Fender Humbuckers

[camelboy02]

okay... so i have a number of questions, please bear with me...

im in the market for a thinline deluxe (dual humbuckers...right...)
cant afford a real vintage one so i have been looking at the new MIM RIs.
do they suck?

what pickups were in the old ones? i know they say wide range humbuckers, but what does that mean? the "wide range" humbuckers in the new MIM '72s cant be that great...

what humbuckers can i replace the factory ones with to get a better vintage thinline tone?

i want to get fender humbuckers, but i dont know part numbers or anything to look up for higher end fender humbuckers. so if someone could point me in the direction of a place to check out fender humbuckers that would be great.


thanks

 

[sile2001]

I don't actually own one, but I've played a couple so I'll throw in my $0.02...

According to most of the reviews over at Harmony Central, the guys that own these MIM RI's are very impressed with them, saying that quality-wise, they have more in common with Fender's MIJ guitars rather than MIM's. Evidently, the quality of the '72 Thinline RI is far above what is usually turned out of the mexico factory. In light of the ones that I've played myself, I'll have to agree! As far as playability, finishout and a feeling of solidness goes, it was easily on par with my '01 USA Strat...maybe a little better.

About the pickups, I have no clue what is meant by "wide range", but I do know that this same type of pickup was used on the original '72 thinlines...Fender didn't change to different pickups. Just like the old wide range humbuckers, these have more of a dark tonality to them, which is a perfect fit with its hollow-body sound. Honestly, if you replace the pickups, you will end up much farther away from the vintage thinline tone instead of closer to it.

I think these wide-range hummers are the only humbucking pickups Fender currently offers, and I've never seen them for sale individually. Your best bet would be to buy them from someone who sourced the parts off a guitar.