After an email chat about Wide Range Humbuckers I came up with these.

Essentially a single coil but with more presence and fatter tone. Like the standard single coil, each string has its own magnet. The difference with these is that the slug that sits opposite widens the area of string magnetised, creating a beefier tone but unlike the humbucker where the bar magnet lies underneath both the slugs & screws giving an even spread of magnetised string, these new pickups have a pole magnet and a slug. By design the slug is still magnetised but nowhere near as strong as the polepiece. Whereas the humbucker gives the tone of the full length of magnetised string between the slug & screw, these merely give the tone of the point of magnetisation over the pole with a kind of residual tone of the string above the slightly magnetised slug. This in effect is similar to the sound fading from magnet to slug which is somewhat fatter than a single coil but not as beefed up as a humbucker. Essentially a single coil with more presence. They’re overwound with thinner wire to a specific number of turns to really break up an amp and I use Alnico 2 magnets to give more warmth. The use of thinner wire helps to keep the high frequencies in a narrower coil. I’ve just recorded some audio & video files which I need to master for the site.

After final tweaks to the the number of windings and numerous prototypes I’m happy with the final versions. I’m just going to wait until I get back from another trip up to Scotland before pushing them live – 2nd week in August.

I’ve posted a quick rough video whilst I finish off the full audio/video demos. You can see it here

I’m also working on a 12 pole version to give an even richer tone – still playing around with the windings though.

The neck joint is the heart of the guitar, loose and you lose sustain and in many cases, the neck becomes unstable. With a good, well made tight neck joint a guitar will always sound better – you will hear it in the sustain.

I always make sure that any neck I build must be able, when pushed into the pocket, to hold up the guitar without the securing bolts. It’s almost a force fit. As you can see in the picture, I can physically lift the guitar body by the neck so that it is hangs unaided. The fit alone between neck & pocket should be enough to hold the body.

A last test is to take a thin piece of card or thin plectrum and try and squeeze it into the side crack of the neck and pocket. If I can slide it in, I know the neck will loose sustain.

*If you look closely at the pocket in the pic, you’ll see that the neck isn’t quite flush yet. When I’m bolting the neck to the body the neck is given a final push to make the fit as tight as possible. When holding up the body by the un-bolted neck, the weight of the ash body pulling down causes this small 1mm gap. ( Thought I better add this last bit before I get forum comments pointing it out )

The full site is now live over at www.at-the-creamery.co.uk and in the next few weeks I’ll be adding a few more things. They are:

So drop by the site, sign up for the updates and be the first to know when something new arrives.

Its my twist on the Elvis Costello signature Jazzmaster, though this one is made from real Walnut wood.

I’ll post more details, just trying to get the site ready for launch.

The Alleyway
008
May 2010
Mahogany
Maple
Maple
21
Creamery Classic Alnico 2 Humbuckers
Alnico 2
1x Volume, 1 x Tone
3 way
Bridge
Bridge & Neck in Parallel
Neck
Roller Nashville Tune-o-matic
Kluson Single Hole Post
Chrome
White Pearloid 3ply
25.5” (648 mm)
1.625″ (41.3 mm)
Complete one-off
Fender Pure Nickel Wound Original 150s
Medium – 11, 14, 18, 28, 38, 49

​

UPDATE: Above is the final version. Below is a previous draft.

Here’s the rough first mock-up of the new pickup packaging. When you buy a single pickup it will come in the new ‘cigarette pack’ style box. Maybe I should have vending machines in your local guitar shop – just swipe your card and take a pack.

I’m on course now for the site to launch at the end of May – Everything is in place, just testing the online shop and hoping to record some demo videos.

What happens when you leave a guitar out over night? Fortunately, In this case nothing. Went out into the garden this morning to see the guitar still resting against the wall. Fearing the worst I picked it up and the slab of wood was still in tune. Grant you, it was a warm dry night but just goes to show – Telecasters, pretty damn solid guitars.

On a side note, still waiting for a few parts which have been delayed due to the flight ban here in the UK. I reckon I’m about 2 weeks away from launching the site now. Had hoped it would be next week but sometimes plans are in the hands of the gods.

Pine is such an underrated wood for guitars. Its seen as a poor man’s thing; cheap and without prestige. I like it, and although there are a myriad of types, it can be a great tonewood. There, I’ve said it – and I know there will be guitarists out there whose nostrils flare and eyes bulge at the idea, but I stand by the claim. My one caveat being that it must be bone dry, the kind of mature, dry wood that only time can offer. The pine, in this case Scottish Pine (Redwood) had very little moisture left having dried out for 30yrs. Due to the sheer amount of sap in the wood, its easy to see why it could be unusable as a tonewood but once that sap has gone and the guitar has been strung wired and plugged-in, there’s such a snap and bite to it that you can’t help thinking, “Why aren’t more single coil guitars built this way.”

It can be an ugly, knotty wood and needs a number of pieces to craft a guitar unless you are lucky enough to find a piece large enough, so from an aesthetic point-of-view it is rarely considered. Also, it can require a lot of grain filler if a smooth coloured/lacquered surface is required making it not cost effective for the big companies to produce guitars from.

Pine also takes a while for the sap to crystalise & become stable. That’s why I only use old reclaimed pine. Leo Fender himself used pine for the original Broadcasters & Esquires. Its the mutt of the tonewood world, I just like it, and its unbelievably light if you love throwing yourself around on stage – now that’s a winning reason by itself.

The reason The Accidental Humbucker works well with this wood is down to the low number of winds and offset coils, giving the pickup a spank and clarity that just isn’t usually possible with non-custom humbuckers. The 3-way switching and 2 x Volume, 2 x Tone controls give the guitar a versatility of sounds not often available to the standard Telecaster style guitar.

Handcrafted March 2010.

Technical Specifications:

Model Name: Blackguard Two
Model Number: 006
Built: March 2010
Body: Antique Pine
Neck: Maple
Fingerboard: Maple
No. of Frets: 21
Pickups: Classic Creamery Tele Bridge / Neck – Original Creamery Accidental Humbucker
Magnets: Alnico 5
Controls: 2 x Volume, 2 x Tone
Pickup Switching: 3 way
Position 1: Bridge
Position 2: Bridge & Neck in series
Position 3: Neck
Bridge: Stamped Steel Ashtray / Brass Compensated Saddles
Machine Heads: Fender Grover Style
Hardware: Chrome
Scratchplate: Custom black perspex
Scale Length: 25.5” (648 mm)
Width at Nut: 1.625″ (41.3 mm)
Unique Features: Complete one-off, original ‘Accidental’ Humbucker
Strings: Fender Pure Nickel Wound Original 150s
String Gauges: Regular – 10, 13, 17, 26, 36, 46

The original cream coloured P90 covers are now black and the middle/neck position now wired in series.

Model Name: The Weeper
Model Number: 004
Built: Oct 2009
Body: 1 piece mahogany
Neck: Maple
Fingerboard: Rosewood
No. of Frets: 21
Pickups: Creamery Hot Alnico 5 bridge / Classic P90 Middle / Hot P90 Neck
Magnets: Alnico 5
Controls: Volume, Tone
Pickup Switching: 5 way
Position 1: Bridge Pickup
Position 2: Bridge & Middle in series
Position 3: Middle
Position 4: Middle and Neck
Position 5: Neck
Bridge: Wilkinson steel stamped ashtray. Brass compensated saddles
Machine Heads: Grover Kidney Bean
Hardware: Chrome
Scratchplate: Custom black perspex
Scale Length: 25.5” (648 mm)
Width at Nut: 1.625″ (41.3 mm)
Strings: Fender Pure Nickel Wound Original 150s
String Gauges: Medium – 11, 14, 18, 28, 38, 49

Quick progress update. Here are the first three guitars from the Blackguard series – 6 guitars crafted from 30yr old pine. A jazzmaster style with custom handwound H-cover humbuckers, a Standard Telecaster and a Tele ‘72 Custom style, both with sets of my handwound pickups. Still to fit the tuners and string the Tele custom up but you can see how it looks.

I’m currently building the next three, a Gibson Explorer style, a Les Paul Jnr style and not decided on the final one yet though I’m toying with doing a Gibson ES336 style.

I’ll keep you posted.

Remember, you can WIN a set of my handwound Classic Alnico 5 Humbuckers! – Details in the post below.