Type of Pickup Coil wire in 50's-60's Rics?

[soundmasterg]

After talking to my pickup winding friend, he said it could actually be 42, 43, or 44....because the micrometer needs to measure down to 5 decimal places in order to be accurate enough. 42 can be around .0027, 43 is around .0024, and 44 can be around .0020 or so. It can be squashed too if someone doesn't know how to use the micrometer without squashing the wire, and then of course it would read differently. Not saying you don't know how to use a micrometer though Paul! Does your micrometer measure down to more decimal places?

I meant to say poly instead of plain enamel, but it is a different poly than normal if it is green. It could be oxidized too as Owen said. If the pickup coil is shorted, it should just read open on a DC resistance check. Continuity check isn't really going to tell you what you want to know.

Greg

[ocduff]

Well, yes, I think accurate measurements would be necessary. Of course. I also think a trained eye could discern between gauges. That is, perhaps a micrometer if used correctly is the best way of measuring, but I am able after years of working with pickups, to tell different wire guages by eye. However, that's not fool proof - perhaps other of the pickup makers who may have thought 42 or 43 were used, were just going by eye.

It's important to note too, that the gauge number is accurate - it is possible for the wire to be slightly different thicknesses in various places. That is, when I get huge spools of wire, the diameter of the wire, and the resistance reading per foot varies slightly. It might be thinner wire in sections, thicker in others.

Anyway, sounds like Paul took an original 50's toaster, measured the wire gauge with a micrometer. That's all I wanted to know - and I think it solves a lot of questions on the board.

I'm convinced that it is 44 gauge then. There may be claims that 42 or 43 gauge were used, but until those pickups show up here, with a micrometer, then 44 gauge is most likely what was used.

[jingle_jangle]

I don't think that it's possible for any eye to differentiate between #44 and #43...the difference is .0002" (two ten-thousandths of an inch, or one-tenth the thickness of a blonde human hair).

Production (drawing die) differences in the diameters of these two wires amount to one-tenth of their diameters, respectively, or one-half the difference in diameter. Undiscernable, except perhaps to an electron.

[jingle_jangle]

After talking to my pickup winding friend, he said it could actually be 42, 43, or 44....because the micrometer needs to measure down to 5 decimal places in order to be accurate enough. 42 can be around .0027, 43 is around .0024, and 44 can be around .0020 or so. It can be squashed too if someone doesn't know how to use the micrometer without squashing the wire, and then of course it would read differently. Not saying you don't know how to use a micrometer though Paul! Does your micrometer measure down to more decimal places?

I meant to say poly instead of plain enamel, but it is a different poly than normal if it is green. It could be oxidized too as Owen said. If the pickup coil is shorted, it should just read open on a DC resistance check. Continuity check isn't really going to tell you what you want to know.

Greg

In reverse order, my VOM, set on its "ohm" resistance setting, showed continuity. That means "shorted"--a broken wire would show an open circuit, or infinite resistance.

As I mentioned, I had the thimble preload ratchet (now a feature of most mikes) set at its lightest to avoid squashing the wire. Re: the five decimal places, I think four would show what we need to know, and I used a four-place one to read to ten-thousandths.

I know of no mikes outside of the space shuttle plant that read to five places ( one hundred-thousandth of an inch). These typically are in the $1000.00 range. For that, I could buy a playable 330.

[soundmasterg]

Hi Paul,

I was just passing on what my friend had said regarding the 5 decimal places and the micrometer. Next time I talk to him I'll ask for more clarification and find out which brand he has. I'm sure he didn't pay that much for his, but I would assume that 4 decimal places would be ok too. The friend I was talking about is Dave Stephens from Stephens Design pickups. http://www.sdpickups.com . He's local to me up and here and makes some great sounding pickups, and knows a lot about the design particulars of most of them, though he isn't as hip on RICS as some others. Sounds like the pickups you have are dead then. I know of several people who can do a vintage correct winding job with those, with the possible exception of the wire color. Dave would be one, Jason Lollar is another, TV Jones is another. TV Jones rewound the dead bridge pickup on my old '73 4001 that I used to have and did a fabulous job with it. In fact it sounded better than my current one, but when I sold the bass the buyer insisted on that pickup so I had to let it go.

Greg