Members user 2112 Posted October 13, 2015 Members Share Posted October 13, 2015 I know i'm probably using this wrong, but i'm new and have no idea what i'm doing. Anyways, i was thinking about making guitar pickups, by hand, out of various exotic woods. I also would like to hand wind them, and i would also offer some that are LITERALLY wound with my bare hands. Think there's a market for this? Would anyone be interested in these? i've made a few so far, but i want to be sure people would be interested in these before i invest too much time or many. Any ideas, or non hateful criticism would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted October 13, 2015 Members Share Posted October 13, 2015 I assume you're talking about making the bobbins out of exotic wood. Hand wound pickups are already out there so you'd need to convince people yours are worth whatever you decide to charge. Typical prices are $75-100 each for Strat pickups, and that exotic wood might drive up the price. I have no clue but it strikes me as a potentially difficult business to get into. I'd put a set in a "test bed" guitar and let a local guitarist play it and give his/her feedback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members badpenguin Posted October 14, 2015 Members Share Posted October 14, 2015 Unless the bobbins made of exotic wood offer some tonal improvement, and you wind better than the hundreds of other pickup makers out there, I would say go for it. If not, keep them in your own guitars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted October 14, 2015 Members Share Posted October 14, 2015 First, let me welcome you to the forum. Second, I'm intrigued by what you are doing and have done - do you have any picture and clips that you could share with us? Why are you using wood - what do you expect to gain by using wood instead of plastic - I assume its the appearance. I frequently use wood pickup rings to match other woods on my builds - rosewood with a rosewood neck, ebony on ebony. But I almost always use pickups with covers on them - personally I don't like the bare bobbin and pole piece look. That could change, lets see yours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members user 2112 Posted October 14, 2015 Author Members Share Posted October 14, 2015 I don't have any pictures of wooden ones. I I have made pickups in the past, but they were made from plastic. However, I am in the process of building a set of wooden humbuckers, and I'd be more than happy to show them off once I complete them. As far as what I hope to gain from using wood, I'm not real sure yet. I know different materials have different tones, but I'm new to using wood so this is all experimental. But I'm making zebra humbuckers which will either be ebony/birds eye maple or ebony/lacewood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members papaschtroumpf Posted October 17, 2015 Members Share Posted October 17, 2015 The bobin material has no impact on tone. Thickness, etc... sure, but not material since it's non-magnetic.For exposed pickups I supposed there could be a small market since you would see the wood so it would be part of the look (e.g. the zebras you are making) and it might appeal to some people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grant Harding Posted October 17, 2015 Members Share Posted October 17, 2015 If you like the look that's cool. I wouldn't expect any tonal impact though. I suppose the wood could make them more microphonic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted October 17, 2015 Members Share Posted October 17, 2015 The bobin material has no impact on tone. Thickness, etc... sure, but not material since it's non-magnetic. For exposed pickups I supposed there could be a small market since you would see the wood so it would be part of the look (e.g. the zebras you are making) and it might appeal to some people. And yet, guitarists are forever claiming that minute changes can produce profound sonic effects. For the most part I call BS but various parts of a guitar do resonate and different materials have different resonant properties. It's not that far fetched to expect someone to claim that he/she hears major, extreme tonal differences from exotic wood bobbins. I wouldn't expect to myself but... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members papaschtroumpf Posted October 17, 2015 Members Share Posted October 17, 2015 Only if you bathe them insnake oil though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members user 2112 Posted October 17, 2015 Author Members Share Posted October 17, 2015 Yeah I don't expect to get any special magical tone from the wood itself. I just thought that exotic woods would be a lot prettier looking than pieces of plastic. My goal is to try to start a small little business with these, I wanna hand wind them all but sell them for cheaper than what other companies sell comparable products for. I figured that if I wanted them then hey, why wouldn't someone else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 1001gear Posted October 17, 2015 Members Share Posted October 17, 2015 if it's only cosmetic, just make the covers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members doodie Posted October 17, 2015 Members Share Posted October 17, 2015 If you are gonna go for wood cover try some etching on them and you might have something unique. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members user 2112 Posted October 17, 2015 Author Members Share Posted October 17, 2015 Well the reason I don't just make the covers, is because some people prefer the look of the bare bobbins. Of course, I will make some with the covers as well. My goal is basically to make very nice pickups at a reasonably affordable price. I could just use plastic but wood is pretty. So basically I just want to make amazing sounding, cheap priced pickups, that stand out from what everyone else has in their guitar. I was just curious to see if people would be fond of the wood look Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grant Harding Posted October 17, 2015 Members Share Posted October 17, 2015 I'd personally have to see them in context to give an honest answer. There are several things in the past that I thought would be nicer in wood, but don't really prefer. Pickup rings, binding, pickguards, and knobs for example. I prefer plastic or metal for those in all but a few cases. All wood can look amazing if the design is spot on and there isn't a whole lot of clashing grain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chordite Posted October 17, 2015 Members Share Posted October 17, 2015 The appeal would be more 'eco warrior' that tone.A normal pup uses maybe one tv dinner tray worth of plastic so I wouldn't hold out for a drop in sea level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 1001gear Posted October 17, 2015 Members Share Posted October 17, 2015 You might get some toan from the mineral content of the wood and for sure plastics and phenolics can be mixed with ferrous particles as well as anything else so there might be something a coupla ticks above snakeoil there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Quarter Posted October 17, 2015 Members Share Posted October 17, 2015 Rather than using wood for bobbins, I'd say stay with the "normal" materials for the guts and use wood for trim, covers, and toppers. Wood likes to move and is not always very stable. The problem is worse the thinner it gets. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chordite Posted October 17, 2015 Members Share Posted October 17, 2015 I would just have to countersink the screws in the to pic as a "completion thing". Otherwise they are the full Flintstones Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 1001gear Posted October 17, 2015 Members Share Posted October 17, 2015 Awesome stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Elias Graves Posted October 22, 2015 Members Share Posted October 22, 2015 As usual, only the finest. Very nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Elias Graves Posted October 22, 2015 Members Share Posted October 22, 2015 As usual, only the finest. Very nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members user 2112 Posted October 31, 2015 Author Members Share Posted October 31, 2015 So I finally finished them. Took longer than I would have liked but oh well that's life. Anyways, they're single coil pickups with formar wire, alnico 2 magnets, and birdseyemaple for the top. I made it as wide as a cover would be So it would fit nice and snug. They're wax potted and the middle is rw/rp. This may be a biased opinion but these are by far the best pickups I've ever owned. They're very versatile and the notes are so well defined they sound beautiful. They also sound much sweeter than I expected but that's cool because it sounds nice. I'll try to get some pictures up tomorrow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grant Harding Posted October 31, 2015 Members Share Posted October 31, 2015 Those Pettingel pickups look amazing! That should provide you with some inspiration! Look forward to seeing and hearing what you come up with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members user 2112 Posted November 1, 2015 Author Members Share Posted November 1, 2015 I wanted to get some sound clips, but im having issues with my guitar. The Floyd rose on it broke... I really don't like those things:/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted November 1, 2015 Members Share Posted November 1, 2015 Well done. They look really cool but the proof is in the listening. Please post clips when you can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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