7 Apr 2006
How To Make a Guitar/Bass Pickup
In this guide we will show you how to make a guitar pickup using neodymium magnets, a couple Popsicle sticks, and some wire. Total cost for this project will probably be less then $5 (depending on the materials you have available). The sound is surprisingly good and will serve you well. You can replace an existing pickup or add one to mix with your existing setup.
This guide is specifically for bass, so there are four magnets required. For a guitar, obviously you will need six smaller ones. Also, it’s good to have a bunch of extra magnets lying around as it will make the project go quicker (see below for why).
Materials Needed:
- A spool of insulated copper wire. Different gauges will produce different sounds, but you want something very thin.
- Two Popsicle sticks. These can be new or used.
- 8 neodymium magnets (2 for each string). These should be less then the width of the Popsicle stick. Again, different sizes will produce a different sound. You can see the rough size of what we used here.
- Gorilla Glue
Getting Started:
Start off by eating your two Popsicles. This is probably the most difficult part of the process. You may want to enlist the help of a friend. If they’re the kind of Popsicles that have hidden messages on the stick or fortunes, go ahead and read them. Pat yourself on the back, you’re done with step one.
Put the Popsicle stick up to the strings, and mark where each string hits. This will be a guide for where you need to place the center of each magnet. You are now ready to begin construction
Construction:
You will need to glue the first four magnets to the Popsicle stick. This is not as easy as it sounds since all the magnets will just stick together until the glue is set. This is where the extra magnets come in handy. The other four magnets can be placed on the other side of the stick from the magnets being glued to hold them in place.
It does not matter if you have negative or positive pole facing up, as long as you do EACH ONE THE SAME.
Once you’ve got your glue dried, take the placeholder magnets off and stick them to the four magnets you just glued. Then glue the other Popsicle stick to the top.
Now to start wrapping the wire. Leave a foot or two sticking out before you stop wrapping. This is important, because you need to connect your electronics to two leads.
We found it helpful to stick the whole thing to the refrigerator while you wrap it. Get comfortable because you’re going to be there a while. Keep wrapping until it gets barely big enough to fit inside the plastic of your old pickup (it isn’t necessary to have an enclosure - it just looks nice). This will be several thousands of wraps, but we didn’t really count. It should look about like the completed picture here.
If the wire breaks while you are wrapping you will need to start over. So don’t break the wire - it’s very fragile.
Connect the two leads just like you would a regular guitar pickup and you’re ready to wail. Here is what it looks like inside of a guitar pickup enclosure.
UPDATE:
Here are some notes on construction.
We used 42 gauge wire. You need to strip the ends before soldering them to your electronics. You can do this with your finger nail.
The magents we used were .32″ or .37″ in diameter and .2″ tall.
A stronger magnet = hotter output and more high frequencies (better for guitar)
More windings = hotter output. The more windings you do, however, will begin to roll off the top frequencies.
I forgot to mention that you need to dip the entire thing in wax at the end to complete the project. Just heat up some wax to liquid and dip it in. Leave it for a minute and you’re done.
UPDATE:
Here is an MP3 of the pickup in action with no EQ or Processing running through a preamp.� If anyone wants to mirror it, please do and leave a comment.
Tags:
HOW TO- Make a Guitar/Bass Pickup…
Sam writes - “In this guide we will show you how to make a guitar pickup using neodymium magnets, a couple Popsicle sticks, and some wire. Total cost for this project will probably be less then $5 (depending on……
How to make a Guitar/Bass Pickup…
This one is from diyhappy:
“In this guide we will show you how to make a guitar pickup using neodymium magnets, a couple Popsicle sticks, and some wire. Total cost for this project will probably be less then $5 (depending on the materials you hav…
[...] http://www.diyhappy.com/how-to-make-a-guitarbass-pickup/ Tags [...]
[...] [link] [...]
This tutorial looks awesome, will definitely help with my “chapman” stick project (for which I have no budget).
Would be willing to post a mp3 example of the sound quality coming from these homemade pickups?
Guitar Tips…
Want to be as good as the lovely Mr Hudson here? These tips could help!
UPDATE - Another how-to on pickups.
A collection of tips for those keen strummers out there.
Playing Guitar
Guitar GAS - Things every beginner guitarist should have - Essenti…
Now I’m all tempted to electrify my harpsichord. It’ll cost a bit more than 5$, though….
If you heat up wax to dip your pickup in, you must use a double boiler! This means wax in a saucepan, saucepan in water in another saucepan. If you just try to melt wax in a pan on the stove, you will have a fire! Be careful and keep a fire extinguisher near by in case there is an accident - you need one in the kitchen anyway.
- Your mom
[...] an existing pickup or add one to mix with your existing setup.” - Link. | Digg this article! | Add to del.icio.us| [...]
This is pretty damn cool. I’m going to have to try this.
Steve,
http://tail-f.net/
I need to know how to make a peizo pickup for the bridge of my acoustic. Any links?
[...] Avec 5$ de materiel [...]
test
thoses are pretty much the lowest res pictures ever…get a real camera
Is it just me, or do your pictures show 12 magnets, instead of 8? If not, where do the magnets on the “top” of the pickup come from? You seem to be missing a crucial step.
The magnets on top are optional they are simply holding everything in place while you’re gluing it together. You can just glue one magnet while putting the other on the other side to hold it in place - then when it’s dried just move the one on the opposite side to where it needs to be.
[...] Go to their website now, and make your own guitar/bass pickup for ~5$. Source: http://www.diyhappy.com/ These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. [...]
Ill be recording an mp3 tomorrow to post on the site. No eq or other processing, just my nasty $60 bass and a grace preamp. sam, i need to get that magnet wire back from you sometime soon. i havent tried this in a strat yet but i will someday (i just bought 100 magnets for a hoverboard project im working on, and may have some left over for more pickups).
ps, i bought these magnets off partsexpress.com (bottom right on front page says magnet buyout). there are other sites that sell rod magnets more appropriate for a strat style pickup.
potting a pickup (dipping in wax) reduces microphonics, preventing the wire from vibrating in the magnetic field. and increasing the turns of wire (5000 - 8000 are somewhat standard numbers) will roll off high frequencies the same way an inductor does in a low pass filter.
good luck!
also, sorry about the pictures, they were taken on a camera phone.
one more thought,
it would be very easy to turn this into a humbucker. the two ends of your wire (or leads) will run one positive and one ground. a single pickup by itself (my current setup) will not matter which end of the wire runs to ground. however i had two pickups before i made that were wired reversed polarity from each other (looking down on top of the magnets, the positive wire as connected to my volume pots would wrap clockwise on one pickup and counterclockwise on the other pickup). this setup will cancel or “buck” anything common between the two pickups (my setup bucked more bass than hum because they were spaced too far apart. if i could have slid these pickups until they were extremely close together, they would have effectively bucked hum present at the pickups (along with some frequencies common to both pickups [now more high frequency energy, note that humbuckers dont have as much high frequency squeal as a sing coil]. this lead wire can be one continuous wire (wrap one, give a little space and wrap the other THE OTHER DIRECTION, then move them together). i imagine this would be super hard (the coil needs to be continuous or your pickup will not work, and this could break easier) or just make two pickups that could fit into a casing. when they are done, you can sauter the ground end on pickup #1 to lead on pickup #2
sorry if this is confusing, i wish i could just draw it. with your top pickup, one lead will go to positive in the guitar, the other end will be sautered to the start of the second pickup, which must be wound the opposite direction (counterclockwise if the top is clockwise or vice versa, note that it doesnt matter while you are actually winding the pickup, just make sure you connect the end of the first coil to a lead on the second coil that continues in the opposite direction on the bottom pickup). and finally the end of the second “out of phase” pickup will continue on to ground in guitar.
google search “jazz bass wiring diagram” (or whatever model guitar) and pick a lacie site (they have awesome diagrams).
nerdy note: if each pickup could have an equal number of turns of wire, the CMRR (common mode rejection ratio, or its ability to buck hum) will be higher. i read about a guy who winds his pickups on an old turntable. he sets the rpms, figures out how many turns he wants, and then figures out how long it will take (35 rpm x 5000 turns = 143 minutes or 2hours 23minutes). if i were going to make a ton of these i would set up a machine, but it only took an hour by hand last time i did this. however, i dont count as i go (i would go nuts) and so it would be very difficult to get an identical number of windings on two pickups.
another cheap trick to quiet your guitar if the humbucker sounds too complicated, i lined the cavities in my bass with copper foil (aluminum foil will work too). copper and aluminum are not sympathetic to magnetic fields (a magnet wont stick to them), but i believe (from watching a magnet fall very slowly down a copper pipe) that they are able to take this field and turn it into a current (these materials are great conductors, and this is what your guitar pickup is doing too). line the cavities and MAKE SURE TO CONNECT THIS INSULATION TO GROUND and it will bleed off some interference that would have made it to your pickup. i just sautered one spot of the copper foil ($6 at a local electronics supply shop) and connected it to the body ground wire. if you dont ground the insulation, you run this risk of all that foil acting more like an antenna (ever seen the old rabbit ear antennas with a bunch of foil?) than a shield.
for potting the pickups, i melted parafin wax and beeswax (my pickup does smell a bit like honey) together in a mason jar with i dropped a bunch of marbles in the bottom after it melted right before dropping in the pickup (to keep the pickup from touching the jar. i did heat this in a pot of water on a pretty low temperature. be careful not to heat it too hot (just past melting point will do) because if you burn through the insulation on the magnet wire and cause a short, the pickup will either not work at all or not very well.
[...] For all of you who asked for an MP3 of the DIY bass pickup in action, here it is. We kindly thank IFA for the hosting, but if anyone wants to mirror it, please do. Caveat: The pickup was installed on a bass that has seen better times. It is played with no EQ or processing through a grace preamp so you can hear exactly what the pickup is hearing. It sounds much better than the pickup that was originally installed on the bass - for that you’ll just have to trust us. [...]
Watch out for hot wax! It can catch fire, and burn you badly.
Happens a lot to first-timers.
one way to melt the was is to get a tin can and put it in there and put a pot of boiling water on get some wort of holder or anything to hold the can so your hand doesn’t get burn and hold the can in the pot of boiling water: no ruined pots : no fires (hopefully)
Rather than use wax, I think a better choice would be an epoxy potting compound. Also, it’s better to either lightly sand off the enamel off the wire or (easier) to use a paint stripper. If you use a knife this tends to always nick the wire to the point that it invariable breaks down the road after stressing.
What a cool how-to; i’ve linked to you from my blog.
I was wondering what do you do for the wires to attach the the tone dials and the toggle switch? What is the negative wire and what is the positive?
will the pickups still work if i used magnitised screws instead of magnets?? and will it make any difference to the sound??
Hard to tell from the guitarist-style widdling mp3 what the pickup would sound like being used as a bass pickup by a bassist, but what a great, brave project!
Make your own guitar/bass pick-up…
Don’t have enough money to buy new pickups for your instrument? Don’t worry, you don’t have to get another job to buy them, but instead you can build them yourself.
With this tutorial, the cost is less than $5, which I hope you can afford. You wi…
That IS a bass. But it is without any EQ or processing - just recorded through a preamp. When you hook it up to a bass amp, it sounds more like a bass
Thanks for the help.
im sorry, im new at this and i dont really know anything about it but i was just wondering, how do you get the two leads fromone peice of wire? is itjust both ends or are there two wires? also, which one is positive and which one is negative? thanks
do i really want to use insulated wire? doesn’t a current have to run from the magnets into a bare exposed wire??
ok so i guess i do need insulated but i need 12 magnets right?
[...] At DIY:happy you can find an article explaining how to make your own guitar/bass pickup. [...]
Another neodymium pup plus clips! http://www.allthingsguitar.com/2006reviews/q-tuners/qtuners.htm
Hi! I received an e-mail from Jake related to this article, and i’m writing just to say, you are absolutely right, sorry about that, but don’t worry it was just a test, it’ll be erased and also i’ll will not continue with the blog. Sorry for any inconvinience and good luck…
Very useful Information for those interested in the process
of making magnetic pickups for instruments. Peace
Nice, I’ll have to try this on my brother’s bass. (.>)
From what I’ve heard in the MP3, it’s got a great sound.
this is long ass mesage.
I know someone else asked this, but the pictures confuse me. Are you using a total of four magnets for the pickup. In some pictures it looks like eight, and others it looks like twelve. I’m assuming that you didn’t drill holes in the popsicle sticks for the magnets to stick through. Is that right? Would it make a difference?
A total of 8 magnets are needed (2 for each string on a bass). The extra magnets you see are simply there to hold the other magnets in place.
When you glue the first two magnets to the stick, they will attract to each other, and you will either have to hold them in place or clamp them down. Instead, we just stuck an extra magnet on the opposite side to hold the first (glued) magnet in place. Once the glue has dried, the extra magnet can be removed.
[...] Start your DIY band by making your own guitar pickups and electronic drum triggers. [...]
So, if you started with fudgesicles for the sticks, would that give you a sweet sounding pickup with that nice warm, creamy, brown sound? *ROFL*
Cool tutorial and cool sounding pickup, but one thing . . . at the risk of being redundant, I’d stay away from potting the pickup unless you know what you are doing! Seriously, wax naplam on your face is no way to have fun . . . well, not to most normal people.
[...] you well. You can replace an existing pickup or add one to mix with your existing setup. //Bookmark on del.icio.us function dbt_bookmark(targetURL) { //URL of this document var loc=location.href; if(targetURL &&//Return false so the link won’t be activated. return false; } Bookmark on del.icio.us Filed under: General Audio Comments: No Comments» [...]
Hi, i read some where that seymor duncan used an old record turntable to wind his pick-ups……have you tried this?….. ( samwise666@gmail.com)
Re: DIY guitar pickups…
Here’s another link on how to make pickups.
http://www.diyhappy.com/how-to…...
cool project.the sample sound nice.gonna do this project.regarding your pics,could u upload bigger pic?it seem so small.thanks u.
Broken coil wire can be fixed. simply twist the ends together to get a few inches of length, and hold over a butane lighter. this will instantly fuse the ens together to form a little ball of copper wire. Ever so gently pull the wire apart to seperate. simply paint the new connection with fingernail polish to reestablish the insulation, and carefully rewind this connection onto the repaired coil. carefully wind several turns, and you’re ready to go.
I actually devised a turning jig, adding a hole in the center of the p.u. frame to attach a small screw with a nut so the frame could be mounted to a drill bit, attached it all to a vise, and wound a pickup in less than an hour. It helps to stop every few minutes to make sure all is getting wrapped ok. I used a 40 gauge wire, which is slightly larger than 42.
the pickup tou made had 4 magnets on top, correct? but the pickup cover has 8 holes, how does that work out?
instead of having 4 individual magnets, could u use on long magnet? like lace sensor stlye
What kind of magnet is reqired?
If I were to make 4 popsicle sticks with the magnets, could I make a dual coil pickup.
I found a report that describes how guitar pickups work, the different types of magnets used, critical adjustments, and also has the schematics / diagrams for a pickup switching enhancement. My strat used to have 5 pickup tones, now it has 29 pickup tones. I found this information at:
http://www.learn-futures.com/product/guitarpg.htm
but how do u make two leads off of one wire? do u buy a lead set pre made? or is it just splitting the wire into two?
and does this pickup require a power source? (im only really familiar with piezo’s)
if you had a large rectangular magnet, would you do everything pretty similarly?
oh and something that might interest people: u can use magnetic pickups as bridges (sort of). this works if u have a regualar magnetic pickup (probly works better if it has studs)facing up, like normal, and you put some kind of steel bridge brige on top, one that rests solely on the studs. when the strings vibrates the metal bridge, the pickups respond. the advantage to this is that u can use non-metal strings but still use a magnetic pickup. this is great because piezo’s have the problem of picking up sounds that u dont want, unless they’re suspended by a buffer.
ok, where can you get neodymium magnets offline in canada if you know????? thx Edmonton too.
Whoa, man! Pick-ups from popsicle sticks? Where’s the duct tape and suspenders you redneck?
ok? these people seem confused over nothing, maybe not understanding. but from what i get from this and my electronics knowledge, the only way your going to make a current is leave a foot or 2 when you start and also leave a foot or 2 when you finish. doesnt that make sence? correct me if im rong but be prepared to explain because no current that i see is created.
Yeh pretty sure u need to leave wire at either end. To make circuit. But wot i want to know is do u have to cut holes in the top popsicle stick or will it pull through the wood. Theoretically it shud but im jst checking wot u did b4 i try this myself.
Also does ne1 know if it is possible to make a guitar work with no ground wire or volume jst a circuit running from jack to pickup to jack? (I’m attempting to make a small 4 string from scratch, and as its my first attempt making a guitar i’m trying to keep it as simple as possible)
thats what im gonna do. i figure as long as you have the circut going to the jack on your guitar and plug it into your amp it should work. im geussing anyway. i dont see why it wouldnt work.
Where did you guys get your neodymium magnets from anyway? anyone care to shed some light?
[...] In this guide we will show you how to make a guitar pickup using neodymium magnets, a couple Popsicle sticks, and some wire. Total cost for this project will probably be less then $5 (depending on the materials you have available).read more | digg story [...]
Hmmmm.
1. You can make a pickup using a single magnet.
Many Jazz Bass style pickups use a long flat magnet as the base of the pickup with either steel rods or a steel bar that sits on top of the bar magnet. The wire is wound around the rods or the bar, not the magnet. The piece of steel conducts the magnetism. Similarly you can use steel screws instead of rods if that makes it easier. You can also use pieces of wood or plastic to hold the magnets, steel rods, screws or bar stock.
Whatever works for you.
2. You must leave a few inches of magnet wire free at the start of your pickup winding. And you must leave a few inches of magnet wire free at the end of the winding. Basically, unless you’re making a humbucking pickup, the polarity of the wires doesn’t really matter all that much as long as you’re consistent or mark them properly.
What you should do is solder the magnet wire to whatever material you’re using to make the pickup. And don’t mistake the pickup body with the pickup cover. The first is what holds the magnets, steel pieces and magnet wire. The second just covers everything up and makes it look nice.
Then get two pieces of fine insulated wire about 6″-8″ long. Solder one end of one wire to the pickup body where the beginning part of the magnet wire was soldered to the pickup body. Then solder the second fine insulated wire to the pickup body where the end of the magnet wire was soldered to the pickup body.
Basically you cannot wire 40ga - 42ga magnet wire to the guitar’s controls and knobs. The wire is just too fine and it will break. But you can solder the wire to a spot on the pickup and then solder a second heavier and insulated wire to that same spot. This will allow the electricity to flow from the magnet wire to the fine insulated wire and makes it easier to connect everything together.
3. Potting a pickup is dangerous. 20% beeswax along with 80% parrafin (or canning) wax will work fine. Heat these together in a double boiler (a pot with the wax sitting in another larger pot that’s filled with boiling water). Having marbles in the pot with the wax does help because you don’t want to burn or melt your pickup so you don’t want it sitting on the bottom of the pot where it’s the hottest.
About 15-20 minutes should do. Very gently wipe off the excess and then use some cloth or electrician’s tape, once the pickup has cooled, to wrape the pickup so the magnet wire isn’t exposed.
You don’t want to use only parrafin wax because it has too low a boiling point. If you ever do a gig on a hot stage, in the summertime or if you leave your guitar in the sun. The heat may cause the parrafin wax to melt and leak out of the pickups. The beeswax increases the melting temperature so this is less likely to happen.
If you use epoxy instead of wax, you deserve every bit of aggravation you’ll have to deal with. Because epoxy is very unforgiving and if you make a mistake you’ll either have to throw the pickup, and it’s materials, away or spend hours carefully chipping the epoxy away.
yaar!!! just tell me wat does a pick up do and where we have to wrap wire
please reply me at wicked___sunny@hotmail.com but write bass in subject plz do as soon
I’m just trying to help my son make a guitar for a school project,(sound) but he want’s the bass sound. I don’t plan on hooking this up to any amp. If I follow the steps will this give his guitar a simple bass sound. Sorry I know nothing about guitars or bass. Please help
I made a pickup for a home made upright bass. I used stuff that I had at my house and I was surprised how well it work, as good as a dean markley acoustic guitar sound hole pickup.I followed the directions above with some twist. started off with pop sticks and two cheap magnets, I wound the wire about 300 times. I applied super glue to the wire windings and then a couple raps of teflon tape. I made a little case for it to make it look clean. I then Wired it to my home made upright bass, with a 1/4 inch female input. pluged it in to my amp and was surprised it worked.Used super glue and teflon tape instead of wax and I could not belive the amount of sound for only winding it 300 times. Have fun and good luck
so you can use a cheap magnet, not these neodymium magnets you haev to order off the internet? Like a fair fridge magnet would work wouldnt it. what would be the main differnce besides strengh of magnets if any? email me if you haev anything to say. o and just for the ladies i haev a webcam do? ipk1992@gmail.com
Arent you using 12 magnets? Or am I seeing the pictures wrong.
Is it like this?
popsicle stick then 2 magnets on top of eachother (times four, because theres 4 strings) then popsicle stick then one more magnet on top of the upper popsicle stick?
need bigger pics those are too small
Im making a homemade guitar out of a cigar box. Can I just have one lead of wire connected to the jack? I want it to be very simple. Please respond.
Eric,
The extra magnets OUTSIDE the popsicle sticks are not necessary and are only in place to keep the inside magnets in place… I suppose you could just hold and glue the magnets there without the extra outside magnets.
I’m building a bass and i WAS going to buy cheap-O pickups… but shit man… WHY NOT DO THIS?
i have know idea what to write but i will just say hi whoever you are
Neodymium magnets will lose their magnetic properties if heated above 175° F (80° C).
i never knew that pickups are that simple…but not that easy though…thanks for the info. m8….
I have been looking at making my own for awhile, here is my two bits. It sounds tedious, but, especially if you are making a humbucker, count your windings! This will really help you get the sound that you want. Also, as for the magnet they actually sell magnets made for pickups (like ones shaped especially for this application) and they are not that expensive. I got my alnico 5 humbucker magnet for like 7 dollars on stewart mcdonald. When you pot the pickup, use a double boiler, heat the wax up to 150 degrees F, and leave it in there about 15 minutes (or until bubbles stop coming out). Also, this is the time to have fun with wiring. My guitar when I make my pickup will have a coil tap, a switch to just run one single coil, and a phase switch. gl all
hey…erm one problem here…..i dnt know how to make the bass for the pick up to go in…i get the general idea but could really do with some help….if anyway one could help it would be greatly appreciated. email me at “curlyhairsheep@hotmail.com”
thanks
oh and by the way nice guide
hey.. that look very simple, but, i need to know if is the same wire #43 used on guitar pickup or different for a bass pickup, and how many time i winding wire for a bass pickup, on guitar are 5.000.. please respond. email me at “juanjmarcanoc@hotmail.com”
thanks.
Hey any body want to share where they get or where i could get the magnets for this. Also the four magnets on top are just to hold the inside ones in place right? thanks please reply on here or email me at Fatland@rock.com
Bigger pics please.
Hey These Comments Suck You Bunch Of Faggits Fuck!!!!!!!!!*
they suck more and more, but comment #79 is the dumbest yet
are you people fucking stupid? i’ve seen a crap load of comments saying… “how do you get to leads” …how fucking stupid can you be? you start with one end (this is one lead), then after you finish wiring the pickup, the other end is the other lead. also it doesn’t matter how many magnets, as long as the magnetic field is strong enough and is around the strings. and for the fucking retards… use strong magnets… if your smart enough you could think and say to yourself… “hey if he is using 12 magnets, can’t i just use one long one?” if you use separate magnets it will have poles, if you use one long magnet it will be a blade pickup. one last thing for the fucking stupid people… the question “where can i get magnets?” is easy. go to google, and type in NIB magnet. just do a little search and you’ll find it… i’ve never seen so many fucking retards asking the same fucking retarded questions…
THIS SUCKS
GReat site what’s the problem with the smart loser guy? get a life man and let other ask idiot
U SUCK
What if i want to add a toggle switch or volume control. do you run the leads to the swtich and then to the input jack?
hi
I’ve got 1,000 ft. of #43 wire coming from ebay. Is that enough to do 2Jazz bass pickups? If not, how about a set of P-bass pickups. I’m making an EUB with piezo pickup, but want electric pickup also. I have a set of Fender J pickups w/o winding and want to split one to wire a like a P-bass, to accomadate the larger radius fingerboard. Sound feasable to you? Thanks.
BennyB
what gauge wire did you use for this pickup?
most things i’ve researched said they use 42 or 43 gauge and do a few thousand revolutions. Unless i’m missing something, you can’t find enough 42 gauge wire to do a few thousand revolutions for $5 anywhere.
Just finding that gauge at any price has proven difficult. Will 26 gauge work? Will it suck?
-kyle
(about)5,000ft of wire for a single coil.
the thicker the wire, the more windings you will have to do.
and yes 26gauge will suck. also if you look up wire, its 42AWG or 43AWG. http://www.stewmac.com has 2,500ft of wire for $25-28.
unless you already have the wire, or know where you can get it cheap, your going to spend over $30.
Hey,
can you tell me how to actually make the pickup work?
how do i connect it to the main guitar??
and how do i connect the volume knob..how do i make it work??
thanx
[...] There are tons of references online with pretty good directions on how to build one, so I’m fairly confident that I can do it. The one I’m designing is a bit different then the one in the picture. What I’m going to build is pretty much an electric. I haven decided if I’m going to try to make my own pickup, or just use an one I pulled from an old guitar. [...]
http://www.guitarelectronics.com/category/wiringresources/
Hey, great tutorial! I just wanted to tell you one thing;
When you melt the wax to pot the pickups, be absolutely certain that you use a double boiler! If you just dump some wax in a pan and heat it, it could burst into flame. Using a double boiler eliminates this risk.
Thanks!
Dude, you are such a pimp. I LOVE this article! Thanks!!
I’m new to all this, how does the sound compare to what a typical humbucker sounds like, let’s say a factory Ibanez pick up.
I want to make a pick up with more sound, similar to an EMG. Any ideas, tips, please let me know, thanks.
Hey! This is a pretty good explanation. I would like to know how I would rig this up if I wanted to build a humbucker. Do you build two pickups and hook them together in series or parallel. Also what if I wanted to wire them so that I could toggle them to have conflicting poles between the two or something like that.Just curious.
ok so can someone email instructions and pics of how to make a humbucker out of two long magnets?
buzzman_47@hotmail.com
thx to anyone who can
Do you have to use separate magnets, or could I use just one long rectangular one. (I’m not planning on using this pickup for a guitar)
i made it wow iam sooooooooooooooo happy i being working in it from 4 months and i finished it.wow
this is awesome. i just made one of these for my mandolin and it sounds great. i am amazed that i could make a pickup in only about 4 hours. kudos to you my friend, kudos to you.
What would be the effect to use ring magnets for this?
that’s some comment storm going on
this is a good intro to building your own pickups! I’m definitely going to bookmark this one. The comments are going to take a while to read.
I’m curious what sort of adjustments can be made to make the pickup produce different tones. This pickup seemed to lack a lot of lows.
and really, one could you can always try out making electro-magnetic (active) pickups, I’m sure that’s a whole different ball game.
a mirror of this file can be accessed at http://maxopedia.org/?q=diyhappy_bass_pickup
Regarding comment #64: well, it will certainly be hum-free.
Great tutorial! I’ve been trying to figure out how to electrify an autoharp, and this looks like it could be the hot tip.
I saw mention once of a pickup winder made out of an old fishing reel…sounds like it wouldn’t be too hard to work out, although maybe not worth it for a one-off project.
hey this pickup works well!!!
Awesome!
It will be even better if you put bigger images.
Thanks anyway for your tips!
hmmm im curious about the height of the magnets and 42 guage wire?thats like as thin as a strand of hair are you sure thats what you used?
Where are we supposed to tie the othere end of the wire after wrapping them? ….its important isnt it?..i need to know..
I would just like to know how ‘powerful’ the magnetic field should be…That’s where I am a little stuck.
Argh….. Annoying! I can’t see the pictures! Also, you mentioned to start wrapping the wires around the magnets. What about the second lead? Does there not have to be a + & - lead? Where does the second lead to complete the circuit come from?
Very good job and so funny !!!
To make Telecaster pickups:
http://www.lutherie-amateur.com/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=3639&