I want to rewind my Gretsch Filtertron pickup to get a real clear tone. What gauge wire should I use and how many turns?
There are many combinations of wire and turns for winding pickups but for Gretsch Filtertrons I like using 3,000 turns of 42 Heavy Formvar and you ll get a nice clear vintage tone. Wind the top of the coil Top Left and Top Coming (the top of the bobbin comes towards you). I never like winding humbucking pickups by hand as I like to have the same layering on both coils used on one pickup. It helps the pickup to be better hum rejecting. The heavy Formvar has a thicker insulation and tension must be watched carefully. If you wind too fast the coil can become spongy not leaving enough time for the magnet wire to fit snug within each turn. If you wind too slow and not enough tension the coil will again loose and the desired number of turns can t be obtained. If the tension is too tight the magnet wire will become stretched increasing the DC resistance of the coil. Also stretching the magnet wire can crack the insulation leaving it exposed to the elements and in time could oxidize and break.
