What is the Seymour Duncan Jerry Donahue special winding?

[Vintage Fan]

I want to know what the Seymour Duncan Jerry Donahue pickup "special winding" is.

I contacted Seymour Duncan and the rep said they won't reveal the secret of the "special winding."

I'm considering having Seymour Duncan build a similar pickup to the Jerry Donahue, only with more gain and possibly a different type wire.

Any ideas what wire is used and what the "special winding" is?....thanks.

 

[elelpe]

All I know is 43awg + A2 mag (APTL-1 has 42awg + A2)

 

[Smiff]

Snake oil, that’s what it is.

 

[rze99]

Nothing quite like secret stuff to build mystique about a product....special wind indeed. Yeah, right.

It's a great pickup if you want a smooth bridge pickup with no ice pick and vintage girth. I had to remove the logo on mine.

 

[Guitarteach]

get a broadcaster PU... save the money

Changing wind and wire will result in something different surely.

What you really after response/tone wise?

 

[Mincer]

The JD pickup is probably my favorite Tele bridge pickup. It is about as hot as I would go yet still have some twang in there (for a single coil). The BG1400 and Gilly are hotter, but those are noiseless designs.

 

[SPUDCASTER]

All I know is 43awg + A2 mag (APTL-1 has 42awg + A2)

Where did you find the 43awg/A2's listed. I know they list the A2's, but have never seen the 43 info given.

I'm more practical guitar knowledge than technical. It's seems to me that 7.7k would be a little light for 43awg to give the JD that much girth. Maybe I'm wrong.

If it was JD's '52 that Seymour patterned it after. It may have fallen into the transition pickup(42awg/A3).

Why Seymour used A2's, who knows. Magnets are a whole different discussion.

Not questioning your knowledge, just never seen or heard that info before.

I do own a JD and it's a very good pickup whatever it's made up of.

Snake oil, that’s what it is.

You'll never get away from marketing. From the mass producers to the small guys that gain traction here at TDPRI. They all do it to a certain level.

At least the JD isn't in the "Custom Shop" section at $160.

 

[fakeplastic]

Where did you find the 43awg/A2's listed. I know they list the A2's, but have never seen the 43 info given.

I believe it was confirmed (a while back) by someone from Duncan that they use 43 for the JD.

 

[SPUDCASTER]

Just seems a little light at 7.7k for 43awg.

Must be that "special wind".

 

[Antigua Tele]

Just seems a little light at 7.7k for 43awg.

Must be that "special wind".

7.7k of 43AWG is equivelent to 5.9k of 42 AWG. I'm sure the bridge pickup is 42AWG.

Seymour Duncan's site says "The result is a warm lead pickup that uses alnico 2 rod magnets and a special coil wind for increased sustainability and output." setting aside the nonsensical idea that a special coil winding could increase sustain, the mention of increased output infers that it's of a higher inductance, more or less ruling out an equivalent 5.9k.

As for AlNiCo 2, they would have been using AlNiCo 3 at the time, but if you're just looking at these magnets with a magnetometer, A2 and A3 appear to be very similar. A3 has just a slightly lower Br rating.