Post by: BluesJam on July 04, 2021, 09:57:06 PM
I wish Larry DiMarzio would do a run of limited edition authentic 1970’s versions of the Super D and FS1.
Post by: darkbluemurder on July 05, 2021, 03:14:38 AM
Cheers Stephan
Post by: buddroyce on July 05, 2021, 10:33:50 AM
I'm not trying to discount any product or company but from a production management standpoint, the existence of a rockstar winder would indicate that there are variances in production that need to be looked at and if you think about it, it works both ways as some could also be worse than the baseline reference.
Although what is tonally better or worse is entirely subjective and differs from person to person.
Post by: BluesJam on July 05, 2021, 09:02:26 PM
Post by: HeyNorton! on July 08, 2021, 07:07:32 PM
Post by: DavidSchwab on July 10, 2021, 03:10:06 AM
DiMarzio designs pickups. Steve Blutcher designs a lot of them. And while he probably winds the prototypes, all the production pickups are wound on automated machines by a bunch of experienced workers.
DiMarzio isn’t a big shop. There’s about 8 or 10 people winding pickups. I worked at DiMarzio for a short time. A lot of the workers had been there like 20 years. But you won’t see their name on anything.
Duncan uses the fact that they have one or two “retired” winders from Fender as a marketing ploy. But how many Duncan pickups are hand wound?
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Post by: DavidSchwab on July 10, 2021, 03:14:27 AM
I wish Larry DiMarzio would do a run of limited edition authentic 1970’s versions of the Super D and FS1.
Larry doesn’t run the company. His daughter does. I think he lives in Montana.
The Super D and FS1 are made exactly the same as the old ones. Same parts and all. I have a vintage Super Distortion from the 70s. It’s the same as the new ones. The parts all come from the same place.
Also, how many “famous” winders are there? I’m sure Fender had more you never heard of.
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Post by: BluesJam on July 12, 2021, 01:56:48 AM
Post by: DavidSchwab on July 12, 2021, 02:13:20 AM
It is a factory setting, so you might do a couple of hundred bobbins. But it’s not totally automated.
My first week there was spent installing pole piece screws in bobbins with an arbor press. Everyone there takes pride in what they do. I was one of the few people who was actually a player and understood pickups. The woman who was training me was an older woman who had worked there over 20 years. So she was like their “MJ” … they are very secretive. Phones weren’t allowed in the work area. You’ll never see a factory tour on YouTube.
I was surprised how much DiMarzio makes in house. All the patch cables. They had a few elderly ladies sewing straps! The bobbins and magnets all come from the US.
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210712/7d2ec95d1eda212f0ccc7bb780775155.jpg)
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Post by: BluesJam on July 12, 2021, 02:21:56 AM
Post by: darkbluemurder on July 12, 2021, 03:00:52 AM
The term "handwound" is used very generously all over the place. If you define the term as "winding the turns around the coil by hand" then not many pickups will fall into that category as this method is very time consuming and difficult. What the term mostly refers to is "hand guiding the wire as the machince is winding the wire on the bobbin". Which is fine to me - it is the end result that matters. And - as David described - it will be very difficult if not impossible to eliminate all the handwork from the production of pickups.
Cheers Stephan
Post by: buddroyce on July 12, 2021, 01:00:03 PM
Post by: BluesJam on July 24, 2021, 04:25:05 AM
Thanks for sharing those great stories of DiMarzio.
Post by: Guitar74 on August 03, 2021, 04:14:52 PM
Because that’s a marketing gimmick.
Agreed. I have used both brands at one time or another. I still see posts where people claim that the J.B. wound by "M.J." is SOOOOOOO much better than the standard J.B. Having used J.B.s on and off for some time, and accidentally getting one that actually was wound by her, I can tell you that the difference is ZILCH, as in ZERO, as in NADA. Aside from manufacturing tolerances from one pickup to the next, there is nothing significant about an "MJ wound" JB that makes it any better than any other. It is part marketing scheme as well as internet myth that somehow MJ winds her pickups, which would be to some sort of spec put forth my Seymour, or another designer, would sound any different than one wound by someone else in that factory.
Post by: DavidSchwab on August 03, 2021, 04:22:56 PM
Because that’s a marketing gimmick.When I worked at American Showster I installed a set of pickups made by Seymour himself. They were signed too.
Agreed. I have used both brands at one time or another. I still see posts where people claim that the J.B. wound by "M.J." is SOOOOOOO much better than the standard J.B. Having used J.B.s on and off for some time, and accidentally getting one that actually was wound by her, I can tell you that the difference is ZILCH, as in ZERO, as in NADA. Aside from manufacturing tolerances from one pickup to the next, there is nothing significant about an "MJ wound" JB that makes it any better than any other. It is part marketing scheme as well as internet myth that somehow MJ winds her pickups, which would be to some sort of spec put forth my Seymour, or another designer, would sound any different than one wound by someone else in that factory.
They sounded good, but no different than off the shelf pickups. I think they were for Robbin Crosby from Ratt. It’s a long time ago so…
He’s going to train his workers to wind pickups the way he wants them wound.
And really Duncan has one named winder. How about the other 20 (or whatever). Lol
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Post by: BluesJam on August 04, 2021, 04:31:17 AM
Post by: Guitar74 on August 04, 2021, 04:14:14 PM
That was some time ago.
Post by: BluesJam on August 25, 2021, 02:34:39 AM
Post by: DarthPhineas on March 30, 2022, 08:17:03 AM
the existence of a rockstar winder would indicate that there are variances in production that need to be looked at and if you think about it, it works both ways as some could also be worse than the baseline reference.
The term "handwound" is used very generously all over the place.
there's a lot to unpack with both of those comments. lol!
the short version is that I'm not that much of a fan of the "rockstar" pickup winders concept...
and I think certain marketing approaches have fed in to way too many misconceptions about "handwound" and "scatterwound" and "calibrated set"... and I think one company is behind a lot of the phrasing used to sell over-priced products.
Post by: BluesJam on April 01, 2022, 02:36:32 AM
Post by: RayBarbeeMusic on April 08, 2022, 11:40:41 AM
Post by: BluesJam on April 09, 2022, 05:05:43 AM