Creamery Baby ‘71 JM wide ranges or similar?

[marqueemoon]

Anybody using these?

Anything else out there in this general ballpark you’d recommend? I’m pondering either updating my MIJ or finding an Ampro to do the Jazzblaster thing with, but I’d like a sound that’s on the chimier side.

I wouldn’t rule out a traditional style humbucker, but a lot of low mid chunk won’t work with my setup (cranked 5W 1x12 combo).

[Ceylon]

Rose Picassos with either AlNiCo II's or VI's would probably get you most of the way there for less money. I have a bridge AlNiCo III on my CIJ JM and should have gone with VI's but apart from that it does the job of sounding like a articulate Fendery humbucker quite well, if a little bit too much on the compressed side. But I have heard good things about the Creamerys.

[marqueemoon]

Rose Picassos with either AlNiCo II's or VI's would probably get you most of the way there for less money. I have a bridge AlNiCo III on my CIJ JM and should have gone with VI's but apart from that it does the job of sounding like a articulate Fendery humbucker quite well, if a little bit too much on the compressed side. But I have heard good things about the Creamerys.

Huh. Looks like Rose has suspended orders.

Yeah, not really looking for a super compressed sound. Looking for smoother and a little less hashy than a typical overdriven single coil JM sound with a neck pickup that isn’t too wooly.

[Shadoweclipse13]

I can't speak to the JM-sized ones, but I've got a Creamery neck WRHB in my Tele and it's my most used pickup. I've never been great at describing pickups, but they don't sound harsh or overly bassy/wooly either.

Honestly, Jaime at The Creamery is wonderful to work with. I told him what I was looking for when I bought mine, and he made recommendations for magnet type and other things. If you tell him that you're looking for a less harsh and not too wooly WRHB, I'd bet he could figure it out easily.

[JVG]

Similar to the above post, i don’t have the JM sized ones, but i do have Creamery wide ranges in a Tele, and i love them. My request to Jaime was exactly as yours - something a bit more on the ‘chimy’ side. He suggested his “Classic 71 for Starcaster” model, which is essentially an under-wound WRHB. This might suit your needs, and i’m sure he could do it in JM format.

Cheers!
J.

[noisepunk]

bumping this, as i'm also looking at these pickups.

looking for more gain and less hum while staying in the general ballpark otherwise; it's been a number of years since i've played anything with them installed, but i remember WRHBs sounding remarkably similar to stock JM pickups. creamery also offers 4-wire leads for coil splitting, which i like the idea of now that i'm down to one guitar for the foreseeable future. i know a bunch of places are doing good noiseless options now, that somehow sounds less fun though

i'll definitely email them/him when i'm ready to buy to make sure i'm getting what i'm hoping for, but i wanted to get some opinions here first, especially if anyone has experience with how these, or their WRHBs sound when split.

thanks!

[JSett]

bumping this, as i'm also looking at these pickups.

looking for more gain and less hum while staying in the general ballpark otherwise; it's been a number of years since i've played anything with them installed, but i remember WRHBs sounding remarkably similar to stock JM pickups. creamery also offers 4-wire leads for coil splitting, which i like the idea of now that i'm down to one guitar for the foreseeable future. i know a bunch of places are doing good noiseless options now, that somehow sounds less fun though

i'll definitely email them/him when i'm ready to buy to make sure i'm getting what i'm hoping for, but i wanted to get some opinions here first, especially if anyone has experience with how these, or their WRHBs sound when split.

thanks!

I've had one of these in my main JM for about 10 years. They are simply astounding sounding pickups. Completely cured my pickup-swapping in that guitar. I put another in my backup JM, and a pair of them in my korina JM build. They sound like JM pickups without any hum and a touch more girth.
I never split them as they aren't very hot to begin with so can't comment on that.

Pickup demo (phone recording)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFCbKFj ... nnel=Moper

In a live situation (gig in a Burrito shop)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvDKPyF ... nnel=Moper

[Embenny]

I have a Creamery's PAF-sized Baby '71, and like every other WRHB I've owned before, I don't get why people compare them to single coils at all. They're just a slight variation on the humbucker theme. In the humbucker world, Firebirds are far closer to Fender single coils in tone than WRHBs.

The suggestion of an underwound WRHB is a good one. Or better yet, go with the Domino/Twangmaster/modded WRHB setup where they just use 3+3 polepieces with two coils. That brings things back into the single coil realm but with more warmth if desired, and no noise.

Or stick something in the Firebird family in there. If you want chime out of a humbucker, that's the way to do it.

[JSett]

I have a Creamery's PAF-sized Baby '71, and like every other WRHB I've owned before, I don't get why people compare them to single coils at all. They're just a slight variation on the humbucker theme. In the humbucker world, Firebirds are far closer to Fender single coils in tone than WRHBs.

The suggestion of an underwound WRHB is a good one. Or better yet, go with the Domino/Twangmaster/modded WRHB setup where they just use 3+3 polepieces with two coils. That brings things back into the single coil realm but with more warmth if desired, and no noise.

Or stick something in the Firebird family in there. If you want chime out of a humbucker, that's the way to do it.

The Creamery 'Baby 71' JM sized pickup is wound at 8.7k - they sound very similar to the Firebirds in my Mustang, maybe a touch brighter (could be the scale difference though). They definitely don't sound anything like a humbucker would normally sound.

[Embenny]

The Creamery 'Baby 71' JM sized pickup is wound at 8.7k - they sound very similar to the Firebirds in my Mustang, maybe a touch brighter (could be the scale difference though). They definitely don't sound anything like a humbucker would normally sound.

I dunno, all I can say is that my Baby '71 sounds closer to my 7.9k PAF than it does to my 7.1k Firebird in other guitars.

[JSett]

The Creamery 'Baby 71' JM sized pickup is wound at 8.7k - they sound very similar to the Firebirds in my Mustang, maybe a touch brighter (could be the scale difference though). They definitely don't sound anything like a humbucker would normally sound.

I dunno, all I can say is that my Baby '71 sounds closer to my 7.9k PAF than it does to my 7.1k Firebird in other guitars.

I guess it just boils down to personal perception/taste at this point then... I'd say the complete opposite!

Vive la difference!

[noisepunk]

I have a Creamery's PAF-sized Baby '71, and like every other WRHB I've owned before, I don't get why people compare them to single coils at all. They're just a slight variation on the humbucker theme. In the humbucker world, Firebirds are far closer to Fender single coils in tone than WRHBs.

The suggestion of an underwound WRHB is a good one. Or better yet, go with the Domino/Twangmaster/modded WRHB setup where they just use 3+3 polepieces with two coils. That brings things back into the single coil realm but with more warmth if desired, and no noise.

Or stick something in the Firebird family in there. If you want chime out of a humbucker, that's the way to do it.

i haven't played anything with firebird pickups in quite some time either, but my impression was of them sitting closer to the p-90 and gold-foil realm of single-coils.

pot values i think play a pretty big role in all of this too.

and also differing ears

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvDKPyF ... nnel=Moper

i can't say much other than "overdriven guitar" is coming across tone wise, but i like the tune!

[JSett]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvDKPyF ... nnel=Moper

i can't say much other than "overdriven guitar" is coming across tone wise, but i like the tune!

Yeah, it's probably not the best example to have sent in fairness. The other link was definitely more appropriate as it is an actual (badly recorded) pickup demonstration.

FWIW I've never managed to find a traditional humbucker, certainly PAF style, that has the clarity and, well, 'wide range' sound that a WRHB does. They sound very hi-fidelity, especially underwound. Having recently tried the new Fender Wide ranges, which are significantly hotter, I can say that the key to it is to have high value pots and have the low power wind. The Fenders sounded way more like a normal humbucker than the Creamery JM ones.

I wish you were more local and you could come and try one out IRL