[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 pole spacing for bridge & neck.

[caption id=”attachment_938” align=”aligncenter” width=”600” caption=”Creamery Classic ‘71 Wide Range Tele/Thinline Humbucker”][/caption]

Finally, after working on these for well over 18mths they’re finally ready - my true spec take on the original Seth Lover designed Wide Range Humbuckers.

Magnets: Threaded Pole or Optional Alnico 2
Coil Wire: 42AWG
Lead Wire: Vintage Braided
Bridge Output: 10.7k
Neck Output: 9.8k

The vintage Wide Range Humbucker sound

A true replacement for the modern Wide Range Tele / Thinline Humbucker reissue pickups. Classic fat “Doubled Up” single coil tones - Great clarity and string definition with a bright warmth. Individual threaded pole magnets charged to around 2/3rds capacity allow you to dial in each string. A warmer mid-range than standard single coils and with a higher output, they’re great for breaking up an amp. With a great fat bridge tone sounding akin to a “doubled-up” Tele and a neck with a warm, sweet brightness. Vintage nickel-silver baseplate, ferrous internal reflector plate, full-size custom bobbins with medium scatterwound coils - The Creamery Wide Range Tele / Thinline Humbucker, a direct replacement for those modern reissues.

Pole spacing for Bridge & Neck position

Unlike the originals & reissues, I’ve made the Classic ‘71 Wide Range Humbuckers with 53mm Bridge pole spacing & 50mm pole spacing for better string definition in the neck position.

Calibrated Outputs

I’ve also lowered the neck output a little to give much better volume balance between bridge & neck pickup.

Vintage style threaded magnets

My vintage take on the original pickups have either 12 threaded magnets or a combination of 6 threaded magnets and 6 x hidden Alnico 2 rod magnets. With the threaded & Alnico 2 rod magnets together the tone is ever so rounder, warmer with a few less highs - Great if you want to take a little ‘spank’ out of the bridge position.

Covers

I’ve had custom covers manufactured especially for these pickups. VIntage nickel/silver material, plated in nickel fitted to vintage nickel/silver baseplates.

PLEASE NOTE: These pickups are a direct drop-in replacement to fit the modern Fender® reissue Wide Range Humbuckers.

You can find more details & order a set of my Classic ‘71 Wide Range Humbuckers here.

[caption id=”attachment_936” align=”aligncenter” width=”600” caption=”Creamery Wide Range Humbucker - Standard Humbucker Size”][/caption]

Standard Humbucker Version

Recently reviewed in Total Guitar magazine where they received a “5 Star/Best-Buy award”, you can now get my standard humbucker versions in new custom nickel covers. More rounded than a standard humbucker cover, they’ve a great retro look.

More details of my Wide Range Humbucker - standard humbucker sized versions can be found here.

Original Article

[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 4way

Bridge Output: Low, Mid or High

Neck Output: Low, Mid or High

Here it is, the totally custom blade humbucker from The Creamery. You chose the magnets & the output for a pickup or set unique for your sound. Blade pickups are great for string bending as, unlike polepiece pickups, there’s no audio drop off when pushing/pulling the string. They also have a slightlier smoother, rounder tone as the string is always over the magnetised rail, great for clarity & definition.

Choose from my:

• Hollow-Body Humbucker output: 7.3k Bridge, 6.4k Neck
• ‘57 Humbucker output: 7.8k Bridge, 7.0k Neck
• ‘59 Humbucker outout: 8.3k Bridge, 7.3k Neck
• Dirty Shirt Humbucker output: 13.6k Bridge, 9.7k Neck
• Double Six Humbucker output: 14.5k Bridge, 11.7k Neck
• or your own choice of output: x.xk Bridge, x.xk Neck

Also, with a complete choice of magnets ranging from Alnico 2, through Alnico 3, 4, 5 up to Alnico 8 you can truly have a custom blade humbucker pickup. There’s also an option to have a trio of Alnico 5 & Alnico 8 magnets for a truly powerful, attacking pickup especially designed for high gain playing.

Available naked or with chrome or gold H-Covers & closed covers for a classic look, the Creamery Double Track Humbucker gives you the opportunity to have a truly customised hand-wound pickup or set for your guitar. Have a read through the reviews to see what people are saying about my work.

You can buy a single pickup or set of Creamery Custom ‘Double-Track’ Humbucker Pickups here

Or you can view my Handwound Humbucker Pickup range here

Original Article

[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 Range Humbucker pickups will be available on the site start of December.

A Direct Replacement for Fender® reissue pickups

The prototype above is made from brass but the final commercial covers will be nickel with nickel plating. Baseplates are nickel as well.

Still working out pricing but here are some specs:

Magnets: Threaded Pole or Optional Alnico 2
Coil Wire: 42AWG Plain Enamel
Lead Wire: Vintage Braided or 4-way
Bridge Output: 10.7k
Neck Output: 9.8k

The vintage Wide-Range Humbucker tone

A true replacement for the Fender® Wide Range / Thinline Humbucker reissue pickups. Classic fat single coil tones - Great clarity and string definition with a bright warmth. Individual threaded pole magnets charged to around 2/3rds or full capacity allow you to dial in each string. A warmer mid-range than standard single coils and with a higher output, they’re great for breaking up an amp. With a great fat bridge tone sounding akin to a “doubled-up” Tele and a neck with a warm, sweet brightness.

Custom nickel baseplate & ferrous internal reflector plate, full-size bobbins with handwound coils - The Creamery Wide Range / Thinline Humbucker, a direct vintage spec replacement for those modern reissues.

My vintage take on the original pickups have either 12 threaded magnets or a combination of 6 threaded magnets and 6 Alnico 2 rod magnets. With the threaded & Alnico 2 rod magnets the tone is ever so rounder, warmer with a few less highs - Great if you want to take a little ‘spank’ out of the bridge.

Available in both standard humbucker and true spec Wide Range Humbucker sizes with pole spacing unique to bridge & neck for better strings definition.

Only available in Nickel covers (Nickel plated, Nickel Silver material).

You can read more about my Vintage, Modern & Wide Range Humbucker Upgrades here

Original Article

[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 after a higher output? Maybe you want a brighter tone? A fatter tone? More of a humbucker sound? Maybe you just want something different all together, something unique?

[caption id=”attachment_861” align=”aligncenter” width=”600” caption=”Creamery Handwound Classic ‘53 P90 Pickup with Chrome Cover”][/caption]

Often I’m contacted by guitarists who do want something more form a P90 but just love the vintage look & shape of the Soapbar or Dog-ear P90 pickup. Its with this in mind that I’ve designed a number of custom pickups to fit the standard P90 size that require no modifications to your guitar at all. Sometimes, the new pickup can look pretty much like a P90 though underneath, its a whole different pickup. Have a look.

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 Plain Enamel
Lead Wire: Vintage Cloth Pushback or Braided
P90 sized Humbucker Bridge: 9.4k
P90 sized Humbucker Neck: 8.5k

A 12-pole humbucker pickup inside a P90 that requires no modifications to your guitar at all. My P90 sized Humbuckers even look like a P90 - Once installed, no-one will spot the difference until you plug in and play.

Great string definition & clarity due to the 12 pole magnets. More of a crunchy tone than the fat single coil voice of my classic P90, these new P90 sized Humbuckers give a rich, biting attack.

Available in both Soapbar or Dog-ear P90 size

[caption id=”attachment_864” align=”aligncenter” width=”600” caption=”Creamery Custom P90 Dogear Sized Humbucker Pickup”][/caption]

All the depth of a humbucker with the sparkle and bloom of a doubled-up single coil. The two, thin 43awg coils help to keep the clarity at higher output while the tone has a sweetness by design of the pickup.

For more details on the new P90 sized Humbuckers - Head to the main site here

The Handwound Sonic-Six P90 Pickup

[caption id=”attachment_869” align=”aligncenter” width=”600” caption=”Creamery Custom Handwound Sonic-Six P90 Pickup”][/caption]

Magnets: Alnico 5
Poles: Individual Threaded Magnets
Coil Wire: 42AWG / 43AWG Plain Enamel
Lead Wire: Vintage Braided
Output: Bridge 7.5k, 8.4k or 12.0k
Output: Neck 7.1k, 7.5k, 9.2k

Available in both Dog-ear or Soapbar

The Sonic-Six P90 Pickup - More clarity, brighter tone

Available in three outputs, a brighter, low-output version of 7.5k Bridge & 7.1k Neck, a mid-output set of 8.4k Bridge & 7.5k Neck and a fatter, hotter 12.0k Bridge & 9.2k Neck. Similar in appearance and the exact same size as a standard P90, the Sonic-Six P90 pickup has individual threaded magnets to keep more tonal clarity & string definition. The lower & medium output version use specific 42AWG coil wire to give a fatter single coil but with more brightness and less warmth than a standard P90. The higher output version uses specific 43AWG coil wire to balance output whist still keeping clarity & that fat brightness and attacking single-coil tone.

I’ve spent a lot on these, changing the size of the Alnico 5 threaded magnets and bobbin size a number of times to get these right. If you’re after that bright, fat twang tone from a standard P90 size pickup then the Creamery Sonic-Six pickups may be the ones for you.

Available as a Soapbar style in Aged White (cream), black or chrome-plated covers or as a Dogear style in Aged White (Cream) or Black covers. Vintage braided wire.

You can find more details on my Handwound Sonic-Six P90 Pickups here on the main site

P90 Sized Wide Range Humbucker Pickups

[caption id=”attachment_872” align=”aligncenter” width=”600” caption=”The Creamery Mastersound Pickup to Wide Range Humbucker Upgrade”][/caption]

I’m currently working on a version of the classic Fender® Wide Range Humbucker design to fit a standard P90 Soapbar & Dog Ear pickup. At the request of the guitarist, I recently converted his old Maton Mastersound Pickups to Wide Range Humbucker Spec.

They’re very similar in size to a standard P90 and I managed to make a custom set of pickups for him that he loved. Here’s the blog entry on this Maton Mastersound conversion

With a little imagination, there’s much that can be done with the old classic P90 pickup if you are so inclined - alternatively, the P90 is a true design classic. With this in mind, have a look at my Classic ‘53 & Classic ‘57 P90 Pickups if its the more vintage tone you’re after - and try them without the baseplates, the tone is a little more open.

The Creamery - Custom Guitars, Handwound Pickups - Made in Manchester

Original Article

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 Reissues are simply standard Humbucker sized coils encased in wax to fit the larger Wide Range Cover. As with standard Humbuckers they feature a bar magnet underneath, the difference being the use of threaded slugs to mimic the threaded magnets of the original late ’60s-70s pickups. Having a bar magnet underneath the slugs means these pickups will have a different voice to the clarity, definition and fat brighter tone associated with the original, vintage versions.

[caption id=”attachment_732” align=”aligncenter” width=”600” caption=”Original Fender® reissue Wide Range Humbucker - Inside”][/caption]

Removing the cover

Using a sharp blade I carefully slice through the old solder. Rather than desoldering, I cut through so later I can simply let the solder flow when reattaching the cover once the upgrade has been completed.

[caption id=”attachment_735” align=”aligncenter” width=”600” caption=”Original Fender® reissue Wide Range Humbucker - Inside”][/caption]

Inside its clear that the pickup is simply the standard humbucker design, and this accounts for the much darker tone. To achieve the output of the original Seth Lover ’70s pickups, Fender® overwind the coils on these modern Wide Range Humbuckers. The nature of overwinding pickups tend to create a darker pickup which when coupled with the bar magnet underneath can make these modern reissues difficult to brighten up and can often appear muddy in the neck position. A change of pots & caps can help but the tone would still be unlike the original.

The original design had 6 individual threaded pole magnets and a ferrous reflector plate (similar to the baseplate found on the underside of a Telecaster bridge pickup). This original design allowed a much higher output pickup that kept the clarity, string definition and higher frequencies.

As you can see from the picture above, this particular reissue had 2 magnet pieces waxed together underneath the coils.

Threaded Pole Magnet vs Standard Humbucker Bar Magnet

[caption id=”attachment_740” align=”aligncenter” width=”600” caption=”Creamery Wide Range Thinline Tele Humbucker Upgrade - Custom Threaded Magnets”][/caption]

Like the original, my Wide Range Humbucker upgrades use threaded adjustable magnets. CuNiFe is prohibitively expensive now so I use FeCrCo which is very similar to Alnico but with more stable magnetic properties, threaded to enable adjustment of the poles. The individual magnets and custom scatterwound coils help give great clarity and string definition, with a ‘fat’ brightness unique to this design of pickup. The adjustable pole magnets allow you to emphasise certain strings and follow the radius of your guitar neck.

As the FeCrCo threaded magnets could be more aligned with Alnico 5 in terms of ‘colouring the sound’ I offer two options with these upgrades. One version with 12 threaded poles which keeps the brighter attack and another version with six adjustable threaded poles and six corresponding Alnico 2 rod magnets to give a slightly warmer tone.

[caption id=”attachment_741” align=”aligncenter” width=”600” caption=”Creamery Wide Range Thinline Tele Humbucker Upgrade Custom Fullsize Bobbins”][/caption]

The reissues generally have standard humbucker sized bobbins which means the coils are shorter & narrower whereas both the original ’70s design and my new upgrades have full size bobbins that fill the length of the pickup. I custom make mine to be the same dimensions as the originals.

Upgrading the Pickup

[caption id=”attachment_744” align=”aligncenter” width=”600” caption=”Creamery Wide Range Thinline Tele Humbucker Upgrade”][/caption]

The new full size coils are fixed to the baseplate on top of the new custom made ferrous reflector plate. This plate helps to increase the inductance of the coil (like increasing the number of turns of wire) giving a higher perceived output. The steel plate also offers Electrodynamic functions (eddy current interference). Eddy currents shift the resonances toward the lows, resulting in a fatter, more pleasant tone.This coupled with the individual threaded pole magnets offer a clarity, string definition & that “doubled up” tele-like tone unique to this design of pickup.

The coils and reflector plate are screwed down tight before the lead wires are connected. Another great thing about the design of the original Wide Range Humbucker that with 4-way wiring, the pickup can be split into a true single coil.

[caption id=”attachment_747” align=”aligncenter” width=”600” caption=”Left: Creamery Reissue Upgrade - Right: Original Fender® Reissue”][/caption]

As you can see, the pickup looks pretty much exactly as it did before, the difference being that inside, its completely different - and now true to the original design. Listen to a video demo of the neck pickup upgrade for yourself:

Creamery Wide Range Humbucker (Neck) Upgrade Video Demo

[iframe_loader src=”http://player.vimeo.com/video/24919259” width=”398” height=”224” click_words=”View the Wide Range Humbucker video on Vimeo” click_url=”http://vimeo.com/24919259” ]

Thanks to Sami Saarinen for playing on & recording this video.

[caption id=”attachment_770” align=”aligncenter” width=”600” caption=”Creamery Wide Range Thinline Tele Humbucker Upgraded Reissues”][/caption]

As you can see from the picture above, the upgrades look just like the originals. So if you’re after that vintage Wide Range Humbucker tone and want to keep your Fender® covers, then my Creamery upgrades could well be for you. Available in three options, you can find details of them here.

Reviews of my Custom Wide Range / Thinline Humbucker Replacements / Upgrades

“Had my first gig with it last night - it sounded awesome! HUGE improvement in tone and clarity etc and was noticed by everyone. Really happy with the product and service Jaime!”

Dave Dixon

“Wow, what a great pickup! It’s just what I was looking for. A marvellous sounding pickup. Well done. Now my ‘72 Custom’s neck pickup sounds clear and twangy, with tight bottom. I believe that you got the original’s sound excactly right :-)”

Sami Saarinen

The Creamery Wide Range Humbucking Pick-ups are really amazing. I’ve played for a long time, have owned a vast number of guitars with single coils and humbuckers, but these are something special, indeed. They’re very dynamic, you can make them go from a whisper to a roar just by the touch of your fingers. The sound is clear and bright, but with a solid bottom, never thin or spiky. I’ve put them in my Japanese thinline copy and they do make the instrument come alive in a very special way. Very good if you don’t want to have to chose between mellowness and twang - here you have them both!

Tomas Blom

“What to say… I am really impressed by the sound definition of these PUs. The other Wide Range that I tested before (re-issue ones) were muddy, no precise string definition and the twang of my tele was gone. This is one is trully amazing, clean, soft and subtile. Your telecatser is suddenly beathing ! About the bridge PU, with clean sound it’s litterally smashing your face away ! Sounds powerfull and so precise, ready to roar ! Never heard such PUs combination before and really happy to play them today. Thanks so much Jaime for your beautiful work and patience. “

Fabz, from the band Lazarre

“It really is exactly what I was lookong for. All the twang and single note clarity my telecaster is supposed to have, but so much tighter when overdriven, like a humbucker is meant to be but with the added detail I would get from from my single coil. Thanks!”

Kyle Jernigan

“There is a real difference between these and the reissues - these are brighter/sharper and more tele like. The others were quite dark in comparison. I played it next to my single coil tele and it is now much more useable - it used to be like playing a cheap les paul at times!. Having scrutinised it all I am delighted with the sound”

Greg Dopson

“I’ve received the PUs yesterday and put them back in the guitar. I’m very very happy! With the CTS pots and PIO caps, the sound is great! The guitar now has that nice vintage, warm tone, no comparison with the original (crappy) reissue PUs. Thank you for your good job.”

Judicaël Guesné

“They sound really good; open, punchy and very dynamic - I have to get used to all those nuances! It’s like going from automatic gear to stick shift … Played the first concert with them this saturday. It was an outdoor gig with no soundcheck, so I didn’t get a chance to change the gain structure in my setup. It sounded great, and I guess it’ll be even better when I some time to dial everything in.”

Asger J. Steenholdt

Original Article

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 being stronger due to their 1/4” height, the magnet boosts the output of the lower windings on each coil to give great volume & brightness. A real spank & twang to these Humbucker sized Filtertrons. The H-gate chrome covers give that ‘retro’ look.

Give a listen to the quick audio files:

Humbucker sized Filtertrons - Bridge

Creamery “Swing-O” Humbucker sized Filtertrons - Bridge v1
Creamery “Swing-O” Humbucker sized Filtertrons - Bridge v2

Humbucker sized Filtertrons - Middle

Creamery “Swing-O” Humbucker sized Filtertronss - Bridge / Neck v1
Creamery “Swing-O” Humbucker sized Filtertrons - Bridge / Neck v2

Humbucker sized Filtertrons - Neck

Creamery “Swing-O” Humbucker sized Filtertrons - Neck v1
Creamery “Swing-O” Humbucker sized Filtertrons - Neck v2

Prices are £65 for a single Humbucker sized Filtertron Bridge or Neck pickup and £120 for the set - details here

Original Article

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 Plain Enamel
Lead Wire: Vintage Cloth Pushback or Braided
P90 sized Humbucker Bridge: 9.4k
P90 sized Humbucker Neck: 8.5k

A 12-pole humbucker pickup inside a P90 that requires no modifications to your guitar at all. My P90 sized Humbuckers even look like a P90 - Once installed, no-one will spot the difference until you plug in and play.

Great string definition & clarity due to the 12 pole magnets. More of a crunchy tone than the fat single coil voice of my classic P90, these new P90 sized Humbuckers give a rich, biting attack.

All the depth of a humbucker with the sparkle and bloom of a doubled-up single coil. The two, thin 43awg coils help to keep the clarity at higher output while the tone has a sweetness by design of the pickup.

For more details on the new P90 sized Humbuckers - Head to the main site here

Original Article

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 P90 tone in a Humbucker Size with my new Humbucker sized P90s - No modifications needed

A P90 pickup in a standard Humbucker size. The Creamery Humbucker sized P90 pickup houses two unpolished Alnico 2, 4 or 5 magnets and a fat coil wound around a standard P90 bobbin, hand shaped to fit a standard Humbucker cover & mounting ring. Huge, fat single-coil tones still with clarity, presence & a defined voice. Get the grit of a P90 in a standard humbucker size. Great fat, rounded clean tones - turn up the gain and let the pickup scream.

The geometry of the standard Humbucker size as opposed to a standard P90 means there will always be a slight difference in tone between the two pickups though I’ve voiced this pickup to sound very close indeed. A real higher output, fat single-coil tone.

[caption id=”attachment_674” align=”aligncenter” width=”600” caption=”Creamery Humbucker Sized P90 Pickups - Covers”][/caption]

Humbucker Sized P90 Pickups - Audio Demos

Played on an Epiphone Les Paul Custom fitted with 500k Pots and 0.022 Caps - The tone will be slightly warmer with 0.033 or 0.07 Capacitors.

• Humbucker-sized-P90-Bridge-1.mp3
• Humbucker-sized-P90-Bridge-2.mp3
• Humbucker-sized-P90-Bridge-3.mp3
• Humbucker-sized-P90-Bridge-4.mp3
• Humbucker-sized-P90-Middle-1.mp3
• Humbucker-sized-P90-Middle-2.mp3
• Humbucker-sized-P90-Middle-3.mp3
• Humbucker-sized-P90-Middle-4.mp3
• Humbucker-sized-P90-Neck-1.mp3
• Humbucker-sized-P90-Neck-2.mp3
• Humbucker-sized-P90-Neck-3.mp3
• Humbucker-sized-P90-Neck-4.mp3

Vintage Braided wire - Available in Chrome, White or Black covers - You can buy Creamery Humbucker sized P90 Pickups here or as a discounted set here

Original Article

[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 CuNiFe magnets, the modern reissues are merely a standard humbucker with bar magnet and pole screws. With the right capacitors & potentiometers, they’re not a bad pickup at all - they just don’t have the dynamics of the original Wide Range/Thinline Humbucker.

My new versions will be true to the original with threaded, adjustable magnets and I’m creating two versions - a full sized version intended to be a direct drop-in replacement for the current Wide Range/Thinline Humbucker reissues. I’m looking to launch these in the next few weeks. The second option is scaled down version to fit standard humbucker size which will be launched in February.

[caption id=”attachment_654” align=”aligncenter” width=”600” caption=”Creamery Wide Range / Thinline Humbucker Replacement Pickups - Comparison”][/caption]

So if you’ve a modern day Telecaster Thinline, Custom or Deluxe then in a few weeks you’ll be able to purchase a direct Wide Range/Thinline Humbucker replacement with dynamics true to the original pickup.

If you’d simply like a true Wide Range/Thinline Humbucker style pickup for your guitar to replace a standard humbucker, then now you can.

[caption id=”attachment_601” align=”aligncenter” width=”600” caption=”Creamery Wide Range/Thinline Humbucker Pickup replacement with threaded magnets”][/caption]

As you can see from the final prototype picture above the new pickup has threaded magnets just like the original. CuNiFe is prohibitively expensive now so these new Wide Range/Thinline humbucker pickups use a form of Alnico, threaded to enable adjustment of the poles. The individual magnets and custom scatterwound coils give great clarity and string definition, with a ‘fat’ brightness unique to this design of pickup. The adjustable pole magnets allow you to emphasise certain strings.

[caption id=”attachment_607” align=”aligncenter” width=”600” caption=”Creamery Wide Range/Thinline Humbucker Replacement with threaded magnets”][/caption]

Whereas the original Seth Lover designed Wide Range/Thinline Humbuckers had roughly the same output in both bridge & neck, I’ve voiced these new designs with differing outputs for better calibration, volume and tone. The bridge has an output of around 10.6k with the neck slightly lower at around 9.7k. Of course, if you’d like to keep output to the original specs, I can happily custom wind a set for you.

Both versions will be available in singles or sets. With the full-sized version, you’ll have the option to keep your original Fender embossed cover which I will fit to the new pickups for you. Your original pickup will be returned in full working condition, minus the cover of course ;-)

For the standard humbucker sized version I modify my classic humbucker bobbins & baseplate to create the pickup whilst crafting the reflector plate by hand. With the full-sized Wide Range/Thinline Humbucker replacements the full-size bobbins, reflector plate and baseplate are all made by hand here in my workshop.

I’m also looking into the idea of offering a modification service whereby I either remove the poles and bar magnet from your modern-day Fender reissue pickups and replace them with threaded magnets. Another idea is to offer a reduced price full-sized pickup by taking your reissue Wide-Range/Thinline humbucker and using the existing baseplate & cover to with the new wound coils & threaded magnets.

I’ll be updating this blog with audio & video demos, offering a direct comparison between the modern reissues and my new replacement versions - just wanted to let you know that they’re on their way.

If you’ve any questions, or just want to know more - just get in touch.

Thanks for reading.

Jaime
The Creamery - Custom Guitars & Handwound Pickups

UPDATE

The new standard Humbucker sized Wide Range / Thinline Humbucker styled pickups are now available.

[caption id=”attachment_649” align=”aligncenter” width=”600” caption=”Comparison - Creamery Wide Range / Thinline Humbucker Replacements”][/caption]

Here’s a quick comparison between a couple of versions.

1. Fender® Modern MIM Full Size Wide Range / Thinline Humbucker Reissues

2. GFS Vintage Fender® Style Split Humbucker “faithful recreations”

3. Creamery Wide Range / Thinline Humbucker Replacements - Standard Humbucker Sized Version

[caption id=”attachment_650” align=”aligncenter” width=”600” caption=”Comparison - Creamery Wide Range / Thinline Humbucker Replacements”][/caption]

The modern Fender® pickups (1) are simply a standard humbucker with single bar magnet and ferrous pole pieces/screws, encased in a large volume of wax to fill out the cover. The GFS version (2) is again a standard humbucker design with underlying bar magnet but in their case, three of the poles on each coil are simply filled with wax rather than have a ferrous slug or screw. (3) is my standard humbucker sized version with threaded magnets and ferrous reflector plate as seen on the original Seth Lover design but not in the modern Fender® reissues.

As the originals were one of my favourite pickups I always had the intention to try and recreate them, and if not totally correct (as CuNiFe is now prohibitively expensive and pretty damn hard to get hole of) I’ve tried to stay true to the original design. The impetus to try and recreate them was down to the initial conversation that led to my “Wide-O” range of pickups - I just ran with it.

The Humbucker sized Wide Range / Thinline Humbucker styled pickups - Standard Humbucker Size are available from my main site now. Just follow the link.

The Full size direct drop-in replacements are coming in February 2011.

I’m also working on a slightly different design using threaded poles with small neodymium magnets under each pole for more perceived output whilst keeping the brightness & bloom. More details soon.

Thanks for reading.

Jaime
The Creamery - Custom Guitars & Handwound Pickups

Original Article

[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 combination of beeswax and paraffin (though you can order them unpotted). The potting procedure vacuum seals the coils to avoid microphonic feedback at high gain. The Paraffin / beeswax custom ratio is created to seal the coils whilst making the wax flexible. The beeswax also adds a subtle sweetness to the tone.

At The Creamery I wind all humbuckers with a small coil offset of a few hundred turns just to open up more frequencies. A humbucker by nature cancels some of the buzz you get with 60 cycle hum but in doing so a whole lot of other frequencies are shut out too which can lead to a somewhat sterile sound. We try to claw some of these frequencies back by stepping the coils a little.

[caption id=”attachment_561” align=”aligncenter” width=”600” caption=”Custom zebra bobbin Alnico 5 Humbucker, scatterwound by The Creamery”][/caption]

The Creamery Classic Alnico 5 Humbucker has balanced mids, snappy lows and a top-end with room to breath. The Alnico 5 magnet is brighter sounding than the Alnico 3 or 4, giving this humbucker pickup more of a snappier tone with more bite when the gain is dialled in.

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Specs

Magnet: Alnico 5

Coil Wire: 42AWG Plain Enamel or Vintage Formvar

Lead Wire: Vintage Braided Pushback or 4way

Approx. Winds: Bridge - Pole 4900 / Screw 5300 - Neck - Pole 4250 / Screw 4650

Bridge Humbucker Output: 8.2k

Neck Humbucker Output: 7.3k

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Quick Sound Files

Humbucker Pickups - Bridge Creamery Handwound Alnico 5 Humbucker Pickups - Bridge Clean 1

Creamery Handwound Alnico 5 Humbucker Pickups - Bridge Clean 2

Humbucker Pickups - Middle (Bridge & Neck)

Creamery Handwound Alnico 5 Humbucker Pickups – Middle Clean 1

Creamery Handwound Alnico 5 Humbucker Pickups – Middle Clean 2

Creamery Handwound Alnico 5 Humbucker Pickups – Middle OUT OF PHASE

Humbucker Pickups - Neck

Creamery Handwound Alnico 5 Humbucker Pickups – Neck Clean 1

Creamery Handwound Alnico 5 Humbucker Pickups – Neck Clean 2

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Single Handwound Creamery Alnico 5 Humbucker pickups are £65 each with a set of Bridge & Neck Humbuckers at £120

Original Article

[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, chipped or simply worn down. In the worst case scenario the guitar may need a new fret job but fortunately in the case of the Epiphone Les Paul above, the frets aren’t in too bad a shape. A quick check with the fret level tool shows that some are higher than others so the whole set of medium sized frets will need to be levelled followed by crowning, finishing and polishing to make them as good as new.

[caption id=”attachment_492” align=”aligncenter” width=”600” caption=”Upgrading an Epiphone Les Paul - New Pickups”][/caption]

The stock Epiphone pickups aren’t bad, a touch sterile sounding due to their tightly machine wound coils but perfectly useable. They do get a touch muddy so a new set of Creamery Alnico 5 Humbuckers are in order. These will give the guitar a looser tone with balanced mids, snappy lows and a top-end with room to breath.

Note also the clean cavity routs the humbuckers sit in. This is a well made instrument with careful consideration as to how the wiring loom sits inside the guitar.

[caption id=”attachment_498” align=”aligncenter” width=”600” caption=”Upgrading an Epiphone Les Paul - Cracked Pickup Surround”][/caption]

As mentioned in pt.1, the pickup surround is cracked and will need replacing. The question that this raises regards the parts, should the guitar be treated to a whole new set of gold hardware to restore it to the original Epiphone Les Paul Custom look, or should it keep its relic’d vibe?

[caption id=”attachment_499” align=”aligncenter” width=”600” caption=”Upgrading an Epiphone Les Paul - Cracked Controls”][/caption]

With this in mind a decision needs to be made about the kind of controls the guitar has. As you can see, one of the current knobs is cracked internally and has come loose but should the guitar keep its speed knobs or have a more vintage Gibson styled bell knob?

Next up is to replace the pickups and electronics. I’m planning a couple of push/pull pots to enable coil splitting. Stay tuned.

You can read the first part - Upgrading an Epiphone Les Paul – Pt.1 here.

Original Article

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 saddles
5. Handwound Creamery Hot Alnico 5 Tele Bridge Pickup
6. 12 pole Creamery Coil Split Humbucker
7. Steel neck plate with guard and screws
8. Machine heads/Tuners
9. Potentiometers (Pots) 2x250k / 2x500k
10. Switchcraft 3 way toggle switch
11. Capacitors (Caps)
12. Knobs
13. Switchcraft jack socket
14. Electro socket jack cup
15. Vintage cloth covered wire
16. Heavy duty strap pins & felts
17. String ferrules
18. Roller string tree
19. Surgical tubing for pickup adjustment
20. Strings

In part 2 I’ll explain the role each part plays.

Original Article

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 guitars what the boy racer is to a ‘hot hatch’, modifying an Epiphone or other second tier brand can be a great & rewarding project.

Whilst staying over at a friend’s house I came across this sorry looking Epiphone Les Paul lent up in the corner by a stash of Metallica cassettes and books about Management Consultancy – and if melancholy were a guitar, this would be the one. Tarnished, scratched, dusty, unplayed and with the same strings rusting over the bridge for 20yrs, it either needed to be put out to pasture like a lame old horse or given a new lease of life with a fix, a clean, an upgrade and new parts.
Being an ex-vegetarian and sentimental old fool, I chose the latter.

The Gotoh bridge & stop-tail are good quality hardware; mid-range but there’s nothing wrong with them for a working guitar. Slightly tarnished they may be but a spot of polish & buffing will bring out the gold shine. Personally, the only time I’ve thought gold hardware works is on the Gretsch White Falcon but if people all had the same tastes we wouldn’t have moved on from wearing tunics & playing the Lute – And I don’t look good in a cape.

The bridge pickup ring surround is cracking so will need replacing, especially as the holding screws have had their threads mashed from amateur hour with the screwdriver. It does look as though whoever worked on this last had a toolbox full of cutlery.

As with the bridge, some of the surround screws are shot and will need replacing. The actual pickup cover has tarnished to such a point its hard to tell it was once golden and there’s a lot of dust on here, I even found a web!

Clearly unhappy with the concept of Up & Down, the toggle switch has been twisted to horizontal. The connection crackles like the electrics in my old student house (it burned down) and the binding has yellowed like the beat spot on an old smoker’s beard. The cheaper Epiphone switches can sometimes cause noise but for around £5 you can get a quality Switchcraft toggle that will be sturdy, silent & reliable.

The neck on this is great. It has a really thin profile, glued in & bound but the frets do need levelling, re-crowning and a good polish. The fretboard needs the layer of grime removed but its a great piece of rosewood. The binding is well crafted but some of the fret ends do need finishing to take off some of those burrs.

The Gotoh Tuners are great, tight, sturdy & reliable and the serial number denotes the guitar was built in Korea, 1989. A couple of them are out of line but I’ll take them apart, clean them up and re-install them correctly. There’s no need to replace them, though I may replace the nut with a synthetic bone. The action on it is a touch high and as the current nut could do with some slot filing, a replacement seems the obvious thing to do.

As with many Epiphone’s, the neck is two piece (could even be a three piece) – The joint I can see is very clean, stable and so doesn’t concern me. I know there will be many who believe this will affect tone, there will also be many who believe the opposite. If the guitar is well crafted with quality parts, set-up, intonated – it should be great to play. I might murder a tune on it but that’s not the guitar’s fault.

The finish has been sanded away on the back of the neck to make it easier to play. In all honesty, I would’ve done the same. Personally, I prefer a simple oiled and finely sanded finish to the back of the neck and a common theme with many of the mid-to-lower-end guitars is the sheer thickness of coating applied. The major downside of this is that under the heat of the lights onstage, the back of the neck can get sticky in a player’s hands. Often a manufacturer will slap on the paint and finish like pantomime make-up in order to hide a multitude of sins, in this case the perception of a multi-piece neck.

The coating on the body is the same. Probably built from three or more pieces, the sheer thickness of the finish makes it impossible to see any joins or wood grain. Its mahogany, that’s all I know. Its also quite a heavy guitar.

I’ll be documenting the upgrade in the next couple of weeks (as I work on other guitars & pickups etc) and will give you before & after audio demos. All in all, its actually a good guitar to hold. The weight gives it body and with some care, attention & quality parts & pickups it could be a really good guitar. I’m actually thinking of keeping it – if not it will up on ebay.

If you have the time and inclination, upgrading a cheaper guitar can be a rewarding experience. Ultimately you’ll have a more personal instrument, you’ll learn a great deal and it could lead to bigger and better things. After all, it is how I started.

Sign up for the site and read how the upgrade is coming along.

You can read the second part - Upgrading an Epiphone Les Paul – Pt.2 here.

Original Article

After an email chat about Wide Range Humbuckers I came up with these.

Essentially a single coil but with more presence and fatter tone. Like the standard single coil, each string has its own magnet. The difference with these is that the slug that sits opposite widens the area of string magnetised, creating a beefier tone but unlike the humbucker where the bar magnet lies underneath both the slugs & screws giving an even spread of magnetised string, these new pickups have a pole magnet and a slug. By design the slug is still magnetised but nowhere near as strong as the polepiece. Whereas the humbucker gives the tone of the full length of magnetised string between the slug & screw, these merely give the tone of the point of magnetisation over the pole with a kind of residual tone of the string above the slightly magnetised slug. This in effect is similar to the sound fading from magnet to slug which is somewhat fatter than a single coil but not as beefed up as a humbucker. Essentially a single coil with more presence. They’re overwound with thinner wire to a specific number of turns to really break up an amp and I use Alnico 2 magnets to give more warmth. The use of thinner wire helps to keep the high frequencies in a narrower coil. I’ve just recorded some audio files which I need to master for the site.

I’m also working on a 12 pole version to give an even richer tone - still playing around with the windings though.

Original Article

The Alleyway
008
May 2010
Mahogany
Maple
Maple
21
Creamery Classic Alnico 2 Humbuckers
Alnico 2
1x Volume, 1 x Tone
3 way
Bridge
Bridge & Neck in Parallel
Neck
Roller Nashville Tune-o-matic
Kluson Single Hole Post
Chrome
White Pearloid 3ply
25.5” (648 mm)
1.625” (41.3 mm)
Complete one-off
Fender Pure Nickel Wound Original 150s
Medium - 11, 14, 18, 28, 38, 49

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Original Article