Here we have a lovely old (and sadly very dead) Burns Rez-O-Matik pickup from the 60s/70s ... our job is to breathe new life into it.
cover off and you can see why the Rez-O-Matik and several other Burns pickups are so different to practically everything else: firstly there is the split and opposed ceramic magnet array in the middle ... and around it ... the coil. Yep no bobbin. The coil was wound on a sort of 'basket' wire former ... potted, tape wrapped then pushed over the magnet. It's a total nightmare for a rewinder ... but we will get there.
Above: you can see the rock hard and very dead air coil out of it's slot.
Below: Out with the pencil and paper to design a former for the coil ... I specialise in fast 'back of a fag packet' style drawings!
Now to think of how to build it ... over a mug of 'builder's tea ... I do my best thinking with a cuppa ...
The 'Fag packet' stage doesn't last long ... I whistle out a 2D drawing program and get stuck in. On screen is the central 'core' of the former .. the little 'bumps' will stop the wound coil sticking on the core ... and provide a gap for me to pass tape through.
Below: the basic components ... to be laser cut from acrylic then bolted together.
Then as if by magic ... it's made ... well the magic took quite a while ... as did the design!
Above: nearly ready to wind ... note the layer of tape on the core ... sticky side outwards ... this will stop wire sticking in the former joins ... and start the wrapping process for me.
More soon
:-)
Comments
There's more to being a pickup winder than chocolate hobnobs you know!
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
(formerly customkits)
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
Thanks for sharing
A 'Brew' is a tool for engineers just like a screwdriver or soldering iron ... it allows you to sit back, look at the problem, and not make rash, material wasting decisions :-) my dad ... the finest engineer I've ever encountered ... taught me that.
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
And the winding has begun. Initially I was confused as the customer told me the neck pickup was about 14k ... yet this bridge one contained far too little wire of the wrong gauge to ever be close to 14k. All was explained when the customer told me that the neck pickup ... identical in looks to this one ... is internally a stacked humbucker! It must rank as amongst the first stacked humbuckers made ... and almost certainly the only air-coil one! This pickup is of course a single coil so wound to about half the neck one.
With the coil wound and the lead wires attached, the fiddly job of passing short lengths of tape around the coil to keep it together begins. Tweezers, patience, good eyesight and lots of tea required!
It's potted ... and then the winding jig is stripped off like this ... of course the jig can be used over and over.
and the coil fully taped
And ready to rock again!
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog 7 String.org profile and message