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Would you wind your own humbucker pickup or buy something on the marker? Poll is created on Nov 12, 2020

  
  
  

Winding own humbucker pickup vs cheap pickup vs really expensive pickup

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mentosik
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Hey folks!

I have recently finished my first build and I used the cheapest pickups I was able to find. Since I just started that hobby I didn't want to put much money in case of failure.

After quick research what I can buy I purchased these

image

Beside the fact my guitar is pretty noisy because I failed with grounding and used wrong "denoiser" in cavities, they sound almost identical than my other guitar Ibanez RG471ah. I bought that guitar used and from pictures I can see they were replaced to something different, I haven't investigated what kind of pickups they are but I don't expect something expensive or fancy.

For my future build, to introduce additional my soul and touch instead of buying pre-made component I wonder what is the quality of self winding pickups. I can imagine that you can do a masterpiece but bear in mind I am newbie. 

How can you compare DIY pickups vs cheap ones from amazon vs really expensive like EMG or seymour duncan pickups?

I have a heavy hand and I play heavy/death metal if this makes any difference.


   
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tv1
 tv1
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I’m not sure that I’d opt for any of your 3 options.

Winding pickups is a whole other ballgame.  If you’re going to wind your own, then you’ll probably end up throwing a few early experiments away until you find the right combination of magnets, wire gauge, number of winds, pattern if winds, etc, etc, etc.  As well as the money you’ll be wasting, you’ll also be spending a fair chunk of time.

Instead, I’d suggest aiming for a sweet spot somewhere between cheap no-name and expensive brand.

Here in the UK, there are some cheap-but-quality brands, selling pickups for £35ish.  OK, they’re made in China, but to consistent quality standards and specs.  You can spend perhaps 2x-3x that amount and get proper small boutique hand wound units.  Real quality, but without the Corporate overheads of a big brand.  Or you can spend real money for the real boutique.

I don’t know what the cheeap-but-quality options are in the US, but I’d guess there will be some, given that it’s a much bigger market than here in the UK.

Take a look at IronGear.co.uk.  Probably not worth shipping to the US, but they’re my recommended cheap-but-quality option.

Online guitar making courses – guitarmaking.co.uk


   
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Russ
 Russ
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I'd like to be able to make my own pickups but it would likely cost more than buying expensive branded ones unless you were able to mass produce them and sell some. Nice idea though. 

🙂🙏🎶🎸

🗝️ "Life's what you make it"🗝️


   
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mentosik
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It all makes sense, I think I will try to find something in mid range, available on my local market.


   
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Jason Bertke
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I like Dominger Pickups.  They are custom made, hand wound (scatter wound) by Joce Dominger and his wife in USA. The prices are unbelievable.  You can get a set of humbuckers for $100 (if you get them without covers).  Joce is also a very good player.  And since he is a player, I think that's why he likes to keep the prices so low (he knows what it's like for the rest of us).  Check them out on Facebook.  Many people are replacing their Seymour Duncans with these.  Or you can find him on ebay.  Check them out.  Tell Joce what kind of sound you want and he will give you a detailed recommendation.  I'm not sure if there is a better deal out there.  And honestly, they are great pickups!


   
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Robin
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I assembled my "first practice" build last night with a pair of used Epiphone humbuckers from ebay, I guess someone had swapped them out for something better, still had the plastic film labels on them. I'm delighted with the sound iv'e got. Not sure where that fits into the poll, branded but cheap.


   
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rockpile99
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For my first build I re-used pickups that I kept from years ago when I upgraded my Ibanez RG270 but when compared to the Seymour Duncan's I was used to hearing they did sound a bit lacking.

Second build was a 'Strat' so I bought a set of these; https://www.northwestguitars.co.uk/wilkinson-vintage-ceramic-single-coil-pickups/ and for under £30 for the set they sound amazing. If you're wanting "bang for buck" then Wilkinson seem a good way to go.

Never been tempted to build/wind my own. Whilst the mark up on pickups from the big names is probably horrific (it's just copper wire, some magnets, and a few bits of plastic after all) I doubt I'd ever achieve the tone that I want/can already buy.

My next build is going to be a metal inspired axe so I've just ordered a set of Bare Knuckle 'war pigs', but the deal with myself is that they're only going in the guitar if I'm 100% happy with the playability and finish, which should hopefully provide sufficient incentive ...

Guitar making is the art and science of turning expensive wood into sawdust.


   
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