Fender Wide Range buckers

[Zhangliqun]

I'm about 90% sure it's an A5, just going by the ol' pull test (place it on metal object, see how hard it is to pull off). It was also 2-1/4" rather than 2-1/2" FWIW.

I replaced it with an A3 to thin it out a little more and wound it to about 7.1k and the customer is happy.

Also, this one was from and for an MIJ Tele.

[Mark Hammer]

I used to have one of those Fenders on a guitar I built around 1972 or so. Not my favourite pickup ever, but not a bad pickup.

Not sure if it has been mentioned already or not, but one of the "tricks" of the fender buckers was that you could completely remove three polepieces from each coil bobbin and have something that came close to a hum-rejecting guitar pickup, not unlike the Precision Bass pickup. The coil obviously would extend out across all 6 strings, but with polepieces removed, one coil would only sense strings 1-3, and the other would sense strings 4-6. By being offset, the result would function sort of like an angled single-coil brige pickup. My guess is that this trick was used only with bridge pickups and not with the neck pickup. You could mimic it somewhat by simply adjusting the polepiece height without removing the polepieces outright (which is why the cover had a 3+3 hole arrangement) but complete removal purportedly was the ideal.

FWIW, I'm poised to wind myself an experimental pickup on a PAF-style base, using Gibson bobbins, but with Allen screws as the polepieces. The screws will protrude through holes in the base, and teeny neodymium magnets will be affixed to the bottom of the screws. I'm figuring to wind it with some cute green-coated #43 I picked up from a Scandinavian manufacturer. Electro-something. Could be interesting. Not aiming for anything in particular. Just curious to hear how it turns out. With the polepieces removable (actually, all I have to do is omit the mags on the bottom), I can do the same trick as the old Fenders.

[Satamax]

You mean electro sola?

[Mark Hammer]

Yep. That's the one.

[Spence]

I failed to mention that the originals for my guitar are made in mexico. These are a little different than the made in japan pickups, as I have aquired what I believe to be one of these as well.
I've attached some photos of the made in Mexico bobbins. These are different than the other mystery pickup (i believe it to be a MIJ reissue) bobbins.
The gross looking stuff is felt soaked in the wax they pot the pickups with. This seems to take up most of the extra space inside and greatly reduces microphonics. It's also ugly and not part of the original design.

Those pickups are closer to the Gibson humbucker than anything Fender. They will never sound like the Fender originals whatever you do to them.

[Tele-Bob]

Not to resurrect an old thread or anything but, I have a little project I'm working on here.







This is a MIM Re-issue pickup that I have retro-fitted with my own bobbins and have been wound by a pro.

The magnets are alnico v that I ground round and then slotted to look like screw heads. They do not turn!

We're nearing the final version of this pickup and while it does not sound identical to the vintage original, it flat out smokes the MIM Re-issue!

It has a nice, tight low end and sweet, cutting highs. Never harsh.

It uses the MIM bracket and cover only. All the other MIM parts are removed.

This started as a simple project I was doing for one of my guitars but has since gotten a lot of attention. I might be selling these soon to people who want to convert they're MIM spec pickups to something that looks exactly correct and sounds so much better than what they have.

These are completely hand made, and hand machined so they're very expensive. I am not in the pickup business so, I doubt I'll ever tool up to make these in a cost effective manner. It's just not what I do.

If anyone is interested in making a project guitar or upgrading their MIM re-issues, this pickup is a viable alternative. It looks right and sounds even better!

There are long threads going on TDPRI and the "offset guitars" forum on these pickups.

If nothing else, it's a cool project.

[angelodp]

WR HB's

I have a 74 custom Tele ( keith richards style ). Great info here. Whats up though with this pickup?? It is a bit noisey like a single coil. There is that hum you traditionally get with strat pickups. Is that normal. When i go to the split pickup position its nice and quiet. So this WR is not really a HB??

ange

[Tele-Bob]

The pickup should not be noisey at all. It is a humbucker. I'd wager a guess that if you have the split coil option, then you have a modern, 4 conductor pickup, not an original that has just 2 conductors. If it's making noise, there is a problem in your wiring.

[angelodp]

noise

I am pretty sure that the pickup is original. I will have to get inside and see what's what. I did have it serviced some years ago and perhaps the tech did something off to the pup. I will report back.

[David Schwab]

When i go to the split pickup position its nice and quiet. So this WR is not really a HB??

If it's quiet on the split position, then that's not the split, that's the humbucker.

Apparently you had the pickup rewired to be able to split, so either the coils are wired up the wrong way, or something else is miswired.

Also check incase a ground from the pickup is wired up as hot.

It could be all kinds of things... coils wired in phase, bad ground on the pickup, etc.

You need to check the work you had done on the pickup to see if it was done correctly.

[angelodp]

look see

David, if i post a graphic of the guitar and a gut shot could you possibly advise on how to proceed. I am pretty sure you are correct in you evaluation. I just am not to sure how to fix it.

ange

[angelodp]

here is what i have

Ok well here is what the wiring looks like- graphically. Seems odd.... and note the weird wire on the wiper of the upper left pot that extends into the body of the pot?? My HB has a shielded wire ( braided ) with one other inner wire not two as indicated in the fender layout ??

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

[David Schwab]

Everything looks normal. You said when you go to the "split pickup position its nice and quiet". What do you mean by that?

Do you must mean when you switch pickups? So then either the humbucker is quiet, and the single coil is noisy, which is correct, or the humbucker and single coil hum, except when they are both on, which sounds like a bad coil, or a short in the humbucker.

So first you have to make yourself more clear so we can help.

When i go to the split pickup position its nice and quiet.

What is "split pickup position"?

Do you mean the Wide Range when you say "split pickup"? Yes, that would be quiet. It's a humbucker. The bridge pickup will be noisier, as would both pickup on.

That's normal.

[Possum]

...

If you can get accurate DC resistance readings out the jack, measure full then measure split. If split measures about double full, then you've got it backwards in what you think you are hearing..

[David Schwab]

If you can get accurate DC resistance readings out the jack, measure full then measure split. If split measures about double full, then you've got it backwards in what you think you are hearing..

He has no split switch in that guitar. He sent me photos of the wiring. Just the pickups right to the switch and pots.

I think he means split pickup, as in the WR, which looks like a split pickup.