Looking for Broadcaster style pickups (Mojo, Oil City, The Creamery)

Emiel

The pickups of early Telecasters, then named Broadcaster, were apparently originally wound with thinner 43 awg wire as opposed to the later, Nocaster-style 42 awg wire, resulting in a hotter wound.

Mojo, Oil City, The Creamery all have their takes on it. Any experiences with them or similar style pickups? 

meltedbuzzbox

The mojo set is genuinely amazing. 
Im not a fan of telecasters but they sound godly with that set. 

@impmann owns a set/single pickup and likes teles, he can probably steer you right

guitarfishbay

BKP Flat 50 bridge pickup is the nicest Tele pickup I’ve heard. 

wesker123

Klein Nocaster pickups are excellent.

GoldenEraGuitars

The original tele pickups were from lap steeled weren’t they? 

Check out Montys Pickups too

impmann

The Mojo Broadcaster is superb - absolutely fab.
The Seymour Duncan Broadcaster is also amazing.

I have both. I love them equally.

I had a set of Creamery Tele pickups that were OK but a little harsh to my ears. I couldn't tell you which set because I bought the guitar with them fitted (I'm sure they would have sounded better in a different guitar) - I sold them and installed a set of Oil City Whapping Wharfs, which were much nicer IMHO. I've had a few sets of Ash's Tele pickups and each set has been superb - I don't think he makes a 'bad' Tele pickup but they are definitely different flavours.

Another to consider is the Alegree Cirrostratus - very nice, well balanced set. Definitely in my top 5 fave Tele pickup sets. I especially like these in Ash bodied Teles.

Now here's the thing...

Yes, the early Tele pickup was wound hotter (slightly) and that gives the mids a bit more of a push, but this can be at the expense of treble clarity in some 'Broadcaster" sets. For example, I detest the Fender set of that name for exactly that reason - to get any sparkle from them you have to have the pickups too close. They also have confused mids compared to the Seymour Duncan and Mojo units of the same name. You may be surprised by the more full range sound of the later pickups - albeit they normally have a lower resistance (7.5k on average). In the right guitar these things sound HUGE.

Personally - I'd speak to the winders themselves (Ash, Marc at Mojo, Alex at Alegree etc) to discuss what sort of sound you are trying to achieve in that particular guitar. We live in charmed times for handmade pickups right now - especially so because you can talk to the actual people that will wind them to suit *you*.

p90fool

The Duncan Broadcaster bridge pickup is great, and they crop up second hand a fair bit.

Emiel

Cheers guys, much appreciated. Years ago I had a Tele with a Fender Nocaster set, nothing wrong with those but now I have a new Tele (well, an old Tokai) I'd like a bit more output without loosing clarity so the output and volume are not too far off my PAF-loaded Gibson-style guitars.

flying_pie

Oil City 49er is the 43 awg Broadcaster style 
It's a great pickup. I love mine.

OilCityPickups

Can I explode the myth that early Tele pickups were hotter? Yes they have a higher DC resistance, about 9.5k ... however this is a function of their thinner wire, and they don't, in general have more turns on the bobbin than a later 6.5k one ... so as far as loudness is concerned they are exactly the same!
What they do have ... as a result of the thinner wire, is more mids, and less treble, added to this they use alnico 3 rather than alnico 5 as later ones used. Alnico 3 is the lowest magnetic power alnico, and comes with a sort of natural compression, added to a very low string pull. 

springhead

^^^ That's a very useful bit of information.  I hadn't realised the Broadcaster/lap steel pickups were thinner gauge wire and hence always thought they were hotter.  Interesting!

Henrytwang

p90fool said:

The Duncan Broadcaster bridge pickup is great, and they crop up second hand a fair bit.

I’ve got a Duncan Broadcaster pickup which I’ve owned for over 20 years. It’s a great sounding pickup and has been in at least 3 of my Telecasters. It has always sounded slightly different in the various guitars which proves, (at least to me), that the guitar construction/materials does have some influence on the tone, it’s not all down to the pickups.

Emiel

TheGuitarWeasel said:

Can I explode the myth that early Tele pickups were hotter? Yes they have a higher DC resistance, about 9.5k ... however this is a function of their thinner wire, and they don't, in general have more turns on the bobbin than a later 6.5k one ... so as far as loudness is concerned they are exactly the same!
What they do have ... as a result of the thinner wire, is more mids, and less treble, added to this they use alnico 3 rather than alnico 5 as later ones used. Alnico 3 is the lowest magnetic power alnico, and comes with a sort of natural compression, added to a very low string pull. 

Thanks for your input! That's some great information. I like the part of 'more mids, less treble' too!

impmann

TheGuitarWeasel said:

Can I explode the myth that early Tele pickups were hotter? Yes they have a higher DC resistance, about 9.5k ... however this is a function of their thinner wire, and they don't, in general have more turns on the bobbin than a later 6.5k one ... so as far as loudness is concerned they are exactly the same!
What they do have ... as a result of the thinner wire, is more mids, and less treble, added to this they use alnico 3 rather than alnico 5 as later ones used. Alnico 3 is the lowest magnetic power alnico, and comes with a sort of natural compression, added to a very low string pull. 

Erm...

Ok I accept part of that. However, more upper mids actually make the early type Pickup appear louder - in certain circumstances. 
The later pickup has more top and a scooping of the upper mids which gives it a lot of twang and zing. But give it a driven amp, you need to dial the treble down a touch or it can be too much (especially in an Ash body). With a Broadcaster type, that harsh top end doesn’t need attenuating and appears louder - hence the concept of them being hotter.
Before the prices went nuts, I had a lap steel pickup from 49 that I bought for 65 dollars... the mids off that pickup would drive an AC30 *beautifully* and it was a phat sound. The perception of loudness from it was far greater than the Fender 1960s US reissue pickup it replaced. I sold the 49 for £300 and thought I was doing well... 
Interestingly, some pickup makers have a DC resistance of significantly more than 9k for their ‘Broadcaster’ style pickups.... perhaps, as with many things to do with vintage guitars, there was a degree of randomness in the number of turns crammed onto some old pickups and that has translated into hotter pickups from some makers.

Dan

Im keeping an eye on this thread.

Ive got a set of fender broadcasters which im really pleased with but havent tried much else 'broadcaster' wise.Very tempted with a mojo broadcaster set.

Nature_1

My tele has a set of bareknuckle blackguards in it - not quite a broadcaster, maybe more of a nocaster kinda vibe from them. They sound immense anyway!

Emiel

Thanks! I have sent e-mails to each of the mentioned builders. 

OilCityPickups

impmann said:

TheGuitarWeasel said:

Can I explode the myth that early Tele pickups were hotter? Yes they have a higher DC resistance, about 9.5k ... however this is a function of their thinner wire, and they don't, in general have more turns on the bobbin than a later 6.5k one ... so as far as loudness is concerned they are exactly the same!
What they do have ... as a result of the thinner wire, is more mids, and less treble, added to this they use alnico 3 rather than alnico 5 as later ones used. Alnico 3 is the lowest magnetic power alnico, and comes with a sort of natural compression, added to a very low string pull. 

Erm...

Ok I accept part of that. However, more upper mids actually make the early type Pickup appear louder - in certain circumstances. 
The later pickup has more top and a scooping of the upper mids which gives it a lot of twang and zing. But give it a driven amp, you need to dial the treble down a touch or it can be too much (especially in an Ash body). With a Broadcaster type, that harsh top end doesn’t need attenuating and appears louder - hence the concept of them being hotter.
Before the prices went nuts, I had a lap steel pickup from 49 that I bought for 65 dollars... the mids off that pickup would drive an AC30 *beautifully* and it was a phat sound. The perception of loudness from it was far greater than the Fender 1960s US reissue pickup it replaced. I sold the 49 for £300 and thought I was doing well... 
Interestingly, some pickup makers have a DC resistance of significantly more than 9k for their ‘Broadcaster’ style pickups.... perhaps, as with many things to do with vintage guitars, there was a degree of randomness in the number of turns crammed onto some old pickups and that has translated into hotter pickups from some makers.

By loudness I am talking millivolts output, not 'perceived loudness'. The type of loudness you are referring to is to do with the  transient peaks of particular wind/magnet combination cutting through in a mix/live situation. I have rewound a good number of old 'Broadcaster' pickups, and have never found one over the turn count that would equate to 9.5k(ish), that's why mine hovers around that area. I think some pickup makers add a little extra wire to beef things up ... largely because they think that's what the customer wants. I prefer to keep clarity and avoid over compression. 
The Early Tele pickup is actually one of my favorite Fender designs ... and to my mind suits many rock styles better than the later type. 
As an aside, this sort of pickup shouldn't be referred to as a 'Broadcaster' pickup ... as it pre-dates the Broadcaster and was first fitted to the Esquire ... the first Fender solid body 'Spanish' guitar. That's why my version is known as the Fortyniner ... not Broadcaster.
:-)

ESchap

I've got a Mojo Broadcaster bridge pickup in a parts-a-tele I built.  It reads about 10.4k  I had it set as per my other telecaster bridge pickups and wasn't that impressed with it until I adjusted the height right up and suddenly it made sense.  Good twang but with less scoop than a more "classic" tele pickup.  Works really well with a humbucker in the neck. 

Emiel

Double post.

Emiel

@TheGuitarWeasel : Now I understand where the Fortyniner got its name from! I sent you an email some days ago but maybe its good to put it here as well. What is the (tonal) difference between your Fortyniner and Honkytonk Angel pickup?