hand wound pickups

[NSJ]

What does this mean, and how much better are these sonically and why over "factory" wound pickups??

[jzucker]

supposedly, scatter winding the pickups adds some "mojo". Not sure if I believe any of the hype. I do know that manilus pickups (Manlius Guitar Pickups - Premium Handwound Electric Guitar Pickups) which are hand wound sound amazing. My guess is it's not so much the hand winding as it is the hand selection of components that a guy like manilus uses. Attention to detail as opposed to manufacturing expense...

I've also noticed that pickups that are not potted seem to capture more of the guitar's acoustic tone though they do squeal...

[hot ford coupe]

Good answer Jack. I remember when the PAF debate came about. For those not familiar with the PAF (Gibson's new Patent Applied For Humbucker pickup), they first used to be hand wound by women in the factory. They were supposed to be counting the wiring turns but they began to talk and gab to each other forgetting how many turns they made. The result was that the pickups were overwound in many cases and supposedly they sounded better than the lesser wound ones. I'm sure that made for a lot of inconsistencies in the guitars but the legend was still born. Then in 1962, the patent came through and Gibson's workers had to make sure they counted correctly or hooked them up to machines, I really don't know which was done but people then swore the patent numbered pickups were inferior. Were they? Who knows. I had a 61 Byrdland with 2 PAFs. Separately the two pickups were the greatest part of the guitar's value. It sounded good but so did all my other Humbucker equipped axes. I really couldn't tell the difference. I agree with Jack that the selection of materials makes a bigger difference.

[Al_F]

So, with a humbucker, would you prefer on over wound or under wound pickup?

[jzucker]

Originally Posted by Al_F

So, with a humbucker, would you prefer on over wound or under wound pickup?

personally I prefer one that's wound "just right"

[danel59]

Will be interested in hearing more about the Manilus pickups. I saw from the other thread that you have them going into a PRS SE SemiHollow. Will be interested in hearing your tone report on those. Also which model(s) did you get for the PRS

Thanks

Dan

[oldane]

30-40 years go, "hand made" used to mean a higher quality. But no so much these days. Computer controlled manufactory is much more consistent and has much narrower tolerances.

Decades ago, cars were to a large extent "hand made". Now they are made by computer controlled robots. Were old cars better than modern ones? No, modern cars are much better, have much narrower tolerances and last far longer. I am the lucky owner of a VW Passat which has now run almost 300000 km (~200000 miles) without any engine repairs, only oil change etc. The engine will still run fine when the rest of the car falls apart due to corrosion in our cold and wet climate here in Denmark.

I have a couple of very ordinary watches equipped with ETA 2824.2 movements - a standard movement likely produced in millions every year at the ETA factory (owned by Swatch) and used by countless watch brands. Such a movement costs less than $200, but I can regulate it to an accuracy of +/- 2 seconds per day, and it will last a lifetime. Such a mechanical wonder at such a low cost would not have been possible without computer controlled automated manufacture. I also have a Dornblueth watch with a gold plated and finely decorated hand made movement. It can do no better than +/- 15 seconds a day (which is pretty good for a hand made movement BTW).

The same can be applied to guitar PUs. Computer controlled manufactory means consistency and accuracy. But of course, there are lots of excellent hand made "boutique" PUs.

[Al_F]

Originally Posted by jzucker

personally I prefer one that's wound "just right"

rephrase , which Manlius pickup would you stick in a 335 ?

[Elias Graves]

I've owned some handwounds and have found them to be very, very good. Probably differs by maker, I suppose, but the ones I've owned are aces.
From what the makers explained to me, I understand it like this...
First is component selection. Many factory pickups use cheaper components. Base plates in particular can affect the sound of a humbucker a lot. Many cheaper ones use brass. Better pickups will use nickel silver. Many handbuilders magnetize their own rods, fit everything "just so" and adhere to very high standards. That's a lot of it.
Scatterwinding is another trick they use. By guiding the wire with the hand, the swires don't lay down exactly parallel to one another. This is supposed to stop "signal bleed" across the wires.
Some makes will used balanced windings on the coils, some unbalanced. That will affect the sound, too. An overwound active coil will result in a sharper sound with more high retained.
As far as overwound and underwound, that's preference. Original PAFs averaged (and were designed for) resistance of about 8k ohms. The hotter you go, the more the midrange "hump" becomes and the high end starts fading.
Magnet choice affects it as well. Alnico 2 and 5 were the common magnets on PAFs, though the 2s were more common. A5 is a stronger magnet that yields a higher output and a "drier" tone. A2 is often called "the musical magnet." I have a set of Rose Daybreakers that were made with A4. They sound like an old rockabilly pickup. Very Gretsch-like.
Now, many of those techniques CAN be done in a factory. There's nothing magic about it. Just requires attention to detail.
As much as I love my BGs and Roses, my Duncan Seth Lover models are among my favorites. Those, incidentally, are wound on the same machines Gibson once wound PAFs with. But it has more to do with the design and construction than any "mojo" imparted by hand. Duncan proves that every day.

EG

[cosmic gumbo]

Buckwheat used to make his own pickups, but they caused transmission problems at the local tv station, whenever he played his guitar.