Humbucker Construction

[wolf]

I know there is a special category for discussion of pickups but this topic concerns how all humbuckers are designed.
I drew this diagram:


I would like to know if this is correct.
Is the "North" coil wound counter-clockwise and is the "South" coil wound clockwise?
Also, if that is correct, which is considered the RWRP coil?

As I said in another thread, we might as well get these definitions accurately.

[GuyaGuy]

well, a coil is reverse wound and/or reverse polarity only in relation to another coil. to say one is reverse in your example simply means that it is reverse wound compared to the other coil.

contrary to what many assume when first looking into guitar electronics, there is no standard way of winding, so there is no standard reverse winding. the same goes for polarity. fender, for example, has changed their polarity over the years so sometimes north is up, sometimes south.

but, yes, the 2 coils of the HB are RW. and there's one magnet shared between them with north facing toward one coil, south facing the other. (i don't have experience w/ dimarzios so i can't say which is which.)

finally, i'd say that your drawing is perhaps misleading because the coil ends aren't in the physical center of the pickup but are on the outside so the PU can be wired.

[bam]

I think the RWRP coil is the South one, because HSH are commonly placed like North-South-RWRP-South-North and pos. 2&4 are commonly North+RWRP.

[wolf]

Okay, I revised my drawing:

Easier to read isn't it?
Plus, acting on GuyaGuy's suggestion, I show the "start" pickup wires coming out of the pickup for wiring purposes.
And bam are you saying that the south polarity coil should have the counterclockwise wiring? If that's the case, guess it is time for another revised drawing - but I'll wait on that.
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[bam]

Easier to read .. Definitely ! :lol:

Counterclockwise ? Uh, nope, I'm just saying that in common HSH guitars, the coils are physically arranged (from neck to bridge) in N-S-SC-S-N manner.

[tydog101]

Hey guys, I have been searching for a very very veeeeeeery long time and am now stuck in a rut. I really want to make my own 2 humbuckers but to sound pretty close to a seymour duncan pearly gates, and another to a seymour duncan TB-5. does anybody know the details of these pickups, ie the winding size, number of windings, and what strength the magnet should be at. Also the height of the bobbin? Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz this is my last hope, here in South Africa pickups are damn expensive. Peace out!

[cynical1]

Greetings tydog and welcome to the Nutz house.

Well, I assume the "rut" part comes in on finding the exact specs on the Seymour Duncan pickups. As these are a protected design I can understand your difficulty.

However, there is a wealth of information out there on the Internet on pickup design and how different magnets, wire gauge, number of windings and physical size effects your tone.

Rather then dodge your question, let me explain why your quest will never be completed. SD, like all the big boys out there, use machines to wind their pickups that work off of very tight tolerances. If you think the pickups are expensive in South Africa, try buying one of those machines...

But back to the point, each pickup they build in a particular model has to be spit out just like the last one or their marketing plan dissolves. This goes down to the bobbins, poles, gauge of wire and number of winds....etc, etc, etc...

Unless you have said expensive Unobtanium winding machine, you will be hand winding, or "scatter winding" your pickups. Most of the high dollar boutique pickups are scatter wound. Does that make them better? Well, tone is a subjective thing...but it does seem to make them more expensive...

Rather then trying to make an exact replica of the pickups in question I would suggest focusing on devoting your research into how different magnets and wire gauge\windings interpret the vibration of the string.

Spend some time following the research of Bill Lawrence. There are volumes of information that Bill has put up over many years, as well as others expounding over and analyzing his work.

As an aside, none of us want to be sued out of existence, so finding the exact "build specs" probably isn't going to happen for you here.

And something else to consider, if the finished product isn't cheap in South Africa, odds are the raw materials and winder isn't going to be cheap either. A common misconception is that winding your own pickups is cheaper then buying them. This is an Economy of Scale situation. If you plan on making two pickups it's a losing proposition. To make 50 pickups...well, then it starts paying off. That is, unless you plan on making exact copies of a patented design and selling them...in which case the lawyers will take your house...

Happy Trails -

Cynical One