Pickup winding

I often have people bringing me faulty pickups. Sometimes it turns out there's just a loose wire and simply needs re-soldering. But sometimes the pickup needs re-winding.

With humbuckers its only usually one coil in which case I can measure the working coil and match the re-wind to it.

Its more common that I get Fender single coil pickups with faults. Older fender pickups can have problems with the insulation on the windings breaking down and the pickup looses its power and becomes thin and weedy sounding.

This is my winding machine. It lives in the corner of the workshop and a lot of customers comment on it.
It isn't possible to wind completely by hand as there are 7500turns on an old Strat pickup and more on a hot one.



The pickup bobbin attaches to the rotating spindle on the front of the machine (white).


The wire is very fine - its about as thick as hair and more brittle as ist made of copper. It's not cheap - the thinner it is the more expensive. I have a few guages for different pickup sounds.




The wire passes over a series of pulleys to tension it.


The machine has a counter with a cut off which stops winding when it gets to the correct number of turns.


so here's the finished product - an old Strat pickup restored to its former glory.
Glyn

www.mrglynspickups.com

Gallery of Horrors

I see a lot of severely damaged instruments in my work. People are often amazed at what can be fixed and how good a guitar can be afterwards.
So here are some pictures of what can happen - but be warned, this is not for the faint hearted. This is just a small sample of what I see - I should take more pics.
All the guitars here were successfully repaired, returned to their owners and are doing fine.

Aria classical


1963 Gretsch


Gibson ES125


K Yarri


K Yarri


Cort



Gibson ES335 '64





Fender acoustic


'82 Strat


Eko Ranger

Walden


Strat Copy

 Gibson Les Paul

Old Italian Mandolin

Gibson Les Paul

 Gibson Southern Jumbo

 Martin D35

 Epiphone Les Paul

Epiphone Sheraton

 Cheapie Classical

  Old Mandolin

 Revolting Fretboard

 Hofner

 Ibanez acoustic
 

Cheers
    Glyn


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I am no longer repairing guitars - since covid 19 I now work full time making pickups

www.mrglynspickups.com

Stringing a Guitar

I come across a lot of guitars that have been strung badly. If the strings are not put on correctly there is little chance of the instrument staying in tune. Its surprising how many players get it wrong - even pros.

The idea is to get at least 3 tight, neat turns down the post. The correct method not only ensures tuning stability but makes it easy to remove a broken string.

If you break a string on stage the first problem is removing the old string. If it is tied in some kind of knot or pushed through the hole twice then you've got a problem. Combine that with limited time and visibility, sweaty hands and adrenalin and often alcohol and you've got a right old struggle on your hands. And that's just getting the old one off.

You don't need a knot, it only serves to create loops of string and this 'free play' causes tuning problems.

I have a method I prefer for all steel strung guitars. Its not the only way to fit strings but I find it very quick and effective, tuning stable and easy to remove strings when I have to. I can fit the strings a couple of hours before a gig and be confident they'll stay in tune.

I first remove the old strings and clean and oil the fingerboard.
I ideally want to get 3 neat, tight turns of string down the post. It can be hard to know how much string to leave that will achieve this so I've devised a super high tech method. I measure the width of three fingers of string past the post, kink the string and snip it off about 8mm from the bend. The three fingers gives me about three turns - I think of it as a 'rule of thumb' arf arf.



This picture shows me measuring the D string 3 fingers past the tuning post.

I then make a kink in the string at the 3 finger mark



This needs to be 90 degrees or a little less.





I then snip the string off using side cutters leaving about 10mm after the kink.

This leaves me just enough string for 3 neat turns around the post.

I often measure just less than 3 fingers for the bass strings and a little over 3 for the treble.





Once all the strings are on I tune them and give them a good stretch a couple of time





A quick check of the intonation and the guitar is ready for a gig.




………………………………………………………………………………………….

I am no longer repairing guitars - since covid 19 I now work full time making pickups

www.mrglynspickups.com