Make Humbucker Pickups Yourself From Scratch!

[@timsway]

newperspectivesmusic.com/shop/ols/categories/diy-guitar-kits

[@cmdrerniepaul]

Saving the world, one neighbor at a time!

[@disklamer]

Aging and drying wood gets expensive, so in that sense upcycled wood is more valuable. That bit of natural inconsistency adds character and depth and uniqueness too. I also like the idea of scrap coming together to ultimately make music.

[@MirlitronOne]

Even partial recycle / reclaim / repurpose is a virtue and a lesson well learned. Nice one, Tim.

[@johanneswerner1140]

That. It's also easier to get into the habit of doing little things to save the planet (or your health). Those big changes (carnivore to full time vegan, couch slouch to athlete) are difficult and mostly don't last. Every little bit helps. And then tackle the next challenge.

[@1000nthInLine]

I admire your recycling ethics. Love your channel

[@erock.steady]

awesome - that's gotta be gratifying work. thanks for the show&tell.

[@Da5idc]

Well done - kudos to you for expanding your control over yet another aspect of your guitars 😊😊. In a year or two: - strings from reclaimed fencing wire 😅 (or pianos) - tuners from the insides of burnt out liquidisers 😅 - and some stuff I can't even imagine 😊😊

[@timsway]

LOL. next up is more bridges, then tuners. Like I mentioned in this video, some of my earliest guitars were more reclaimed with handmade bridges from scrap, used electronics, nuts and bolts, etc., but they looked and felt too "DIY" and were not professional-grade instruments, so I dialed it back and started buying traditional parts to mount on my guitars. But now I am chipping away at them back to handmade, but better.

[@sgsax]

Damn fine looking (and sounding) pickups. Fun to see how you've developed these over the years. Continual improvement is always a good thing. Thanks for sharing!

[@scillyautomatic]

There is a builders’ festival in Gadsden, AL June 7 and 8 (2024). I’m looking foreword to wind some pickups and other hands-on workshops.

[@williamhart4896]

Nice numbers on your pick-ups on your website , Tim always a pleasure to see what you put on the tube on the Friday upload stay safe and smile it confuses the other guy

[@timsway]

Thanks and indeed! :)

[@Gatherersmusic]

Yes, indeed, if we can all concentrate on saving our own neighbourhood the world can be saved ❤

[@sapelesteve]

Nicely done & you have come a long way since those early days Tim! 👍👍🎸🎸

[@timsway]

practice makes, uhh, ... slightly better...? :)

[@lastchargemusic]

Very cool!

[@RyoCanCan]

Really cool stuff! You should try making multicoil pickups if you haven't, they're very interesting.

[@timsway]

I haven't wound any myself but have experimented with the concept and have future plans using that concept!

[@RyoCanCan]

@@timsway Sounds great, can't wait!

[@rootvalue]

I never watch any videos that feature any CNCing, but I admire your heart

[@DeadKoby]

I can appreciate how you've had to balance quality with ideals. Imagine if a tool company wanted to make wrenches from 100% recycled metals.... controlling the hardness and strength would be really tough, and you'd end up with broken wrenches and injured people. I've found the same thing in life.... I don't want to buy a new thing we need, so I repair a used one instead... It's amazing how much stuff ends up discarded, even if it's not broken. KZbin's corporate bin-searching teams have shown us that.

[@timsway]

Indeed. It is a balance. I try to start heavy on the eco-side and work back to production ease and repeatability, rather than starting with unlimited resources and disregard for these issues, then peppering them in as a marketing ploy.

[@DeadKoby]

@@timsway so... NOT the apple model.

[@amduck]

Wonder if you could smelt a bunch of aluminum trash and make a mold for those metal housings. Not sure if the material would be the best, but worth a shot. Suppose you could do pretty thin slabs and clean 'em up, bend 'em, and call it good. Also, hey! Building my first guitar from my neighbors scraps. Your channel kinda planted a seed, saw him tossing out some cherry offcuts and just asked for 'em. Keep it up :)

[@timsway]

I think if I were to make my own surroundings I wouldn't smelt anything (big carbon footprint for relatively small bath work like I do), But I bet one could flatten out a beer can, cut and bend the shape from that without all the propane...

[@amduck]

@@timsway very very true. and good point :)

[@KaycieCarryl22654]

Nice!

[@Rebar77_real]

mmm, refined design! Lots of metal out there to be reclaimed there's just more competition at the junk piles is all, lol. Maybe a plasma cutter on an old 3D printer could cut parts out someday, heh heh.

[@timsway]

Indeed I'd love to invest in a metal laser cutter for that purpose, but I gotta sell a LOT of pickups to justify that :)

[@skullheadwater9839]

I wonder what a guitar version of those pickups would sound like. You are using magnetic pole pieces instead of the standard bar magnet with slugs so I am sure they would/should sound really unique albeit a bit like a Fender Wide Range Humbucker I would imagine. But it might be better to make them standard H.B. size so they fit existing pickguards and trim rings. Not sure if you are wanting to go into business but there are way more guitarists looking to try new pickups as opposed to bass players in my experience.

[@timsway]

They sound great as guitar pickups and fit in standard humbucker holes. I have some for sale at newperspectivesmusic.com

[@skullheadwater9839]

@@timsway do they have 6 pole pieces though? I will take a look. Is there a guitar demo?

[@timsway]

@@skullheadwater9839 yes. neck and bridge spacing, .195" A5 posts. I'm not remembering a sound example of those in a guitar off the top of my head but these are the nailbuckers I make: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gYiTlaemo9Ggh5I and these are the same but in a bass vi: kzbin.info/www/bejne/g5qneayMlNCWa80

[@brentkendrick814]

I'm building 2 HHH stratocasters from scratch, I decided on Lace fusion jazz 251 alumitone for the neck and bridge position, what would you recommend for the middle position in a humbucker

[@timsway]

I have no recommendations beyond the ones I make, of course :)

[@mattliebenau9083]

On the bass humbuckers do you leave the opposite polarity coils on when they’re split so they still humcancel with both pickups on in single coil mode?

[@timsway]

y'know, I don't think I did, but that's a great idea, to do them J bass style

[@mattliebenau9083]

@@timsway Yeah, even if they’re not wound exactly the same the coils will still mostly hum cancel.

[@alioth2021]

Hey Tim, have ever made a cabinet or amp enclosure?

[@timsway]

mini one: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hZvQf2mjopiUZqc&pp=ygUMdGltIHN3YXkgYW1w and a fun one: kzbin.info/www/bejne/goO7iYaapclnaLc&pp=ygUMdGltIHN3YXkgYW1w

[@alioth2021]

@@timsway Thanks!

[@DanielJAudette]

I dismantled my first door. It's gone into a medicine cabinet. Have you thought about using and old secondary coil off a microwave transformer for the winding of the pickup

[@timsway]

I have looked into unwinding motors and stuff but the copper is usually a much heavier gauge. I'm sure I could make "something" work but that's one of the parts I decided to go for consistency over reclaimed.

[@DanielJAudette]

The secondary winding off a microwave oven transformer (mot)is a lot smaller gauge then other motor I think. I want to try a few things with mot so may need to try

[@DanielJAudette]

But I do thank you for using the saying that hollow core doors are the new pallet lol. The medicine cabinet I am making is both pallet and hollow core door

[@davidwoodman2993]

Tim I looked at all your sights and I don’t see where you sell your pickup

[@timsway]

newperspectivesmusic.com/shop/ols/categories/diy-guitar-kits

[@boogerhaze93]

What kind of wax do you use? I've been looking up DIY guitar stuff and saw an interview with a luthier who was swearing by paraffin only but the interviewer just seemed baffled that they don't use any beeswax. I was wondering if you've noticed it making a big difference. The big reason I'm looking into building a guitar from scratch is that I want to make a guitar that uses no animal products at all. Couldn't find anyone who makes one, closest I got was Fender telling me "Oh, we don't know if we use hide glue and beeswax or not" which seemed like a weird response. So if it just sounds terrible without beeswax maybe I'll deal with the microphone-y sound you mentioned in the video and avoid the wax altogether.

[@timsway]

any wax will work fine for potting pickups. no animals need to be abused to make a good guitar.

[@markgordon4368]

There's a limit to what you can reclaim and what needs to be sourced effectively, its not an effective recycled product if it only lasts a week or has an intermittent fault 😂

[@ZOOTSUITBEATNICK1]

🤓👍

[@SSRT_JubyDuby8742]

Very nice, 👏. Like deployed 👍

[@DavidRavenMoon]

Typically humbuckers have both coils wound in the same direction, and are wired reverse polarity, start to start, or finish to finish. The only reason why Fender winds the middle pickup in the reverse direction is to keep the start of the coil connected to ground. The reason for that is the start of the coil is in close contact with the magnets. The magnets are not grounded, so if you touch a magnet with your fingers you will her a loud buzz. By grounding the start of the coil that is eliminated. There’s nothing wrong with winding a humbucker in reverse, but it’s not the way it’s usually done. Also humbuckers aren’t scatter wound. But that doesn’t really matter. I wind by hand but don’t scatter wind.

[@timsway]

thanks for the insight. Yea, I don't think the wind matters much either, scatter is just easier (for me) to do by hand to have it look consistent. I honestly don't remember why I started winding one in reverse, but I had a reason. LOL. These are still very different from "traditional" humbuckers with the individual poles vs bar magnet, too, but look and sound good and are pretty consistent (the nailbuckers I make use a bar and old iron nails as posts - these are a lot harder to make).