Ash at Oil City answers pickup questions:

OilCityPickups

WYNIR0 said:

Any reason why more pickup manufacturers don't make replacements for larger Fender Wide range pickups (other than the obvious smaller market), Second any reason why none of the replacements are affordably priced?

Well firstly Fender themselves make the reissue  for the princely sum of £84 quid each - so I think cheaper than any other maker ... which has the magic Fender stamping on the top ... which of course by law nobody else can add. The Creamery and Mojo pickups in the UK also make them (as do I to special order). As you rightly point out, there is not huge demand, so when you are faced with holding stocks of covers (around £20 each) and baseplates about £12 and specialist threaded magnets that are not used in any other pickups - it becomes uneconomical to make for such a slim margin. Wide Range parts are simply more expensive than other humbuckers parts wise.
 I spent a long time with my Wide Range 'Buccaneers' in my catalogue ... it was four conductor and fully custom to the customer's wishes re output - but I was lucky to sell three or four sets a year. For the same outlay on parts I could make lots of Strat or Tele pickups or even PAF types ... hence it has become a special order item for me.   

Funkfingers

Same-sized replacements for as opposed to historically accurate replicas of, presumably?

jpfamps

OilCityPickups said:

WYNIR0 said:

Any reason why more pickup manufacturers don't make replacements for larger Fender Wide range pickups (other than the obvious smaller market), Second any reason why none of the replacements are affordably priced?

Well firstly Fender themselves make the reissue  for the princely sum of £84 quid each - so I think cheaper than any other maker ... which has the magic Fender stamping on the top ... which of course by law nobody else can add. The Creamery and Mojo pickups in the UK also make them (as do I to special order). As you rightly point out, there is not huge demand, so when you are faced with holding stocks of covers (around £20 each) and baseplates about £12 and specialist threaded magnets that are not used in any other pickups - it becomes uneconomical to make for such a slim margin. Wide Range parts are simply more expensive than other humbuckers parts wise.
 I spent a long time with my Wide Range 'Buccaneers' in my catalogue ... it was four conductor and fully custom to the customer's wishes re output - but I was lucky to sell three or four sets a year. For the same outlay on parts I could make lots of Strat or Tele pickups or even PAF types ... hence it has become a special order item for me.   

Didn't the original wide range humbucker have a type of magnet that is no longer available?

Is this now available?

OilCityPickups

jpfamps said:

OilCityPickups said:

WYNIR0 said:

Any reason why more pickup manufacturers don't make replacements for larger Fender Wide range pickups (other than the obvious smaller market), Second any reason why none of the replacements are affordably priced?

Well firstly Fender themselves make the reissue  for the princely sum of £84 quid each - so I think cheaper than any other maker ... which has the magic Fender stamping on the top ... which of course by law nobody else can add. The Creamery and Mojo pickups in the UK also make them (as do I to special order). As you rightly point out, there is not huge demand, so when you are faced with holding stocks of covers (around £20 each) and baseplates about £12 and specialist threaded magnets that are not used in any other pickups - it becomes uneconomical to make for such a slim margin. Wide Range parts are simply more expensive than other humbuckers parts wise.
 I spent a long time with my Wide Range 'Buccaneers' in my catalogue ... it was four conductor and fully custom to the customer's wishes re output - but I was lucky to sell three or four sets a year. For the same outlay on parts I could make lots of Strat or Tele pickups or even PAF types ... hence it has become a special order item for me.   

Didn't the original wide range humbucker have a type of magnet that is no longer available?

Is this now available?

CuNiFe is being made again ... though there is a much better and more stable alternative FeCrCo that doesn't loose it's magnetic charge as easily fairly widely available. True it isn't CuNiFe but FeCrCo is indistinguishable in a  blindfold test, and is what I use for special order pickups. To be fair I'm really not interested in producing slavish copies old WRs ... none of us small makers can put Fender on the top and that's what folks want, so I'm far more interested in putting other pickup designs in WR shells ... let Fender etc have the 'copy' business :-) 
If you want a modified ''supermassive Firebird' pickup in a WR shell, or split stereo WR, or something exciting ... great. 

WYNIR0

OilCityPickups said:

WYNIR0 said:

Any reason why more pickup manufacturers don't make replacements for larger Fender Wide range pickups (other than the obvious smaller market), Second any reason why none of the replacements are affordably priced?

Well firstly Fender themselves make the reissue  for the princely sum of £84 quid each - so I think cheaper than any other maker ... which has the magic Fender stamping on the top ... which of course by law nobody else can add. The Creamery and Mojo pickups in the UK also make them (as do I to special order). As you rightly point out, there is not huge demand, so when you are faced with holding stocks of covers (around £20 each) and baseplates about £12 and specialist threaded magnets that are not used in any other pickups - it becomes uneconomical to make for such a slim margin. Wide Range parts are simply more expensive than other humbuckers parts wise.
 I spent a long time with my Wide Range 'Buccaneers' in my catalogue ... it was four conductor and fully custom to the customer's wishes re output - but I was lucky to sell three or four sets a year. For the same outlay on parts I could make lots of Strat or Tele pickups or even PAF types ... hence it has become a special order item for me.   

Thank you!, I'd seen the fender version on their own site at £199 a pop.  Really appreciate the insight.

OilCityPickups

WYNIR0 said:

OilCityPickups said:

WYNIR0 said:

Any reason why more pickup manufacturers don't make replacements for larger Fender Wide range pickups (other than the obvious smaller market), Second any reason why none of the replacements are affordably priced?

Well firstly Fender themselves make the reissue  for the princely sum of £84 quid each - so I think cheaper than any other maker ... which has the magic Fender stamping on the top ... which of course by law nobody else can add. The Creamery and Mojo pickups in the UK also make them (as do I to special order). As you rightly point out, there is not huge demand, so when you are faced with holding stocks of covers (around £20 each) and baseplates about £12 and specialist threaded magnets that are not used in any other pickups - it becomes uneconomical to make for such a slim margin. Wide Range parts are simply more expensive than other humbuckers parts wise.
 I spent a long time with my Wide Range 'Buccaneers' in my catalogue ... it was four conductor and fully custom to the customer's wishes re output - but I was lucky to sell three or four sets a year. For the same outlay on parts I could make lots of Strat or Tele pickups or even PAF types ... hence it has become a special order item for me.   

Thank you!, I'd seen the fender version on their own site at £199 a pop.  Really appreciate the insight.

No problem ... no sense in spending more than you have to :-)

Funkfingers

OilCityPickups said:

I'm far more interested in putting other pickup designs in WR shells ... If you want a modified ''supermassive Firebird' pickup in a WR shell, or split stereo WR, or something exciting ... great. 

Firebird guts under a closed WR cover would work wonders on a Vintera '72 Telecaster Custom.

There is another OCP design that would make the same transformation in the bridge position of a Vintera Telecaster Deluxe. (I forget its name. D'oh!)

OilCityPickups

Funkfingers said:

OilCityPickups said:

I'm far more interested in putting other pickup designs in WR shells ... If you want a modified ''supermassive Firebird' pickup in a WR shell, or split stereo WR, or something exciting ... great. 

Firebird guts under a closed WR cover would work wonders on a Vintera '72 Telecaster Custom.

There is another OCP design that would make the same transformation in the bridge position of a Vintera Telecaster Deluxe. (I forget its name. D'oh!)

To be fair there is an almost limitless scope to put custom guts in such a big shell! 

Funkfingers

Enough space for two Firebird pickups? 

longshins

If there was a competition to make three humbucker pickups, one being the brightest, two being the most mid heavy, and the third being the most bassy how would you go about it? You get extra points for them being around the same output.

OilCityPickups

longshins said:

If there was a competition to make three humbucker pickups, one being the brightest, two being the most mid heavy, and the third being the most bassy how would you go about it? You get extra points for them being around the same output.

Making most trebly for a given output lets say same as a PAF - is pretty simple ... firstly you use the most powerful magnet you can probably neodymium  ... that will boost the treble response for a given output. Next ... as you don't specify how close the bobbins can be to each other ... then I narrow the whole pickup to give a narrower coil aperture ... and hence increase the treble. 

The mid and bass thing is a little more tricky ... we need to keep the turn count the same so that the output is identical ... but dropping a wire gauge will increase the mids ... as will swapping to for example alnico 2. 

For most bass heavy ... for the same output I probably wind a stacked humbucker with a ceramic magnet  to probably 16k ... as only one coil adds to the output it will be the same volume as an 8k pickup but WAY more bass happy ... 

Finally for ultimate bass swamp I'd make an sidewinder design ... like the gibson bass 'mudbucker' those things don't know the meaning of treble. 

Grampa

@OilCityPickups ;
Are your hum-cancelling 'triple coil' P90s commercially available, looking for a bridge version? Had a look on the Oil City website but can't find them. Thanks.

OilCityPickups

Grampa said:

@OilCityPickups ;
Are your hum-cancelling 'triple coil' P90s commercially available, looking for a bridge version? Had a look on the Oil City website but can't find them. Thanks.

They are ... but as yet some steel parts are still being hand cut and filed in the vice rather than laser cut - so we are limiting their release till I can get that organised. You can get one ... but it will take three working weeks build time ... PM me :-)

Grampa

OilCityPickups said:

Grampa said:

@OilCityPickups ;
Are your hum-cancelling 'triple coil' P90s commercially available, looking for a bridge version? Had a look on the Oil City website but can't find them. Thanks.

They are ... but as yet some steel parts are still being hand cut and filed in the vice rather than laser cut - so we are limiting their release till I can get that organised. You can get one ... but it will take three working weeks build time ... PM me :-)

PM'd 

Funkfingers

Random/mad idea.

Bare Knuckle Pickups has a Warpig humbucker and a P90/HSP90 near equivalent named the 'Pig 90.

Is it possible to devise a triple coils P90 equivalent of your The Void model? (The idea is for a neck position partner for your Blackbird humbucker.)

OilCityPickups

Funkfingers said:

Random/mad idea.

Bare Knuckle Pickups has a Warpig humbucker and a P90/HSP90 near equivalent named the 'Pig 90.

Is it possible to devise a triple coils P90 equivalent of your The Void model? (The idea is for a neck position partner for your Blackbird humbucker.)

It may be possible ... I'd have to try it :-) 
Not sure there's a market ... but I'll give most things a try once :-)

WBT2079

If someone accidentally left a pickup in its box out on the side (out of direct sunlight)  and the wax has melted out of it, is it still useable or does it need rewaxing?

OilCityPickups

WBT2079 said:

If someone accidentally left a pickup in its box out on the side (out of direct sunlight)  and the wax has melted out of it, is it still useable or does it need rewaxing?

If it's an uncovered pickup I wouldn't worry at all, it will only be excess wax that's melted out. However if the pickup is covered then the important wax layer between the bobbin tops and the cover may have gone or moved elsewhere. This might cause squealing under gain ... but it might not, it depends on how tight the cover was put on in the factory. 

I'd certainly try it, it'll either work fine or you'll get a bit of squeal - if the latter then re  potting is cheap.
Ash 

Funkfingers

TOPIC: Brass versus nickel silver for humbucker covers and baseplates. 

There is plenty of anecdotage about the negative effects of humbucker covers fashioned from brass rather than nickel silver. Is it possible to quantify the volume and tonal losses caused by brass?

In the case of humbucker baseplates, does the material make any significant difference at all? (Case in point, Larry DiMarzio has been cheerfully marketing humbuckers with brass baseplates for half a century.)

How much of the negative reputation of, say, Epiphone waxbuckers is down to their brass covers and how much is the capacitance losses from the shite pots and cabling?

OilCityPickups

Funkfingers said:

TOPIC: Brass versus nickel silver for humbucker covers and baseplates. 

There is plenty of anecdotage about the negative effects of humbucker covers fashioned from brass rather than nickel silver. Is it possible to quantify the volume and tonal losses caused by brass?

In the case of humbucker baseplates, does the material make any significant difference at all? (Case in point, Larry DiMarzio has been cheerfully marketing humbuckers with brass baseplates for half a century.)

How much of the negative reputation of, say, Epiphone waxbuckers is down to their brass covers and how much is the capacitance losses from the shite pots and cabling?

Brass covers really do cause loads of losses ... eddy currents probably being responsible for most of the muffling.  Some folks say brass covers 'mellow out' some harsh humbuckers ... I say get yer ears syringed. 

Epiphone waxbuckers, claggy potting and the wrong wire and magnets ... the least of their worries were the covers! 

And brass compared to nickel-silver baseplates makes absolutely no detectable difference to tone. Pure snobbery as brass 'looks' cheaper. As a maker its actually a little harder to solder than Nickel which is why I'd rather use nickel ... but brass is just as good sound wise.