# Make your own pickups?



## Nick Burman (Aug 17, 2011)

Where do you buy magnets? I'm looking for a supplier that ships to Canada. I know Mojotone do. Anyone else?


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## keeperofthegood (Apr 30, 2008)

There are several winders on the forum. I would expect they have loads of ideas and places. Near where I live here in Ontario is:

http://www.jobmastermagnets.com/

HOWEVER they only sent their magnets out as 'freight'


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Go to the pickup-makers sub-forum at Music Electronics Forum (formerly AMPAGE): http://music-electronics-forum.com/

You'll find lots of great advice and resources there. Occasionally, some of the custom winders will post a notice that they bought too many of a certain polepiece and are willing to sell them. If you like the tried and true, Stewart-McDonald Guitar Shop Supply carries polepieces. Note that polepieces are shipped *un*magnetized. It's up to you to magnetize them. You can buy flatwork from them too, although one can make flatwork from a lot of materials. One of the guys at the pickup-makers forum uses copper-clad board and perfboard, of the sort used for making circuits, and it works just fine.

The harder stuff to score is sometimes the wire. I'm quite fortunate in that a (now largely office-furniture) surplus place near me had a couple of huge bins of magnet wire that they sold as scrap copper for $2/lb, and I was able to buy rolls of just about everything from #38 to #44 for peanuts. Others may not be quite as lucky. Generally, the places that sell the parts for making pickups will sell small quantities of wire. Not cheaply, but cheaper than buying yourself some new Duncans.

I've been making my own pickups for some 30 years using only a hand drill. The bobbin is secured to the chuck, and I just crank the handle. Takes about 40 minutes to wind a Strat-type PU. If I had a make/rewind business, that would be too long, but as a guy who whips up a couple of PUs a year, that's no great waste of time, relative to what it would take to set up a completely mechanized system with turns counter, etc.

It doesn't have to be as hard or technically involved as some might think, but there are a lot of little things to think about along the way.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Stew-Mac? At least they used to, I can't find my catalogue at the moment.

Peace, Mooh.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_pickups.html


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## copperhead (May 24, 2006)

Try these guys
http://stores.ebay.com/Addiction-FX-Guitar-and-Sound?_trksid=p4340.l2563
They will ship it to you


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## keeperofthegood (Apr 30, 2008)

copperhead said:


> Try these guys
> http://stores.ebay.com/Addiction-FX-Guitar-and-Sound?_trksid=p4340.l2563
> They will ship it to you



I would be careful with this seller. 



> Domestic Shipping only due to enormous amout of international shipping losses.


When you change domain to .ca there are only two listings that show up as worldwide. They "might" send to Canada but I would contact them before you bid/buy.


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## copperhead (May 24, 2006)

You got no worries 
I have bought 1000's of magnets from them 
& I give them a plug when ever i can
I was probably one of the first winders to buy magnets from them & i do know they have had some issues ( but its mostly trying to mail a zillion orders of one or 2 magnets & being mailed all over the globe )
& international orders with no tracking has caused problem with them ,Along with email issues 
The owners of Addiction-fx ,Dennis & daughter Hannah are really trying to improve there Customer Service 
I'm sure thing's will improve


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## copperhead (May 24, 2006)

I know they will be offering DHL shipping internationally in the next few days 
I'm not sure if that applies to Canada & I would take Keepers advise to contact them before ordering


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## jimihendrix (Jun 27, 2009)

Very interesting...

[video=youtube;8u5ilHfmv1E]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8u5ilHfmv1E&amp;feature=related[/video]


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## keeperofthegood (Apr 30, 2008)

Haha just spent the past hour sipping my tea and watching those winding videos. Thanks 

[video=youtube;qR7BXObz7PE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qR7BXObz7PE[/video]


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

mhammer said:


> http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_pickups.html


Thanks, good catch. I thought I'd included the link like I have many other times. Sometimes my brain skips a groove like a yard sale vinyl record.

Dissecting old pickups is how we figured things out years ago, but it was messy and not very successful. These days the web is full of information, and there are books, though the most current stuff appears to be online.

Peace, Mooh.


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## Nick Burman (Aug 17, 2011)

I know StewMac sell just about anything you want, but I'm trying to buy stuff in Canada first. addictionfx on eBay were my first port of call, but I quickly found out they don't ship up here. I'll check out Jobmaster - thanks!


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