I am a firm believer that in order to make pickups that are of consistent quality and of reproducible specification, you need quality tools.
Some of my tools specific to pickup fabrication are:
- Tension/force gauge to measure the wire tension for each wind setup. Increased/decreased wire tension affects resistance and output.
- Tesla gauge to measure the magnetism level of the magnets on the pickup. The meter allows you to measure and produce magnetism levels for individual pole pieces or reductions from fully magnetized pole pieces which affects output and tone.
- Quality LCR meter to measure electronic characteristics of the pickup (DCR, inductance, capacitance, Q, etc.)
- Thermocouple to control the wax temperature for vacuum potting pickups.
- Shop equipment to build winding gear, jigs etc. My shop is equipped with a floor
standing drill press, table, mitre and scroll saws, grinders and sanders and a 3-
axis DRO equipped Milling Machine with power feed.
Pickup Winding Tooling Accessories:
