How to Splice Magnet Wire - Guitar Pickup Enameled Wire Splicing

Method that Rob DiStefano of Fret Tech and Cavalier Pickups taught me years ago through our ongoing correspondence on TDPRI. I used to tie the wire around to splice it, like making a knot, but I've suspected this to cause issues.
In the past, sloppy wire splices have caused a darkening of the pickup tone. It's unclear whether this was due to increased capacitance. But it's happened a number of times. I haven't had that issue since using this method, for what it's worth. It's the cleanest and fastest I've tried. Once you've mastered it, you can splice even the smallest of wires.
Seymour Duncan Repair Video: • Guitar Pickup Repair -...
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[@grahamhall2662]

Just mended jazz pickup faulty from the shop, done, works. Excellent tutorial, set the iron hot at 400C, wire so thin cant even measure with callipers but your instruction gave me the knowledge to tackle the job. brilliant thank you.

[@guitar_md]

Awesome! So glad this helped. I'm working on a new video as well, with a similar method but when you're dealing with broken start leads that are so short, you can't splice directly onto them. Basically, it's just tying a knot over the broken start lead with a piece of new magnet wire. Then add flux and a tinned soldering iron to solder them together, right where that knot is tied. Recently repaired an old Univox single coil bass pickup using that technique. I don't think it would've taken the splice otherwise and then you risk burning the magnet wire away down to a stump -- which means rewinding time! Hope this helps and thanks again for the support, and so glad this method worked for you. Thanks for letting me know!

[@AIainMConnachie]

Haha good to see this video! I did exactly this recently without any bench tools other than a solder station

[@theNextProject]

WOW, nicely done. Not just a Doctor, but a Surgeon as well. Thanks for the vid!

[@guitar_md]

Thank you, and you're welcome! Hats off to Rob D. from Cavalier pickups who taught me this technique years ago. Glad you enjoyed it!

[@FerniFF]

Just started dabbling with making my own pickups (trying a quad pickup). This was very helpful.

[@RichardUKSMF]

I believe the wire is insulated/varnished. Does the flux clean this off too or do you need to prep the wire? Cheers

[@guitar_md]

Poly nylon coated wire strips with nothing but a soldering iron. The flux doesn't affect the insulation but distributes heat from the iron more evenly and ensures a smooth tinning process with minimal risk of snagging and breakage of the wire. For Formvar or Plain Enamel wire, I scrape the insulation off carefully with a #11 Xacto blade. Those will not strip with a soldering iron alone and need to be mechanically scraped off before tinning. In hindsight I'm wishing I remembered to include that in this video, as it is really important to mention.

[@angelopacifici1546]

Hi great vids. On the enamleled splice, does one need to scratch off the enamel or will the flux and heat with solder do the job?

[@angelopacifici1546]

Ok I see you responded that some scraping off or sanding is necessary. It's a bitch with the 43g stuff. I practiced a bit. Hope I don't break off, but at least you have provide a rod map. Thanks

[@guitar_md]

@@angelopacifici1546 Scraping is only necessary on the old school Formvar or Plain Enamel wire. Those coatings need to be abraded to come off. The modern stuff -- solderable poly nylon -- melts off with nothing but heat. I vastly prefer the modern wire, and personally only use Formvar or Plain Enamel for vintage pickup rewinds. The solderable stuff is much, much easier to work with. It's all I use on my own pickup builds. You can get heavy build poly nylon wire if you want something closer to Formvar or Plain Enamel as well. Formvar has the thickest insulation, similar to heavy build poly nylon, and PE is somewhere inbetween.

[@Mxyme]

What about the insulation ??

[@guitar_md]

Doesn't need it, as it's only a small section of wire. It's the same as tapped single coils, which I also have a video about. A small section where the insulation is stripped will not have any negative effect, as all the surrounding wire is all insulated, and the tinned splice only takes up a very small fraction of a single turn of wire. I also use this mid-wind to test DCR in some cases. No problems. However -- if I see evidence to the contrary, I'll consider learning a method to apply insulation after stripping. Whether it's polyurethane or a resin or anything else. I haven't seen any need to do so but with evidence to support it -- then I'll go to using that for sure

[@Mxyme]

@@guitar_md Oh I see, that’s enlightening. I just repaired a motor winding like you do and it’s working good. Thank you for your answer, have a nice we.

[@guitar_md]

@@Mxyme Excellent! That's great to know. So you just needed to do one splice to get it working? Hope you have a nice weekend too!

[@Mxyme]

@@guitar_md Yes, hopefully the winding wasn’t more damaged.