Wide Range Humbucker Modification
One of my favorite pickups is the WRHB. The reissues are OK pickups but they are just run of the mill humbuckers. They can be so much more.
Our modifications transform your re-issue into a vintage sounding WRHB. Services similar to this have become very popular in the last several years but ours remain unique for several reasons. Here’s our process.
- You send me your pickup. I dismantle it.
- I wind my custom, vintage correct bobbins (which I build in-house), to vintage specs. Most importantly this involves winding the coils using the same turns per layer as the original pickups.
- I use a combination of threaded FeCrCo magnets and custom cut Alnico V magnets which are degaussed to levels matching what you’d see in original Cunife magnets.
- I insert a vintage correct ‘reflector plate’ (also built in-house) between the bobbin and the baseplate.
The result is a beautiful, harmonically rich, pickup that is very true to the ’72 vintage WRHB but at a fraction of the cost.
Read the reviews. They speak for themselves!
Chris Knudson –
I had the mod done to a Squire classic vibe WRHB neck on the Tele Custom 72. Holy Cow what a difference! Sounds incredible now. Jesse was super helpful and had great communication to get exactly what I need. Super fast turnaround. Highly Recommended !!
Raz R. –
I was familiar with the sound of the reissues and knew pretty immediately that I wasn’t interested. So I got my hands on a set and sent them right over. Frankly, the neck pickup is perhaps the best pickup I’ve ever played. It sounds so sweet and present; Baffling, like being in love. I have mine hooked up to a series/parallel switch and there’s just a sound in there for everything.
Dustin Peden –
This pickup rebuild has transformed me telecaster custom reissue into a brand new guitar! There is so much clarity and smoothness in this pickup. The turnaround time on the order was so fast! I highly recommend it!!
Marc-andre Beaudet –
Got the full mod set (underwound neck) for my Fender Starcaster reissue; they are everything i was hoping they would be. Clarity, chime, body… perfect balance of single coil and hubucker. Feels like my guitar finally woke up. It’s the sound i had in my head. I always used stock pickups on my guitar and i think this will make me change pickups on all of them!
Mark R Cress –
I had Jesse do the Wide Range mod/rebuild on a DOA Fender Wide Range pickup. After chatting with him we went with the underwound option and I installed it in my Squier Tele Custom. Wow!! I love the airyness and clarity of this pickup!!
Thanks Jesse for your magic and your help!!
Mark R Cress –
Jesse did his full mod on a DOA reissue pickup for me. We spoke about how I was gonna set up my Squier ’72 Tele Custom style guitar and I went with the underwound option to balance with the Broadcaster bridge pickup. This pickup is awesome!! The airyness and clarity of this pickup makes this one of my favorite Teles!! I urge anyone that’s unhappy with their reissue Wide Range pickups to get Jesse to do this mod on them!! Thanks to you Jesse for your service!1
Chaz –
I sent a stock Fender reissue Wide Range neck pickup to Jesse for the full mod service. The stock neck pickup sounded good… however just like a PAF as that’s basically what it is in a Wide Range cover. Having had a vintage Tele Deluxe in the past I knew what I was missing with a PAF in the neck of my current build instead of a real Wide Range. The finished “modded” pickup arrive this week and I quickly installed into in to the Tele Custom partscaster I am assembling. I am blown away with the clarity and tone of this pickup. Wonderful clean or overdriven. As good as (if not better) than a vintage Wide Range pickup from the 70’s. Very happy with this modification. Highly recommended.
Mark J –
I installed the WRHB rewinds today. They are incredible! Clear, warm and sweet. Sweet chimey highs, with more tone in your fingers. The bridge pickup, which on most guitars is too thin and bright for my taste, is now great. The best money I have ever spent on pickups. The sound clips only captures a slice of the improvement. My 72 Tele deluxe is my number one now. Thanks for your time and craftsmanship.
D. Chapman –
To take my recent Fender WRHBs to the next level, I went with the full modification service Revel offers. My ’72 Thinline now snarls when needed, and gets nice and clean when necessary. The pickups are very pedal friendly too, reverb shines, compression, distortion, delay all sound deeper and fuller. Very satisfied with Jesse’s work and expertise. Thanks a bunch!
Tim Johnston –
Jesse offers a fantastic service for working musicians on a budget who love the classic Telecasters with WRHBs, but can’t get along with the new lackluster pickups that come stock on the reissue models. His communication was great, the turnaround time was quick, and the sound of the finished product is fantastic! I went with the under-wound neck pickup which balances beautifully with the bridge on my ’72 Thinline. If you are looking for a stunning audio upgrade that will bring your guitar new life, then look no further than Revel Custom Pickups. Highly recommended!
Thomas Bouchard –
I had my Fender Reissue Classic Series ’72 Telecaster® Thinline’s WRHB pickups rewound by Jesse over this past Christmas. WOW is all I can say, it brought my guitar TO LIFE. It sounds stronger, cleaner, and nastier (when in distortion mode).. Was well worth the money. Jess was easy to communicate with and did a speedy job. If you even considering it, then just do it, you won’t be disappointed.
Michael C Williams –
Jesse is truly a Craftsman/Artist!
I’ve had my Squier ’72 Thinline re-issue for 5 or 6 years now, bought it online, and though it’s a beautiful guitar, it just didn’t sound the way I thought it would.
When i bought it I wasn’t aware of the huge difference between the original Seth Lover design and the not so great re-issue pups. I thought it was maybe the electronics, so I upgraded to CTS pots, a CRL three- way switch, and a PIO tone cap.
An improvement, but not the Kieth R. , Tab B. kind of sound I was looking for. I was looking in to some other re-build possibilities when I found Revel on eBay and read a few reviews and thought it might be the best way to go. I’m glad I did!
My guitar now sounds amazing! It sounds pretty close to the originals, and I’m very pleased with the whole experience. Great communication, fast turn time, and great tone!
I highly recommend Revel!
Jeffrey Harris –
Amazing service provided by this man! Had my Tele Custom reissue for over 10 years before reading an article about the difference in sound between the original ‘72 WRHB pickups and the muddy reissues. Turn around was super quick and now it’s like I have a whole new guitar. He was EXTREMELY helpful and patient with me when I had some wiring issues getting it reinstalled and I cannot recommend his services highly enough. Thanks a ton Jesse!!!!
Chris –
I sent the WRHBs from my ’72 Telecaster Deluxe reissue to Jesse @ Revel to be rewound. Fender’s new WRHBs are just normal humbuckers in WR covers and sound lifeless and dull. I was craving something more like the originals. Once I recieved the rewound HBs from Revel, I immediately took them to my luthier for a new wiring harness and installation. When he said they were some of the best he’s heard, I was stoked… and I have to agree. They sound beautiful…bright, clear, and articulate no matter where I am on the fret board. These WRHBs are a must have for any Thinline, Deluxe or Custom. Get them now before Jesse realizes what he has and prices skyrocket.
Greg Balleza –
I’m a big fan of the original 70’s Fender vintage WRHB and as we all know the reissues are nothing like them internally, even after upgrading to 500k or 1meg pots. Over the last few years I’ve been trying the different vintage style WRHB offerings by various boutique pickup builders and manufacturers including, Lollar, Mojotone, Brandonwound and Catswhisker. I thought I was done searching but I stumbled upon Jesse’s Revel mod service on eBay late last year and figured I’d try his version too for a ’72 Tele Custom build I was working on (went with full vintage rating 10.7k output for the neck pickup). When I finally got the guitar built and pickup installed (used 500k pots) I was blown away! This was literally everything I was looking for in a WRHB–punchy but not excessive, clarity and smooth highs without the shrillness and balance across all strings. Jesse clearly did his homework here and it shows. Regardless of price, although you’re probably not going to find a cheaper vintage style WRHB, it holds its own and performs just as well if not better than the majority of the other offerings out there.
I went ahead and ordered a few more for some upcoming projects including a matched set with the underwound 9.5k neck and regular 10.7k bridge for a ’72 Tele Thinline with an ash body and as expected these pickups took that guitar to the next level.
During the process of sending the reissue pickups to Jesse, he was a total professional and gave me status updates and was able to answer my various questions throughout. If you’re thinking about doing this, just go ahead and do it. You won’t be disappointed!
Patrick Green –
I bought a ’72 Reissue Tele Thinline with WRHBs and was not impressed at all with the pickups. They sounded dark and compressed, and just got worse when I added any drive or distortion. I sent them to Jesse at Revel and he overhauled them to vintage spec using my original covers. Wow what a difference!! The Revel-modded buckers are now much brighter and open, but still have a rich, warm midrange. When driven, they’ve got awesome sustain that absolutely blows away the original pickups! I highly recommend this mod if you have reissue WRHBs.