Where can I buy stuff to wind pickups?

[abstract]

I'm really at my wits' end here. I've heard quite often that it's difficult to find a magnet supplier that does anything other than bulk-orders. I've been interested in winding pickups for a while now, and I'm just trying to figure out where I'm going to get everything I need before I build or buy a winder. Everyone I ask says to check out stewmac, but all they have is a 3mm A5 magnet and very limited choice in other categories. I'm trying to find a good quality ceramic, as well as a bigger and better quality A5, a more extensive selection of wire and somewhere to get slugs/screws. I'm not sure how many of you have taken an interest in winding, but anyone who has experience or otherwise some sort of knowledge about suppliers... help me out please!

 

[ralphy1976]

wire : ebay

magnets : look for magnet manufacturers on ebay, so do small batches. There are quite a few, around

bobbins : buy them from stew mac, or buy cheap pups and canibalise them (so you have all the assemblies)

you will find that on a cheap humbucker, changing the magnet and ONLY the magnet will already make a hell of a difference

Winding machine : ebay, invest from chinese manufacturers.

 

[Rook]

If you had some spare cash, Stewmac have loads of that kinda stuff but you definitely pay for it.

The problem is the bobbins, you'd be amazed how they affect the sound.

I seem to remember buying a pair of ceramic magnets from allparts, maybe check them out?

 

[Durero]

I get my magnets from Stew Mac but I've also tried some neodymiums from Main Electronics in Vancouver. Don't know what other magnet types they have but I'd check them out, as well as Lee's Electronics on the same block.

I have a Schatten pickup winder. They're a Canadian company and you can save a bit of $ by ordering directly from them instead of through Stew Mac.

 

[bostjan]

It's hard to find proper magnets, but I do see them on ebay sometimes.

Have you messed with this before?

There are all different kinds of magnets: AlNiCo V, AlNiCo VIII, SmCo7, Sm(Co, Fe, Cu)5, Sm2Co17, Neodymium Iron Boron, Ceramic, etc...

The winding wire is really thin, so be careful.

 

[abstract]

Thanks everyone.

I found a reputable Ebay dealer (thanks ralphy) that stocks lots of C8, as well as all sorts of Alnico including A8. You can buy them all individually (although there's really no reason to considering shipping costs). A lot of the C8 is "fully-charged", apparently.

Amazingly, although google search doesn't turn a lot of results for anything pickup-related, I found a few dealers that sell Poly, Plain Enamel and Formvar. I was really stoked to find out that a lot of the dealers sell PE in half-pound spools as I was under the impression that it was rare to see. There's a forum with a section for pickup-makers (music-electronics-forum) that has a stickied FAQ thread with links to quite a few dealers for magnets, wire, general parts and such.

@bostjan: Nope, I have zero experience. I'm definitely not going to throw money around until I decide I'm into it, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't just wasting my time and that I wouldn't be scrounging for leftovers whenever I wanted a certain component. I've spent the past week researching and asking around very intensively, though.

@Durero: I've been checking out the Schatten winder. Seems like it'd be great once one accumulated some experience (i.e. could cover losses on the winder doing rewinds). I noticed Schatten also sells magnet-wire including PE and 44 gauge poly. I may just start with a Sewing-Machine winder, but then of course there's a turn-counter to worry about. Thanks for the heads up on the local shops. I think I bought some midi-jacks from Main in an attempt to solve the accursed H&K MIDI controller, but that was a long time ago and it could have been somewhere else.

@Fun: Do you recommend any specific bobbins? A place called Guitar Jones came up for me when I did some digging, as they carry 7 string bobbins, baseplates and keepers. I also saw a thread that had something to do with bobbins and tone over on music-electronics so I suppose I should read up on that as well.

Again, thanks everyone!

 

[Demeyes]

I don't know if you've seen this already but this guy made a turn counting pup winder from a sewing machine and he talks about it a bit. It'd be a nice way to get into making your own pickups and keeping the costs down. DIY: pickup winder
The same guy has a writeup of making some pickups. It should be worth reading through. DIY: pickups

 

[Durero]

That reminds me, Jason Lollar is offering his updated pickup winding book again (after being out of print for many years.)

It has detailed instructions and diagrams of how to make your own pickup winder.