I was recently sent a pair of Wilson semi acoustic pickups probably built at some point in the late sixties or early seventies. Though they were producing sound if tapped - they were open circuit ... and what we commonly call 'zombie' pickups: dead but they don't know it!
Made in the UK these are fascinating - and ridiculously over engineered! Here's the bridge one.
Off comes the cover ... and what do we find under the black plastic trim ...
It even has locking wires on the poles ... er ....
Arggggghhhhh an air coil - as in one wound with no bobbin on a special former. This one has the distinction of sitting in an odd plastic trough. Funny, if they were going to get the trough moulded why not use a moulded bobbin? Good old British engineering!
Dont plan ... just do it ... and if it looks complicated so much the better :-)
Unfortunately the 'trough that takes the air coil has an advanced case of plastic breakdown ... and literally fell apart as I took the coil out.
The coil appears to be 44awg wire but I will cut a length from the junk coil before rewinding and diameter check it ...
So with nothing to cradle a replacement air coil in ... well apart from a gooey crumbling plastic jigsaw ... I decided to build a custom bobbin to substitute for the air coil. With the same dimensions and winding level it will sound the same as the original when wound - but save several days of fabrication in a winding jig just for two pickups! It will be very similar to an air coil as it will be made out of paper! Yep paper.
Thick cartridge paper turned into wafer thin 'fibreglass' by soaking in cyanoacrylate glue.
I am bound to need a replacement at the neck too - so a made two straight off. Yes its pink cartridge paper, get over it, I'm spreying them black anyway! :-)
Voila!
The magnets will be familiar to anyone who has looked inside a Burns Trisonic (which uses two of them instead of four). Clearly these were an easy find back in the day for British companies! Here the configuration is a bit like a P90 crossed with a Gold Foil crossed with a 1960s electric milk float!
Anyway that's all for part one ... winding next
Professional pickup winder, horse-testpilot and recovering Chocolate Hobnob addict.
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ...
Oil City Pickups ...
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Comments
How do you support/separate the upper & lower surfaces of the paper replacement bobbins?
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog
I love the fact that by trying to copy they made something totally original :-)
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog
Formerly TheGuitarWeasel ... Oil City Pickups ... Oil City Blog