[caption id="attachment_945" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Creamery Custom Handwound Tele-90 Pickup - A P90 design in a Tele Bridge"][/caption]

A P90 design to fit a Tele Bridge Pickup

Fat, grittier tones from your Tele Bridge position whilst still keeping some of that classic Tele twang

Magnet: Custom Alnico 5
Poles: Steel Slug Screws
Polarity: South Up
Coil Wire: 44AWG Plain Enamel
Lead Wire: Vintage Cloth Pushback
Output: 10.4k
Baseplate: Copper Plated Steel

Telecaster Sized P90 Bridge Pickup

A P90 design in a standard Telecaster Bridge size. The Creamery Telecaster sized P90 pickup houses two unpolished custom Alnico 5 magnets, wider steel slug screws and a short, fat 44AWG coil. Huge, fat single-coil tones still with clarity, presence & a defined voice. Get the grit of a P90 in a standard Telecaster Bridge size. Great fat, rounded clean tones - turn up the gain and let the pickup scream.

The geometry of the standard Tele Bridge Pickup size as opposed to a standard P90 means there will always be a slight difference in tone between the two pickups as the coil will be slightly narower - Its for this reason I don't call it a "true" P90 although I've voiced this pickup as a balance between the classic P90 tone with the unique twang of the Telecaster bridge.

A higher output, fat single-coil tone in a standard Tele Bridge sized pickup. The higher output balances with the narrower, lower strength magnets for a much rounder bridge tone.

For more details, you can visit my Creamery Custom Handwound Telecaster Pickups page here

Original Article

[caption id="attachment_945" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Creamery Custom Handwound Tele-90 Pickup - A P90 design in a Tele Bridge"][/caption]

A P90 design to fit a Tele Bridge Pickup

Fat, grittier tones from your Tele Bridge position whilst still keeping some of that classic Tele twang

Magnet: Custom Alnico 5
Poles: Steel Slug Screws
Polarity: South Up
Coil Wire: 44AWG Plain Enamel
Lead Wire: Vintage Cloth Pushback
Output: 10.4k
Baseplate: Copper Plated Steel

Telecaster Sized P90 Bridge Pickup

A P90 design in a standard Telecaster Bridge size. The Creamery Telecaster sized P90 pickup houses two unpolished custom Alnico 5 magnets, wider steel slug screws and a short, fat 44AWG coil. Huge, fat single-coil tones still with clarity, presence & a defined voice. Get the grit of a P90 in a standard Telecaster Bridge size. Great fat, rounded clean tones - turn up the gain and let the pickup scream.

The geometry of the standard Tele Bridge Pickup size as opposed to a standard P90 means there will always be a slight difference in tone between the two pickups as the coil will be slightly narower - Its for this reason I don't call it a "true" P90 although I've voiced this pickup as a balance between the classic P90 tone with the unique twang of the Telecaster bridge.

A higher output, fat single-coil tone in a standard Tele Bridge sized pickup. The higher output balances with the narrower, lower strength magnets for a much rounder bridge tone.

For more details, you can visit my Creamery Custom Handwound Telecaster Pickups page here

Original Article

[caption id="attachment_940" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Creamery Custom Classic '71 Wide Range Humbucker Reproduction Pickups"][/caption]

New Repro Wide Range Tele / Thinline Humbuckers

With true individual threaded pole magnets and internal reflector plate. Custom nickel silver / nickel plated covers and available in separate pole spacing for bridge & neck.

[caption id="attachment_938" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Creamery Classic '71 Wide Range Tele/Thinline Humbucker"][/caption]

Finally, after working on these for well over 18mths they're finally ready - my true spec take on the original Seth Lover designed Wide Range Humbuckers.

Magnets: Threaded Pole or Optional Alnico 2
Coil Wire: 42AWG
Lead Wire: Vintage Braided
Bridge Output: 10.7k
Neck Output: 9.8k

The vintage Wide Range Humbucker sound

A true replacement for the modern Wide Range Tele / Thinline Humbucker reissue pickups. Classic fat "Doubled Up" single coil tones - Great clarity and string definition with a bright warmth. Individual threaded pole magnets charged to around 2/3rds capacity allow you to dial in each string. A warmer mid-range than standard single coils and with a higher output, they're great for breaking up an amp. With a great fat bridge tone sounding akin to a "doubled-up" Tele and a neck with a warm, sweet brightness. Vintage nickel-silver baseplate, ferrous internal reflector plate, full-size custom bobbins with medium scatterwound coils - The Creamery Wide Range Tele / Thinline Humbucker, a direct replacement for those modern reissues.

Pole spacing for Bridge & Neck position

Unlike the originals & reissues, I've made the Classic '71 Wide Range Humbuckers with 53mm Bridge pole spacing & 50mm pole spacing for better string definition in the neck position.

Calibrated Outputs

I've also lowered the neck output a little to give much better volume balance between bridge & neck pickup.

Vintage style threaded magnets

My vintage take on the original pickups have either 12 threaded magnets or a combination of 6 threaded magnets and 6 x hidden Alnico 2 rod magnets. With the threaded & Alnico 2 rod magnets together the tone is ever so rounder, warmer with a few less highs - Great if you want to take a little 'spank' out of the bridge position.

Covers

I've had custom covers manufactured especially for these pickups. VIntage nickel/silver material, plated in nickel fitted to vintage nickel/silver baseplates.

PLEASE NOTE: These pickups are a direct drop-in replacement to fit the modern Fender® reissue Wide Range Humbuckers.

You can find more details & order a set of my Classic '71 Wide Range Humbuckers here.

[caption id="attachment_936" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Creamery Wide Range Humbucker - Standard Humbucker Size"][/caption]

Standard Humbucker Version

Recently reviewed in Total Guitar magazine where they received a "5 Star/Best-Buy award", you can now get my standard humbucker versions in new custom nickel covers. More rounded than a standard humbucker cover, they've a great retro look.

More details of my Wide Range Humbucker - standard humbucker sized versions can be found here.

Original Article

[caption id="attachment_938" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Creamery Classic '71 Wide Range Tele/Thinline Humbucker"][/caption]

Finally, after working on these for well over 18mths they're finally ready - my true spec take on the original Seth Lover designed Wide Range Humbuckers.

Magnets: Threaded Pole or Optional Alnico 2
Coil Wire: 42AWG
Lead Wire: Vintage Braided
Bridge Output: 10.7k
Neck Output: 9.8k

The vintage Wide Range Humbucker sound

A true replacement for the modern Wide Range Tele / Thinline Humbucker reissue pickups. Classic fat "Doubled Up" single coil tones - Great clarity and string definition with a bright warmth. Individual threaded pole magnets charged to around 2/3rds capacity allow you to dial in each string. A warmer mid-range than standard single coils and with a higher output, they're great for breaking up an amp. With a great fat bridge tone sounding akin to a "doubled-up" Tele and a neck with a warm, sweet brightness. Vintage nickel-silver baseplate, ferrous internal reflector plate, full-size custom bobbins with medium scatterwound coils - The Creamery Wide Range Tele / Thinline Humbucker, a direct replacement for those modern reissues.

Pole spacing for Bridge & Neck position

Unlike the originals & reissues, I've made the Classic '71 Wide Range Humbuckers with 53mm Bridge pole spacing & 50mm pole spacing for better string definition in the neck position.

Calibrated Outputs

I've also lowered the neck output a little to give much better volume balance between bridge & neck pickup.

Vintage style threaded magnets

My vintage take on the original pickups have either 12 threaded magnets or a combination of 6 threaded magnets and 6 x hidden Alnico 2 rod magnets. With the threaded & Alnico 2 rod magnets together the tone is ever so rounder, warmer with a few less highs - Great if you want to take a little 'spank' out of the bridge position.

Covers

I've had custom covers manufactured especially for these pickups. VIntage nickel/silver material, plated in nickel fitted to vintage nickel/silver baseplates.

PLEASE NOTE: These pickups are a direct drop-in replacement to fit the modern Fender® reissue Wide Range Humbuckers.

You can find more details & order a set of my Classic '71 Wide Range Humbuckers here.

[caption id="attachment_936" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Creamery Wide Range Humbucker - Standard Humbucker Size"][/caption]

Standard Humbucker Version

Recently reviewed in Total Guitar magazine where they received a "5 Star/Best-Buy award", you can now get my standard humbucker versions in new custom nickel covers. More rounded than a standard humbucker cover, they've a great retro look.

More details of my Wide Range Humbucker - standard humbucker sized versions can be found here.

Original Article

[caption id="attachment_935" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Creamery Classic '71 Wide Range Tele / Thinline Humbucker Pickups"][/caption]

Finally, after working on these for well over 18mths they're finally ready - my true spec take on the original Seth Lover designed Wide Range Humbuckers.

Magnets: Threaded Pole or Optional Alnico 2
Coil Wire: 42AWG
Lead Wire: Vintage Braided
Bridge Output: 10.7k
Neck Output: 9.8k

The vintage Wide Range Humbucker sound

A true replacement for the modern Wide Range Tele / Thinline Humbucker reissue pickups. Classic fat "Doubled Up" single coil tones - Great clarity and string definition with a bright warmth. Individual threaded pole magnets charged to around 2/3rds capacity allow you to dial in each string. A warmer mid-range than standard single coils and with a higher output, they're great for breaking up an amp. With a great fat bridge tone sounding akin to a "doubled-up" Tele and a neck with a warm, sweet brightness. Vintage nickel-silver baseplate, ferrous internal reflector plate, full-size custom bobbins with medium scatterwound coils - The Creamery Wide Range Tele / Thinline Humbucker, a direct replacement for those modern reissues.

Pole spacing for Bridge & Neck position

Unlike the originals & reissues, I've made the Classic '71 Wide Range Humbuckers with 53mm Bridge pole spacing & 50mm pole spacing for better string definition in the neck position.

Calibrated Outputs

I've also lowered the neck output a little to give much better volume balance between bridge & neck pickup.

Vintage style threaded magnets

My vintage take on the original pickups have either 12 threaded magnets or a combination of 6 threaded magnets and 6 x hidden Alnico 2 rod magnets. With the threaded & Alnico 2 rod magnets together the tone is ever so rounder, warmer with a few less highs - Great if you want to take a little 'spank' out of the bridge position.

Covers

I've had custom covers manufactured especially for these pickups. VIntage nickel/silver material, plated in nickel fitted to vintage nickel/silver baseplates.

PLEASE NOTE: These pickups are a direct drop-in replacement to fit the modern Fender® reissue Wide Range Humbuckers.

You can find more details & order a set of my Classic '71 Wide Range Humbuckers here.

[caption id="attachment_936" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Creamery Wide Range Humbucker - Standard Humbucker Size"][/caption]

Standard Humbucker Version

Recently reviewed in Total Guitar magazine where they received a "5 Star/Best-Buy award", you can now get my standard humbucker versions in new custom nickel covers. More rounded than a standard humbucker cover, they've a great retro look.

More details of my Wide Range Humbucker - standard humbucker sized versions can be found here.

Original Article

[caption id="attachment_927" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Creamery Classic '71 Wide Range Tele Thinline Humbucker - nickel cover"][/caption]

Just got conformation that the nickel covers have been plated and checked and are on their way, so I'm preparing the site to launch the new "Classic '71 Wide Range Humbuckers". They've been a long time coming and I've had a few hiccups manufacturing the covers but they're finally ready.

Advanced Orders

A number of people have been in touch already and asked to make advanced orders and I'm happy to let you know that you can indeed order them now. Just email me and I'll let you know how.

Wide Range Humbucker reissue Upgrades

My Classic '71 pickups are the same spec as the Fender® reissue upgrades I've been offering - which have had great reviews. I'll still offer the upgrades as many people want to keep their Fender® covers.

Custom Pole Spacing for Bridge & Neck

One thing I've done differently is design the pickups with 53mm pole spacing on the bridge & 50mm pole spacing on the neck so unlike the originals, the threaded magnets sit directly underneath the strings on the neck.

[caption id="attachment_928" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Creamery Classic '71 Wide Range Tele Thinline Humbucker - nickel cover size comparison"][/caption]

Direct Drop-In Replacement

My Classic '71 Wide Range Humbuckers are a direct drop-in replacement for the modern Fender® reissues. They are the same oversized pickup that will fit your scratchplate without any modifications whatsoever. They simply drop in.

In the picture above you can see the size comparison between my standard humbucker sized pickups (in this case my Hum sized P90). The Classic '71 pickup, like the original Wide Range Humbucker, is larger.

If you'd like to pre-order a set just get in touch here

Original Article

[caption id="attachment_918" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="The Creamery - New Gift Vouchers"][/caption]

Just a quick note to let you know the gift vouchers are back up online. Available in values from £10 all the way up to £100. You can just order them through the site and I'll email you back the unique voucher code to use against any of the pickup sets.

You can find them here

Original Article

[caption id="attachment_907" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Creamery Custom Radius Stratocaster (Strat) Pickups"][/caption]

Pickups to Match the radius of your neck/fingerboard

I'm often asked to make a custom set of Strat pickups with the old vintage stagger, by that I mean, the pole magnets follow the stagger pattern of the old, early Fender® pickups. This vintage stagger usually poses no problems with tighter radius necks (7.25", 9.5") but does create issues with the more modern radius necks.

[caption id="attachment_908" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Creamery Stratocaster (Strat) Vintage Neck Radius & Pole Height"][/caption]

Why do some Stratocaster guitar pickups have staggered polepieces?

Simply put, staggered polepiece magnets help to balance the output/volume of each string. If you have a flat pole set of pickups with a 7.25" radius neck then you'd get more perceived volume from the high & low 'E' strings as they would be closer to the magnets whereas with a vintage stagger, the poles follow the radius of the neck to give good volume balance. Conversely, a vintage staggered set on a modern 10" or 12" neck will over emphasise the middle 'D' & 'G' strings as they will be closer to the strings.

Pickups staggered to suit your neck radius

I often chat with customers about the radius of their guitar neck when I wind them a set of Strat pickups. The pic at the top of this blog article shows a custom 10" staggered set of my Sweet '74 Stratocaster Pickups. The customer wanted a good, rounded tone with balanced output across the strings.

Coming Soon - The "Sonic-Six" adjustable pole Strat pickup

[caption id="attachment_912" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Creamery "Sonic-Six" Custom Adjustable Pole Strat Pickup"][/caption]

Its with this in mind I've designed the new Sonic-Six, adjustable pole Strat pickup. The individual threaded magnets allow you to find the right balance for each string. They'll be launched in early December.

If you're after a good rounded balance to your strat pickups I can custom make a set to suit your guitar. Have a look at my range of Handwound Strat pickups, and let me know the radius of your fingerboard. If you don't know, just let me know the make & model of your guitar and I can research it.

Original Article

[caption id="attachment_902" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Creamery Custom Classic '83 "Hair Metal" Humbucker"][/caption]

Magnet: Alnico 5, 8 or Ceramic

Coil Wire: 43AWG Plain Enamel

Lead Wire: Vintage Braided Pushback or 4way

Bridge Output: 13.6k

Neck Output: 11.7k

The Hair Metal Humbucker

Similar in output to the Dirty Shirt Humbucker but with a tighter focus, the Classic '83 has thicker mids, a little more in the bass whilst keeping those fatter higher frequencies.

Choose from Alnico 5, 8 or ceramic magnets - The 5 will give you a more rounded, vintage high output tone. The Alnico 8 is a great balance between the the 5 & Ceramic option, giving more treble but with a smoother roll-off to the mids whereas the Ceramic option works to emphasise those biting higher frequencies at gain.

Great clarity & definition for a higher output humbucker. Avaialble in chrome or Gold H-Cover, simple open black, white or zebra bobbins.

You can buy a single pickup or complete Classic '83 "Hair Metal" Humbucker Set (Bridge & Neck) in the online shop.

For more information on my Custom handwound Humbucker pickup range, click here.

Original Article

Upgrading the stock Casino pickups for a more vintage tone

[caption id="attachment_777" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Creamery - Upgrading Stock Epiphone Casino Pickups"][/caption]

I recently ran one of my regular competitions to wind a set of handwound pickups and the winner, Mike, asked whether he could have his Epiphone Casino pickups rewound/upgraded for a more vintage tone - "No problem", I said.

The stock pickups had a very high output, 12.1k in the Bridge & 11.6k in the Neck, an unsubtle set especially for a Hollow Body guitar. Mike wanted to tone them down with a rewind and new magnets.

[caption id="attachment_778" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Upgrading Stock Epiphone Casino Pickups - What's inside"][/caption]

The first task was to remove the covers and see what's inside. The Epiphone Casino has custom bobbins with a string spacing narrower than a standard P90. The option was to either make new bobbins to match the cover pole spacing or simply use the existing ones. Mike had no issue with me utilising the existing bobbins so the challenge now was to remove the existing overwound coil wire in such a way as to not nick the sides. Any cuts or scratches to the very thin top & bottom layers of the bobbins could catch on the new coil wire when winding, snapping or pulling it leaving a few thousand turns of coil useless.

[caption id="attachment_779" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Upgrading Stock Epiphone Casino Pickups - Rewinding the coils"][/caption]

Whereas the stock Casino Pickups had a high output, probably due to the thinner 43AWG used (perhaps by mistake), Mike wanted a more vintage tone with a lower output set. I re-wound the coils to a more manageable 7.9k in the Bridge & 7.2k in the Neck which when coupled with my custom made Alnico 5 magnets, would give Mike the brighter P90 tone he was after.

[caption id="attachment_780" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Upgrading Stock Epiphone Casino Pickups - New Coils, New Magnets"][/caption]

With the new coils wound, the new magnets in place attracted to the pole screws underneath, the pickups were ready to be rebuilt and wax-potted. To stop any unwanted microphonics, I always securely fix the magnets to the underside of the bobbins and wax pot the pickups with a mix of 70/30 ratio paraffin & beeswax. Beeswax isn't always used in wax-potting - I recommend it though as it makes the wax less brittle and therefore less susceptible to cracking which could, in some instances, damage the delicate 42AWG coil wire.

[caption id="attachment_781" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Upgrading Stock Epiphone Casino Pickups for a more vintage tone"][/caption]

After cleaning off the waxy residue and a quick polish & test with the multimeter, the pickups were ready to be hooked-up to my test guitar just to make sure they were ready to send back to Mike. He received them, wired them back into his Casino guitar and sent me an email back:

Great stuff. Thanks so much!! They're a massive improvement! I'm not generally a P90 guy, but they sound fantastic. That syrupy Another Brick in the Wall solo tone is just right there.. :D

- Mike Riddle

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You can see my custom handwound P90 Pickup range here - and if you have pickups in need of a pickup rewind or repair, just contact me through the site.

Original Article