Fender Wide Range
| Fender Wide Range | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Fender |
| Period | 1971–1979 (original) 1983–present (Japan reissue) 1998–present (Mexican reissue) |
| Type | Passive humbucker |
| Magnet type | CuNiFe – (original), ceramic – (Japanese RI), AlNiCo – (Mexican RI, Ranaldo model RI) |
| Output specifications | |
| Voltage (RMS), V | 211.9 mV at 7.135 kHz resonant frequency |
| Impedance, kΩ | 602 kΩ at 7.135 kHz resonant frequency |
| Sonic qualities | |
| Resonant frequency, Hz |
7.135 kHz |
The Fender Wide Range Humbucker is a humbucker guitar pickup, designed by Seth Lover for Fender in the early 1970s. This pickup was intended to break Fender's image as a "single coil guitar company", and to gain a foothold in the humbucker guitar market dominated by Gibson.
The pickups enjoyed some popularity, though they certainly were never as widespread as Fender's single-coil pickups. Original Wide Range pickups were available from 1971 and subsequently installed in the Deluxe, Custom and Thinline Telecasters as well as the Starcaster, ceasing production successively in 1979 when these models were discontinued. Fender Japan were the first to introduce a reissue in 1983, followed by the Made in Mexico version around 1998. The Wide Range Pickup found on American made Fender guitars is actually the Mexican-made model introduced in 1998. All reissues differ from the original Seth Lover design in both construction and sound (see below).
The Wide Range pickup was conceived to be sonically closer to Fender's single coil pickups than Gibson humbuckers. Due to the difficulty of machining AlNiCo magnets into screw-type pole pieces, this concept called for the use of the more easily machinable CuNiFe (Copper/Nickel/Iron) rod magnets as pole pieces within the coil structures, to function more like a regular Strat pickup than a Gibson humbucker. Whereas Gibson humbuckers use a single bar magnet under the coils of the pickup, Wide Range pickups have individual CuNiFe magnets that were threaded and slotted to resemble the adjustable screw type poles of a Gibson humbucker. The pickup bobbins were wound with approximately 6800 turns of copper wire around the pole-pieces and the Wide Range pickup has a DC resistance of around 10 kΩ.
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