Finally measured the resistance of the Baja pups

In case anyone was interested - and I couldn't find this info anywhere - my Baja Broadcaster pickup measures 9.2k which really surprised me because it is a bright pickup and doesn't seem to have an overage of winds considereing how skinny the black-roped coil looks from the side. The Twisted Tele measures 6.0k which also surprised me a little. I was also surprised considering how different those readings are from the Nocaster set (7.2 on each pickup) and the Nocaster bridge is not at all as bright as the Baja Broadcaster.

I still don't know what the magnets are. I suspect they are alnico V in both the Broadcaster & the Twisted Tele.

I am aware that the resistance in ohms has more to do with the tonality of pickups as opposed to the output. I used to think the resistance had to do with the output or loudness of pickups. I believe that output is measured in Henries but I am unaware of how to measure that with my multimeter.

Very interesting. I have not looked at those pups. The inductance measured in Henries and the capacitance of a pickup will tell much more then the resistance. You can not read those with a multimeter. Thanks for posting your findings in the resistance.

The reason for those readings is that Fender decided to 'reverse' the usual wire gauges. On the neck they used the thicker 42 AWG and longer magnets to make it more like a strat pup. On the bridge they used the thinner 43 AWG, like the first broadcaster bridge pickups. People have said it's almost identical to Texas specials.
I think Mr Allen here makes a similar pickup, but wound closer to 7k.

The nocaster set uses the normal gauges I think (43 neck, 42 bridge).

To add some DC readings I had in notes:

Broadcaster - 9.25 to 9.5kΩ one read 9.8 KΩ north top

Custom Shop Twisted Tele- 5.90 Ohm reading formvar wire
A V Jazz bass mags, north top


FWIW

I have an -ex Baja Broadcaster in my partscaster.
It is bright, but it is not unduly loud, nor difficult to balance. I really like it.

I googled about for info on this myself a while back out of curiosity, and apparently with these Fender Broadcasters the resistance is not an indicator of output / brightness, due to the thinner wire used.
That >10k , then 'behaves' more like a 7.5k(ish) typicaly would in some respects - or so I read.

There must be advantages to winding a pup that way, rather than going with 42 AWG and less winds. Sure sounds good!
What , typically might that advantage be in a more theoretical sense?

So whats the brightness due to ? It would have around the same winds as 7.2K 42 gauge. Are the magnets AlNiCo 3 ? Or whats the factor ?

Not to spread rumors but for the discussion, I have read that the Broadcaster is the 90's HOT Nocaster pup, re-named Broadcaster (per SMark).


As far as info on the Hot Nocaster, some say A III, some A V so who knows ??

measuring coil resistance can only be a viable *guideline* when comparing pickups of the same design, build, materials, where the difference is mainly in the wire turn count. other than that, dcr is meaningless and give can give a very false impression of a coil's tone.

as an example, with a tele bridge pup, fewer turns of 43awg over a5 mags can have the same dcr as more turns of 42awg over those a5 mags, and the resulting sonics will be quite different.

Plus 1 on what Rob said. Resistance would only be significant if all the materials and bobbin size and shape were identical between tow pickups. I fine the 43 ga wire creates a different tonal "voice" then 42ga. I find 43 ga is glassier in the highs and can play brighter and holds very well to effects. The '51 set I just had the opportunity to study had 43 ga in both pups an Alnicu 3 magnets. I made a set from it called the Colt '51's.

8.5 and 5.5 here on my Baja.

So the smaller wire creates the tone. Lacking a winder, all my p/up experiments are w Radio Shack sizes. Pencil sharpener as a winder (talk about by hand...) I boost w an opamp, mike tranny or both. Even w 22 vs 30 gauge the smaller size seems sparklier. Thanks for the info.

Either way you slice it, the Baja Broadcaster is my favorite bridge pickup in my Baja! I have tried many different pickups in the Baja and it seems to want the ones that were designed for it. The Baja Broadcaster has a similar voice as the Duncan Broadcaster though not as strident and certainly not piercing like the Duncan. It has that Fender "snap" I love and a very nice touch sensitive high end. Other pickups I tried in this guitar, for instance the Nocaster bridge, had attenuated highs which I did not like at all.

Despite all the grousing on this forum about "ice pick" I like a traditional Tele to have a lot of treble on the bridge. Anything attenuating the highs is un-Tele-like to me however such a pickup may be more desirable for a rock or blues guitar.

So the smaller wire creates the tone. ....

not really. it's *far* more than just the coil wire gauge ... design, footprint, mags, wind tension, wind tpl, compression, AND coil wire gauge and type that's typically what "pup tone" is all about.

a pencil sharpener coil winder. YIKES!!!! that's insane! pup winding with my dad back in the 50's began with the motor from a record player - gawd, THAT was slow! :mrgreen:

I have my dog walk around the bobbin with the spool of wire in her teeth. It's really slow but our terrier, Abigal gets great exercise and a huge treat when she's done.

not really. it's *far* more than just the coil wire gauge ... design, footprint, mags, wind tension, wind tpl, compression, AND coil wire gauge and type that's typically what "pup tone" is all about.

a pencil sharpener coil winder. YIKES!!!! that's insane! pup winding with my dad back in the 50's began with the motor from a record player - gawd, THAT was slow! :mrgreen: lol I meant Tele bridge vs Tele Bridge. Yes everything effects the tone. W that gauge its only a couple hundred turns at most so I didn't want to get to involved. I'll be bringing it out again so I can wind 2 coils of large wire at once onto a Strat form and then hook them up to a differential input to see if that will give the "True single coil sound w no noise" that stacked coils etc just can't do. I've done it before , but it was on a custom shape so its not really comparable.

imho, for the very most part, 42awg is the dominant coil wire gauge for most pups (single or hb), followed by the thinner 43awg. changing one aspect of a pup's design parameters can easily affect that "tone" thing.

there is no such thing as "true single coil sound w/no noise". no one has yet to do this, nor ever will do it, for very good physics reasons. hooking up two coils, even if one is a dummy, will affect tone. to truly buck the hum, the twin coils need to be as identical as symmetrical possible only wound in different directions and with flipped polarities. winding to any degree of coil assymetry will typically increase treble and noise.

imho, for the very most part, 42awg is the dominant coil wire gauge for most pups (single or hb), followed by the thinner 43awg. changing one aspect of a pup's design parameters can easily affect that "tone" thing.

there is no such thing as "true single coil sound w/no noise". no one has yet to do this, nor ever will do it, for very good physics reasons. hooking up two coils, even if one is a dummy, will affect tone. to truly buck the hum, the twin coils need to be as identical as symmetrical possible only wound in different directions and with flipped polarities. winding to any degree of coil assymetry will typically increase treble and noise. Yes, I agree. With the 2 coils wire strands side by side wound around the same magnets in the same form you might get closer than other approaches. But of course theres the whole differential vs single ended, whether passive or active thing coming into play as well. So I tend to think your right about never getting there, but time will tell.

not really. it's *far* more than just the coil wire gauge ... design, footprint, mags, wind tension, wind tpl, compression, AND coil wire gauge and type that's typically what "pup tone" is all about.

a pencil sharpener coil winder. YIKES!!!! that's insane! pup winding with my dad back in the 50's began with the motor from a record player - gawd, THAT was slow! :mrgreen:

Many Factors then take the final product and burry it in the backyard and dance around them at midnight under a full moon. It adds a lot of MoJo:wink:
:razz: