Fender Wide Range

[ramonet]

Has anybody tried the new Fender Wide Range pickups (specially for the neck position)? Opinions?. I'm thinking to use one on a T model I'm building, with set neck and Gibson scale length (24 3/4).
Also I'm interested in your opinions about the new Jazzmaster pickups for another Project. I've seen that Lollar also makes both models, but they are really expensive...

 

[mayfly]

IMHO Lollar is worth the money.  The pickups always sound great.  In comparison I have not been that impressed with other boutique brands like Bill Laurence and Kent Armstrong.

These albums were recorded entirely with Lollar equipped guitars:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/cornflower-blue/id386612125

Having said all that, I hear Roadhouse makes a fine pickup 

 

[bagman67]

What  you should keep in mind about the new Fender wide-range HB's is that they are not replicas of the originals.  The new ones do not use the same  materials, nor are they wound to the same spec.  They serve the same cosmetic purpose as the originals, but provide a different sonic experience.  If it's a sonic experience you  like, that's fine, but it should not be expected to perfectly replicate the sound of the old parts.


See also:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fender_Wide_Range

 

[mayfly]

Oh yea - I forgot about Telenator.  His version is highly regarded, and he's on the board. 

May I suggest that you drop him a line?

 

[bagman67]

Furthermore - The Creamery does a vintage-correct repro, with the CuFeNi magnets and whatnot.

 

[Patrick from Davis]

Curtis Novak also makes a nice version of this pickup.  The Fender ones are kind of strange, the "frame" is a strip of wax holding the coils in place.  Novak and Telenator both have frames that were made around the design of the originals.  There are various magnetic materials used in the pickup, and they all impart a bit of color.  On regular humbuckers, there is a bar magnet across the bottom, on the wide range pickups the pole pieces are the magnets (like fender single coils)  It does make them quite a bit more chime-y.  I got a set of the Telenator AlNiCo pole piece ones for a build.  They are very nice, but really expensive.  I want to try out the Lollar, and the Novak pickups as well, but again they are expensive (not as pricey as Telenator)  Here is a picture of the Fender guts

And you might be able to see the frames of a real one elsewhere.  Bottom line, they are odd pickups that are not the highest sellers.  So they tend to be pricey.  But they do have a lot of chime and cut, so they work well for clean stuff and cutting through fuzz tones.  They will rock out just fine, but they won't really be the best suited for modern rock (Mesa Recto sounds) or Metal.
Patrick