Thread: Pickup wire

good luck...

took me monthsss to find my spool...

google.....
call....
email....

fun

i can tell you now... it isnt cheap....

and sourcing magnets is even harder.... im still looking...

its mainly cause of the small quantaties
if you were looking for bulk they would all be willing to sell to you, but they arent very interested in selling small batches...

I am surprised that none of the luthier supplies in Australia don;t sell everything you need for building guitars.
Cheers Bob

I can order the wire from stewmac - i think it is about $30US for 1/2 pound - enough for 4 or 5 single coils according to them - but wnated to source as much as possible from Australia -

i found this place for the magnets http://www.maglabmagnets.com.au/c/869/1/rods.html

Originally Posted by Tall Paul

I can order the wire from stewmac - i think it is about $30US for 1/2 pound - enough for 4 or 5 single coils according to them - but wnated to source as much as possible from Australia -

i found this place for the magnets http://www.maglabmagnets.com.au/c/869/1/rods.html

Yes there are lots of places that sell alnico magnets but they aren't polarized the correct way for pickups , for exampled my epiphone humbucker magnets are magnetized along the narrow sides N & S and the ones you can buy locally are magnetized end to end, and I'm not sure how that will effect a pickup. some of the other guys may know better.

As for the wire AWG 42 is approximately 0.06 of a mm and I posted the name of a company in Brisbane a couple of months ago that had a bunch of 1kg rolls for $50.00 but I may have purchased the last one

The product code is .056 PUR

http://www.oba-ic.com.au/

kind regards to all

Wal

indeed wally,
the problem is getting magnets that are polarized in the right way.....
you can get magnets polarized end to end from anywhere.....
but you dont want them.....


i tried that obriens aim mob back when i was searching for a spool.... same story, not really interested in small orders....

Originally Posted by Tall Paul

I can order the wire from stewmac - i think it is about $30US for 1/2 pound - enough for 4 or 5 single coils according to them - but wnated to source as much as possible from Australia -

i found this place for the magnets http://www.maglabmagnets.com.au/c/869/1/rods.html

Worries me a bit that they don't specify what type of Alnico it is: number 5 is the most common in P'ups and has the highest magnetic flux.

The creation of the magnetic field around the poles of a single coil means that each polepiece has to be the same polarity. And that in a humbucker the polarity for each coil must be the opposite and wound counter to the other coil to affect the "hum" bucking concept. So the need for a magnet to have north and south across the width of the magnet is one of the most vital concepts in hmbucking P'ups.
There are 5 grades of Alnico magnets, each a different proportion of the elements Aluminium, nickel and cobalt. (there is other ferrous compounds in there too) each type generates a different flux density. 1, 2 and 3 are fairly weak and were used to make low power pups early on, 4 and 5 are higher flux density and 5 is used in the most part for modern Alnico p'ups.
Unless you have a Gauss meter to measure the flux density you are going to be making P'ups in the dark unless you buy magnets that are specifically designed for pups.

There are some magnet companies in Aus that will make alnico magnets to your required specs, usually with a minimum order of 10 or 15, they work out to about $15.00 each that's the last quote I got and I suppose you could always sell some off
but I think at that price you'd be better off just having them shipped.

http://www.amfmagnetics.com.au/design_a_magnet.php

there are others, just google

regards

Wal.

It doesn't matter which direction the magnets have been polarised as you can change the direction of magnetism with a couple rare earth magnets. Make sure you buy Alnico magnets in the first place then go read the free info on Stewmac's site to learn how to change magnetism direction with rare earth magnets.

I buy my wire from Ebay from member Baewire. They sell some pretty good wire at good prices. You'll save heaps compared to the Stewmac wire but of course you'll have to buy bigger quantities and pay the shipping accordingly. They've got a whole range of sizes too.

[QUOTE=Phil Mailloux;1002421]It doesn't matter which direction the magnets have been polarised as you can change the direction of magnetism with a couple rare earth magnets. Make sure you buy Alnico magnets in the first place then go read the free info on Stewmac's site to learn how to change magnetism direction with rare earth magnets.

Hey Phil that really interesting, I didn't know one could actually change the direction of the magnetism. thanks for the tip. Would hard drive rare earth magnets be strong enough to accomplish this?

regards

Wal

Originally Posted by Phil Mailloux

It doesn't matter which direction the magnets have been polarised as you can change the direction of magnetism with a couple rare earth magnets. Make sure you buy Alnico magnets in the first place then go read the free info on Stewmac's site to learn how to change magnetism direction with rare earth magnets.

I buy my wire from Ebay from member Baewire. They sell some pretty good wire at good prices. You'll save heaps compared to the Stewmac wire but of course you'll have to buy bigger quantities and pay the shipping accordingly. They've got a whole range of sizes too.

that is very very interesting Phil...
i always assumed they would only work best the way they were manufactured (the direction they are originally polarised)
hmm, looks like im going to have to buy a magnet and test said theory...


thats the problem with buying most stuff.... doent justify the cost to ship it...

you could try mal and carole at evatco in qld

Originally Posted by Andrew_B

i always assumed they would only work best the way they were manufactured (the direction they are originally polarised)
hmm, looks like im going to have to buy a magnet and test said theory...

There's no need to test it, take it for granted as it's been done by plenty of makers including myself.

Originally Posted by walcen

I didn't know one could actually change the direction of the magnetism. thanks for the tip. Would hard drive rare earth magnets be strong enough to accomplish this?

Hey Wal, thought I saw you here. Anyway, yes they're strong enough.

Originally Posted by mkat

There's no need to test it, take it for granted as it's been done by plenty of makers including myself.

If your still skeptical, Dan Erliwine shows this method in the guitar player repair manual...