steel
https://www.metalsupermarkets.com/di...-rolled-steel/

[big_teee]

For bass, I like the .200 thick ceramic bar mags, that fit in the EMG type bobbins.
They're cheap, work great, and no machine work required.
4 String Bass Blade Pickup Bobbin
Ceramic 8 Bar Magnet 2.60" Long

Another option is the strat or Tele blade humbucker pickup.
I made one with strat blade parts, and it sounded heavenly in my test bass.
Strat Bottom Flatwork for Blade Bobbins
Tele/Strat Blade Pickup Humbucker Bobbin
Steel Pickup Blade Flat Top Nickel
Ceramic 8 Bar Magnet 2.35'' Long

[bmcd]

Hi rjb, yes I've been planning on making my own blades (hacksaw and a mill). I'm beginning to think I'm being overly picky to start with on the specific alloy. I had looked at 16 gauge sheet steel and was thinking of that as a backup. A definite strong possibility. Good to know you've used it and are satisfied. The McMaster 1/16" is also starting to look more attractive even though it could be either 1018 or A36. I can get it in the width I need so only have to cut it and machine it to final length. Don't know what the effect of A36's different mix will have on the tone, but I have to start somewhere. Otherwise I could be frozen in place.

Hey T, I checked out those bobbins and I was wondering if you ever had a problem with magnetic string pull being an issue? With the ceramic magnets being so close to the strings it might require the coils to be lower than optimal. This may be an unfounded fear of mine. I built a medium scale bass neck mounted on a stock J bass body without having to relocate the bridge. An unforeseen issue was increased magnetic pull, as the pickups, relative to the scale length were now closer to the neck. I couldn't lower the stock pickups enough to get rid of the double tone. I replaced the A5 pickups with A2 and that resolved the issue.

I never would have thought of using the tele blade bobbins for a bass, thanks for that thought! Centering to the strings would be more critical than the bass bobbins, but still work.

Bob

[big_teee]

Don't know what you said your string spacing was?
The Tele bridge blades are 2-1/2 inches long, and are chrome plated.
Very nice blades.
The EMG bobbins can go in a EMG 4 Cover.
They all require a routed hole to raise and lower the pickup.
I guess I may like string pull on a bass I always end up with the pickup mounted fairly high.
The problem with making your own blades, unless you plan on plating them, they usually corrode.
This day and age, I make two style of bass pickups.
The EMG bobbins in an EMG type cover, either in a humbucker, or Sidewinder.
The other style of pickups I make all use 5/16, or 3/8 inch x 3/4 inch A5 Rod magnets.
The Strat blade test, was an experiment.
GL,
T

[bmcd]

I'm doing a 2.625" long blade/magnet. I'm going to use the 4 string EMG style cover that mojo carries. I'll wax, then encapsulate the pickup assembly with potting epoxy. I would think that would keep the corrosion issue under control.

Regarding the string pull issue, please realize that I was only guessing it could be a problem. I'm not speaking from experience on this type of pickup. From what you have said, it sounds like I was anticipating a problem that isn't there. I think I now need to play with some ceramic magnets inside of the coils as an additional experiment. Another mojotone order coming up! Thanks for sharing your experience.

Bob

[big_teee]

Good deal!
Your right, putting them in a cover will take care of the corrosion.
You do lose some blade height, with the thickness of the cover.
Try it different ways, but I think you will like the ceramics in the bobbins.
With the absence of steel, they are very quiet, no hum or noise.

I just make them for myself, and instead of epoxy, I use a plastic baseplate.
I spot glue the pickup assembly and plastic base plate into the EMG-35 cover.
Then I wax pot the whole glued assembly.
If you don't like the pickup, you can take it a part and rebuild it.
I've done that many times on proto-types.

Here are some pics of my multi-coils in the test bass I build that way.
Picture 3 shows how I do the plastic baseplate.
It might give you some ideas!
Good Luck,
T

[bmcd]

Thanks for the pictures. Looks like you're a southpaw! Interesting multi-coils, 4 individual coils in one pickup, I'm assuming... Otherwise would be a P-bass arrangement on an angle.

I like the idea of waxing the pickup in the cover for proto's. I think it'll be most useful in playing around with the amount of turns. I'm planning on starting out on the low side (not low impedance). I can then disassemble and rewind if I'm not happy with the results. Thanks for the tip! Do you use super glue for spot gluing or something else?

I think I'm going to have to put together a bass for pickup testing. Make it easy to switch out different sizes. Maybe start by using a Mexi Fender J bass body with a swimming pool rout.

Bob

[big_teee]

Yes they are both Multi-Coils.
4 coils in one, and 8 in the other.
I use 5/16 A5 Rods on the 4 coil, and 3/8 A5, on the MM size.
Right now I have both Neck and bridge 8 coil pickups installed.
I use the small tubes of Permatex super glue, 4 tubes for a dollar, at WalMart, in the Auto section.
It is very fast drying, and you can glue you fingers together, in a hurry!
https://ll-us-i5.wal.co/asr/442a44a8...0&odnBg=FFFFFF