Place the guitar pickup lengthwise inside the workshop bench vise. Tighten the vise so that the grips hold the pickup firmly, but don't dig into the pickup's outer casing. Test the location of the pickup by running your hands around the bobbin in a winding fashion. The bobbin is the space around the pickup's exposed magnetic coils. Repeat this step as needed until you have clean access to the bobbin and the vise holds the pickup firmly.
Wind the 42-gauge copper wire around the bobbin. Begin at the top-right of the bobbin and direct the first half-pass of wire away from your body. Hold the wire tightly against the bobbin and allow space between each subsequent turn. Wind the copper wire around the bobbin 8,000 to 10,000 times. Wind the copper wire more times for a louder sound when the pickup is in use. If the copper wire breaks during the wrapping process, restart this step from the beginning.
Fill the inside pot of a double boiler with cold water. Place the double boiler on your stove over medium heat. Melt a one-pound mixture of 80 percent paraffin wax and 20 percent beeswax in the double boiler.
Remove the wound guitar pickup from the workshop bench vise. Holding the pickup with a pair of metal tongs, coat the pickup in the melted beeswax and paraffin wax mixture. Leave the pickup inside the wax mixture for one minute. Remove the pickup and place on a plate to dry.
Check the pickup to ensure wax covers the copper wire and coils completely. If you find gaps, repeat the first step of this section.
Place the guitar pickup in your refrigerator. Check the pickup every hour by touching it with your finger to ensure the wax is hardening appropriately. It will have hardened enough to be removed from your refrigerator when the wax no longer feels spongy and has no give.