Fender Wide Range - Anyone used both the vintage and RI?

[David E H]

Does the re-issue compare to the original?

[flummox]

They're very different. The original is a lot darker, thicker and very smooth. It's a unique design and would be very expensive to recreate. The reissue is a regular humbucker made to look like the old one. It's brighter, more aggressive and less jazzy. It's a good pickup anyway, and probably better suited to modern rock than the old style. But not at all the same.

[Felix959]

See, that's funny, Flummox, because my experience with the reissue Wide Range pickups is that they're dark and fairly muddy with the stock 250k pots. They brighten up quite nicely with 1 meg pots, though.

 

That said, I have never played the originals, so I can't comment on how they compare.

[steve_man]

The originals sound amazing. The RI models sound like cheap stock humbuckers (which they are) with larger covers fitted to them. Was not a fan, so I sold my Deluxe RI

[flummox]

 

See, that's funny, Flummox, because my experience with the reissue Wide Range pickups is that they're dark and fairly muddy with the stock 250k pots. They brighten up quite nicely with 1 meg pots, though. That said, I have never played the originals, so I can't comment on how they compare.

 

 

I've actually spent a lot more time with the originals than the reissue - used to own an original Tele Custom. I can tell you that the neck pickup in the reissues is a whole lot brighter than the one in my Custom. Maybe the Deluxes are set up differently. I know a lot of people do the pot swap you mention and are very happy with them after that. The guy in Bloc Party was getting incredible sounds out of his RI when I saw them last year.