First Attempt Winding Pickups

With some home built tools and a little patience, I take a stab at winding my own guitar pickups, and it works!
Links and further details here:
merwinmusic.com...
Patreon: / merwinmusic

[@jamesnemenyi]

the crazy part is the pickup you made sounds EXACTLY like what i want to hear from a guitar. I can't believe it.

[@waxxy8447]

I'm sure the amp has a lot to do with that too thoigh

[@donvanco3078]

If you plan to do many more build yourself a small "tool rest" for your wire feeding stick that has some adjustable "stops" on either side (a threaded rod with small wooden uprights backed with a nut should be simple enough) - this will let you "scatter" with a lot more bravado and give you a nice even wind. Also consider adding about 25% beeswax to your potting mix.

[@bootlegnjack]

I’ll be honest it looked way too loose and I was thinking it’s going to be microphonic and sound terrible but it sounded freaking amazing

[@gergemall]

Adam Jones excellente, experiment. I love your idea. It reminds me of wrapping an electric motor when I was in middle school. Simple ideas but very functional. Great job .

[@mrrybicki]

Testing that pickup upside down blew me away. Awesomesauce!

[@KleyDeJong]

Awesome project! I have to try this some time this winter...

[@ronw9517]

Used this vid as an example and bought me an old german sewing machine from the 70s or the 80s or so. Only bringing it home yet was an ordeal as it is made of cast iron. Indestructible parts and motor though. I replaced the footpedal with a manual controlled lightdimmer to have more precise control with low revs. Awesome vid! Thnx Merwin!

[@jindoisland]

Nice video. Your playing and pickups sound great! I’ve been thinking about getting set up to wind some but after seeing all the work I think I’ll just buy some Curtis Novak pups. Someday when I clear out my garage I’ll set up a work bench and have the space for more projects.

[@gp85hkg]

"Well I went out searchin" for a DIY pickup winder and found your modded sewing machine version...which led me to here. Crikey, I am so gunna do this. It took a pandemic for me to find the time though. Oh...and subscribed (".)

[@coatduck]

Using that clamp to experiment with pickup location was without a doubt brilliant. I'm definitely gonna steal that, maybe make a contraption for it of some sort.

[@bobsiburton861]

Nice sounding pups..cheers.❤

[@SpectrumDIY]

That sounds amazing, really great job on the pickup!

[@MerwinMusic]

Thank you! now I just need to make some more and put them in a guitar.

[@SpectrumDIY]

@@MerwinMusic I'm looking forward to the next video on that 🤘😁 I just finished my middle pickup winding, which all of the info, the drill and air line, was because of this video, so I appreciate that 💯✌️

[@xilee5993]

I think the right value for the velocity is 5 or 6 revolutions each second. Great job tough

[@peterjosvai9804]

wow, this 10 minute long video is such a beautiful story... your end scene is really a beautiful happy ending :) cause the tone is SO GREAT!!!!!!!!! as James Nameny mentioned earlier, amazing tone! quite inspiring as a matter of fact!! thanks for sharing... I wish good results for everyone attempting this !:) including myself in the not too faraway future perhaps...

[@dexmoe]

wow, this is amazing, I only know monotone winding machine before, never thought that you can build your own one

[@joeking433]

I can't believe how much they charge for that Mojotone winder. $600, are you fucking kidding me??? You can make one that works just fine for $50!

[@davidhigginbotham5451]

I love the homemade wire tension guide thing you crafted. I'm going to do that.

[@MerwinMusic]

Yeah. Lot's of people say I should by the stew mac one but I don't see why.

[@davidhigginbotham5451]

@@MerwinMusic After watching lots of video's I notice that the main guys just use their finger tips. I don't see why not. :)

[@Spahr62]

Great video! Your hand held wire feeder is absolute genious! An online guitar parts store wants $80 for their hand held wire feeder! And yours will do exactly what theirs will do! Thanks for sharing the fun info!

[@pip07200]

Thanks for the demo. You got a really nice sounding pickup there, congrats !

[@txkflier]

Did you set the spool of wire on the floor with one end on the floor and the other end facing up? If so, I believe that would cause the wire to twist as it comes off the spool. I would think the spool needs to be on a horizontal shaft so that the wire rolls straight off the spool. Of course, the spool would need a little friction on it to prevent the spool from rotating faster than the wire is coming off of it. Another concern is the phasing of the pickup compared to the others. Did you test that? I've seen it tested in another video by watching what the ohmmeter does when a strip of metal is placed near the top of the pickup.

[@MerwinMusic]

I just set the end on the floor. I haven't had an issue with the wire getting tangled since it's pulling off instead of unraveling. I haven't heard of testing the phasing but this video is also about my first ever attempt winding pickups.

[@michaelhead875]

You have the best DIY design I've seen and I love the counter solution.

[@marcxd8999]

Awesome sound man! Whats the name of the song at the end or did you just improvise?

[@ryanturner9509]

Sweet. I've just found your channel and seen this vid. You are a man after my own heart amigo! My wonderful wife is speechless having found that there are other men who behave like me 😂. I love the machine and im sure ill be pleasantly surprised by some of your other gadgetry and gizmos. Just remember. "If its not broken, go ahead and tear it apart then fix it anyway!" 😎

[@yevhenfedorets6509]

This pickup has a great sustain.

[@summersendband]

Sounds awesome

[@pandorski35000]

Don't you measure the resistance or impedance in the process ? just to make you end up with the goal you aim at

[@HandsonHensley]

This is exactly what I needed to see. Thank you.

[@ricardoa2894]

did you know how many ohms ? resistance ? just comparing against usual fenders

[@niltoneduardoalayochavez4395]

Excellent work. Very well. One question please. Did you measure the resistance of the pickup?. How much is approximately 8000 turns of cable?. Greetings.

[@MerwinMusic]

7.02KOhms.

[@txkflier]

@@MerwinMusic I would like to have seen you measure the resistance and inductance of the pickup and compared it to the readings from the other pickup(s).

[@ziny2814]

Thank you for the best video. What did you do to wind it tighter than the first one? From japan

[@MattWhatsGoinOn]

Sounds great! Nice job! 👍

[@waynegram8907]

MerwinMusic, what counter are you using to that is connected to the pickup motor?

[@FingerBob]

man you did a great job. pickup sounds awesome.

[@alwaysrockn2009]

That was slick. Good job dude!!!

[@malcolmhardwick4258]

Sounds great !

[@marcovanwijnen6840]

So damn clever, I had to put a thumbsup. Amazing DIY project. Loved the Vid!

[@ricardoa2894]

what happens if its over wounded ? I wanted to make 1 overwounded because the #1 of SRV supposed to be overwounded "by defect by factory" and it sounds better than regular '59s

[@BensWorkshop]

Interesting. Many thanks.

[@AntonioCavicchioni]

Sounds pretty good!

[@prakashkaliappan9226]

What will be the gauge of winding wire for banjo pickup ??

[@orionktulu]

Couldn't you have soldered where it broke and kept winding?

[@NicZanski]

You can do this however, if its near the start of your winds, the solder can create a bump in the which becomes more obvious as you pile more layers of wire on resulting in an aesthetically non pleasing pickup. you also wouldn't be able to test continuity until you cut the end of the wire from the spool which is risky. Best / easiest bet is to start again :)

[@dylan1kenobi]

Any tips on how you'd reverse the direction of the winder to perhaps make a humbucker pickup? I'm really curious your rig and saw your other video on it and want to try it myself!

[@bandobandit353]

Just mount the bobbin the other way around (y)

[@joechou34]

keep the videos coming, buddy!

[@joeking433]

That's kind of needlessly elaborate. You should also get rid of the ceramic magnet and the pole pieces and use some alnico magnets.

[@s9plus20]

Good going!! Sounds great!

[@ZacPettyMusic]

Hey buddy, killer video! What’s the ohm reading of it on a multimeter? Thanks!

[@MerwinMusic]

It says in the website article but it read 7.02 kOhms. So right in the middle of the normal 6-8 kOhm range.

[@ZacPettyMusic]

MerwinMusic nice! Thanks for getting back to me!

[@ZacPettyMusic]

MerwinMusic nice! Thanks for getting back to me!

[@MAPIOH]

Ur pickup sounds very sweet.. I'm in love with it.. 42gauge, 7993 turns..what about the magnet? Thanks..🏆🏆🏆👍

[@tyronejackson4509]

Not sure why you have a bar magnet on the back. The pole pieces are magnets. They will probably have to be magnetized

[@MerwinMusic]

They aren't magnets on this pickup, just pieces of metal.

[@kcsvantasticvoyages9729]

Sounds good

[@petedazer3381]

Very cool, nice job!

[@whisperingwind3430]

Great job after all

[@marcbrownmusic2410]

How did you get the spool of wire to spin freely?

[@MerwinMusic]

it's standing upright on the floor so the wire comes off the one end of the spool. It doesn't really unwind.

[@christianboddum8783]

When I saw you went beyond 9000 turns my mind went : Noooo stooop!

[@ricardoa2894]

what happens if its over wounded ? I wanted to make 1 overwounded because the #1 of SRV supposed to be overwounded "by defect by factory" and it sounds better than regular '59s

[@christianboddum8783]

@@ricardoa2894 Overwound means technically a higher output, BUT, in reality you get a more compressed midrangey sound, and you can't reintroduce dynamics once they are not there. So less winds will give more dynamics and sound more natural, and you can pour on all the 808s to your heart desire, if compressed midrange is what you want ;-)

[@ricardoa2894]

@@christianboddum8783 compressed midrange means less output signal on mid frequencies ? like more highs and lows than middles? IF it is, depending on the "Q" ramp it could be interesting for blues (possibly), I personally like reduce the EQ from 2K to 4K for blues purposes

[@christianboddum8783]

@@ricardoa2894 No,no... Let's make it simpler; more turns equals less dynamics, more turns means more midrange and less top, generally; BUT, it is complex OK? the thickness of the insulation of the wire (lacquer) affects how the highs are preserved, so you can play a little with this, But again, more turns reduces dynamics for the price of are higher output. A more compressed signal - though higher in output- may actually come across weaker because of lack of dynamics and detail FWIW I'll stop here.

[@ricardoa2894]

@@christianboddum8783 Thanks for your kind explanation Christian, I dont understand what "dynamics" mean exactly, I will have to study it

[@joeking433]

I haven't seen a reel to reel in decades, LOL!

[@bobc5151]

so what was the final count of the windings on the pick up after you removed some?

[@MerwinMusic]

7993 was the number of windings on the pickup in the end.

[@billjackson6385]

How much for pickups

[@yevhenfedorets6509]

Couldn't you make a limiter ? As wide as your bobbin. And you wouldn't screw up.

[@Jackofallthetrades]

Great job!!!

[@csj9619]

Perhaps the motor spins too fast on your winding machine. (Which is awesome, btw)

[@MerwinMusic]

If I push the pedal all the way down it definitely spins too fast, but you can control it just like a sewing machine so I usually just run it a little slower.

[@frankrouveroy9603]

Your pu sounds good man.

[@gergemall]

Interesting, thank you

[@mastbardoss]

same passion.

[@santabarbaravolkswagen1357]

I found using a sewing machine motor, it was too hard to control the speed. Building this solved my problems with broken wire, and allowed for a much slower and controlled startup. Now I'm working on adding control to preset the number of winds so that it stops at a specific count that you choose. Check this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fGO9aZmarKuegrM

[@jamescopeland5358]

I like that

[@biroesustainer573]

Great

[@rennysambouw8720]

👍👍👍

[@charlottemarceau8062]

I'm hunting on ebay for a sewing machine atm (got ma wire and my bobbin!) Thanks for the winder design idea ! X

[@TJ_Hack3r]

neat

[@darrylbutt2570]

Superb, the only change I would make is adding some bees wax to the mixture. I have been told that normal wax is too brittle but bees wax melts too easy but a 75 / 25 mix is perfect.

[@joeking433]

Remember, paraffin is toxic!

[@Patrick-tv6cs]

Its winding too fast.

[@MerwinMusic]

Yeah. I added a little block of wood under the pedal to lower the max speed.