The Fender Wide Range Humbucker is a humbuckerguitar pickup, designed by Seth Lover for Fender in the early 1970s.[1] This pickup was intended to break Fender's image as a "single coil guitar company", and to gain a foothold in the humbucker guitar market dominated by Gibson.
The pickups enjoyed some popularity, though Fender's single-coil pickups retained their widespread popularity. Original Wide Range pickups were available from 1971 and subsequently installed in the Deluxe, Custom and Thinline Telecasters as well as the Starcaster, ceasing production successively in 1979 when these models were discontinued. Fender Japan were the first to introduce a reissue in 1983, followed by the Made in Mexico version around 1998. The Wide Range Pickup found on American made Fender guitars is actually the Mexican-made model introduced in 1998. All reissues differed from the original Seth Lover design in both construction and sound until 2020 when Fender began manufacturing the pickup with the original materials again. The company also produced a variation of the pickup for bass guitar from 1971 to 1979.
The Wide Range pickup was conceived to be sonically closer to Fender's single coil pickups than Gibson humbuckers. Fender's single coils use six magnetised pole pieces sitting vertically, while Gibson's humbuckers use a long bar magnet at the pickup's base with six metal slug pole pieces screwed vertically into a base plate. Fender could not, however, simply replace the Humbuckers slugs with screws. Due to the difficulty of machining alnico magnets into screw-type pole pieces, this concept called for the use of the more easily machinable CuNiFe (Copper/Nickel/Iron) rod magnets as pole pieces within the coil structures; functioning more like a regular single coil pickup than a Gibson humbucker.
Because CuNiFe pole piece magnets produce less output than a standard humbucker's bar magnet and slugs, the wide range Humbucker requires more winds of wire to produce an output compatible to Standard Humbuckers. The pickup bobbins were wound with approximately 6200 to 6800 turns of 42 awg poly insulated copper wire around the pole-pieces. The Wide Range pickup has a DCresistance of around 10.6 kΩ. These extra winds mean the wide range Humbucker needs a larger casing than standard Humbuckers.
There are three reissues of the wide range pickup using two designs: one manufactured in Japan using ceramic magnets and one in Mexico using alnico. Despite an almost identical appearance to the original 1970s unit, both are regular Humbuckers in large cases; surrounded by wax to take up space and prevent resonant feedback.
The current Mexican reissues, much like a Gibson humbucker, feature a bar magnet underneath the bobbins that abuts to six screw type pole-pieces in each coil; they are simply conventional humbuckers placed in the larger "wide range" humbucker casing, and the gap is filled with wax. Although neither pickup precisely replicates the sound of the original, they are tonally similar. The Japanese reissue does, however, sound hotter and the Mexican reissue sounds more like a standard Gibson humbucker. A more recent reissue, currently exclusive to the Lee Ranaldo signature Jazzmaster, has been "re-voiced" to Ranaldo's specifications, but appears to be constructed similarly to the Mexican reissue.
In the 1970s, the Fender Wide Range was wired using 1M audio volume and tone pots. Using 1M pots resulted in an open and bright sound. Modern reissues are commonly wired using 250K volume and tone pots, resulting in a more choked and muddy sound; cutting high frequencies to ground.
In 2020, Fender began producing Wide Range pickups with Cunife magnets for the first time since the 1970s.[2]
Due to the use of the Wide Range by groups from several eras, such as Sonic Youth, Jim Weider, Josh Ramsay, Zac Wrixen, John Fogerty and Franz Ferdinand, and the fact that reissue FWRH pickups sound different from original vintage pickups, demand has grown for the original pickup, leading to high prices and slim availability. The value has risen from US$75 in the late 1990s to around $375 in 2016.[3]
References
^Hunter, Dave (2008). The Guitar Pickup Handbook: The Start of Your Sound. Backbeat. pp. 91, 99–100. ISBN9780879309312.
^"Fender American Original '70s Telecaster Custom review". Music Radar. Future Publishing Limited. August 2020. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
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The Fender Wide Range Humbucker is a humbucker guitar pickup designed by Seth Lover for Fender in the early 1970s 1 This pickup was intended to break Fender s image as a single coil guitar company and to gain a foothold in the humbucker guitar market dominated by Gibson Fender Wide RangeFender Wide Range style pickupManufacturerFenderPeriod1971 1979 original 1983 present Japan reissue 1998 present Mexican reissue 2020 present American reissue TypePassive humbuckerMagnet typeCuNiFe original American RI ceramic Japanese RI AlNiCo Mexican RI Ranaldo model RI Output specificationsVoltage RMS V211 9 mV at 7 135 kHz resonant frequencyImpedance kW602 kW at 7 135 kHz resonant frequencySonic qualitiesResonantfrequency Hz7 135 kHzThe pickups enjoyed some popularity though Fender s single coil pickups retained their widespread popularity Original Wide Range pickups were available from 1971 and subsequently installed in the Deluxe Custom and Thinline Telecasters as well as the Starcaster ceasing production successively in 1979 when these models were discontinued Fender Japan were the first to introduce a reissue in 1983 followed by the Made in Mexico version around 1998 The Wide Range Pickup found on American made Fender guitars is actually the Mexican made model introduced in 1998 All reissues differed from the original Seth Lover design in both construction and sound until 2020 when Fender began manufacturing the pickup with the original materials again The company also produced a variation of the pickup for bass guitar from 1971 to 1979 Contents 1 Construction 2 Sound 3 Market value 4 References 5 External linksConstruction EditThe Wide Range pickup was conceived to be sonically closer to Fender s single coil pickups than Gibson humbuckers Fender s single coils use six magnetised pole pieces sitting vertically while Gibson s humbuckers use a long bar magnet at the pickup s base with six metal slug pole pieces screwed vertically into a base plate Fender could not however simply replace the Humbuckers slugs with screws Due to the difficulty of machining alnico magnets into screw type pole pieces this concept called for the use of the more easily machinable CuNiFe Copper Nickel Iron rod magnets as pole pieces within the coil structures functioning more like a regular single coil pickup than a Gibson humbucker Because CuNiFe pole piece magnets produce less output than a standard humbucker s bar magnet and slugs the wide range Humbucker requires more winds of wire to produce an output compatible to Standard Humbuckers The pickup bobbins were wound with approximately 6200 to 6800 turns of 42 awg poly insulated copper wire around the pole pieces The Wide Range pickup has a DC resistance of around 10 6 kW These extra winds mean the wide range Humbucker needs a larger casing than standard Humbuckers There are three reissues of the wide range pickup using two designs one manufactured in Japan using ceramic magnets and one in Mexico using alnico Despite an almost identical appearance to the original 1970s unit both are regular Humbuckers in large cases surrounded by wax to take up space and prevent resonant feedback The current Mexican reissues much like a Gibson humbucker feature a bar magnet underneath the bobbins that abuts to six screw type pole pieces in each coil they are simply conventional humbuckers placed in the larger wide range humbucker casing and the gap is filled with wax Although neither pickup precisely replicates the sound of the original they are tonally similar The Japanese reissue does however sound hotter and the Mexican reissue sounds more like a standard Gibson humbucker A more recent reissue currently exclusive to the Lee Ranaldo signature Jazzmaster has been re voiced to Ranaldo s specifications but appears to be constructed similarly to the Mexican reissue In the 1970s the Fender Wide Range was wired using 1M audio volume and tone pots Using 1M pots resulted in an open and bright sound Modern reissues are commonly wired using 250K volume and tone pots resulting in a more choked and muddy sound cutting high frequencies to ground In 2020 Fender began producing Wide Range pickups with Cunife magnets for the first time since the 1970s 2 Sound EditOriginal Wide Range pickups are described as sounding fat but with improved clarity and detail over Gibson humbuckers Combined with a bridge single coil pickup on a Telecaster it produces a smooth and warm yet biting sound Famous users include Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones Graham Coxon of Blur Wes Borland of Limp Bizkit Black Light Burns Rich Robinson of the Black Crowes Ryan Adams Win Butler of Arcade Fire Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand Lucio Maia of Nacao Zumbi Roy Buchanan Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top Thom Yorke of Radiohead Felix Rodriguez from The Sounds singer songwriter Kim Ralls Chris Shiflett of Foo Fighters The Edge of U2 Jonny Buckland of Coldplay Leo Nocentelli of The Meters and Tab Benoit as well as Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth s modified Jazzblasters which featured Wide Range pickups on modified Fender Jazzmaster guitars Market value EditDue to the use of the Wide Range by groups from several eras such as Sonic Youth Jim Weider Josh Ramsay Zac Wrixen John Fogerty and Franz Ferdinand and the fact that reissue FWRH pickups sound different from original vintage pickups demand has grown for the original pickup leading to high prices and slim availability The value has risen from US 75 in the late 1990s to around 375 in 2016 3 References Edit Hunter Dave 2008 The Guitar Pickup Handbook The Start of Your Sound Backbeat pp 91 99 100 ISBN 9780879309312 Fender American Original 70s Telecaster Custom review Music Radar Future Publishing Limited August 2020 Retrieved 24 August 2020 Gear Reverb External links EditUser Reviews on Harmony Central Pickup Measurements Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Fender Wide Range amp oldid 1130559793, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
