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What the heck is going on?

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5/5/2006 7:25 PM

What the heck is going on?

I just wound a tele bridge pickup and the weirdest thing is going on. I have not run into this before. Same wind I always use, maybe more tension but other than that everything is the same. The pickup is very microphonic and the strange thing is, it sounds like it has a natural echo thing going on. Could this be because it's not potted yet and the microphonics are picking up the sound from the amp?? As I said it is more microphonic than any I have ever wound. The only thing I did different is use more tension on the wind and I tried tapeing the magnets this time instead of the usual lacquer dip like normal. Please someone help out if you know what the hell might be going on. Thanks.

5/6/2006 5:27 AM

I suspect that in using more tension, you've pulled the magnets in tighter than normal during the wind and, although the coil will be tight on the outer E poles, you'll have pretty loose windings in between. Potting may sort this out. Some people don't like to pot the baseplate so you may like to try sticking the baseplate down with a rubber cement. This allows movement with some damping and so you can get a small amount of beneficial microphony without that echoey stuff going on.

5/6/2006 7:09 AM
gtrman	Hmmm, makes sense. I'm going to rewind with a little less tension, like I normally use. I was trying something to see what effect it had, boy did I ever get an effect, not the one i was trying to find though

5/6/2006 10:23 PM
SK	???? Tighter on the ends but looser on the long sides? Always, but additional tension won't cause microphonics. Pulled the magnets in tighter? They'll snap before they'll move of any significance. If the additional tension has not caused other issues (bowed plates/stretched wire/altered DCR etc)then it was ok.

5/6/2006 10:17 PM
SK	Truely microphonic (will it reproduce voice?) or just squeels? I would suspect the baseplate.

5/7/2006 4:08 AM

Hi SK, It does both, voice and instant squeal. And the ends are flaring up pretty good as well. I wound another one which turned out good, still kinda microphonic but not until higher gain is added which potting should cure. They are GJ bobbins and even the new one flared up a little and it wasn't even much tension at all. Not to mention the eyelets were put in wrong from GJ and the wire kept catching on one of them. These are for personal testing not to sell.

5/7/2006 4:21 AM
Dave Stephens	you probably flared the bottom of the pickup as well, this adds an air gap between the magnets and the baseplate, creating a natural microphone, you can now announce where your band will be playing next week through your bridge pickup or play harp through it

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