Mosstone Thinline Baritone Strat Project

[BatUtilityBelt]

How much does a good winder generally cost? I've only seen cheap ($200-ish) winders from China. I've thought about trying my hand at pickup winding, just to make pickups for my own builds. I'm not interested in manufacturing and selling them, so I don't want to spend too much money on a winder, but I have a real aversion to buying a cheap, no-name machine direct from China.

I grudgingly paid $500 for my Mojotone winder after heavily considering making one. I wrote the arduino code and started specking out parts before I realized the speed control and such would be hard enough to get right the first time that $500 is actually a bargain. I have no complaints with this winder. But the pickups I have designed so far have not been as great as I hoped. I don't see myself winding pickups for sale unless I do come up with something unique and great.

[Mossman]

How much does a good winder generally cost? I've only seen cheap ($200-ish) winders from China. I've thought about trying my hand at pickup winding, just to make pickups for my own builds. I'm not interested in manufacturing and selling them, so I don't want to spend too much money on a winder, but I have a real aversion to buying a cheap, no-name machine direct from China.

I grudgingly paid $500 for my Mojotone winder after heavily considering making one. I wrote the arduino code and started specking out parts before I realized the speed control and such would be hard enough to get right the first time that $500 is actually a bargain. I have no complaints with this winder. But the pickups I have designed so far have not been as great as I hoped. I don't see myself winding pickups for sale unless I do come up with something unique and great.

Arduino? I thought all you needed was a sewing machine motor with a potentiometer (foot pedal) to control the speed?

[tobijohn]

Arduino? I thought all you needed was a sewing machine motor with a potentiometer (foot pedal) to control the speed?

I think @Brendan built one like that. Hopefully, he'll see this and chime in...

[BatUtilityBelt]

Arduino? I thought all you needed was a sewing machine motor with a potentiometer (foot pedal) to control the speed?

Feature creep worked into my wish list. I was thinking of not just giving it the best hand-winding ability, but eventually fully automating it and allowing programmable patterns and tension. Arduino would have made these features easier to add on later.

[Mossman]

Arduino? I thought all you needed was a sewing machine motor with a potentiometer (foot pedal) to control the speed?

Feature creep worked into my wish list. I was thinking of not just giving it the best hand-winding ability, but eventually fully automating it and allowing programmable patterns and tension. Arduino would have made these features easier to add on later.

Ah, yes... The infamous "feature creep". Killer of many a project.

So what was disappointing about your initial efforts in pickup winding?

[BatUtilityBelt]

Ah, yes... The infamous "feature creep". Killer of many a project.

So what was disappointing about your initial efforts in pickup winding?

Oh, the winding part went great. It was my design ideas that left me unimpressed. I'll try to describe this quickly with an example. I had this thought that if instead of solid poles, you had two magnets pushing against one another (like north against north), and could adjust the distance between them with a screw, you should be able to change the shape of the field, and in so doing, modify the sound of the pickup. I could not even predict what to expect, so I had to try it. It turned out that changing that gap had no effect on the sound of the pickups, so it was just an overly complicated design.

[Mossman]

Ah, yes... The infamous "feature creep". Killer of many a project.

So what was disappointing about your initial efforts in pickup winding?

Oh, the winding part went great. It was my design ideas that left me unimpressed. I'll try to describe this quickly with an example. I had this thought that if instead of solid poles, you had two magnets pushing against one another (like north against north), and could adjust the distance between them with a screw, you should be able to change the shape of the field, and in so doing, modify the sound of the pickup. I could not even predict what to expect, so I had to try it. It turned out that changing that gap had no effect on the sound of the pickups, so it was just an overly complicated design.

Eh... That's ok. If you haven't tried to re-invent the wheel at least once in your life, you're not really living.

[Brendan]

Arduino? I thought all you needed was a sewing machine motor with a potentiometer (foot pedal) to control the speed?

I think @Brendan built one like that. Hopefully, he'll see this and chime in...

I stripped it down so it was just a housing for the motor. I had to make a spindle and guides. I used a pedometer for the counter and a harbor freight speed controller for more-accurate speed control. Making a new one with a pen lathe, but work is absorbing more and more time.