The Creamery

[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_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

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

[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