Unwinding pickups

wwittman · Post by **wwittman** » Wed Apr 16, 2003 11:05 am

okay Don,
so what's your opinion.
Unwind 80's toasters or buy new 'scatterwound' ones?
Won't it be about the same price?
Which do you recommend, think sounds better, etc?

toneman · Post by **toneman** » Sun Apr 20, 2003 8:51 am

William; Hi! Depends alot on what your eighties "Toaster's" read on a d.c. resistance meter. I've seen some from the eighties that were pretty close to the older specs of between 7-8K d.c.
If it's in that range then leave it if you like the sound of them.
I'm not sure what others charge to un-wind them but I usually charge $30.00 per pickup which to my math skills is alot less than the $100.or so per pickup that RIC charges to buy the scatterwounds.
I do have to say that the "scatterwounds" do sound great. When I first started un-winding Toaster pickups is was because the current Toaster's read anywhere from 11K to 16K d.c. resistance and that was what came on all the Vintage Reissue series until John Hall came up with making the Scatterwounds for the Reissues about 3 years or so ago.
I would say to you if Tone is the most important factor (over dollars spent) then buy the scatterwounds. If you're on a budget then un-wind them. You won't be unhappy either way.

ted_williams · Post by **ted_williams** » Wed Apr 23, 2003 6:18 pm

I just replaced the hi-gains on my 12-string with some with some unwound reissue toasters (went from 12k to 7.5k). I expected lower output, but if it is lower, it's not appreciably so. There is significantly more jangle, yet still a well-defined bottom end. In fact, with the hi-gains, the neck pickup by itself was an unusable mud puddle. Now I can get some use out of the top pickup switch position.

toneman · Post by **toneman** » Thu Apr 24, 2003 7:56 am

Rule of thumb is usually "The higher the number of turns/larger amount of D.C. resistance, the more midrange you will get out of a pickup".
I've got Gretsch FilterTron's that read between 4K-4.7K d.c. resitance that are louder than the 7.8K `59 "VooDoo Pickups" humbuckings in my old PRS.
It's not usually the amount of turns that determine the output level. It's a combination of things like magnet type & size, wire guage, pickup/ coil width & number of turns all working together.
Less turns usually equals better over all fidelity and clarity.

philipnewz · Post by **philipnewz** » Thu Apr 24, 2003 2:21 pm

I unwound 5 pickups a few months ago (3 off a 325v63 and 2 off a 360v64) with great results. I didnt have much alternative living down here in NZ and was a bit nervous starting. I actually chickened out twice. But it all went very well and they sound great with little reduction in volume and a really nice clean tone. It seemed like I unwound about a mile of wire.

toneman · Post by **toneman** » Fri Apr 25, 2003 7:46 am

Sure is a wad of wire ain't it Phillip! Good on you. The first one I did was a bit nerve wracking but I've been dealing with pickups and guitars for ages and said.."well, the worst that can happen is I'd have to send it to Seymour to get re-wound". But turned out just fine. Pretty easy going after you get thru the first couple layers were the tape has stuck the coil wire together. I've got a whole routine down now when I do them. I have a wood clamp that holds the coil in my shop and I take the wire in one hand and walk out into the middle of my cul-de-sac as the wire unwinds. About 20 times of that and the pickup is usually real close to done.