I knew it. Also mine. The actual CuNiFe ones are simply incredible. Lollartrons are probably my No2 pickup. They sound incredible in semi and fully hollow guitars.
it's one of my fav guitars in the collection. Not the most expensive (by far), not the most rare or coveted but there's something about it, with the bigsby and MojoTones - I just love it. They're such fun guitars.
It would be fair to say we have very similar taste in guitars Andrew! I have a 72 Reissue Thin-line Tele with them in. They aren’t cunife equipped but I still love them. I also have one of the Squire Starcasters too. That Squire changed how I play. I never used to use the setting with both pickups until I played that guitar. As you know I have just got the Tonecaster 50 and it’s taking me a while to get used to the TV Jones classics. I think because I am so used to those wide Rangers. Interestingly after saying all of that I love the single coils in my other Tele. Again that setting with both pickups is magic.
Love it! That's a great collection - I for a long time had both Tele Deluxe and Tele Thinline both with a pair of WRHBs and while they're similar they both sing in different ways. The Starcaster is so fun. Quirky and huge and glorious haha
@@AmbientEndeavorsyes it sure is quirky and that’s part of its charm for sure. I also have a MIM ash natural Strat - that has some Radioshop ID63GTs in as the reissue pups where to thin for my liking. And finally a T style made by Eric in Leiden, the Netherlands. He makes a Cortardo range of guitars in his shop ‘Guitars and Beans’. So it’s a coffee shop and guitar store. The T style has some Fender Custom Shop pups that I really like. Again that both pick up position is magic.
I love these pickups. To me, they’re the ultimate post rock pickup. Jeremy from This Will Destroy You plays one of those 2000s 72 deluxes. I think it’s the same one you have but a few years older. Anyway, I’m looking at putting wide range humbuckers in my jazzmaster. Fender makes them in the goofy jazzmaster pickup format.
I remember buying a set of JB and JazzII Duncan pickup for my PRS and was in love with them for like 10 years. Mostly covering stuff like Incubus, 311, Deftones, Tool, A Perfect circle etc... Then I tried a set of Duncan Antiquity humbucker... my mind was blown away! The JB was distorting and overdriving we too fast. The antiquity vintage output was giving me more room between clean and high gain.
Great video! Been playing Tele Deluxes and Starcasters for a few years as well and love the WRHB sound! My current main one is a Road Worn Tele Deluxe. Out of the variety of brands of WRHB you have what’s been your overall favorite?
It's a great question. I truthfully don't find myself chasing down *the best* WRHB at this point; def some I'd like to try (creamery , a proper set of Righteous Sound , etc) but I really think each of these three options just work for the guitars they're in. I probably am most impressed with the CuNiFe all-around though. I do want to try and head to head compare them with a set of Lollar Regals as I've loved those in guitars past too.
Definitely peaked my interest. I liked the Jennings the best. A tele deluxe was my dream for a long time. A Vela semi hollow has been my dream for the last several years
I played a Vela a few months back and was impressed. Those are really cool guitars. If you can swing it, the Jennings are great guitars, comfortable familiar feeling neck, love the body style and airy semi-hollow, and these pickups just *work* for it I think.
Years ago, I threw some Porter Wide Range Humbuckers in a baritone Stratocaster I parted together and it's a wildly clear and big sound for a bari guitar. I don't think I've seen anyone do wide range humbuckers in a baritone model before, but it was some kind of instinct I had and I don't think I'll ever consider changing it. If you're looking for something different in a baritone guitar, I'd recommend it.
great tones. love to see McNelly getting the mention… such great pickups. i had a StaggerSwagger in the neck of a les paul for a bit… kinda gets at the WR thing with a slightly different flavor and approach.
I have one of the Squier starcasters! They are good, I’d swap the wiring harness, that made mine sound a lot better. Obviously putting in real wide range pickups will make it sound good, but the stock wiring isn’t the best.
good call on that. I had one for a minute and agree that the pots and felt a little cheap. For the price though, it's pretty impressive the look and feel of those. Finding a middle ground like the monotones that come in a bit more affordable than some others would make a killer guitar.
My understanding is that the 2000s WRHBs are WR in appearance only- they’re just ordinary ’buckers under the chrome covers. The construction of PAF style humbuckers is markedly different from how WRHBs are built. They had to be or Gibson would have sued Seth Lover. Fender only recently resumed manufacturing true CuNiFe WR pickups.
I have Curtis Novak WRHB in my Deimel and they are huge sounding with lots of clarity. Chimey overtones but an output that would make you wonder if you had active pickups on.
I have an ‘06 deluxe, and I hated the bridge pickup and put a neck pickup in the bridge and 500k pots, and have since loved it. It currently features a kill where the toggle was, a toggle where the 2nd tone knob was, master vol, tone, and reverend’s bass cut
I think the deluxes from that era had regular Humbuckers under WRHB covers so WRHBs kinda got a bad rap for a little while because of them being on the darker / muddier side
Maybe this was mentioned? Many of the newer Fender WRHB's are just inexpensive regular humbuckers in the larger cover, with wax poured around them. IOW, they're nothing like the original WRHB's from 72.
Yeah, I kind of eluded to it, but you’re right - more and more brands are going to “in appearance only” pickup styles but not really staying true to the actual construction or tone. Unfortunate and misleading, but I guess that’s the challenge with a part that only has a handful of looks and hundreds of variants. I see this a lot these days with “gold foils” that are really just mini humbuckers with a foil pickup cover aesthetic. Good point to bring up.
@@AmbientEndeavors I was never real attracted to gold foils. Always pictured them as the cheap pickups on Teisco Del Reys and K-Mart guitars. Have you tried genuine Firebird pickups? The real ones are completely different from Mini-buckers (same size tho). They have an incisive sound somewhat like WRHBs. Two manufacturers that supposedly make them like the originals: Onamac Windery (who is known for high quality at slightly lower prices), and Mr.Fabulous, Fabian D'Urbano in Australia. As far as I know both of them duplicate the under-and-over plates from the originals. I think you'd like them. Stewmac Lutherie Supply also has a kit, if you have any pickup winder friends. Their docs show an exploded view that illustrates the differences from regular buckers.
Every time you play the Jennings it's always one of my favorite tones you create. I'd also love to know how you think these wide ranges compare to the Harmony mini gold foils in the Silhouette. I bought a Silhouette after watching your video on it and it is THE tone I have been chasing. I've tried many boutique pickups and guitars and nothing compares for me....they do eveything you described of the wide ranges...but I've yet to try a good wide range and have always loved every sample I hear. Any thoughts on how they might compare? Too much overlap or unique spaces for each?
I really dig the silhouette and its gold foils, a relatively unique sound and feel. They seem really high fi on a cool way. And kind of bloom in the top end when you dig in. I feel like they are overall brighter, almost if a wrhb had a high pass on it. WRHB have a more full frequency range feel (hence the name) and feel richer/fuller where as those silhouette pickups feel pretty focused to me. Not sooo dissimilar, but different enough. A good set of wide ranges can kind of get creamy tone (for lack of a better descriptor) and I have a hard time getting the gold foils to sound creamy or round.
This definitely hammered home my interest in trying WR hummies. The way you explained their sound is what I’m looking for. Being an exclusively single coil pup player, I’ve always yearned for more body in my tone but didn’t want to lose clarity. My problem is being picky with bodies, weights, scale lengths. I love short scale, lightweight guitars. Which from my research, leaves me with the Fender Mustang pawnshop special as the only one I’ve found so far. Sort of hard to find guitar in colors other than red or blue at the moment lol.
haha yeah it can be tricky as the list of desired specs grows. I haven't tried one of those , but that seems like a cool starting point to check out WRHBs and still get your other preferred specs. I will also slip in P90s as a nice step up from true single coils. A good set will give you a similar focus to single coils, but with more body and fullness, without losing much clarity. Fralin makes a great set , Lollar too , and I'm sure many others.
