extending pickup wires... does thickness matter?

[bluesboy]

I recently bought a pickup on ebay, and the wires are not long enough to reach the pot. I have some wire that I could connect, but it looks thicker than the wires on the pickup (seymour duncan four conductor wire). Does the size of the wire I add on matter, and if so, what size/type should i pickup at radio smack?

thanks

[bluesboy]

also, just for some interesting discussion, I once lengthened pickup wires with thicker guage speaker wire... the pickups sounded normal with 9 guage strings, but when i switched to 10's i lost signal strength, although the pickup height was the same. Any idea why this would happen? (this is where my original question is stemming from)

[De-bone-air]

It's pretty darn TIGHT in guitar cavities....22 awg works for me.

[Norcal_GIT_r]

You can use a little thicker wire. As De Bone mentioned 22 works great.

The lead wire did not change the tone of your other pickup. Heavier strings respond differently.

[bluesboy]

i didnt think going up one guage would make a huge difference... the change in sound was definitely not subtle, which is why i thought using a thicker wire might be a mistake

 

 

BTW thanks for the responses

[cratz2]

Totally different principals.. thicker strings vs thicker wire.

 

On the strings causing a shift in tone/output. I've never noticed it myself, but if the guitar is setup for 9s, and you go to 10s and you don't adjust the truss rod or string height, the strings are probably slightly further away from the pickups than they were before which might cause a slight drop in output, but I've never noticed it before though I've never really listened for it super critically and I usually tweak the relief, string height, intonation and pickup height if I go from 9s to 10s or from 10s to 9s.

 

So you're saying it was pretty dramatic? Like a couple decibels? Did you actually have to change your amp/pedal settings to get the same level of gain as before the drop?

[bluesboy]

 

Totally different principals.. thicker strings vs thicker wire. On the strings causing a shift in tone/output. I've never noticed it myself, but if the guitar is setup for 9s, and you go to 10s and you don't adjust the truss rod or string height, the strings are probably slightly further away from the pickups than they were before which might cause a slight drop in output, but I've never noticed it before though I've never really listened for it super critically and I usually tweak the relief, string height, intonation and pickup height if I go from 9s to 10s or from 10s to 9s. So you're saying it was pretty dramatic? Like a couple decibels? Did you actually have to change your amp/pedal settings to get the same level of gain as before the drop?

 

 

i measured teh disatnce from the pickups before and after the guage switch. it was very very very similar. Yes, i had to change my settings

 

EDIT: also, i should say that the wire i added is like more than twice thicker

[Liberty Belle]

the thicker strings difference would have contributed to the different sounds, not the piece of wire!

[guitarcapo]

It might be my imagination but when I re-wire a guitar's electronics with thicker wire, the guitar sounds brighter. My uess is that there is less resistance and more signal is getting through. I always wondered why pickup wires were so thin all the time....Like only a few strands of metal under the insulation. I'm always worried every straqnd isn't getting soldered and such. The only reason I can think why they are so thin is to eliminate noise...but I usually shield all my guitars anyway.

[cratz2]

 

...does thickness matter?

 

 

My ex always told me that thickness mattered more than length.

 

Was never sure exactly how she meant that tho... :poke:

[bluesboy]

My ex always told me that thickness mattered more than length. Was never sure exactly how she meant that tho... :poke:

 

i have no problems there lol