ordered some curtis novak wide range pickups today

[onezero4u]

i talked to him on the phone and after explaining the general sound-tone i was looking for, he
recommended the wide range.

looking fwd to putting them in my supersonic.

cheers

[Reece]

cool thanks for the update

[paul_]

sound-tone

GOTS to get me one a these...

[James]

Does anyone have any experience of how his pickups are for value? They seem to be priced higher than the Duncan/Dimazrio types but lower than the average boutique/blues lawyer ones. The jazz bass pickups are priced about the same as Nordstrand which are likely what I'll go for when I eventually do the swap, but I'd be interested to hear opinions on these (for any of his pickups, not just the jazz bass).

[cobascis]

Does anyone have any experience of how his pickups are for value? They seem to be priced higher than the Duncan/Dimazrio types but lower than the average boutique/blues lawyer ones. The jazz bass pickups are priced about the same as Nordstrand which are likely what I'll go for when I eventually do the swap, but I'd be interested to hear opinions on these (for any of his pickups, not just the jazz bass).

My novak jag pickup is great. Seemed a pretty decent deal for 80.

[Reece]

Does anyone have any experience of how his pickups are for value? They seem to be priced higher than the Duncan/Dimazrio types but lower than the average boutique/blues lawyer ones. The jazz bass pickups are priced about the same as Nordstrand which are likely what I'll go for when I eventually do the swap, but I'd be interested to hear opinions on these (for any of his pickups, not just the jazz bass).

My novak jag pickup is great. Seemed a pretty decent deal for 80.

i'm interested enough in these boutique-but-not-quite pickups enough to consider going for one of the jag pups. the price isn't that much really.

is it neck or bridge?

[onezero4u]

FYI: Novaks wide range pups (neck & bridge sans cover) cost me $291 shipped.

[Reece]

175.861 GBP

oof

[Fran]

175.861 GBP

oof

+1.
I'd be more tempted to go for Antiquities.

[Aeon]

Who else builds wide-range-esque pickups besides Novak? And especially at that price-point?

[iCEByTes]

CuNiFe ?

[dots]

i'd like to hear comparisons of these novaks to these gfs versions. ffs, they're just a little over 1/5 the price, but my guess is they sound 19/20 as good.

[othomas2]

Probably.. . I think the Cool cat drive sounds as good as the OCD if not better. It's a funny thing hearsay.

There are a lot of gear snobs around and a lot of their views are unfounded... not enough people use their ears or even refined enough to do so. Just takes a few people to wank vocal and jobs a good 'un.

I've heard a lot of good stuff about Curtis Novak... I really do wanna hear it for myself !! You gotta hear it to believe it, & I wont be persuaded any other way.

[Aeon]

i'd like to hear comparisons of these novaks to these gfs versions. ffs, they're just a little over 1/5 the price, but my guess is they sound 19/20 as good.

Those use typical Gibson-style pickup construction, and don't really sound like a WR at all from reviews I've read. The Novak at least has construction details closer to a true WR.

[cobascis]

Does anyone have any experience of how his pickups are for value? They seem to be priced higher than the Duncan/Dimazrio types but lower than the average boutique/blues lawyer ones. The jazz bass pickups are priced about the same as Nordstrand which are likely what I'll go for when I eventually do the swap, but I'd be interested to hear opinions on these (for any of his pickups, not just the jazz bass).

My novak jag pickup is great. Seemed a pretty decent deal for 80.

i'm interested enough in these boutique-but-not-quite pickups enough to consider going for one of the jag pups. the price isn't that much really.

is it neck or bridge?

I (somewhat stupidly) got the neck pup, as its the one I primarily use, but the MIJ neck is decent. It was a noticeable improvement. Works well with overdrive and nails the bright vintage tone. Go for it.

[Mages]

probably the most important things in how an electric guitar sounds are

• Strings
• Pickups
• Amplifier
• Speaker(s)

I think it can be worth it to spend a little money in these areas to get what you want.

[paul_]

i'd like to hear comparisons of these novaks to these gfs versions. ffs, they're just a little over 1/5 the price, but my guess is they sound 19/20 as good.

Those use typical Gibson-style pickup construction, and don't really sound like a WR at all from reviews I've read. The Novak at least has construction details closer to a true WR.

Yeah I have one and they don't sound like a WRHB, even reissue. I'm also pretty sure they're ceramic magnet.

[analogsystem]

Hes been making them for a while but finally changed the name to "Wide Range" recently. He said he didn't want to get flamed for not having Cunife mags.

I think that the reason they sound so close to the originals is not the magnets, but the construction. The WR RIs and the GFS pickups are both regular humbuckers (bar mag) in cool looking cases.

I think that Novak is using actual magnetic pole pieces like the real WR pickups.
------------------------------

This makes sense to me....if I have a PAF clone with A5 or A2 it's still closer to a PAF than a filtertron is. If hes doing the correct construction with a different magnet (Cunife is no longer available), then I'd assume that these will have a lot of the great qualities that make real WR pups special.

Looking forward to a report on how they sound

[euan]

Woah someone is actually making a magnet pole piece version? Good on him. They are pretty unique in the world and probably deserve the price for that.

[analogsystem]

Basically 2 strat pickups stuck together and wired in series is a humbucker with magnetic poles.....just not threaded ones.

Its cool that Novak is doing this. There are other companies (including Duncan) that do the same thing. I wish they got more attention. I think its a great way to add clarity to a humbucker but still get the girth.