January 2012
1 post
8 tags
Introducing the Re-designed Tele-90 Pickup
[caption id=”attachment_945” align=”aligncenter” width=”600” caption=”Creamery Custom Handwound Tele-90 Pickup - A P90 design in a Tele Bridge”][/caption]
A P90 design to fit a Tele Bridge Pickup
Fat, grittier tones from your Tele Bridge position whilst still keeping some of that classic Tele twang
Magnet: Custom Alnico 5 Poles: Steel Slug Screws...
December 2011
1 post
14 tags
New Classic '71 Wide Range Humbucker
[caption id=”attachment_940” align=”aligncenter” width=”600” caption=”Creamery Custom Classic ‘71 Wide Range Humbucker Reproduction Pickups”][/caption]
New Repro Wide Range Tele / Thinline Humbuckers
With true individual threaded pole magnets and internal reflector plate. Custom nickel silver / nickel plated covers and available in separate...
November 2011
7 posts
4 tags
New Gift Vouchers Available
[caption id=”attachment_918” align=”aligncenter” width=”450” caption=”The Creamery - New Gift Vouchers”][/caption]
Just a quick note to let you know the gift vouchers are back up online. Available in values from £10 all the way up to £100. You can just order them through the site and I’ll email you back the unique voucher code to use...
12 tags
Custom Radius Stratocaster Pickups
[caption id=”attachment_907” align=”aligncenter” width=”600” caption=”Creamery Custom Radius Stratocaster (Strat) Pickups”][/caption]
Pickups to Match the radius of your neck/fingerboard
I’m often asked to make a custom set of Strat pickups with the old vintage stagger, by that I mean, the pole magnets follow the stagger pattern of the old,...
1 tag
The New Classic '83 "Hair Metal" Humbucker
[caption id=”attachment_902” align=”aligncenter” width=”600” caption=”Creamery Custom Classic ‘83 “Hair Metal” Humbucker”][/caption]
Magnet: Alnico 5, 8 or Ceramic
Coil Wire: 43AWG Plain Enamel
Lead Wire: Vintage Braided Pushback or 4way
Bridge Output: 13.6k
Neck Output: 11.7k
The Hair Metal Humbucker
Similar in output to the...
10 tags
The New Custom 'Double-Track' Humbucker
[caption id=”attachment_889” align=”aligncenter” width=”600” caption=”Creamery Custom ‘Double Track’ Handwound Blade Humbucker Pickup”][/caption]
Design your own Humbucker Pickup
Fully Custom Handwound Humbucker Blade Pickups
Magnet:Alnico 2,3,4,5 or Alnico 8
Coil Wire: 42 or 43AWG Plain Enamel
Lead Wire: Vintage Braided Pushback or...
14 tags
Classic '71 Wide Range Humbucker - Dec 2011
[caption id=”attachment_879” align=”aligncenter” width=”600” caption=”Creamery Classic ‘71 Wide Range Humbucker Cover - Prototype Sample”][/caption]
Its on its way, just in time for Christmas …
The final prototype covers are on their way and providing all the measurements are correct, the new true spec Creamery Classic ‘71 Wide...
8 tags
Upgrading P90 Pickups - Looking for something...
[caption id=”attachment_860” align=”aligncenter” width=”600” caption=”Creamery Custom Handwound Classic ‘57 P90 Pickups”][/caption]
P90s are great pickups. That fat, single coil tone can really drive an amp giving a gritty, snarly tone great for riffs. But what if you want something a little different from a P90 pickup? Maybe you’re...
13 tags
Creamery Jazzmaster & Fender® Reissue Jazzmaster...
[caption id=”attachment_845” align=”aligncenter” width=”600” caption=”Creamery Custom Jazzmaster & Fender® Jazzmaster Japan Reissue Pickup”][/caption]
Vintage Jazzmaster Pickups
One of my favourite pickups, the original Jazzmaster pickup, unlike the modern CIJ reissues, had short & wide coils around 1/8” high. Its this unique design...
September 2011
2 posts
14 tags
Repairing a '74 Telecaster Bridge Pickup
[caption id=”attachment_834” align=”aligncenter” width=”600” caption=”Creamery Pickup Rewind Repair - Telecaster ‘74 Bridge”][/caption]
One of the most common pickup repairs that I get in the workshop is where the pickup wire has been snapped or damaged right at the start of the coil. With little free coil wire left over, often the pickup...
1 tag
Converting Maton Mastersound Pickups to Wide Range...
[caption id=”attachment_806” align=”aligncenter” width=”600” caption=”The Creamery Maton Mastersound Pickups upgrade to Wide Range Humbuckers”][/caption]
This was an interesting upgrade. The customer got in touch saying he wanted something different from his stock pickups so after a wee chat about the kind of tones & versatility he was after, we...
June 2011
6 posts
11 tags
Converting a P90 Dogear to Soapbar style Pickup
[caption id=”attachment_789” align=”aligncenter” width=”600” caption=”Converting a P90 Dogear pickup to P90 Soapbar”][/caption]
When you want to keep your P90 pickups but use them in another guitar.
This is a very simple switch, and great if you want to use your P90 pickups in a new guitar but need to change the covers and baseplates from a dogear...
The Strat P90 & noiseless Strat & Tele sets are on their way plus a new “Tele-Sonic” design. It’s all go ;-)
8 tags
Upgrading Stock Epiphone Casino Pickups
Upgrading the stock Casino pickups for a more vintage tone
[caption id=”attachment_777” align=”aligncenter” width=”600” caption=”Creamery - Upgrading Stock Epiphone Casino Pickups”][/caption]
I recently ran one of my regular competitions to wind a set of handwound pickups and the winner, Mike, asked whether he could have his Epiphone Casino pickups...
23 tags
Reissue Wide Range/Thinline Tele Humbucker Upgrade
Upgrading the modern Fender® reissue Wide Range Tele Humbuckers to vintage spec
You can find more details of my modern, vintage Wide Range Humbucker pickups & upgrades on the main site. Below is a blog post on the actual upgrade of both a modern & older Japanese Fender® reissue Wide Range Humbucker.
Old vs New
As you can see from the picture, the modern Wide Range / Thinline Humbucker...
9 tags
New Custom Stratocaster Pickups
Introducing the Red ‘79 Strat Pickup Set
[caption id=”attachment_722” align=”aligncenter” width=”600” caption=”Creamery Red ‘79 Handwound Stratocaster Pickup Set”][/caption]
Magnets: Alnico 5 Poles: Staggered or Flat Coil Wire: 42AWG Plain Enamel Lead Wire: Vintage Cloth Pushback Bridge Output: 5.9k Middle Output: 5.7k Neck Output:...
14 tags
Creamery "Extra Width" Fatter Strat Bridge Pickup
[caption id=”attachment_694” align=”aligncenter” width=”600” caption=”Creamery Extra Width Fatter Strat Bridge Pickup”][/caption]
A rounder, fatter tone for bridge position Stratocasters
I’ve always been in two minds about the Strat bridge position. Unlike the Tele with its copper plated steel baseplate, the strat bridge position can sound...
April 2011
3 posts
9 tags
"How come my strat doesn't sound like a strat?"
[caption id=”attachment_443” align=”aligncenter” width=”600” caption=”The Creamery ‘64 Stratocaster Guitar Pickup”][/caption]
Often people ask what’s the difference between the pickups on say a Mid-Level Strat against an American Standard or indeed, any other higher model guitar or pickup manufacturer - or put it another way, how come my...
11 tags
Filtertron Style Humbuckers "Swing-O's"
Humbucker sized Filtertrons from The Creamery
After looking at modern variants of the old Filtertron style pickups, and wanting something a little ‘brighter’ I came up with these - introducing the ‘Swing-O’ - Humbucker sized Filtertron style pickups. A reduced number of offset winds on each coil provide the extra brightness. The Alnico 5 magnets help keep the attack but...
7 tags
P90 Sized Humbucker Pickups
P90 Sized Humbucker Pickups from The Creamery
[caption id=”attachment_678” align=”aligncenter” width=”600” caption=”Creamery P90 Sized Humbucker Pickups”][/caption]
A true 12-pole humbucker in a P90 cover
No modifications required to your guitar. These new P90 sized Humbuckers even look like a P90.
Pole Magnets: Alnico 2 or 5 Coil Wire: 43AWG...
March 2011
1 post
7 tags
Humbucker Sized P90 Pickups
Humbucker sized P90s from The Creamery
[caption id=”attachment_667” align=”aligncenter” width=”600” caption=”Creamery Humbucker Sized P90 Scatterwound Pickups”][/caption]
Magnets: Alnico 2, 4 or 5 Coil Wire: 43AWG Plain Enamel Lead Wire: Vintage Braided Pushback Humbucker sized P90 Bridge Output: 9.2k Humbucker sized P90 Neck Output: 8.3k
Get the...
February 2011
3 posts
14 tags
Repairing/Rewinding a Vintage early '60s Strat...
Repairing/Rewinding a Vintage Strat Pickup and Replacing Pickup Magnets
[caption id=”attachment_658” align=”aligncenter” width=”600” caption=”Repairing and Rewinding a Vintage Strat Pickup”][/caption]
Here’s an interesting pickup that came in for a repair & rewind - An early ’60s vintage Strat Bridge pickup. The thing is, its a...
Its all falling into place - Pretty soon I’ll be offering options for custom guitar bodies with your own spec of pickup cavities.
New ‘Extra Width’ Handwound Jazzmaster Pickups now available - Hotter, Warmer, still with clarity & bite - http://bit.ly/gjrjFI
January 2011
3 posts
24 tags
New Wide Range/Thinline Humbucker Replacement...
[caption id=”attachment_600” align=”aligncenter” width=”600” caption=”Creamery Wide Range/Thinline Humbucker Pickup Replacement - Standard Humbucker Version”][/caption]
Coming very soon, a new replacement for those Fender Seth Lover Wide Range/Thinline Humbucker reissues.
Whereas the original Wide Range/Thinline Humbucker pickups had threaded...
Just preparing the site, new Wide Range/Thinline Humbuckers coming this week. Here are some details - http://bit.ly/gQ67bj
13 tags
Guitar Pickup Repair: Repairing/Rewinding a...
[caption id=”attachment_633” align=”aligncenter” width=”600” caption=”The Creamery Guitar Pickup repair: Repairing/Rewinding a Vintage Telecaster Neck Pickup”][/caption]
Guitar Pickup repair: Repairing/Rewinding a Vintage Telecaster Neck Pickup
A guitar player got in touch with the story of an early ’70s Telecaster Neck pickup that had seen...
November 2010
4 posts
Next week its the 12 pole 4 way humbuckers plus a new ‘fatter’ bridge Wide-O pickup
Introducing the new ‘Extra Width’ Strat pickup set - http://tinyurl.com/34vhc3f - Let me know what you think
New Blog Post with Audio Demos: Classic Handwound Alnico 5 Humbuckers – Handcrafted for Tone - http://ping.fm/0gyie
9 tags
Classic Handwound Alnico 5 Humbuckers -...
[caption id=”attachment_559” align=”aligncenter” width=”600” caption=”Custom Pickups - Scatterwound Alnico 5 Humbuckers, handwound by The Creamery”][/caption]
My humbuckers are scatterwound on a handmade machine. Each pickup is wound at slow speed with 42 AWG (46 SWG) plain enamel or vintage formvar copper wire before being wax-potted in a...
October 2010
24 posts
NEW Blog Post: “Upgrading an Epiphone Les Paul – Pt.2” - http://ping.fm/pdKho - Take a look.
17 tags
Upgrading an Epiphone Les Paul – Pt.2
[caption id=”attachment_491” align=”aligncenter” width=”600” caption=”Upgrading an Epiphone Les Paul - Fret levelling & crowning”][/caption]
You can read the first part - Upgrading an Epiphone Les Paul – Pt.1 here.
One of the biggest jobs when upgrading an old guitar revolves around the frets. Often a number of them are found to be scratched,...
BLOG UPDATE: Pickups - “How come my strat doesn’t sound like a strat?” now with audio comparison - http://ping.fm/pdKho
New quick Blog Post: “How come my strat doesn’t sound like a strat?” - http://ping.fm/Qp1Yk
Does anyone know anything about CAD software. Got some 2d guitar designs I need ‘making 3d’
24 tags
Inside the electric guitar pt.1
More than simply a mere plank of wood with strings, a guitar houses a good number of parts that need to be pieced together. Just for curiosity, here’s what goes into one of my custom guitars and while wiring up a guitar isn’t brain surgery, its not Lego either ;-)
1. Handmade body
2. Handmade neck, headstock & nut
3. Custom scratchplate
4. Stamped steel bridge with brass...
17 tags
Upgrading an Epiphone Les Paul - Pt.1
I’m not going to throw myself headlong into the whole Gibson v Epiphone argument as it can be a fraught affair, drinks are thrown, fists fly, someone disses someone’s mother and the word ‘tone’ thrown is around like confetti at a cousin’s wedding. Price points and the value of each brand aside, there are clear differences in both quality and manufacture but putting it plainly, if you are are to...
In association with Total Guitar Magazine, you can wind a set of my Handwound Humbuckers - http://bit.ly/bd5OIL - Go on, have a go
New Blog post: Inside the electric guitar pt.1 - http://ping.fm/1PZ7M
Will be running a giveaway in conjunction with Total Guitar Magazine from Thursday - I’ll let you know when its live on their site.
Almost ready with a new set of humbuckers, brighter, slightly lower output. Lots of highs, clean around the mids with a tight bass response.
“I am really pleased that I found your web-site and even more pleased I went for a set of your pickups.” - Ahh shucks ;-)
New Blog Post - Upgrading an Epiphone Les Paul Pt.1 - http://ping.fm/AsqXs
Just sent out a 15% off Hums, P90s & Swing-Os coupon to all those signed up to the site http://tinyurl.com/3xmk3cd Go on, get in & stock up
A great review “The (Jazzmaster) pickups are absolutely superb! - Better than anything I’ve fitted in the past” http://tinyurl.com/37he75k
Just updated the site, you can now order humbuckers with gold or nickel covers again - http://tinyurl.com/29qlosr
Had to remove the option to buy Jazzmaster pickups with black covers (52mm spacing) - Just can’t get hold of them at the moment. Apologies.
Bear with me because I’m new to this but you can find me on AIM/iChat: atthecreamery
Great comment on my new Swing-O pickups, “sounds brilliant, clear as day, lovely & hollow with all the low end I could desire. Very chimey.”