The Creamery

[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
Polarity: South Up
Coil Wire: 44AWG Plain Enamel
Lead Wire: Vintage Cloth Pushback
Output: 10.4k
Baseplate: Copper Plated Steel

Telecaster Sized P90 Bridge Pickup

A P90 design in a standard Telecaster Bridge size. The Creamery Telecaster sized P90 pickup houses two unpolished custom Alnico 5 magnets, wider steel slug screws and a short, fat 44AWG coil. Huge, fat single-coil tones still with clarity, presence & a defined voice. Get the grit of a P90 in a standard Telecaster Bridge size. Great fat, rounded clean tones - turn up the gain and let the pickup scream.

The geometry of the standard Tele Bridge Pickup size as opposed to a standard P90 means there will always be a slight difference in tone between the two pickups as the coil will be slightly narower - Its for this reason I don’t call it a “true” P90 although I’ve voiced this pickup as a balance between the classic P90 tone with the unique twang of the Telecaster bridge.

A higher output, fat single-coil tone in a standard Tele Bridge sized pickup. The higher output balances with the narrower, lower strength magnets for a much rounder bridge tone.

For more details, you can visit my Creamery Custom Handwound Telecaster Pickups page here

Original Article

What happens when you leave a guitar out over night? Fortunately, In this case nothing. Went out into the garden this morning to see the guitar still resting against the wall. Fearing the worst I picked it up and the slab of wood was still in tune. Grant you, it was a warm dry night but just goes to show - Telecasters, pretty damn solid guitars.

On a side note, still waiting for a few parts which have been delayed due to the flight ban here in the UK. I reckon I’m about 2 weeks away from launching the site now. Had hoped it would be next week but sometimes plans are in the hands of the gods.

Original Article

Pine is such an underrated wood for guitars. Its seen as a poor man’s thing; cheap and without prestige. I like it, and although there are a myriad of types, it can be a great tonewood. There, I’ve said it - and I know there will be guitarists out there whose nostrils flare and eyes bulge at the idea, but I stand by the claim. My one caveat being that it must be bone dry, the kind of mature, dry wood that only time can offer. The pine, in this case Scottish Pine (Redwood) had very little moisture left having dried out for 30yrs. Due to the sheer amount of sap in the wood, its easy to see why it could be unusable as a tonewood but once that sap has gone and the guitar has been strung wired and plugged-in, there’s such a snap and bite to it that you can’t help thinking, “Why aren’t more single coil guitars built this way.”

It can be an ugly, knotty wood and needs a number of pieces to craft a guitar unless you are lucky enough to find a piece large enough, so from an aesthetic point-of-view it is rarely considered. Also, it can require a lot of grain filler if a smooth coloured/lacquered surface is required making it not cost effective for the big companies to produce guitars from.

Pine also takes a while for the sap to crystalise & become stable. That’s why I only use old reclaimed pine. Leo Fender himself used pine for the original Broadcasters & Esquires. Its the mutt of the tonewood world, I just like it, and its unbelievably light if you love throwing yourself around on stage - now that’s a winning reason by itself.

The reason The Accidental Humbucker works well with this wood is down to the low number of winds and offset coils, giving the pickup a spank and clarity that just isn’t usually possible with non-custom humbuckers. The 3-way switching and 2 x Volume, 2 x Tone controls give the guitar a versatility of sounds not often available to the standard Telecaster style guitar.

Handcrafted March 2010.

Technical Specifications:

Model Name: Blackguard Two
Model Number: 006
Built: March 2010
Body: Antique Pine
Neck: Maple
Fingerboard: Maple
No. of Frets: 21
Pickups: Classic Creamery Tele Bridge / Neck - Original Creamery Accidental Humbucker
Magnets: Alnico 5
Controls: 2 x Volume, 2 x Tone
Pickup Switching: 3 way
Position 1: Bridge
Position 2: Bridge & Neck in series
Position 3: Neck
Bridge: Stamped Steel Ashtray / Brass Compensated Saddles
Machine Heads: Fender Grover Style
Hardware: Chrome
Scratchplate: Custom black perspex
Scale Length: 25.5” (648 mm)
Width at Nut: 1.625” (41.3 mm)
Unique Features: Complete one-off, original ‘Accidental’ Humbucker
Strings: Fender Pure Nickel Wound Original 150s
String Gauges: Regular - 10, 13, 17, 26, 36, 46

Original Article

After

Before

The original cream coloured P90 covers are now black and the middle/neck position now wired in series.

Model Name: The Weeper
Model Number: 004
Built: Oct 2009
Body: 1 piece mahogany
Neck: Maple
Fingerboard: Rosewood
No. of Frets: 21
Pickups: Creamery Hot Alnico 5 bridge / Classic P90 Middle / Hot P90 Neck
Magnets: Alnico 5
Controls: Volume, Tone
Pickup Switching: 5 way
Position 1: Bridge Pickup
Position 2: Bridge & Middle in series
Position 3: Middle
Position 4: Middle and Neck
Position 5: Neck
Bridge: Wilkinson steel stamped ashtray. Brass compensated saddles
Machine Heads: Grover Kidney Bean
Hardware: Chrome
Scratchplate: Custom black perspex
Scale Length: 25.5” (648 mm)
Width at Nut: 1.625” (41.3 mm)
Strings: Fender Pure Nickel Wound Original 150s
String Gauges: Medium - 11, 14, 18, 28, 38, 49

Original Article

Taking inspiration from the phrase, “The Telecaster: The Plank That Made Good” please be upstanding for Blackguard No.3 - The dry pine was such good wood, with such great tonal characteristics I couldn’t let any go to waste - hence ‘The Plank’. The obvious choice of guitar to build with these offcuts was a Telecaster style. It just seemed the right thing to do. So here it is in all its ragged glory - Blackguard Three: A telecaster style guitar with handwound pickups and all the bite & twang you’d expect from a single coil tele style guitar.

Handcrafted Fenruary 2010.

Model Name: Blackguard Three
Model Number: 007
Built: Feb 2009
Body: Antique Pine
Neck: Maple
Fingerboard: Maple
No. of Frets: 21
Pickups: Creamery Classic Tele Bridge & Neck Single Coils
Magnets: Alnico 5
Controls: 1x Volume, 1 x Tone
Pickup Switching: 4 way
Position 1: Bridge
Position 2: Bridge & Neck in Parallel
Position 3: Neck
Position 4: Bridge & Neck in Series
Bridge: Wilkinson Stamped Steel
Machine Heads: Original Fender 2 Prong Schaller Style
Hardware: Chrome
Scratchplate: Custom black perspex
Scale Length: 25.5” (648 mm)
Width at Nut: 1.625” (41.3 mm)
Strings: Fender Pure Nickel Wound Original 150s
String Gauges: Regular - 10, 13, 17, 26, 36, 46

Original Article

Named after a comment I overheard whilst climbing off the train at Manchester Piccadilly station, as a group of guys climbed on, eager to get back home south.

A tele take on the Les Paul Junior. Whilst waiting for a batch of parts to arrive so I could wind the single P90 needed, the guitar was wired up with an old Gibson P90 I had lying around. Eager to hear a P90 in the bridge position the old Gibson pickup was only ever meant to be temporary measure, especially as this was a neck pickup, the pole spacing too narrow for the wider telecaster bridge.

So the guitar was strung whilst waiting for the P90 magnets to arrive - plugged in and played. I never got round to replacing the pickup, it just sounded right. The weaker neck pickup really breaks up when pushed. The bite and snarl warmed up through the mahogany wood.

Maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, one-piece mahogany body, custom cut stamped steel telecaster bridge, glove fit P90 rout and custom scratchplate and a single Gibson P90 wired to The Creamery’s own twist on the original Fender electronics with a .0047uf cap where the resistor should sit - this is essentially the same as the ‘Eldred Mod’ giving the out-of-phase or cocked-wah sound in the front position - a guitar to be played loud.

Original Article

Custom made from a butcher’s block

There was just something about it. When tapped it had that ‘ring’, that sound that was far more than the usual dull thud you get with many woods. Maybe its the many blocks of birch laminated together under pressure. Maybe its the 40mm thickness. Maybe, maybe, maybe. One thing’s for sure - it sounds good.

Oiled pine birch, bolt-on maple neck with rosewood fingerboard to temper the bright sound from the birch wood, and a custom white pearl scratchplate, individual saddles on a stamped steel bridge - this guitar has a warm snap and growl when breaking up.

I’ll be recording the soundfiles this week ready for the new site though I just can’t part with this one.

Quick note on the pickups: They were originally GFS pickups but sounded a touch sterile for me so I stripped the wire and scatterwound them to different specs.

A few more pics can be found here.

Original Article

Pics of some of the new guitar pickup range - Humbucker, P90, Tele bridge & neck etc etc http://ping.fm/Rk9xz

There was just something about it. When tapped it had that ‘ring’, that sound that was far more than the usual dull thud you get with many woods. Maybe its the many blocks of birch laminated together under pressure. Maybe its the 40mm thickness. Maybe, maybe, maybe. One thing’s for sure - it sounds good.

Oiled birch, bolt-on maple neck with rosewood fingerboard to temper the bright sound from the birch wood, and a custom white pearl scratchplate, individual saddles on a stamped steel bridge - this guitar has a warm snap and growl when breaking up.

More info & sound files when the site goes live - www.at-the-creamery.co.uk

Original Article

Just a reference note:

1950/60 - AWG 43 PE wire  - 8,000 CCW winds - 7.7k - Alnico 5 - South polarity
1960/70 - AWG 43 PE wire - 7,800 CCW winds - 6.9k - Alnico 5 - South polarity

1953 - South polarity on both pickups RW/RP in late 70’s

Original Article

Just a reference note:

1950-51 - AWG 43 PE wire - 8,000 CCW winds - 8.0k - Alnico 5 - North polarity
1951-64 - AWG 42 PE wire - 9,200 CCW winds - 7.5k -  Alnico 5 - South polarity
1960’s/70’s - AWG 42 PE/Poly wire  - 7,800 CCW winds - 6.4k - Alnico 5 - South polarity

Telecaster bridge pickups had a zinc plated steel baseplate until early 1951 when Fender changed it to copper plated steel (.05” thick)

The baseplate is there to shift the resonances toward the lows, resulting in a fatter, more pleasant tone.

Original Article

Telecasters hum, there are no two ways about it. The nature of a single coil pickup  generates cycle-hum, this is one of the man reasons Seth Lover invented the Humbucker. I was preparing a page on the new Creamery site explaining how to shield the cavities of a tele, and the reasons why but someone got there before me - by quite a long time as well. Here it is, and its invaluable information.

GuitarNuts.com - Shielding a Tele

Original Article

New pic of the pickup range. Humbucker, P90 and Tele bridge & neck all with vintage wires - http://ping.fm/w4t0s

working on a jazzmaster with 2 scatterwound humbuckers and tele deluxe with neck humbucker. All sanded down and oiled ready for wiring