Welcome back! These cool experiments are what drew me into doing some pickup experiments of my own! Currently using a ferrite inductor array and Neodymium pucks on top as a pickup 🤣
Thank you so much for watching and taking the time to write such a an awesome comment Key Of Anarkh. I am so glad you like the videos but the best part is that you have been doing your own experiments and builds. Thats sounds like a wild build with ferrite inductors. So are you going to do 1 per string? You could get all kinds of combos with that do them in series or series alternating for humbucking or in groups of 2 or 3... Lots to be unpacked and explored there.
@@heavymetalATC Currently, I've got 2 rows with a sensor for each string. In each row, the first 3 inductors are wired in series, counterclockwise with North magnets, and the adjacent are wired after it in series, clockwise with south magnets for a hum-canceled single coil tone. The inductors didn't come potted, so they were awful noisy. Gonna see what potting them can do to quiet them down, then I'll hook em up :)
@@TheKeyOfAnarkh Wow that is complicated as hell. Hey...if you dont want to go the melting wax route. I had GREAT success with the pickup made from an icepick build using elmers type school glue so Im sure wood glue or anything like that that didnt eat the coating off the wires would be fine but the guitarist from queen potted his pickups with 2 part epoxy way back in the 60s and that same set is still kicking after all these years of sweat and stage use. Though i bet it would be nearly impossible to disassemble and rewind if something did happen to go south.
@@heavymetalATC I was using 2-part epoxy for some experiments as well. They did solid for holding things together, but if I goofed (which happened a LOT), I had to toss it and try again. I did end up finding a wax melter with a temp control on Amazon for $25, so I figured 'why not?!' When I did test out the inductor array, it worked quite well, all things considered... I also noticed that using ferrite as polepieces tended to add a little treble to the mix that otherwise would be hidden in the low frequencies with plain Neodymium magnets, so now I'm trying them in traditional pickups to see what happens 😉
@@TheKeyOfAnarkh not sure if you'll see this since it's been a while, but your experiment sounds really interesting. Got any gear to make a demo video with?
I know I haven't said it before, but I can't say it enough, You are my favorite youtuber. Roll that diy noshitsgiven and not loaded with ads bean footage.
This would be perfect in some kinda barn caster that also has shells for the knobs. And do a strat lay out with 3 of these things angled differently like they got ejected and landed that way
Awesome to see you back! The mythbuster guitar series gave me the guts to re-furbish some elcheapo stratcopy, stripped the paint and brought out the blowtorch for a burnt wood finish. Managed to make a low count single coil from a transformer out of an old amplifier, sounds nice and i like the recycling aspect. So psyched you're uploading agan!!
Thank you so much Elias. I love to hear about the projects and experiments everyone is working on. That is awesome! Im glad the pickup worked.. its an awesome feeling every time you plug a new one in for the first time and hear the tone of it. Yes I should have that mythbuster guitar back on the bench pretty soon. Its almost done now but its been waaay hot outside and Id rather not sand and polish it indoors. LOL
@@heavymetalATC Can't wait to see it! Yeah sanding indoors isn't really optimal to say the least, especially when sharing living quarters with a spouse or the like 😅
it's not at all what i expected but very awesome regardless. it has some of the vibe i remember from playing a dano years ago, it was low output and didn't have much midrange, high end was bright yet also kind of rolled off... not like any other guitar i've played really
Yeah, bro I was also quite surprised by the results. It had a way woody and hollow honking sound that I didn't expect at all. I used to play quite a few old guitars with tube pickups at my friend Max's music store. All the old Dano and Silvertone stuff and this wasn't much like those. This one reminded me of an acoustic with a piezo bridge pickup mixed with a regular magnetic pickup. It was so micro-phonic its like it had 2 sounds at once. Those older guitars were often slightly microphonic but altogether different: sparkly and slightly jagged. I think it was the loose bobbin design and the 1/2 @ss potting that caused a lot of this result as well as the tube being plastic. Either way you and Ben came in clutch on this one. You guys made this video happen. Thanks.
Thank you so much for watching and taking the time to comment Andrew and also thank you for that hilarious comment you put under Benjamin's suggestion. That made the video and the whole idea more fun to make and edit.
Brilliant. Informative and (more importantly) made me laugh. I'm buying up various metal tubes from ebay (cigars, vintage lipstick, candy tins..) I'm thinking that I'll get some shielding properties? Anyway, thanks for the inspiration. I'll now go subscribe and check some other vids.
Man, if you "muffled" the strings with some tissue under the strings down by the saddles, I swear that pickup would come very close to simulating a banjo! Well, to my ears anyway. VERY COOL!
*******Has an interesting Lo-Fi sound to it. Of course and I imagine Squacky/Smacky would Be Increasingly Eliminated by Lowering P.U. away from Strings. I Love the Experimental and CAPABLE attributes of Your Channel. WE can Feel Less "closed in" if WE ALL Jus' 'Casionally Step outa Da Boxxx!! LoL!!******* By the way... I am Here because My Searches are Pressing me to create a SHALLOW Coil approximately 8-ohms to Replace a Driver P.U.from a VEYZ or a FERNANDEZ Sustainer System that I could Fit into my Heavy Modded DONNER HUSHX Travel Guitar! Note: the Clearances of P.U. in such a travel Guitar and Keeping access to the Truss Rod are of Importance and this would include My being able to do a Z-bent Pole RAIL that would bring the Rail CLOSER to my Neck edge (the further away from dbl humbuck Bridge P.U. the better Drive Responses you'll get) IF this can be Done and Perform as well as I Might Think then I will Load Same Config and Design into my Dean Strat 7 string!!! Kinda Wordy here but, Necessary for the Details Sought! LoL! Keep Doin' Watcha Do Bro!! Thanx!!******* secondary note: By my making(if functionally possible) the Rail able to bend over and then Turn back UPWARD at the necks edge Would not only INCREASE the Driver Excite but will enable me to place Two maybe even Three more FRETS onto It's Pickup Cover....Giving me an Extended Fret Range of Notes like I'v already done to the Standard P.U. in my Dean 7 string Strat!! 😉👍
It's quite throaty. It almost has a dobro-ish tone to it. If you could find a means to bring in some top end this pickup would be really cool. As it stands sounds a bit like there's a mattress over the speaker. Welcome back by the way, I missed your no-nonsense approach to pickup technology
Thank you so much for watching and taking the time to comment Casanova. Yes its so microphonic that it was similar to blending the output of a regular pickup to a piezo. I think that if the coil were tighter and larger and it was potted correctly that would kill a lot of that off. Also maybe a steel tube or cover would be nice and add some magnetic field and increase the high end, but it was a fun experiment and its kinda cool to see a shotgun shell in a guitar with wires coming from it.
You know, it would be much better looking if you put the pickup inside of a 50 BMG brass shell. Could make those pickups out of copper pumbing pipes and even tin, silver or gold plate them.
Thanks for the idea I made two shotgun shell humbuckers for this old olp earnie balls music man it's like thier lower end guitar not expensive at all like 300 for a olp guitar
Thank you for watching and taking the time to comment Rob. I made some jokes on a squire forum about it being a "bullet strat" and I guess a sense of humor isn't so common these days. One guy got pissed off royally?
Thanks for making this video man, you've inspired me to make my own "mule guitar" lmao. I have a cheapo replacement neck I bought for a strat about 3 years ago and after seeing how you test your pickups I've decided to make a Strandberg style body to match it with the middle part routed out to make way for pickups to be moved accordingly. After seeing how you make pickups I want to try making lipstick pickups from rounded materials and maybe some alumitone. Great work bro!
Awesome bro! Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment. Well TJ if you know what a flo-town is and your last name starts with G and you lived right across from a park... I might be him? hahaha
@@heavymetalATC lol nah I'm from KY. When my parents dragged me from the city to a small town I became friends with a couple of neighbors that was really good people, down to earth and I liked that. Always saying something funny, them ole boys cracked me up. I sure miss those days of sporadic adventures that sometimes got us into trouble. Love your channel. Thanks for replying.
Thank you, so glad to see you back, always looking forward to your new videos. The sound i am getting with this pickup, I think it would be very cool on a cigar box guitar, it would look killer.
Thank you so much Alex. Yes, I do think this would look and sound great in a cigar box guitar. The microphonic quality of it almost creates the sound of a piezo pickup blended with a magnetic one. I had been thinking about how cool shotgun shells would look in a rustic style guitar for quite a while and when this suggestion was made and it just clicked.. AHHH lipstick pickup!!!
Thank you so much for watching and taking the time to comment Stelth. I appreciate the sub. Feel free to check out the back catalog. This is the first vid I made in quite a while and I was rusty I got some pretty decent builds on the channel that you would probably like a lot if you thought this was cool.
Thank you so much for watching and taking the time to comment Mike. I am so glad you appreciate the channel. That stuff happened completely organically its kinda wild I'm not really an anime fan or anything. I had taken a picture where my hair was all crazy one day and I did a crappy photoshop onto the body of Goku and I sent it to my wife at work and said look Im super saiyan just cause it was yellow and sticking out everywhere. I was making a video about an amp I was building that day and I decided to stick it into the intro as a joke and I just kept doing it. Same with the bean thing I was making a video in the same series on that amp and I was doing a joke about the parts in the amp being spices so I put them in a bowl with some and I grabbed up a can of beans that was laying on the counter there and made a roll that bean footage comment and I just kept doing it and I guess now its kinda a brand for the channel?
Thank you so much for watching and taking the time to comment Joshua. I'm glad you are glad to see the experiments, I'm rusty AF on the camera work and editing as well as the playing but the experiments are always fun. I am often just as surprised as everyone else at the outcomes.
Thank you so much for watching and taking the time to comment Skeleton. That's a great suggestion. I hadn't considered trying that. Most of these pickups I build are just for a one day proof of concept experiment and will most likely never be used in an actual build but... I will check and see if I can easily get the case head off of another shell... Ive never done that so I dont know how hard it will be but if it seems to be pretty easy to do. I'll pop one on and do a tiny demo in the next video and Ill give you a shoutout for the suggestion.
Thank you for watching and taking the time to comment Mark. I had a pretty bad chest injury that resulted in me basically falling into being a lazy human blob for about a year but I am much better now. Thanks for sticking around.
Could you try recording some of the playing using a line out or headphone output from the amp? You can probably make a splitter to recording and use headphones at the same time pretty easily. I've found with my amps that you can just plug the headphone output directly into a computer's mic in. Of course if it's a high power amp, you'll want to slower ease up on the volume.
I understand what you mean but with this particular video its just the sound of thet pickup. it sounds all muffled and honky horn sounding but its just the actual sound of the pickup not the amp. That amp has recorded great on this channel in other situations?
First time I have seen anything from your channel. Very interesting and fun to watch video. I would advise getting a guitar amp to do the demo though. Or even better just a DSP and record it directly. I would really like to have an idea how that pickup sounds compared to a regular single coil.
Thank you so much for watching and taking the time to write a comment Thorsten. Ahh yes I can fully understand why you would say that from watching this video. I will keep that in mind. I didn't consider how the new subs and first time viewers would be able to judge the pickup from this setup. This is just a very strange sounding pickup its very muddy and woody, I can assure you thats not the fault of the amp its just this wild design. I'll post a link at the bottom of the comment to a demo with this amp using a more normal design goldfoil pickup and you will see that it is very clean and crystal clear. Also feel free to check out the other pickup builds on the channel I have used this amp quite a bit. I had considered this earlier in the channel and I used to record a demo with a solid-state amp modeling rig and then a tube amp Ive also done some actual in the box studio type demos but for whatever reason they don't seem to get as much views. So I switched to the keyboard amp as it doesnt color the sound in any way at all, its as flat and dry as a studio monitor so its giving a 100% no flatter representation of the pickup. I do have a hand-wired custom made 5F1 tube amp 6 inches out of frame. It would have been smart to think to plug it up or maybe the Marshal combo behind the camera or even a zoom multi fx amp modeler also feet away. It was hot in here and I had to turn the AC off to do the demo but thats a crappy excuse. Thank you for the suggestion I will definitely keep this in mind and try to give a broader example like I used to do. It was especially needed with such a weird sounding pickup. Either way here is a link to a demo done with a gold foil and the same amp and you will be able to hear how much the shotgun pickup was just a strange woody subdued sound in comparison. Thanks again truly : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ZBHkPltaavg.html
hay what do you think would happen if a pickup was pressed up against the tremolo claw in the back of the guitar? maybe microphonic wah-ish like you were getting, plus maybe spring reverb ? a pickup tapped under a bridge somehow, or used as a bridge, might also be interesting
Thank you so much for watching and taking the time to leave this awesome suggestion. Wisteria Losenge. Ive actually had someone else ask a quite similar question. I would theorize it would maybe have a clanging metallic sound with a bit of reverb but I guess the only way one would know is to is to try it so I will put this in my notes and If/When I make a video about it I'll give you a shoutout.
Thank you so much for watching and taking the time to write such a kind comment. Oh, yes I love Tims channel Ive been watching it for a long time. I had wondered when he would start making some pickups and I'm glad to see that he has. When I saw the rusty nails pickup I said... oh, He might have been watching my channel? That's how I did my first pickup build on youtube 3 yrs ago. My second most viewed video 37,000 views. That's what I love about the internet and small niche corners and groups in specific subjects, You dont have to be a big channel to share or build on ideas. Ive been able to have the same sort of bouncing ideas situation with Sam at look mum no computer and Chris at highline guitars and Dylan talks tone. I love all those channels. My friend PeteyTwoFinger has helped me endlessly as well as Guitar grader helping me get my first sponsor and Brad the guitologist being kind enough to answer my questions about running a channel. Its quite a strange feeling when you can make a video in your living room and see the response all over the world. Thank you again Erick I apologize if I was rambling but that comment got me a bit exited.
Thank you for watching and taking the time to comment Allan. That is awesome brother! I love to hear when anyone has been doing some tinkering, good use of found and reclaimed materials is always a bonus.
It definitely is an acquired technique with the wire. I have some they use in those Dollar Tree solar moving things and I dunno what gauge that is but can't solder it, and it breaks before your fingers even touch it.
Thank you for watching and taking the time to comment General. Yeah, it really could be that your wire is super thin? The first pickup I ever made was the one using a ruler and the wire from a coil in a hair shaver.. If you can find a device that has a transformer or coil in it that can be taken apart you can try to see if that wire feels thicker and easier to handle... the shaver coil wire was thinner than what I use now and i did break it on accident in the video and I was winding by hand.
Thanks bro! Yeah it5 sounds some kinda swampy backwoods way? People are like you need to mic the amp or get a better amp etc... naw dude that amp is normal as can be ive recorded many demos with it. That pickup just sounds like that!
Thank you for watching and taking the time to comment jac jac. That may help increase the power but if you could get an extra one in the middle of the coil it would do wonders. Sticking a strip of metal in there to act as a blade pole piece would probably also help a good bit as well as a larger coil would give more power.
Thanks for watching and taking the time to write a comment Snortuff. I dont know how I could do that without twisting up the leads but I think it would probably do a combo of those it would be doing a tremolo pulsing sound but if used in combination with another stationary pickup it might do phasing or flanging sounds? I wish I had a way to rig this up but its a tough one.
* I had a weird idea; but I can’t run it myself. If you slap a bar magnet ~over(touching the strings) the nut; how does that affect the strings? How does that affect the pickups?
Thank you for watching Aaron. I'll put that in my notes. I could see this having some kind of effect on the sound maybe more volume? If/when I try this in a video I'll give you a shoutout.
Hmm... neodymium might increase the inductance more than is normal, lending to the bassy midrange tone. Might brighten up a bit if you hook it straight to a buffer on the guitar itself, so as to not have the cable capacitance affecting it.
Tahnk you for watching and taking the time to type out a comment Lisen. Wow bro, yeah I'm still kicking. If all goes to plan I'll be on a much more regular upload schedule.
OH WOW, I was thinking about something like this a couple weeks back. I have a bunch of cigar tubes and was wondering if I could make lipstick type pickups for them! Thanks. Do you think it's so microphonic because you didn't maybe pot it enough? Maybe the wax didn't get over everything?
Thank you so much for watching and taking the time to write a kind comment Revvytone. I am so glad you found the info you were looking for, that is Awesome! If I had to speculate on why it was so microphonic I think it had a lot to do with the fact that I entirely overwound that tiny little bobbin and the wire was loose and fluffy poking out everywhere, not a tight uniform coil in anyway, and it was also partly due to the wax being cold and just being poured into the pickup, not allowing the bubbles to escape. I think a proper tight coil and better potting... even maybe epoxy or resin. Would most likely get a much better result.
@@heavymetalATC If your sewing machine winder ever poops out or you want something with a counter and a little more control. I have a video on how I built mine. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Z0GCcLzSDKc.html
90% sure the reason it liked that orientation is that those cheap bar magnets are magnetized across the thin face. It's an absolute pain in the ass to get neo bar pickup magnets.
Thank you so much for watching Alaric. Great info! I think you might be on to something there. You have shown yourself to be a wealth of knowledge brother. That would explain why they work so well in a p90 configuration. I wish I had some of that clear plastic that shows the magnetic field but I guess Iron filings and paper could do much the same. I have also had decent results putting them flat under a pickup though so I am continually baffled? Every time I do experiments and talk with knowledgeable people I seem to understand things less but I and all the viewers do get to see what physically works and what doesn't.
@@heavymetalATC I only know enough to be dangerous. It's always worth validating any wild claims I might have. Also, if you wanna DIY something for the magnetic field viewing, a clear oil (Mineral Oil is best) and metal filings in a thin clear bottle works nice and stops the mess of the filings alone... But the Green Flux/Magnetic viewing film is also, like, $20 on amazon.
@@TheForce_Productions I like your thinking. Keep it ammo themed. The tuning pegs could be rear iron sights, the bridge made from a bolt of an old hunting rifle with the handle still on it for a tremelo bar!
Thank you so much for watching and taking the time to write a comment Trafalgar. I apologize brother I do not speak Spanish. I'm also very sure the translated subtitles cannot understand my strong southern accent especially with all the technical terms. I hope the videos have helped. I just basically describe what I am doing in the video. I don't count pickup windings I mostly use cheap neodymium magnets and I'm just trying things out.
Thank you for watching and taking the time to leave that awesome comment Jay. Quite clever bro made me smile. Let break forth the dams of the river Sucrose and flood the lands.
Sounds like the early Rock/psychedelic music from the mid 60's to about 1970, before guitar players got so damn self-conscious about sounding like other guitar slingers.
yeah - youtube did not recomend this to me at all - sorry i missed it but i am watchin it now - super cool - just like a MIGO's vidjoe - we cookin up pick up in crock pot _ SKEDURDDDT ! nice lh hand vibrato technique . i like the AZOR reverb too ! super cool pick up windinin skillz though . and those neodeeniuyumz ! damn my spelling and tyoing is so bad from no excuses but sorry about that really horrific long email , i re read it and man it wa slike some monkeys got ahold of the keyboard , drunk monkeys missing fingers with short stubby tails to type ...
Its all good Petey, Tahnk you so much for watching the video and for taking the time to write a comment. I appreciate the participation. Yeah, this pickup ended up sounding strange as hell, muddy and like it was down in a bucket or something.
Great suggestion Eduardo, I'm Putting that in my notes and If/When I make a video about it I will give you a shoutout. I had actually not thought of doing anything with a firebird pickup and that is a interesting proposition. I'm not really trying to sell anything and as neat as this pickup looks I think it could be done in a much better way. It would be cool to take the guts of a normal lipstick pickup and place them in a shell casing you may even be able to keep the chrome tube inside. Then as another viewer suggested put another brass cap on the other end. I do however plan to buy some actual pickup parts and wind up a few custom pickups like maybe some standard humbuckers and strat coils or telecaster pickup shapes with different internals and sell or most likely do giveaways for growth and promotion of the channel. Ahh once again great suggestion.. I almost forgot to put it in my notes... Doing that NOW!... Done, I put it in.
Me "I want a pickup where the pole pieces are spent 9mm casings" Biden "you'll blow your lung out, kid" Me "call it the assault rifle disintegrator 9, AR-14 for short" 🤣🤣🤣
Thank you for watching and taking the time to write a comical comment James. Hey, I still plan on making something similar to that at some point. I haven't checked to see if 9/380 is too wide to fit the string spacing but If they don't... I know 22 will work.
@@heavymetalATC .22 I think would be fine but .223 would be straight up illegal 🤣 hopefully RU-vid don't ban you or force us to unsub as I'd like to see whatever you do.
YOU LEFT US !😏..BUT HERE YOU ARE AGAIN, IN ALL YOUR WINDING GLORY 😊 Makes me think ELVIS may be out there somewhere 😁 Thank you for sharing your unnatural freaky quest for knowledge.. ITS INTRIGUING 🤔 Nice maters btw 🪴
Thank you so much for watching and taking the time to comment stranger LOL. Heck it started off as my quest but at this point it kinda belongs to the people. I have a list of suggestions a mile long. I actually feel pretty much obligated to do this stuff for them and not to work on anything guitar related unless I record it. I got 4600 people standing there waiting to see what happens. That's wild! I'm just some guy cobbling up experiments outta trash and stuff and I basically got the attention of the population of a small town. Yeah I got a ton of green tomatoes right now, they seem to take ages to ripen but the zucchinis are growing like wild fire. I'll forget to water or something lets weeds grow up around them and they just don't care, the ones that are 3-4 inches long today will be 10"+ in a day or 2 and almost gone to seed. They just keep flowering too. I picked again yesterday and will have to again today. I been using them to make spaghetti noodles in a spiral cutter and making pickles out of them. I plan to make some Ratatouille with them when the tomatoes get ripe. I definitely recommend them as a survival crop its nearly impossible to eat what they put out. Its like squash or melons but 5x the speed.
