Anyone use heavy formvar?

[David Schwab]

I see Bae Wire always has heavy formvar on eBay.

I'm thinking of picking up some to try out.

[chevalij]

I use them all the time. Best price I've found. Used to be about $29 a lb. Up a bit I think.

[corduroyew]

I use a LOT of that guy's heavy formvar wire. It's electrosal brand, which some people say is a bad thing, but I have never had any problems with it. The spools it comes on have tapered ends which makes it easier to use which is a big bonuse in my book. Sometimes his prices are a lot higher than places like MWS and sometimes they are lower simply because his prices stay consistant while the industry prices jump all over the place.

[David Schwab]

So what can one expect from heavy formvar compared to plain vanilla 42? I know the heavy insulation makes it a bit brighter, no?

[Electricdaveyboy]

Hm, less midrange in my opinion.
I had used electrisola wich was thicker than the MWS stuff I had in the past.
BAE wire on ebay.com sells the Electrisola stuff on small spools.Looks good and not as bubblegum alike as the wirenetics Formvar.

[Possum]

...

think of it this way, its LOW CAPACITANCE wire, thats the tone you'll get....

[corduroyew]

Bass is a little loose
Mids are scooped
High end is strong

[kevinT]

Bass is a little loose
Mids are scooped
High end is strong

C.

Have you tried formvar with other magnet types and DCRs? If so, are you still getting those characteristics?

Seems like you can manipulate it with different designs. I haven't experimented much with formvar in humbuckers. I may go down to the basement tonight, after i get done painting the den (wife's orders), and wind a couple with formvar.

[corduroyew]

C.

Have you tried formvar with other magnet types and DCRs? If so, are you still getting those characteristics?

Seems like you can manipulate it with different designs. I haven't experimented much with formvar in humbuckers. I may go down to the basement tonight, after i get done painting the den (wife's orders), and wind a couple with formvar.

You can manipulate with design. I was just stating the basic characteristics of the wire. By adding more magnetic pull it'll tighten up the bass. More windings will give you more midrange and less treble. More windings also makes the bass a bit floppy. You can filter out some of the high end by using different potting materials... The only real limitation with this wire is that it's so big so you can't really get THAT many windings onto a standard pickup bobbin (humbucker or strat) so if you plan on just winding the pickup so hot that the mids are no longer scooped then you are going to have to use 43 or 44 awg. You aren't going to do it with 42.

[David King]

It's what I've always heard was the "right" stuff for bass pickups.

Hey I just wound my first complete pickup today, a short J. (To think I've been blathering on here for years and never actually wound a pickup before). Unfortunately I had the pedal to the metal because 8200 turns was going to take, like, for...ever otherwise and centripetal force "spun" the wire way out from the center of my bobbin. I was probably in the 1600-2k rpm range, was that way too fast for the heavy 42? I thought my tension was about right but apparently not for that speed...

I'll jerry-rig a cam follower and slow things down a bit. The idea of watching wire wind on a coil all day strikes me as just about deadly. maybe I'm the wrong personality type for this work. What do you guys think about for those 15 minutes? Oh.. NEVER MIND!!

[David Schwab]

think of it this way, its LOW CAPACITANCE wire, thats the tone you'll get....

Thanks Dave. That's what I was thinking.

It's what I've always heard was the "right" stuff for bass pickups.

Me too... think I'll pick some up.

Hey I just wound my first complete pickup today, a short J. (To think I've been blathering on here for years and never actually wound a pickup before).

Congratulations man! Jazz pickups are soooo overrated. I think it's a very limiting design. I like those fat Guild single coils better.

The idea of watching wire wind on a coil all day strikes me as just about deadly. maybe I'm the wrong personality type for this work. What do you guys think about for those 15 minutes? Oh.. NEVER MIND!!

Well that's why I keep wanting to make some kind of automated winder...

I can't say it takes 15 minutes... but then I'm not winding 8200 turns on one coil... but the entire time I'm watching how the wire is going on. When I think about something else I mess up!

Can't wait to see one of those cool basses of yours with your own pickups.

[David King]

Thanks for the kind words David,

Well 8200 turns only got me 6.8k and 9200 got me 7.6K so it looks like 10500 is the number to shoot for for starters. The second coil was much prettier by the way. I found I got much more consistent tension by holding the wir between my thumb and third finger and then back up and over the index finger in "Z" pattern, that's the way my tensioner will work too. My belt slips like mad over the motor shaft, no pulley there at all but that motor hits 12K rpm so no need to go for more friction until I get a better speed control set up. I think a cheap 1/10 hp 3 phase motor with a Variable Frequency Drive is the way to go for accurate speed control and easy computer manipulation. That or a brushless DC motor but those speed controller are stupid expensive by comparison.

Lets think about that x axis controller some more.

[mkat]

I got similar results to David K, but stopped at just over 7.5K and noticed the pickups don't have the highs I expected for this range. As I mentioned in a thread on another forum, I'm going to remove turns till I get what I'm after.