MichaelW
Well-known member
- Build Rating
Finally! I'm ready to do some tone demo's of my Tele Deluxe build. What bit of drama with pickups being seized by customs, returned to Australia.
Replacement pickups of the "real deal" Fender CuNiFe WRHB's not cutting the mustard, and finally breaking down and putting out the $$ for a set of Lollar Regal WHRBs.
It's not a big secret that I'm a huge Lollar fanboy. But mostly it's his single coils. Strat, Tele and P90's.
I'm not as enamored with his humbuckers after trying a set of his Imperials. So I was little apprehensive about how I would like the Regals.
Lollar uses Alnico 5 magnets in his take of the WRHB's. Otherwise, built to vintage Fender spec's.
I LOVE them, what a difference between the Regals and the Fender CuNiFe's. Not sure why I keep trying Fender pickups. I'm consistently disappointed in them.
Anyway, here's a demo of the Tele Deluxe with the Lollars. This build was inspired/enabled by @Guardians of the analog. I'd never even had an inkling or desire to check out WRHB's until I heard Chris go on and on about how he loves his Deluxe....heh.
Well, I would have to agree, they sound great and it's definitely a very different take on the dual pickup 4 control concept. Granted that the WRHB and the PAF were both invented by Seth Lover, they really occupy a different sonic spectrum.
I'm still figuring it out as I'm much more used to PAF's on a Les Paul. But I'm loving the clarity, punch, bite, and jangle that I'm getting out of these pickup config. They take gain extremely well, all levels from low gain to high gain.
After trying Vintage 72 Fender wiring, I decided I didn't like it and changed it over to Gibson 50's wiring using my standard .015 tone cap for the neck and .033 for the bridge. (PIO caps of course
Next up is my PineCaster Esquire project. As I mentioned in the build report, this project originated around a single pickup. The Cavalier NoCaster Holy Grail Tele/Esquire bridge pickup. I keep finding these very affordable killer pickup winders! It was @cdwillis that originally mentioned Rob at Cavalier which was the first I'd heard of him. I'm amazed at the quality of both the build and the prices for his pickups, plus all the available customizations.
Along with the NoCaster Esquire pickup, I also ordered another Tele set consisting of his 51/52 Lion Bridge pickup and his Lion King neck which I just installed in my 50's Blackguard build.
Holy crap they sound good in that guitar!! I didn't have the chance to record a demo of that one today but will be doing a demo for it soon.
I can't recommend Cavalier pickups enough for all your Tele needs. Seems like he's focusing on Tele pickups at this point.
I wired the Esquire with Bob Eldred's mod for Esquires.
Position 1: is just the pickup in bypass mode and wired directly to the output jack, skipping the tone circuit. It's raw and aggressive. Also a bit "peaky" although the Cavalier Nocaster does a great job taming any "ice pick".
Position 2: Is the stock configuration with the signal going through the tone pot with a .033 PIO tone cap.
Position 3: I'm not exactly sure what to call this mode so I'm just calling it the "Eldred" mode. But the pickup also bypasses the tone pot and is wired to the output jack but it goes through a small fixed capacitor. Usually 4700pf or 3300pf. But I used 4400pf as a starting point not knowing what to expect. But it sounds fantastic!
With the 4400pf cap it has that "cocked wah" sound that's extremely cool especially with some gain.
This is my first Esquire and I'm loving it! Lots of usable sounds from a single pickup!
Also, this might be my lowest cost M-Line build to date. The NoMoonLaser body was $105 delivered. The neck was a 1 piece maple with a vintage tint that was a cheap Chinese Ebay neck. This is the first one of 3 that I bought that I actually have used and like. It was $54 shipped. Tuners are Ping aged vintage style tuners that Stratosphere sells on Ebay for $20. Excellent tuners for super cheap! I've bought 5 sets now! The bridge plate was standard Fender plate for $16. Guyker brass compensated saddles. I think I've "maybe" got about $350 in this guitar not counting my labor. I'm tickled pink at how great it plays and sounds!
Replacement pickups of the "real deal" Fender CuNiFe WRHB's not cutting the mustard, and finally breaking down and putting out the $$ for a set of Lollar Regal WHRBs.
It's not a big secret that I'm a huge Lollar fanboy. But mostly it's his single coils. Strat, Tele and P90's.
I'm not as enamored with his humbuckers after trying a set of his Imperials. So I was little apprehensive about how I would like the Regals.
Lollar uses Alnico 5 magnets in his take of the WRHB's. Otherwise, built to vintage Fender spec's.
I LOVE them, what a difference between the Regals and the Fender CuNiFe's. Not sure why I keep trying Fender pickups. I'm consistently disappointed in them.
Anyway, here's a demo of the Tele Deluxe with the Lollars. This build was inspired/enabled by @Guardians of the analog. I'd never even had an inkling or desire to check out WRHB's until I heard Chris go on and on about how he loves his Deluxe....heh.
Well, I would have to agree, they sound great and it's definitely a very different take on the dual pickup 4 control concept. Granted that the WRHB and the PAF were both invented by Seth Lover, they really occupy a different sonic spectrum.
I'm still figuring it out as I'm much more used to PAF's on a Les Paul. But I'm loving the clarity, punch, bite, and jangle that I'm getting out of these pickup config. They take gain extremely well, all levels from low gain to high gain.
After trying Vintage 72 Fender wiring, I decided I didn't like it and changed it over to Gibson 50's wiring using my standard .015 tone cap for the neck and .033 for the bridge. (PIO caps of course
Next up is my PineCaster Esquire project. As I mentioned in the build report, this project originated around a single pickup. The Cavalier NoCaster Holy Grail Tele/Esquire bridge pickup. I keep finding these very affordable killer pickup winders! It was @cdwillis that originally mentioned Rob at Cavalier which was the first I'd heard of him. I'm amazed at the quality of both the build and the prices for his pickups, plus all the available customizations.
Along with the NoCaster Esquire pickup, I also ordered another Tele set consisting of his 51/52 Lion Bridge pickup and his Lion King neck which I just installed in my 50's Blackguard build.
Holy crap they sound good in that guitar!! I didn't have the chance to record a demo of that one today but will be doing a demo for it soon.
I can't recommend Cavalier pickups enough for all your Tele needs. Seems like he's focusing on Tele pickups at this point.
I wired the Esquire with Bob Eldred's mod for Esquires.
Position 1: is just the pickup in bypass mode and wired directly to the output jack, skipping the tone circuit. It's raw and aggressive. Also a bit "peaky" although the Cavalier Nocaster does a great job taming any "ice pick".
Position 2: Is the stock configuration with the signal going through the tone pot with a .033 PIO tone cap.
Position 3: I'm not exactly sure what to call this mode so I'm just calling it the "Eldred" mode. But the pickup also bypasses the tone pot and is wired to the output jack but it goes through a small fixed capacitor. Usually 4700pf or 3300pf. But I used 4400pf as a starting point not knowing what to expect. But it sounds fantastic!
With the 4400pf cap it has that "cocked wah" sound that's extremely cool especially with some gain.
This is my first Esquire and I'm loving it! Lots of usable sounds from a single pickup!
Also, this might be my lowest cost M-Line build to date. The NoMoonLaser body was $105 delivered. The neck was a 1 piece maple with a vintage tint that was a cheap Chinese Ebay neck. This is the first one of 3 that I bought that I actually have used and like. It was $54 shipped. Tuners are Ping aged vintage style tuners that Stratosphere sells on Ebay for $20. Excellent tuners for super cheap! I've bought 5 sets now! The bridge plate was standard Fender plate for $16. Guyker brass compensated saddles. I think I've "maybe" got about $350 in this guitar not counting my labor. I'm tickled pink at how great it plays and sounds!
