Fender’s CuNiFe WRHB “sold out” status

The new WRHB has both a neck and bridge offering. Everywhere I look, the neck one is sold out and back ordered. Fender’s website keeps saying a date and then pushes that date further back when it arrives. It seems they are content on putting them into their production guitars like the AO70 and CS, and not making the neck version available for the moment.


Ok, fine. That’s good business.

But what I don’t understand is why people aren’t jumping on the “bridge” cunife pickups? They’re available and it’s the same damned thing. I have a bridge one that measures 11k and the neck version has a range of just 0.2k lower. It’s a wonderful pickup, btw.

so my advice is, if you’re thinking you want one of these in the neck position, try the bridge WRHB. It’s just ever-so-slightly more output than the neck one. No point in waiting around for Fender. Besides, everyone knows these things have pole pieces that don’t align well with the strings in the typical bridge position anyways.

 

you’d think so, but nope. They measure the same...just as the original 70s ones did.

 

It’s my favorite set up, actually.

 

yes, that’s exactly it. So these same people wanting a wrhb for the neck position are exactly what fender seems to be exploiting at the moment. But what I’m saying is the bridge wrhb is the same pickup as the neck but just a hair more output, which is a perfect match for most mid gain (and up) traditional bridge pickups.

 

yes, but none of them have that Fender logo and that’s important when building an authentic looking deluxe or custom.

...but for sure, there are plenty of great options. My experience with Novak pickups (and Curtis himself in a few emails) has been very positive. And yes, his magnet formula for the wrhb is a solid alternative. Even almico3 magnets get it done if done right. Gemini Pickups out of NY do a WRHB called the “tone ranger” that uses alnico3 (not many people know about this guy, but he’s a great winder) And lots of others....

but for anyone who has had an original cunife wrhb, it is slightly different. It just is, and I cannot be confused by charts and graphs. Without going down a rabbit hole or making any wild claims, I’ll just say that Fender’s new wrhb with the cunife is my favorite thus far. Taste is subjective, but I think they nailed it.

 

In so many other situations, the distinction between neck and bridge pickups should be observed. But since we are talking about otherwise identical neck/bridge pickups like the new Fender wrhb, the only difference is the number of winds (output). They use the same pole spacing and same wire on both the neck/bridge. Lastly, when you look at something like a 72 style Custom or Deluxe, you’re blessed with TWO volume controls, so the whole thing is a moot point. I wouldn’t hesitate to use two bridge pickups on a Deluxe. And I’m using a “bridge” wrhb with a higher output traditional single coil bridge and they play realllly nice together.

 

Might want to consider grabbing a bridge while you can. Last time I checked, Amazon had a few sellers with them available. If and when Fender replenishes supply of the neck ones, you can jump on that, too.

 

lucky dog.

consider the American Professional II ? If I was going to build from scratch, I’d pick up one of those. Reasons:

They have a shorty/chopped ashtray bridge instead of the typical strat style bridge of a traditional deluxe. May or may not be to your liking ,,,

the new “mercury” finish is gorgeous, IMO.

4 bolt neck,

yeah, you’re gonna need a whole new scratch plate and wiring, but you were gonna put pups in anyways, right ?

 

right, or even tilting them to boost/cut your desired frequency. That’s a cool feature of these

personally, I did grow up with them and prefer em a lot.