Bigsby pickup repro?

[Tim Toberer]

I'm gonna start experimenting with winding pickups. Anyone have any detailed information about the old Bigsby design? I was able to find one picture and it appears to be very unique. Cast aluminum cover, looks huge! Very difficult to re-create. I know Clinesmith does some. Probably wouldn't fit on my present guitar, but I'm really curious. Love, love, love the sound of old Bigsby, absolutely classic!! Lots of tone in the guitar itself I know.

I'll probably start with something more like a Jazzmaster style with wood or fiber flatwork, Alnico V magnets, 42 gauge wire etc. I'm sure the Bigsby would be 38 or larger gauge. I don't know much about how any of this effects tone.

[Ben Elder]

Fred Stuart, Riverside CA, and formerly of the Fender Custom Shop, has made some faithful custom reproductions of Bigsby standard guitars--particularly as to correct design of the pickups. He may consider his research and work to be proprietary professional information, in which case I may be in line for an ass-kicking for having a big mouth, but it could be a clue.

[Brad Bechtel]

You might check with Marc at Mojo Pickups in the UK.

[Tim Toberer]

Thanks for the info. Bigsby is so cool and mysterious. For curiosity sake I would love to know more specifics, but probably never try to build one. I'm just going to start experimenting with the old fender designs till I find something I like. Thanks again.

[Chris Lucker]

Here is the key:

[Tim Toberer]

That's the money shot, thanks! I spent some time looking at pictures of different Charlie Christian style pickups trying to design a bobbin. I found one design that actually uses steel for the bottom screwed to the rail to make a T, sort of like what you are holding. https://reverb.com/item/4652093-tk-smit ... ian-pickup Although quite a bit smaller. I would imagine the aluminum cover and steel bottom shield the pickup or focus the magnetic field somehow?? Very interesting. What magnets and wire gauge did they use?

I'm thinking of trying something like a Jazzmaster rail style pickup. Something very compact and easier. I may try the steel T bobbin. Then maybe experiment with an aluminum cover. I might also experiment with a steel or aluminum comb similar to the Fender jaguar pickup.

[Fred]

I may have this wrong, but I seem to remember someone saying that casting IS the magnet. I've never heard anyone talk about wire gauge or number of turns but the impedance is very low by today's standards.

[Chris Lucker]

On Bigsby pickups, as well as on Wright pickups, the bar is not the magnet. Wright did make pole piece pickups with the poles being magnets. Bigsby did not make pole piece pickups with the poles being magnets.

DALAND pickups used magnets as the bars, but they are humbuckers. Ray Butts made the DALAND pickups in the summer of 1954 and they look like eight string Filtertrons with dual bars rather than poles and the bars are actual magnets and the flatwork is impregnated linen sheet -- at least on the first DALAND.

[Andy DePaule]

I did these Bigsbyish style PU's about 3 years ago.
Cut and filed some T stock mild steel.



Cut some plastic tops for them and glued them in place with epoxy.
I had no way to cast the covers.
I also brushed the epoxy around the metal to eliminate roughness before winding.




I wound them with 38 gauge wire to about 4,000 on one and 4,500 turns on the other*. Added the magnets under the steel.
*The number of winding being on the advise of a luthier who knows far more than
I do about making these kinds of pickups. He has had astounding success with his.


Got close to the tone I was after, but no prize!
One mistake was that the base should have been a little wider because the threaded
holes for the height screws were a tad too close to the top plates of the pickups.
Learned a lot from the first effort, but lots left to learn.

[Tim Toberer]

I did these Bigsbyish style PU's about 3 years ago.

Nice work! Thats exactly what I was thinking. Hopefully I can pull it off as well as you did. I think we have the same computer too.

I wound them with 38 gauge wire

Any thoughts on 38 vs 42 gauge? I'm about to order some 40 gauge, cause I can't decide. I like that thicker wire won't break as easy.

[Bob Hoffnar]

I did these Bigsbyish style PU's about 3 years ago.

Nice work! Thats exactly what I was thinking. Hopefully I can pull it off as well as you did. I think we have the same computer too.

I wound them with 38 gauge wire

Any thoughts on 38 vs 42 gauge? I'm about to order some 40 gauge, cause I can't decide. I like that thicker wire won't break as easy.

The thicker wire will give a much better inductance. Also don’t wind it too tight because it can stretch the wire and mess up the sound.

[Andy DePaule]

I did these Bigsbyish style PU's about 3 years ago.

Nice work! Thats exactly what I was thinking. Hopefully I can pull it off as well as you did. I think we have the same computer too.

I wound them with 38 gauge wire

Any thoughts on 38 vs 42 gauge? I'm about to order some 40 gauge, cause I can't decide. I like that thicker wire won't break as easy.

I don't know nearly enough about electronics to advise about the wire and number of windings. A friend suggested the winding for the tone I wanted and the use of T bar stock.
I also saw in the Bigsby book a photo of his home made winding machine. He had written on it 38 Gauge so I went with that.

I have a Mac Mini because I go back and forth between Oregon and Saigon. It's small and easy to carry. Have a 32" screen, Speakers, mouse, keyboard and camera here in Oregon and the same in Saigon so all I do is plug it in where ever I am and have virtually the same set up. I also have a small 17" flat screen for when I'm traveling anywhere else to use in motels.

[Tim Toberer]

I don't know nearly enough about electronics to advise about the wire and number of windings

I think it must be trial and error. I will be happy if it works at all! I ordered some 40 to start with but I had a hunch Bigsby used 38. Thanks again for the pictures!

[Andy DePaule]

I was holding off on this post until I had the permission of Shane Larson.
He is in Canada where he has been working on developing Bigsby style Pick Up's Made to order.
He was already doing them for 6 string when I first got in touch with him about doing 8 string PU's also.

Shane is also a builder of nice looking lap steels as well as electric guitars and much more.
He will be shipping my first two 8 string PU's next week. I'm planning to use them on the two lap steels shown on this builders page under my own name.

https://www.larsonsartisanwoodwork.com
viewtopic.php?t=379161

[Tim Toberer]

Wow! Those are beautiful!! Very reasonable considering the amount of work in them. Thanks for sharing

[Tim Toberer]

Wow! Those are beautiful!! Very reasonable considering the amount of work in them. Thanks for sharing

[Andy DePaule]

I did these Bigsbyish style PU's about 3 years ago.

Nice work! Thats exactly what I was thinking. Hopefully I can pull it off as well as you did. I think we have the same computer too.

I wound them with 38 gauge wire

Any thoughts on 38 vs 42 gauge? I'm about to order some 40 gauge, cause I can't decide. I like that thicker wire won't break as easy.

The thicker wire will give a much better inductance. Also don’t wind it too tight because it can stretch the wire and mess up the sound.

Yes these were my first time winding. I tried to keep it not too tight, but without a lot of experience at that I'm not sure if my finger & thumb held tension was good or not?
I was also careful to avoid winding them too evenly because so many people who know what they are doing say it's best to do a scattered winding. Well being a kind of scatter brain that part came naturally for me.

[J D Sauser]

How'bout Clinesmith? He builds Bigsbys. I would suspect the pickups on them would be reproductions of the originals(?).

... J-D.

[J D Sauser]

I did these Bigsbyish style PU's about 3 years ago.
Cut and filed some T stock mild steel.



Cut some plastic tops for them and glued them in place with epoxy.
I had no way to cast the covers.
I also brushed the epoxy around the metal to eliminate roughness before winding.





I wound them with 38 gauge wire to about 4,000 on one and 4,500 turns on the other. Added the magnets under the steel.


Got close to the tone I was after, but no prize!

So Andy, WHERE is the magnet on them?... J-D.

[Andy DePaule]

I did these Bigsbyish style PU's about 3 years ago.
Cut and filed some T stock mild steel.



Cut some plastic tops for them and glued them in place with epoxy.
I had no way to cast the covers.
I also brushed the epoxy around the metal to eliminate roughness before winding.





I wound them with 38 gauge wire to about 4,000 on one and 4,500 turns on the other. Added the magnets under the steel.


Got close to the tone I was after, but no prize!

So Andy, WHERE is the magnet on them?... J-D.

Hi JD. The magnets were placed under the pickups with a few drops of epoxy after to keep the from being knocked loose. The photos were taken before I attached the magnets.

[J D Sauser]

So Andy, WHERE is the magnet on them?... J-D.

Hi JD. The magnets were placed under the pickups with a few drops of epoxy after to keep the from being knocked loose. The photos were taken before I attached the magnets.

ONE bar across the pickup's length or TWO bars sticking out like on the pre-war Gibson pickups, Andy?

Thanks!... J-D.

[Greg Forsyth]

Hi Andy,

Thanks for posting the link to Shane Larson's website. His work looks great, and I have a lot of respect for people who are successful at using traditional methods to build high quality instruments and woodwork. One of his 8 string PU's looks mighty tempting. Or 2. Please update us when your pickups arrive and are installed.

Greg

[Tim Toberer]

Finally I am getting around to this and I have a bobbin that looks a lot like the one Andy made out of T-bar. I need a much more compact pickup so I milled a 1/8" slot in a 1" flat and soldered a 1/2" piece in for the blade. I just thought of something that has me stumped. On a "normal" plastic bobbin, eyelets are glued in and the wires are soldered together. On a steel bobbin you can't do this because you would be shorting out your winding. So how are you attaching the wires? I can't tell from the pictures. I found a picture of a Bigsby and it looks like they are taped into the winding. http://fryerguitarpickups.com/?page_id=15

[Andy DePaule]

Shane sent me three of his newer versions of the Bigsby style pickup and they are much improved.
They now look like exact copies inside and out, Top & Bottom.
Also the castings are a lot better. Looking so great now.

Here are a couple of photos of one of Shane's three pickups he sent to me.
Now I really need to get cooking and build my next generation of 8 string lap steels to put these on.



He has also been reproducing some very good copies of the older Gibson pickups.
Look just like the Charlie Christian pickups of the old days.

Shane also builds nice looking lap steels as well as electric guitars and much more.

After I received the last three pickups a couple of weeks ago I told him he should raise the price because of all the work he has done to reach this level of perfection.
Have not had an answer from him yet.

Worth looking through the entire site even though he has not posted his latest 8 string pickups.
Not sure if I could deal with a hand crank drill press?
He loves the old tools and ways of wood working. More power to him.

Here is a link to his web site...
https://www.larsonsartisanwoodwork.com

[Chris Lucker]

I have to ask here.
Is this little circle joke because the pickups “appear correct”? Sorry, not worth the time following this to get the quote exact.
Why not just reproduce all the details of a First generation, second generation, or third generation Bigsby pickup already available. Except by the schmucks who bury the truth with their guesses.