Silly questions Part 1: Wide Range Humbuckers

Grangousier

The first of my potentially silly questions:

I have a tele-shaped Yamaha Pacifica that has had a GK3 hex pickup fitted, that I mostly use with my VG99, and it’s excellent for that, and I enjoy playing it. The person who did the upgrading fitted Seymour Duncan humbuckers (not sure exactly which ones), which are good with gain and distortion, but like a lot of standard humbuckers I’ve encountered they’re not interesting clean, especially the bridge pickup. Most of the guitars I own have humbuckers in, and having had a lot of experience of the different pickup models the VG offers, I’d like to diversify the sorts of sounds the different guitars make. So it struck me that a good place to start might be this guitar, and a good replacement might be PAF-sized Wide Range Humbuckers - specifically, I’ve been looking at The Creamery ones. So my silly questions are:

1. What other pickup makers should I be looking at for WRHBs? I’d prefer to buy British handmade (like The Creamery or Oil City or Alegree, though the latter two don’t seem to do PAF-sized WRHBs as far as I can tell), just because… I respect what they’re up to and it seems like the right thing to do, to be honest, and people speak very highly of their work. If there’s any pressing reason to buy anyone else, that would be good to know, too, though.

2. The Creamery WRHBs are available with four wires, which would allow for coil-splitting and other shenanigans, something I’d not automatically associated with WRHBs. Now, obviously I’d go for as many switches as possible, because currently I’m in fantasy-land about it, but realistically how much of an advantage would that be? Also, the guitar currently has a five-way selector switch installed (it’s not altogether clear what combinations are being selected, though) - what would be the best 5-way switch configuration for this kind of pickup? Also, the amount of difference it would make compared to the time/hassle/cost of getting the wiring done. An actual Tele would just have a three-way switch (wouldn't it?), but since the variations are available, I might like to go for it. On the other hand, if I’m putting £30 on the bill for a toggle switch that gives a slightly tinnier jangle, it might not be cost-effective. And given that the cavity already has the GK3 electronics stuffed into it, there might not be enough space for anything too fancy, anyway. 

3. And while I’m in the business of asking for the moon on a stick, would anyone have a ballpark figure (as rough as you like, as I realise it’s a how-long-is-a-piece-of-string type question) for how much it would cost to get, for example, a certain highly-regarded Croydon-based repair shop to fit the pickups (before I do the obvious thing and just ask them)? 

ESBlonde

I seem to recall ash at Oil city was knowledgable on WR Humbuckers and might have made some to order in the past.

NelsonP

Ibanez have some handy guides on how they handle 5 way switching with 2 humbuckers on their website
http://www.ibanez.com/products/eg_detail17.php?year=2017&area_id=3&cat_id=1&series_id=1&data_id=430&color=CL01

Or you could go for:
1: Bridge humbucker
2: Bridge humbucker with neck singlecoil
3: Bridge and neck humbuckers
4: Neck singlecoil with bridge singlecoil
5: Neck humbucker

Or this
https://www.seymourduncan.com/blog/the-tone-garage/do-it-all-2-humbuckers-and-a-5-way-switch

Phil_aka_Pip

Grangousier said:

Seymour Duncan humbuckers (not sure exactly which ones), which are good with gain and distortion, but like a lot of standard humbuckers I’ve encountered they’re not interesting clean, especially the bridge pickup.

That's odd. My SG wears SD JB & 59 humbuckers and I like it as much clean as I do cranked.

Funkfingers

The Duncan pickups on the Pacifica will either be suspended through the pickguard or mounted via a plastic surround. In either case, it will be a simple matter of up-ending the humbuckers to read the model ID stickers on their respective baseplates.

When you know which pickups you currently have, it should be easy to comprehend why they are proving unsatisfactory and, hence, which replacement models might correct any shortcomings.

I have the Pacifica 311H. Reading that the posher 611 comes with a Duncan Custom 5 Trembucker, I had every confidence that same pickup would work well in my guitar. Upgrading to American pots was a no brainer.

Grangousier

Ah, sorry! In all that typing, I should have explained better - I'm sure there's nothing wrong with them, it's just I have humbuckers like this on a number of guitars (including a similar set of SDs on a Godin), and I want to have more of a range of sounds available. As I mainly have this one as a VG99-driver it's not really being used as a normal guitar. At some point I want to get Filtertron-or-similar for a different guitar that needs doing up, and P90s for another, and others I want to upgrade to better quality PAFs, etc, but for this one I thought I'd go with the WRHBs, based on what I've heard and read about them, and I thought it might be fun to play them. 

If I had any sense, obviously, I'd buy another guitar which already had them installed, but we've reached capacity in the living space and I'm not really allowed to do that. At some point enough offloading will happen to allow it, but that point is not yet. 

Ignore my slandering of humbuckers in general - I know what I mean, but can't really explain very well. 

FX_Munkee

Mojo do some rather good WRHB, not sure if he does them in humbucker size though.

ArchtopDave

The first thing to say is that most of the WRHB's offered today are not replicas of the original ones in that they do not use CuNiFe magnets, but they do attempt to get near the sound to a varying extent. As far as I know, there is only one person on the planet making them with CuNiFe, and you need a couple of spare kidneys to pay for them.

Regarding choices for wiring up a 5 way switch, have a look at the Youtube videos of the Suhr Alt Pro. I think the sounds from different pickup combinations sound attractive. I'm going to find out for myself fairly soon, as I'm having a customised Thinline Tele style guitar made for me with WRHB's plus a 5 way Super Switch using the switching choices that are on the Alt Pro.

TheBigDipper

I've got a pair of WRHB pickups from The Creamery installed in my 2015 MIM Tele Deluxe FSR, plus I changed the wiring loom for a Mojotone one. Not CuNiFe magnets but I've played a few genuine 1970s Deluxes and these sound just as good, but possibly slightly hotter, as the magnets aren't 45 years old. 

I didn't take the 4 wire versions as I was looking to replicate the ‘70s guitar sound. 

Really happy with the result. 

Whitecat

ArchtopDave said:

The first thing to say is that most of the WRHB's offered today are not replicas of the original ones in that they do not use CuNiFe magnets, but they do attempt to get near the sound to a varying extent. As far as I know, there is only one person on the planet making them with CuNiFe, and you need a couple of spare kidneys to pay for them.

Put the ice in the bathtub, they are currently available... they come and go in pure CuNiFe form as it's hard to get in workable form, apparently.

https://www.telenator.com/product/limited-edition-cunife/

Philly_Q

Whitecat said:

ArchtopDave said:

The first thing to say is that most of the WRHB's offered today are not replicas of the original ones in that they do not use CuNiFe magnets, but they do attempt to get near the sound to a varying extent. As far as I know, there is only one person on the planet making them with CuNiFe, and you need a couple of spare kidneys to pay for them.

Put the ice in the bathtub, they are currently available... they come and go in pure CuNiFe form as it's hard to get in workable form, apparently.

https://www.telenator.com/product/limited-edition-cunife/

I have to say... I look at those and wish they had a Fender logo instead of Telenator.

Whitecat

Philly_Q said:

Whitecat said:

ArchtopDave said:

The first thing to say is that most of the WRHB's offered today are not replicas of the original ones in that they do not use CuNiFe magnets, but they do attempt to get near the sound to a varying extent. As far as I know, there is only one person on the planet making them with CuNiFe, and you need a couple of spare kidneys to pay for them.

Put the ice in the bathtub, they are currently available... they come and go in pure CuNiFe form as it's hard to get in workable form, apparently.

https://www.telenator.com/product/limited-edition-cunife/

I have to say... I look at those and wish they had a Fender logo instead of Telenator.

You can order them without the Telenator logo - I presume they cannot etch the Fender logo due to copyright issues, but I'm sure a third-party could do it for you.

ArchtopDave

Whitecat said:

Philly_Q said:

Whitecat said:

ArchtopDave said:

The first thing to say is that most of the WRHB's offered today are not replicas of the original ones in that they do not use CuNiFe magnets, but they do attempt to get near the sound to a varying extent. As far as I know, there is only one person on the planet making them with CuNiFe, and you need a couple of spare kidneys to pay for them.

Put the ice in the bathtub, they are currently available... they come and go in pure CuNiFe form as it's hard to get in workable form, apparently.

https://www.telenator.com/product/limited-edition-cunife/

I have to say... I look at those and wish they had a Fender logo instead of Telenator.

You can order them without the Telenator logo - I presume they cannot etch the Fender logo due to copyright issues, but I'm sure a third-party could do it for you.

I know they are available. Mr.Telenator isn't great at communication, but I have a pair of the Limited Edition ones waiting to go into a custom build. The only way to get Fender logos on the Pickups is to send him some original Fender ones for rewind, but, as above, you and I can have them with plain covers and no logo.

Johnnyseven

I have a Mojo hb sized WRHB in the neck of my tele which sounds fantastic. You won't be disapointed if you buy from them.

ewal

FX_Munkee said:

Mojo do some rather good WRHB, not sure if he does them in humbucker size though.

I don't think Marc does a standard humbucker sized WRHB. Although always worth asking him.

Edited to add: I asked Marc recently and he said he was no longer making them.

dchwhite

Whitecat said:

ArchtopDave said:

The first thing to say is that most of the WRHB's offered today are not replicas of the original ones in that they do not use CuNiFe magnets, but they do attempt to get near the sound to a varying extent. As far as I know, there is only one person on the planet making them with CuNiFe, and you need a couple of spare kidneys to pay for them.

Put the ice in the bathtub, they are currently available... they come and go in pure CuNiFe form as it's hard to get in workable form, apparently.

https://www.telenator.com/product/limited-edition-cunife/

Only until the end of the year, I believe - I think Telenator is closing:

http://www.tdpri.com/threads/telenator-is-closing-december-31-2017.762807/

GavRichList

I have a mojo WRHB in my tele custom and it sounds great. Did a fair bit of demo listening / watching before buying - got to say, I thought the Lollar Regal sounded best, I just couldn’t bring myself to spend £200 on one pickup, and I trust Marc implicitly following the two sets of Jazzmaster Pickups I’ve had from him. 

The lollar in this vid absolutely destroys the Creamery for me though. 

https://youtu.be/jFkmCzlOkCY