speaker wire for pickups

Started by MikeMalone, February 20, 2009, 07:35:32 AM

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MikeMalone

I recently rewound a bunch of pickups on the 79 Stage 73 that I'm working on. I decided to just go ahead and rewire all the pickups so I went to Radio Shack and bought some 24 gauge copper speaker wire. It worked great...but here is my problem. It took me FOREVER to remove the insulation, even with the proper tools. The strands would fall apart and I had to keep winding it. I was just wondering if anyone knows where I can get this wire WITHOUT the insulation. My dad has an electrician friend who says the wire is called "twisted and naked". I did a search for that on the net and couldnt find anything. In fact, I haven't found any non-insulated wire anywhere. Can anyone help?
1976 Rhodes Suitcase 73
1966 Fender BandMaster Blackface
1955 Hammond M3
1966 Wurlitzer 140B
Yamaha Motif 6
Nord Lead 3
Casio CDP-100 (pretty good Rhodes sound!)

sean

You will have better luck searching for "stranded bare wire."  If you are looking for the wire that jumps from pickup to pickup, you would probably want it "tinned."   "Stranded" just means that it is made up of multiple strands; "tinned" means that it was dipped in solder (that may or may not have any actual tin (Sn) content) so it looks silver in color and will not corrode or unravel.


If you are looking for the tiny enamel-coated wire that wraps around each pickup, then you would probably want something thinner than 24 gauge, and thicker than 40-gauge.

We used to call this "motor wire" or "bell wire" but now it seems folks are calling it "magnet wire" or "tattoo wire."  

See ebay item 160316895598 (24 AWG green)
See ebay item 290297110003  (42 AWG, probably too thin)

I dunno what thickness wire was used on the Rhodes pickups, and I can't find any info posted, so give me a few minutes, and I will go downstairs and measure some pickup wires and guess what gauge they were made from.

sean

Well, I unwrapped two pickups, one from a 1981 white-tape-wrapped lot, and another from a 1973 clear-tape lot.

Both wires measure ~0.0045 inches in diameter, measured with a dial caliper that is is of reasonable accuracy.  

So, my guess is that it was 38 AWG enamelled wire, supposedly .004" in diameter.

36 AWG would be .005" in diameter, and will probably work fine.

I wouldn't really want to use anything smaller (too delicate).  My guess is that it is less than 2500 windings, but I will let somebody else count that.

MikeMalone

Yea its the wire that goes from pickup to pickup and 24 is a good gauge for it. Now I just have to find it "bare".Thanks a lot for your help Sean.
1976 Rhodes Suitcase 73
1966 Fender BandMaster Blackface
1955 Hammond M3
1966 Wurlitzer 140B
Yamaha Motif 6
Nord Lead 3
Casio CDP-100 (pretty good Rhodes sound!)


MikeMalone

Thanks Michael. I just ordered that very same wire from them!
1976 Rhodes Suitcase 73
1966 Fender BandMaster Blackface
1955 Hammond M3
1966 Wurlitzer 140B
Yamaha Motif 6
Nord Lead 3
Casio CDP-100 (pretty good Rhodes sound!)

Michael

Please tells us how things work out.  We're always interested.  Funny, I'm looking for Wenol, to finally clean up the tone bars.

for kicks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYXB6pQvJcg

pianotuner steveo

To Mike Malone:
Why are you looking for wire that is bare? The pickup wire has an enamel coating as mentioned above, it is not bare wire. I don't think completely bare wire will work properly....
1960 Wurlitzer model 700 EP
1968 Gibson G101 Combo organ
1975 Rhodes Piano Bass
1979 Wurlitzer 206A EP
2009 73A Rhodes Mark 7
2009 Korg SV-1 73
2017 Yamaha P255
2020 Kawai CA99
....and a few guitars...

MikeMalone

Yea thats for the wound wire in the pickup but I was asking about the wire that loops from pickup to pickup. Sorry if Im not exactly clear on all the technical terms.
1976 Rhodes Suitcase 73
1966 Fender BandMaster Blackface
1955 Hammond M3
1966 Wurlitzer 140B
Yamaha Motif 6
Nord Lead 3
Casio CDP-100 (pretty good Rhodes sound!)

pianotuner steveo

sorry, I thought you were looking for wire for both purposes....
1960 Wurlitzer model 700 EP
1968 Gibson G101 Combo organ
1975 Rhodes Piano Bass
1979 Wurlitzer 206A EP
2009 73A Rhodes Mark 7
2009 Korg SV-1 73
2017 Yamaha P255
2020 Kawai CA99
....and a few guitars...

MikeMalone

I found some at my local radio shack and its perfect...thank God for the forum...
1976 Rhodes Suitcase 73
1966 Fender BandMaster Blackface
1955 Hammond M3
1966 Wurlitzer 140B
Yamaha Motif 6
Nord Lead 3
Casio CDP-100 (pretty good Rhodes sound!)