g1 wrote
Hi,
Busy putting together a stew mac order, 2 things:
1) can any of this stuff be sourced locally?
- alnico magnets
- flatwork
- pickup coil wire
- fretwire
2) Anyone want in? Share shipping costs.
Jeff
Hey guys.
This late reply is surely to be helpful to others wondering the same thing..
I'm about to wind some long-anticipated pickups soon as my winder is finished, however I'm sourcing everything locally, and what ever is not available, I will build myself or improvise.
Magnets:
-Alnico magnets are available at magnets4u.co.za (situated in randburg, they do do postage last time I asked).
However, all their bar magnets are magnetized through their thickness, which renders them useless to us.
They also stock AlniceV rod magnets , however their dimensions are all wrong, so no luck there.
I have asked them to consider stocking ceramic and AlnicoV bar magnets magnetised through their width, in dimensions of those available off the stewmac website,
as also AlnicoV rod magnets for single-coils, also in the same dimensions as stewmac's.
I will fill you guys in on their response when I get it, hopefully this week.
In the mean time I will be experimenting with an alternative magnet arrangement for a humbucker, using rod magnets oriented sideways, which are available from magnets4u.
Here's a crude illustration I've done: (I know in the picture both sides contain slugs, it's just to illustrate the principle. In fact I will be using screws in both sides, like an Invader, and the magnets will be placed in between the metal spacers, below the base plate)
http://img121.imageshack.us/img121/8797/magnetsi.gif
For all you conventionalists, I'll fill you in on the outcome, but compromises must be made if I want to use locally sourced products!
Flatwork:
For flatwork, I think I've found what we need at the same place that supplies the winding wire we need, at www.windingwires.co.za.
I see they do stock
vulcanized natural fiberboard (that's what Forbon is!), you'll find it under the insulation division of products.
I have inquired about thicknesses, sizes and cost, and will fill you in as soon as I recieve a response.
I will be laser cutting all my flatwork, as it's cheap, and easy. I'll cut out as many as I can, so If anyone needs something I'll be willing to post it. I won't charge much.
Pickup coil wire:
Also available at www.windingwires.co.za
Ask for 42 gauge (0,0635mm), single build polyurethane nylon insulated, solderable winding wire. (Solderable just means that the insulation melts, and doesn't need to be scraped off)
They stock that, but are currently out of stock. They said to call back in four weeks or so.
When I asked about the cost last year sometime, It was something like R280 for a 500g reel, as far as I remember, but don't quote me on that.
The price fluctuates with every shipment anyway.
Fretwire
As far as fretwire goes, when I was working for bothner's a couple of years back, they did stock pre-cut Fender fretwire, I can hardly remember the price, it was around R300 for a pack of jumbo fretwire that was on the shelf.
I remember a couple suppliers that Bothners would deal with had fret wire in their price lists, but I wouldn't trust the quality of those over fender's.
Hope that helps guys.
Cheers
