Single Coil Pickup for PSG

[Ron Wendler]

I have a 10 string PSG that I would like to replace the pickup on. I want to build it myself as I have made them before for my 6 string guitars. I am not finding anywhere that I can buy the 10 pole bobbins. I am going to try my hand at 3D printing as I've seen them printed out for 6 strings. That's going to be another can of worms to figure out. Has anyone went down this road before?

[Tim Toberer]

I have never made a 10 string, but did a few 8 strings. I made my bobbins out of thin plywood, milled a slot for a steel rail, and epoxy them together. 2 layers of laminate work well also. Very low tech, but they work. All the tiny burs need to be removed because the wire will catch and break on them. I used 40G wire and it is nice because it doesn't break as easily. I like Neo magnets, but I don't get worked up anymore about all the specifics. They all work. It is easy to change them out for experimenting. I found I need at least 4000 turns to get a decent sounding pickup, but a person could spend a lifetime tinkering with all the variables. Lately I think I want to move to Humbuckers because the single could noise is bothersome. The tone is better on a single coil, but it's a tradeoff. My favorite tone comes from unpotted pickups, but they are the noisiest. I have thought about playing with dummy coils.

You could probably use a 5 string Bass bobbin if you could find it. I think your other post about using a 3d printer is a good idea, not sure if there are ready made files available for this? I thought about getting a cheap small 3d printer just to learn the basics of design etc, but lately I am trying not to get bogged down in the minutia of all this. I am kind of realizing my own limits as far as time and skills go. Mainly I want to build guitars so buying ready to go parts like a pickup etc. is a lifesaver. That said I would like to have another go at winding pickups in the future, once I get more of the basics about guitar design, construction worked out.