Making Route 66 Cigar Box Guitar Pickup

This is not a tutorial this is just how I make my Route 66 pickup for cigar box guitars.This is a drop in pickup made out off Walnut comes with pole spacing 13mm and 15mm.Was ask to make this as custom pickup for a customer who fitted it to his cigar box guitar.It took me about 15 attempts to get it right,getting the right amount off windings and getting the alnico slugs charge to the right magnetism took a bit off time but got there eventually and the customer was very happy with it fitted to his cigar box guitar.It has nice bluesy sound 

First I start off with a 3mm thick peace of walnut

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I put a length of double sided tape on one side

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I use a cad program to design the top off the pickup and then use Cambam to produce the gcode for the cnc machine.I use Mach3 to control the cnc machine

After screwing the Walnut down to the cnc bed I hit start

Sanding the top off the pickup                          After Sanding

Spraying the top off the pickup black

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Sanding the black off the top off the                       Just leaving the black on the      pickup                                                                          engraved part

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Spraying the top with a couple off                    Letting it dry
coats off mat clear coat

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Bottom of pickup made on cnc machine         Getting the slugs ready
I have fitted the copper eyelets

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Parts needed for pickup                                Fitting slugs to top off pickup

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Pickup ready for the winding machine

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Double sided tape on top off pickup           Pickup fitted to winding machine

Winding the pickup

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Short video off pickup being wound.
This pickup machine was made out off an old golf trolley,I could use the cnc machine to wind the pickups but prefer to scatter wind them on this machine , I can feel the tension off the wire through my fingers.I have made hundreds off cigar box guitar pickups on this machine

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Winding Pickup                     Halfway                                Finished

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Filling Eyelets with solder                            First Test

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Making sure the wax is not to hot              Pickup ready to be potted
​Keeping it around 140

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Leave it in till there are
no bubbles about 20mins       Ready to come out            Wiping off any wax

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Putting copper shielding  on pickup

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Black cord fitted round the pickup

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Hookup wire ends                Soldering wires into             Hookup wire finished
soldered                                 eyelets

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Ready to magnetise the alnico 5 slugs,I always measure the gap which the pickups will pass through ,these pickups get passed through twice but my other pickups can be passed through up to 5 times. It usually takes me about 15 attempts to get a newly design pickup right.

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Checking the alnico 5s with my Teslameter,I have had this meter for the last 5 years and have made a cover for the probe so when I measure the alnicos the probe is the same height off each off the anlicos so I get an  accurate reading.These pickups i try to get about 18.2 to 18.5

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Final Test                                                      Finished Pickup

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Pickup ready to be fitted to cigar box guitar