WRHB options

I'd like to get some nice WR's for a project guitar I'm working on and I'm wondering what all is out there. Preferrably something cheaper than the Lollars :shock: yikes, no pickup is worth that much.

I did some quick googling but couldn't find anything before my laziness kicked in.:rolleyes:

Why WR? Back in the 70's most people I knew did not like them.

Sound is in the ear of the beholder, so power to you.

Anyway, I think more are starting to be made. Fender OE, and others. They were pretty much just a niche market for a long time.

Wish you well..

There are many options aside from Lollar (although I disagree with your assessment of their value), that are varying degrees of less expensive or similarly expensive (in some cases more expensive).

http://www.at-the-creamery.co.uk/scatterwound-pickups-from-the-creamery/wide-range-thinline-humbucker-replacements.html

http://www.curtisnovak.com/pickups/wrhb.shtml

http://www.telenator.com/

http://www.arcaneinc.com/#/broad-range/4014938

There's probably more out there I don't know about; as well as several places that offer standard humbucker sized versions and that will also rework/rebuild the crappy Fender reissues. You could also try your luck at getting a vintage one off of ebay (I got one earlier this year for around $300, but they usually are going for more than that). The thing you need to understand is that these are niche market pickups and only boutique shops are really making them - the tooling involved is more expensive than the more widely available traditional single coil and humbucker pickup. Fender has yet to make an honest attempt at a more accurate reproduction - they could easily make a design similar to what's being offered by the boutique guys, with threaded magnet pole pieces (not CuNiFe due to costs, but there ARE viable alternatives that are not cost prohibitive).
I personally have a set of Creamery Classic 71's in my reissue 72 thinline and I'm more than very happy with them - with the original I have to directly compare the Creamery ones to, I can tell you that the Creamery WRHB's are very, very accurate in producing the vintage WRHB sound. Maybe not as accurate construction-wise as Telenator's full on reproduction using actual CuNiFe threaded magnet pole pieces, but way less expensive. That being said, if I was restoring a vintage 70s guitar that someone had taken the original WRHB humbucker(s) out of and lost it or threw it away or whatever, the I would go to Telenator rather than try and play the ebay game.
The point is that there is no "cheap" way to get a WRHB that is more in line with the original 70s ones in terms of sound and construction - if you really want them, you're going to have to pony up a bit of scratch to do it.

The price might be worth it if I was dead set on the WRHB sound. I have guitars with single coils and humbuckers, so I thought a change of pace would be nice. But that's way too expensive for a mere change of pace/project guitar. It could turn out that I don't like them. I think I'm going to look into p-rails instead.

For between $160 and $180 depending on shipping costs and actual selling price of the re-issue you can buy a fender re-issue on ebay and send it to telenator to do a mod 1 on it which involves putting alnico magnets into the stock coils
or you can just use the stock fender reissue for around $70 plus shipping on ebay

- Gretchy type of pickups are nice change of pace too..filtertrons...more makers out there..

custom shop tele cabronita

I'm not really a fan of the fender reissues and going through the extra hassle and expense of sending them away isn't appealing. Like I said, if I was out to get a good WRHB as a #1 player maybe...but not for this one. The body and neck is a squier custom ii that I bought because it was cheap and had duncans and locking tuners in it. I put the duncans in my Schecter which is now awesome enough that I don't even care about the gaudy appearance.

I refinished the squier with spray paint which turned out horrible. Lesson learned. I put a duncan-designed in the bridge position and wired it straight to the jack. I like it at first but couldn't get used to not having any controls. So now I'm refinishing it again with nitro and going for a new pickup scheme.

I've tried some of the filtertron-equiped guitars and can't get into them. Theres nothing in particular I can point out that I don't like...just can't bond with them.

Go with Bob aka Telenator...