DIY Guitar Pickup

[NatesRockMusic]

beatles subliminal messages man

[daxweb]

really interesting

[hemax1000]

WHAT IS THE SIZE OF THE COIL..actually i made a pickup and didnt work.so i want to try again.and IS IT NEESSARY TO WIND IT WITH A ACHINE. i dont have any, so i winded in hand,,,,

[MrGuitarbike]

@hemax1000 The key to a good sounding pickup is to have coated enamel wire wrap around a magnet, the wire has to be fairly tight and for a better sounding pickup you want to randomize the spooling. You might not have enough wire wound or might have too much or a bad magnet. I would check first the connection to the amp.

[hemax1000]

@MrGuitarbike actully i dont have a amp. so i tried the pick up with my PC's audio jack.

.there was no response. I used a thin wires and my speaker magnet was a bit thicker than the one in the video.

[mohiitjaitly]

Which wire is used here? Is it plain copper wire?

[MuggerFugger665]

@mohiitjaitly Magnet wire

[HackaweekTV]

@mohiitjaitly It's enamel coated "magnet wire"

[mohiitjaitly]

Or instead of normal pickups cn i use bar magnets in d way u used disc magnet to coil around and also cn covr all 6 strings?

[mohiitjaitly]

If i have to make the pickup for nrmal 6 string electric guitar those cylinders kinda things placed below each string is a magnet?

[Broommaster2000]

So, from looking at this and some other things I saw on this subject, you can also coil the wire around a bunch of screws, and then glue some of those lil' magnets on top of them? What would happen if I made two "half" pickups and position them slightly angled, one in slot one and one in slot three (leaving slot 2 open for something else)?

[Broommaster2000]

@Broommaster2000 That would be the 2 out of the three slots ment for pickups on my Strat.

[HackaweekTV]

@Broommaster2000

It will work and have it's own unique sound. You should experiment with placement in relation to he bridge as well. Lot's of difference in tone near the bridge vs neck. :)

[Broommaster2000]

@HackaweekTV As a matter of fact, I am finding out. I am building a couple of different ones as we speak. I'm making a low wide one, and a tall one. :D

[kdmq]

Just after he finished filming he realized he could have just glued a magnet in the center of the spool.

[RevolutionJoke]

just a quick question since i know nothing from puckups, the you wire sides with what? i mean the green and red goes to?:p

[jmarksbery]

forgot to ask, what gauge magnet wire did you use?

[jmarksbery]

I enjoyed this very much and it was the first time it was did and explained that even a novice like me could understand. Thanks. I would like to make a set for a 3 string guitar so how would you make an under and through for a 3 string?

Thanks again,

Jim

[havaden96]

is that an Altoids Pre-Amp?

[HackaweekTV]

@havaden96 Yes it's based on an LM386 chip. There's a video of the project on my youtube channel.

[GenericPurpleTurtle]

Does the wire have to be insulated? I built one but it doesn't work :(

[HackaweekTV]

@GenericPurpleTurtle Yes it has to be "magnet wire" which has a very thin enamel coating to insulate it. The thin coating allows the wires to be wound very close to each other which is important for the induction effect. Radio Shack sells this wire as do other electronics supply sources. Search for "magnet wire". :) Good luck.

[2011dtish21]

Of all the guys who do cool How-To projects on Youtube, you are the most Knowledgeable and can actually solder right. You have gained my respect wich is saying a lot.

[besamemucho5]

nice job...the vid was so clear and easy to understand...thanks for uploading it...now i need to understand what the Altoids box was...

[skaterocker666]

does the polarity of the magnets matter? cuz i want to make 1 myself for a 6 string

[ptantiku]

I love your trick on how to wire the pickup, you're genius.

[killerbee230]

Nice tutorial, and nice detail with the amp that goes "all the way to eleven" :)

[AdvocatusDiabolii]

awesome! :)

I'm really tempted to try and build a cigar box guitar using these pickups. and also your amp :)

[LauxHawk]

@AdvocatusDiabolii That'll sure raise an eyebrow or two.

[WilliamsRuss]

Wow! Yours goes to eleven !

Thanks for making it fun.

[rsusummoner]

This was an amazing build. And the electronic explanation was right on the money.

Did you consider making this with a neodymium magnet in place of a speaker magnet?

[HackaweekTV]

@rsusummoner Thanks... and, yes I did consider using a neodymium magnet. That was my first choice but I couldn't seem to find one in time so I simply used what was on hand. :)

[SuperSam101011]

Amazing :)

[joeshcosmo]

I love this hack-a-week stuff. Keep up the good work.

[HackaweekTV]

I had to reload this video due to an error..

Dino, do you listen to the Amp Hour podcast? The guys suggested you send an invoice to Hack a Day. Did you consider it? :-) Keep up the good work.

gRis1cz 19 minutes ago

You know, I've been wondering why every time I tried to hand-wind a pickup, I ended up with a tangled mess. Now I know. Thanks!

dmlandrum 1 hour ago

Very cool nice addition to your amp project.

drnjr31 2 hours ago

Nice job, maybe you should do a robot for one of the weeks