Introducing the Re-designed Tele-90 Pickup

Creamery Custom Handwound Tele-90 Pickup - A P90 design in a Tele Bridge

Creamery Custom Handwound Tele-90 Pickup - A P90 design in a Tele Bridge

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

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No Comments by on January 17, 2012
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New Classic ’71 Wide Range Humbucker

Creamery Custom Classic 71 Wide Range Humbucker Reproduction Pickups

Creamery Custom Classic '71 Wide Range Humbucker Reproduction Pickups

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.

Creamery Classic '71 Wide Range Tele/Thinline Humbucker

Creamery Classic '71 Wide Range Tele/Thinline Humbucker

 

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.

Creamery Classic '71 Wide Range Tele / Thinline Humbucker Pickups

 

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.

 

Creamery Wide Range Humbucker - Standard Humbucker Size

Creamery Wide Range Humbucker - Standard Humbucker Size

 

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.

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No Comments by on December 8, 2011
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New Gift Vouchers Available

The Creamery - Custom Guitars, Handwound Pickups, Made in Manchester - Gift Vouchers

The Creamery - New Gift Vouchers

 

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

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No Comments by on November 29, 2011
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Custom Radius Stratocaster Pickups

Creamery Custom Radius Stratocaster (Strat) Pickups

Creamery Custom Radius Stratocaster (Strat) Pickups

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.

Creamery Stratocaster (Strat) Vintage Neck Radius & Pole Height

Creamery Stratocaster (Strat) Vintage Neck Radius & Pole Height

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

Creamery "Sonic-Six" Custom Adjustable Pole Strat Pickup

Creamery "Sonic-Six" Custom Adjustable Pole Strat Pickup

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.

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No Comments by on November 28, 2011
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The New Classic ’83 “Hair Metal” Humbucker

Creamery Custom Classic '83 "Hair Metal" Humbucker

Creamery Custom Classic '83 "Hair Metal" Humbucker

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.

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No Comments by on November 26, 2011
filed in Handwound Pickups, Pickup Upgrades, Rewinds & Repairs, The Creamery, Upgrading Guitars

The New Custom ‘Double-Track’ Humbucker

Creamery Custom 'Double Track' Handwound Blade Humbucker Pickup

Creamery Custom 'Double Track' Handwound Blade Humbucker Pickup

Design your own Humbucker Pickup

Fully Custom Handwound Humbucker Blade Pickups


Magnet:Alnico 2,3,4,5 or Alnico 8

Coil Wire: 42 or 43AWG Plain Enamel

Lead Wire: Vintage Braided Pushback or 4way

Bridge Output: Low, Mid or High

Neck Output: Low, Mid or High

Here it is, the totally custom blade humbucker from The Creamery. You chose the magnets & the output for a pickup or set unique for your sound. Blade pickups are great for string bending as, unlike polepiece pickups, there’s no audio drop off when pushing/pulling the string. They also have a slightlier smoother, rounder tone as the string is always over the magnetised rail, great for clarity & definition.

Choose from my:

  • Hollow-Body Humbucker output: 7.3k Bridge, 6.4k Neck
  • ’57 Humbucker output: 7.8k Bridge, 7.0k Neck
  • ’59 Humbucker outout: 8.3k Bridge, 7.3k Neck
  • Dirty Shirt Humbucker output: 13.6k Bridge, 9.7k Neck
  • Double Six Humbucker output: 14.5k Bridge, 11.7k Neck
  • or your own choice of output: x.xk Bridge, x.xk Neck

 

Also, with a complete choice of magnets ranging from Alnico 2, through Alnico 3, 4, 5 up to Alnico 8 you can truly have a custom blade humbucker pickup. There’s also an option to have a trio of Alnico 5 & Alnico 8 magnets for a truly powerful, attacking pickup especially designed for high gain playing.

Available naked or with chrome or gold H-Covers & closed covers for a classic look, the Creamery Double Track Humbucker gives you the opportunity to have a truly customised hand-wound pickup or set for your guitar. Have a read through the reviews to see what people are saying about my work.

You can buy a single pickup or set of Creamery Custom ‘Double-Track’ Humbucker Pickups here

Or you can view my Handwound Humbucker Pickup range here

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No Comments by on November 24, 2011
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Classic ’71 Wide Range Humbucker – Dec 2011

Creamery Classic '71 Wide Range Humbucker Cover - Sample

Creamery Classic '71 Wide Range Humbucker Cover - Prototype Sample

 

Its on its way, just in time for Christmas …

The final prototype covers are on their way and providing all the measurements are correct, the new true spec Creamery Classic ’71 Wide Range Humbucker pickups will be available on the site start of December.

A Direct Replacement for Fender® reissue pickups

The prototype above is made from brass but the final commercial covers will be nickel with nickel plating. Baseplates are nickel as well.

Still working out pricing but here are some specs:

Magnets: Threaded Pole or Optional Alnico 2
Coil Wire: 42AWG Plain Enamel
Lead Wire: Vintage Braided or 4-way
Bridge Output: 10.7k
Neck Output: 9.8k

The vintage Wide-Range Humbucker tone

A true replacement for the Fender® Wide Range / Thinline Humbucker reissue pickups. Classic fat single coil tones – Great clarity and string definition with a bright warmth. Individual threaded pole magnets charged to around 2/3rds or full 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.

Custom nickel baseplate & ferrous internal reflector plate, full-size bobbins with handwound coils – The Creamery Wide Range / Thinline Humbucker, a direct vintage spec replacement for those modern reissues.

My vintage take on the original pickups have either 12 threaded magnets or a combination of 6 threaded magnets and 6 Alnico 2 rod magnets. With the threaded & Alnico 2 rod magnets 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.

Available in both standard humbucker and true spec Wide Range Humbucker sizes with pole spacing unique to bridge & neck for better strings definition.

Only available in Nickel covers (Nickel plated, Nickel Silver material).

You can read more about my Vintage, Modern & Wide Range Humbucker Upgrades here

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No Comments by on November 23, 2011
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Upgrading P90 Pickups – Looking for something different?

Creamery Custom Handwound Classic '57 P90 Pickups

Creamery Custom Handwound Classic '57 P90 Pickups

P90s are great pickups. That fat, single coil tone can really drive an amp giving a gritty, snarly tone great for riffs. But what if you want something a little different from a P90 pickup? Maybe you’re after a higher output? Maybe you want a brighter tone? A fatter tone? More of a humbucker sound? Maybe you just want something different all together, something unique?

Creamery Handwound Classic '53 P90 Pickup with Chrome Cover

Creamery Handwound Classic '53 P90 Pickup with Chrome Cover

Often I’m contacted by guitarists who do want something more form a P90 but just love the vintage look & shape of the Soapbar or Dog-ear P90 pickup. Its with this in mind that I’ve designed a number of custom pickups to fit the standard P90 size that require no modifications to your guitar at all. Sometimes, the new pickup can look pretty much like a P90 though underneath, its a whole different pickup. Have a look.

P90 Sized Humbucker Pickups from The Creamery

Creamery P90 Sized Humbucker Pickups

Creamery P90 Sized Humbucker Pickups

A true 12-pole humbucker in a P90 cover

No modifications required to your guitar. These new P90 sized Humbuckers even look like a P90.

Pole Magnets: Alnico 2 or 5
Coil Wire: 43AWG Plain Enamel
Lead Wire: Vintage Cloth Pushback or Braided
P90 sized Humbucker Bridge: 9.4k
P90 sized Humbucker Neck: 8.5k

A 12-pole humbucker pickup inside a P90 that requires no modifications to your guitar at all. My P90 sized Humbuckers even look like a P90 – Once installed, no-one will spot the difference until you plug in and play.

Great string definition & clarity due to the 12 pole magnets. More of a crunchy tone than the fat single coil voice of my classic P90, these new P90 sized Humbuckers give a rich, biting attack.

Available in both Soapbar or Dog-ear P90 size

Creamery Custom P90 Dogear Sized Humbucker Pickup

Creamery Custom P90 Dogear Sized Humbucker Pickup

All the depth of a humbucker with the sparkle and bloom of a doubled-up single coil. The two, thin 43awg coils help to keep the clarity at higher output while the tone has a sweetness by design of the pickup.

For more details on the new P90 sized Humbuckers – Head to the main site here

The Handwound Sonic-Six P90 Pickup

Creamery Custom Handwound Sonic-Six P90 Pickup

Creamery Custom Handwound Sonic-Six P90 Pickup

Magnets: Alnico 5
Poles: Individual Threaded Magnets
Coil Wire: 42AWG / 43AWG Plain Enamel
Lead Wire: Vintage Braided
Output: Bridge 7.5k, 8.4k or 12.0k
Output: Neck 7.1k, 7.5k, 9.2k

Available in both Dog-ear or Soapbar

The Sonic-Six P90 Pickup – More clarity, brighter tone

Available in three outputs, a brighter, low-output version of 7.5k Bridge & 7.1k Neck, a mid-output set of 8.4k Bridge & 7.5k Neck and a fatter, hotter 12.0k Bridge & 9.2k Neck. Similar in appearance and the exact same size as a standard P90, the Sonic-Six P90 pickup has individual threaded magnets to keep more tonal clarity & string definition. The lower & medium output version use specific 42AWG coil wire to give a fatter single coil but with more brightness and less warmth than a standard P90. The higher output version uses specific 43AWG coil wire to balance output whist still keeping clarity & that fat brightness and attacking single-coil tone.

I’ve spent a lot on these, changing the size of the Alnico 5 threaded magnets and bobbin size a number of times to get these right. If you’re after that bright, fat twang tone from a standard P90 size pickup then the Creamery Sonic-Six pickups may be the ones for you.

Available as a Soapbar style in Aged White (cream), black or chrome-plated covers or as a Dogear style in Aged White (Cream) or Black covers. Vintage braided wire.

You can find more details on my Handwound Sonic-Six P90 Pickups here on the main site

P90 Sized Wide Range Humbucker Pickups

The Creamery Mastersound Pickup to Wide Range Humbucker Upgrade

The Creamery Mastersound Pickup to Wide Range Humbucker Upgrade

I’m currently working on a version of the classic Fender® Wide Range Humbucker design to fit a standard P90 Soapbar & Dog Ear pickup. At the request of the guitarist, I recently converted his old Maton Mastersound Pickups to Wide Range Humbucker Spec.

They’re very similar in size to a standard P90 and I managed to make a custom set of pickups for him that he loved. Here’s the blog entry on this Maton Mastersound conversion

With a little imagination, there’s much that can be done with the old classic P90 pickup if you are so inclined – alternatively, the P90 is a true design classic. With this in mind, have a look at my Classic ’53 & Classic ’57 P90 Pickups if its the more vintage tone you’re after – and try them without the baseplates, the tone is a little more open.

The Creamery – Custom Guitars, Handwound Pickups – Made in Manchester

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No Comments by on November 8, 2011
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Creamery Jazzmaster & Fender® Reissue Jazzmaster Pickups

Creamery Custom Jazzmaster & Fender® Jazzmaster Japan Reissue Pickup

Creamery Custom Jazzmaster & Fender® Jazzmaster Japan Reissue Pickup

Vintage Jazzmaster Pickups

One of my favourite pickups, the original Jazzmaster pickup, unlike the modern CIJ reissues, had short & wide coils around 1/8″ high. Its this unique design that helps to give the pickup that classic darker, warmer single coil tone. The larger surface area of coil ‘senses’ more of the string, resulting in that fatter, warmer tone. The individual pole piece magnets help keep clarity & string definition and when combined with the shape of coil, gives that unique tone.

Modern ‘Crafted in Japan’ Reissue Jazzmaster Pickups

Unlike the high-end American versions, Fender® CIJ Jazzmaster guitars have what on the surface looks much like a true Jazzmaster pickup design but underneath its something entirely different.

Modern CIJ Jazzmaster Reissue Pickups

Modern CIJ Jazzmaster Reissue Pickups

As you can see from the picture above, the CIJ reissue Jazzmaster pickups are more akin to a Strat pickup, with a much narrower, taller coil giving a brighter tone. When you consider the Jazzmaster has 1Mb pots then you can see why some say the CIJ Jazzmaster are too bright, maybe even shrill with much less in the bass & mid-range.

Creamery Vintage & Custom Jazzmaster Pickups

As shown in the image above, I make all my Vintage, Custom & ‘Extra-Width’ Jazzmaster pickups to the original coil size to give simple variations on that classic warm, darker tone. Recently I’ve been balancing the original design with slightly taller magnets, narrower coil wire for higher output and other variations to give a few modern twists on the original.

What the Guitarist said:

The reissue pickup in the picture belonged to a guitarist who got in touch wanting something more from his Jazzmaster. The neck pickup was ok for him but the bridge was just too bright. We talked about vintage Jazzmaster pickups and I explained the differences. Once I’d fitted my vintage style Jazzmaster pickups to his guitar this is what he had to say:

“What a brilliant difference. My Jazzmaster now has that real tasty classic sound. My Musicman amp has found a good friend. Awesome clean tones. I would never change now. I’ll be requesting some strat pickups now as I had no idea the vintage tone would sound so idyllic with my amp. I have had an education. Thank you.”

Upgrade your Jazzmaster Pickups

If you’d like to upgrade your Jazzmaster with handwound pickups, take a look at the Jazzmaster pickups page on the site here. I don’t have a shelf full of pickups all boxed up and ready to send, each order is custom wound so if you have a spec in mind, just get in touch.

Available in Black, White or Vintage Aged White covers with vintage cloth push-back wire, have a read through the reviews to see what customers are saying about my handwound Jazzmaster pickups.

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No Comments by on November 1, 2011
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Repairing a ’74 Telecaster Bridge Pickup

Creamery Manchester Pickup Rewind Repair Telecaster '74 Bridge 001

Creamery Pickup Rewind Repair - Telecaster '74 Bridge

One of the most common pickup repairs that I get in the workshop is where the pickup wire has been snapped or damaged right at the start of the coil. With little free coil wire left over, often the pickup requires a compete rewind to restore it to working order but in some cases I’m able to tease enough wire free to work with. In these instances it means a vintage pickup can be repaired as close to the original as possible.

Creamery Manchester Pickup Rewind Repair Telecaster '74 Bridge 002

Creamery Pickup Rewind & Repairs - Telecaster '74 Bridge

Carefully teasing out the start of the coil, I worked free enough fine wire with which I could solder and create the join to an extra length of jump wire. This could then be connected to the flatwork eyelet to make the pickup connection.

Creamery Manchester Pickup Rewind Repair Telecaster 74 Bridge 003

Creamery Pickup Rewinds & Repairs - Telecaster '74 Bridge

I couldn’t leave the large solder joint like this it could easily be damaged so with a simple solder suction stick the joint was ever-so-carefully reduced. The join could then be taped down to keep it free from damage.

Creamery Manchester Pickup Rewind Repair Telecaster 74 Bridge 004

Creamery Pickup Rewinds & Repairs - Telecaster '74 Bridge

The new solder joint was taped down and with a quick test with the multimeter, the pickup was repaired. Its always good when a vintage pickup can be repaired and I always go for a full pickup rewind as a last resort. If I can, I always try and fix pickup without the need for a rewind.

If you’ve a pickup that needs repairing or a rewind, then get in touch. You can find details & case studies of my guitar pickup repair & rewind services here

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No Comments by on September 19, 2011
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