turning a slug coil into a screw coil - do i need nuts?

[thetragichero]

i have a dragonfire-branded artec humbucker and the duncan-designed humbucker that came out of the bridge of the blacktop jazzmaster that have been sitting around the house(s) for years now and i've decided to tinker with them and put them into some guitars
i've already done magnet swaps from the ceramics that they came with (have done this previously with a gfs hot humbucker and liked the result so for a couple bucks each why not) to A5 and A8 respectively, and just received the wire to modify them from 2-conductor to 4-conductor
now i'd like to add screws because mainly i think they look cool (especially the black hex screws going into the black duncan-designed - tres metal for a guitar i plan to paint with neon orange marking paint)

my question: since the (old) slug coils aren't threaded for the screws, is the wax i am going to pot them in sufficient for keeping the screws in place, or is a trip to the hardware store for some nuts in my future?


thank you in advance!

[reTrEaD]

Mar 30, 2018 10:59:54 GMT -5 thetragichero said:

since the (old) slug coils aren't threaded for the screws, is the wax i am going to pot them in sufficient for keeping the screws in place, or is a trip to the hardware store for some nuts in my future?

Wax probably won't do it and I doubt nuts will be quite right either. You'll want something in which to thread the screws. Maybe threaded holes in the baseplate or a metal spacer with threaded holes.



Antigua or someone else who dissects pickups on a regular basis could probably offer other possibilities and the pros and cons of each.

[thetragichero]

i did this with the Duncan-designed bridge humbucker that came in the blacktop jazzmaster
bought 12 black hex pole pieces from addiction-fx along with an Alnico 8 bar magnet
i was hoping the keeper bar i purchased would be threaded or something but no dice
off to big box hardware store for some 3mm nuts and washers... again no dice
but a lead - orange-aproned gentleman suggests i try the local ace hardware
they have what i need and i laugh as the guy in front of me pays 3bucks per box of about 6 inch heat shrink tubing (as i recently received about 6 feet for a dollar shipped to my door)
from top to bottom i go hex pole piece, pickup bobbin, washer, nut (same thickness as the keeper bar so we have a nice snug fit between the magnet and the plastic spacer), baseplate
rewired with 4 conductor wire for nutz scheme pleasure
nice hot bath in some melted paraffin cut with beeswax and
placed it in a hastily refinished strat copy with a 500k volume pot and no tone control and it sounds pretty good!
it's not super overwound (13.5ish kOhm dcr) but i like what the A8 magnets do here (and in the 16k gfs pickup i did years back that was unusable with a ceramic in it). crunchy, sounds good with high gain metal stuff. haven't messed with it clean yet, but basically I've got sort of a homemade Duncan invader for less than ten bucks in parts and some free time

[straylight]

you need some 5mm outside diameter plastic tube or rod. Wooden dowling will also work. I'm using m3x20 hex socket cap head machine screws as they're really cheap, there's probably a US equivalent size that is similar.

Cut lengths of the tube to be a screw head shorter than the bobbin, glue into bobbin. Drill out the centres if required. If you're lucky the screws will self tap, otherwise you need cut a thread with a tap. You don't need to bother with a metal spacer bar if you cant easily get one, it will reduce output slightly not having one. Just find a sliver of wood or plastic to wedge the magnet in place.

Alternatively m5 set screws will look like cap head screws from above but sound closer to slugs, can be held in the slug side with thick superglue (hard to clean) hot glue (easily reversed) or a wrap of electrical tape (quick and dirty). These have the bonus of touching the magnet much like slugs.

Or use M6 set screws and file the undersides to make good contact with the magnet. 

I've got a very early production DiMarzio Super 2 and it appears to be two slug coils with set screws and a huge magnet all held together inside a plastic cover and plastic with copious amounts of hot glue. This construction wasn't popular but it works.