Wide Range Humbuckers

[Bowtomecha]

Is there a benefit to the design of wide range humbuckers? I know it started as a way for fender to compete with Gibson and their humbuckers but outside of individual magnet pole pieces with humbucking coils, I don’t get the hype. I like some fenders that come with them. But the whole wide range thing… is that just buzz word marketing or is there actually a wider range of frequencies or better fundamentals or anything? Apparently some of them have space that’s filled with wax so are they actually wider coils and a wider magnetic field? If it was such a good design, you’d think that they would be found on a lot more guitars.

[Mincer]

They are generally cleaner and clearer than most conventionally designed humbuckers, and these days, I think the vintage hype for them is actually better than they actually sound. They are slightly bigger than regular humbuckers, with a different screw pattern. Attempts have been made to make them in a more conventional humbucker package. But I've never compared them to the originals.

[jeremy]

the originals have their own thing, humbucker but not paf. the modern versions are seldom built like the vintage versions

[freefrog]

I've this model in a Tele and really like it.

"Wide Range" is a misleading name but as jeremy said, the related design is definitively its own thing : it allows a relatively high inductance but with a tight even response (flat rather than "wide") and the not too high magnetic field of CuNiFe avoids the Stratitis effect.

I've modified one to allow coil splitting and it gives me one of the nicest neck SC sounds I've obtained in my life... Not loud at all but extremely musical to my ears.

... Also, to me, it's not present in more guitars because of the scarcity of CuNiFe magnets during decades.

Below is a page by Dr Scott Lawing, from Zexcoil pickups, whose explanations are on par with my own findings and musical experience.

https://lawingmusicalproducts.com/dr-lawings-blog/the-wide-range-humbucker-and-the-genius-of-seth-lover

[Chris Pile]

The originals had Cunife magnets, right?

[Mincer]

The originals had Cunife magnets, right?

Yes, quite a different design for the time. Not many companies make direct copies of vintage ones. The Custom Shop makes them but with A5 magnets.

[freefrog]

Yeah, as shown by Scott Lawing in his article, a coil with CuNiFe rod magnets has a higher Q factor and a lower inductance than with AlNiCo's... And as I said, CuNiFe mags also exhibit a weaker magnetic flux than typical Fender style AlNiCo rods.

[beaubrummels]

My understanding was the design produced single coil sound without the hum, but the CuNiFe mags lost their charge over time, so that's why they didn't stick around.

[skelt101]

I had read that the primary use of CuNiFe magnets was in analog gauges, such as speedometers and tachometers. As things "went digital", the need for the magnets was not there anymore. Production stopped as a result.

[freefrog]

Fender released a new range of CuniFe pickups so this magnetic material is available again, anyway. Regarding its ability to hold a charge, our lab teslameters didn't detect anything special: IME, a CuNiFe rod in a WR consistently measures between the surface readings of AlNiCo and ceramic loaded humbuckers...

[chadd]

The CuNiFe reissue is definitely a lot different than the other Fender "Wide Range" offerings that are just a standard humbucker in a bigger housing. It's one of the few humbuckers I actually like in a tele neck.

[Aceman]

I - did not know any of this wide-range business!

[jeremy]

ive seen that site before, great info for sure. a blues guy i really like, tab benoit, uses '72 thinline teles as his main and backup guitars. its a unique tone for sure

[Supernautilus]

I'd like to just say a word in defense of the MiM reissues. Despite being "fake" WR humbuckers, I personally think they sound great. I have a set in a Telecaster and they totally rock. I get that people don't like them because they are different than the originals. But I think Fender did as well as they could with a traditional humbucker design in a WR shaped pickup.

[freefrog]

"Fake" MIM WR's vs CuNiFe ones simply do the same kind of differences than between a single coil with AlNiCo rods and another SC with steel poles + a magnet glued underneath.

Technically, none of these recipes is "superior" to the other. Steel poled single coils are not even exclusive to cheaper instruments : there are DiMarzio or Fralin models with steel poles and they are not cheaper than other pickups of the same brands not described as second choices.

But such physical differences affect the tone - through a change in the Q factor but also in the way to handle pick attack, for instance.

Deciding if such tonal changes are important / desirable or not belongs to each player, according to his style, ears, rig, music...