Alternative flatwork materials for pickups

[Jason Rodgers]

Yes, I'll bring the book, and I'll bring my winder in its current state of construction.

Holy crap! That pickup FAQ on the MEF is amazing! I didn't know about that place. There's a forum for everything.

[David King]

Yes MEF is a good source if you can weed though some of the nonsense that passes for fact. Pickups are very simple devices that rely on well studied materials. There are no mysteries. If you can make it to the GAL conference in July, Veronica Merryfield will be presenting a very concise explanation of the physics along with some interesting historical and modern day examples of pickups to illustrate the principles at play.

[Mark Swanson]

I will be there too!

[Jason Rodgers]

Ditto! Just saw the final GAL conference lineup, and I am putting that session on my go-to list!

[Jason Rodgers]

Here are some flatwork blanks made of laminated countertop, er, laminate that I'm using for my first set of humbuckers. The lighter-colored stuff is pretty sturdy on its own, with a picture of "reconstituted stone" on its show face. John gave me the black stuff, which is a little thinner, but has a cool wood grain show face. They are glued up, 90deg to the "grain," with polyurethane. To be clear: all 8 pieces shown are identical, but the lighter-colored sides will face the coil.

The edge is not particularly attractive, looking a little brown/grey, but can be sanded very smooth, even polished. On one experimental piece, I colored the edge with black Sharpie, and that might be a good solution for this set.

I've made up my mind: these will be thick-rail/blade humbuckers. I have a piece of 3/4" x 3/16" steel bar, leftover from making some cam clamps, and will charge it with neodymiums. Let the winding commence!