70's Wide Range Humbucker Review (feat.StarCaster) | Working Class Music

We're here with a Before&After of the 70's Vintage Wide Range Humbucker Pickup in a Classic Vibe Starcaster! We're switching out the original stock pickups for these extremely vintage-accurate bad boys. Jason is joined by the amazing Guitar Tech, Justin Simmard, who will be performing the operation. Drop a comment if you'd like us to send you the original pickups from the StarCaster, and we'll randomly pick a person to send them to as a souvenir. Make sure to subscribe to the Channel so you don't miss any new episodes of Working Class Music.
Thanks for watching!!
Your support makes this show possible. We have Bonus Content for Patrons, and stylish shirts and hoodies on our Merch Store, or you can purchase what you see on the show through our Affiliate Links!
FENDER CUNIFE PICKUPS: tinyurl.com/FenderCuNiFe
STARCASTER: tinyurl.com/WCMStarcaster
PATREON: / wcmshow
MERCH: tinyurl.com/wcmstore
SWEETWATER: tinyurl.com/sweetwaterwcm
SEYMOUR DUNCAN PICKUPS: tinyurl.com/seymourduncanwcm
Hit us up on our socials! We love to chat and hear feedback.
TWITTER: / wcmshow
INSTAGRAM: / wcmshow
TIKTOK: / workingclassmusic
FACEBOOK: / wcmshow

[@ThatMattGoodMusic]

I got some Catswhisker Wide Ranges and they're fantastic. Made myself a Jagblaster out of my Jagmaster. That Starcaster sounds sick!

[@WorkingClassMusic]

Dude!!! Now we’re seriously considering doing a jazzblaster build...but a Jagblaster would be cool too! And thanks! I think the CV Starcaster is the best guitar in the CV line up!

[@ThatMattGoodMusic]

@@WorkingClassMusic do it! I'm a big fan of short scale guitars, so that's why I went that way. It's not really a true blaster because I also installed coil splits and a rhythm circuit, far more complicated than the Sonic Youth guitars! True, if I ever want a semi hollow I think a CV Starcaster will be my first bet.

[@WorkingClassMusic]

We'll definitely put on our calendar. It would be alotta fun to build a TRUE JAZZBLASTER

[@bumblefritz]

The Starcaster is such a cool guitar. I was dreaming of a re-release on day and I snatched up a Classic Vibe day 1. I loaded it with the CuNiFe Wide Ranges and it's perfect.

[@oldmanzen6682]

Working class tip: go to a pet shop that sells fish and tanks, and get a length of rubber tubing (the kind they use for the air compressors and filters); works great for getting the pots back through the holes ridiculously fast, and the tubing is inexpensive.

[@WorkingClassMusic]

great tip! real in the pocket stuff. noice.

[@-doggy-6670]

I used the wifes dental floss....she threatened to knock my teeth out if I did it again

[@nicholas2508]

This made me realize that I need to use mine to play more smashing pumpkins. and for that I thank you eternally

[@ubellubo]

I can hear a difference. The upgraded pickups sound clearer and more bell-like to my ears. It sounds better. But apparently, you didn't change the pots... so I would be curious to hear it after that upgrade too

[@TKTunstal]

Appreciated all the info and I like that you showed the process in detail of actually changing the pickups out on a semihollow. A little constructive criticism - as someone with a bad short term memory, by the time you got to playing the new pickups I couldn't really remember the sound of the old ones well enough to be actively hearing the difference. Would be helpful if there was a back-to-back cut between the before and after riffs at the end to really emphasize it.

[@rextopher]

Dude Just found y’all. I love jazzmasters and eyeballing one of these starcaster for a minute. I love the pumpkins and deftones. This channel was literally made for me. Hell yeah. Hell. Yeah.

[@nathancorder4655]

This was a great way to spend some time! I have a squire starcaster and I'll have to saving my pennies to put in some new pickups. Great video, thank you!

[@MurrayWilliams]

The Fender guys called those pickups “Koo-nih-fay” in their release videos. “Q-Knife” sounds cool though.

[@EarleMonroe]

14:44 Loved hearing that RH tune. Flies were buzzing around my head when you played that ;-)

[@LordFuzzman]

Great vid!! I asked Tim Shaw at Fender who is behind the re-issue CuNiFe how to pronounce it. He says Cooneefayyy 😝

[@WorkingClassMusic]

Dude!!!! Thank you!!!! Yea, we were wondering where on earth did fender find CuNiFe. Lol. Btw!!! We love your channel and hoping you do something on the new Squier Contemporary Jaguar!

[@stevesoldwedel]

This makes some sense, since it's Copper, Nickel, and Iron (Cuprum, Nickel, Ferrum). Although, I guess, if we really want to nerd out, it would be coo-knee-feh (as opposed to "fay" ... using a glottal stop like in "meh." But let's not go crazy. 🙃).

[@cdreyes81]

Pulling out the Pumpkins. YEAH.

[@kirkscobey3031]

That darn Seth Lover had his fingers in every bodies neck pocket!!! You forgot Wolfgang Van Halen!!!

[@heckatron2586]

I have one of the reissue wide range pickups in my tele custom. Awesome neck sound! I want to grab one of those starcasters

[@chrisbliss7]

3:20 before 12:53 after

[@Jimbowholivesinsoup]

Really nice video ! Thanks !

[@WorkingClassMusic]

no, no. thank YOU

[@RODAREZconAmor]

I have the same guitar, I'm not much of a guitar player but I love mine. But, since I wanted a whammy bar on it I bought a DUESENBERG and it is awesome! Now I'm looking into upgrading my electronics

[@WorkingClassMusic]

*noice* thanks for watching, buddy!

[@bumblefritz]

I just installed a Duesenberg on mine too. The thing works great! It feels like a cross between a Bigsby and a Jaguar style vibrato.

[@brianparcon3335]

Great video. Also, very accurate read of Digimon v Pokemon

[@ideashop4981]

Great video! Love mine in maple

[@stringspicksandfiddlestick6388]

I have a Squire Vintage Modified '72 Reissue Thineline . I got it at a pawn shop for around $175 when the were $299 list price. I just ordered Guitar Fetish "WideTone" pickups for it. I got a ceramic 7K for the neck and a 10K Alnico for the bridge. I'm tempted to crack open one of them to see what's inside.

[@Hulkhoagie1]

The Fender American Original 70s Telecaster Custom has the Cunife Wide Range in the neck and they have a 1 Meg pot with that pup. You'd probably hear a noticable difference if you changed the pots.

[@WorkingClassMusic]

thanks for the tip!

[@jjk087]

Ok wow, the before is nice. Im glad I don't have to change mine

[@cheechooj]

do you guys know if flat mounting rings will work on these guitars? theyre all really straight minus the neck one closest to the fretboard on my contemporary

[@LeandrosMusic]

Oi! What about arctic monkey member, Jamie Cook? He is a startcaster guy too! Great vid! They seem very interesting pickups, don't they?

[@updraft4me280]

do you know if these would drop in to the modern player starcaster without removing wood ?

[@2bikemikesguitartopics145]

Personally I prefer the sound of The Originals that came in the guitar

[@captainkirk70]

Did you guys change out the 250k tone pots? I don't understand why they made that choice.

[@jmacc9876]

Leo Nocentelli, famed Starcaster player of the Meters.

[@rjrabe7659]

What’s the distortion pedal you’re using?

[@ZachariahConnor]

Love seeing modding videos! Especially with starcasters. Did you guys change the tone pots? My starcaster had 250k ohm tone pots, I swapped them to 500k ohm tone pots and it made a massive difference on the stock pickups!

[@WorkingClassMusic]

Thank you! Hopefully we’ll do more modding videos.

[@OlegUstimenko]

@@WorkingClassMusic might have to change all of the pots to 1 meg for it to be more vintage correct

[@jacobmoore6874]

Hey im new to guitars mind if I ask what changing tone pots does?

[@ZachariahConnor]

@@jacobmoore6874 it changes the taper of the volume and tone controls, and can change the overall treble output

[@btkenobi2]

Maybe that explains why they sound so mellow. 1 meg's or even 500s would open them up

[@shroompicn-shrooman]

One of my biggest regret is selling my Shecktor just like the one to your right... makes me sad 😥... but I'm actually in the process of buying a CV Starcaster !!!!

[@stephentrageser8162]

Completely tangential, but IIRC the custom guitars that Trey Anastasio plays were modeled on the Starcaster. Or at least they look like a tiny, fully hollow version of it!

[@SwirlyWhirlyXYZ]

Blast Jazz!

[@WorkingClassMusic]

We really should do a jazzblaster build!

[@LeviBulger]

Cue-Nif-Fee is how you pronounce it. Did you guys install different pots or use the stock ones?

[@WorkingClassMusic]

stock pots. and thanks for the pronunciation help!

[@adamdavis106]

This was great! Was looking at the AO 70s Telecaster custom, but now with those pickups available separately, can definitely go cheaper with a Squier or custom built. What was the riff from 16:00 mark?

[@WorkingClassMusic]

“Be Quiet and Drive” by Deftones

[@cerebrix]

is it just me or do the strings not line up with the pole pieces on the upgrade pickups? That kind of matters a lot with CuNfie pickups doesn't it?

[@ronwhitfield8356]

maybe I missed it but was there a real difference? merely changing pots to 1meg may have been better.

[@markusferguson2985]

I could never get my mind around that Starcaster headstock no matter how hard I tried... just couldn't find any love for it. So swapped the neck with a RW fretboard Strat neck I had laying around, same 25.5" scale, and wallah! What an improved vibe and rekindled love affair... and she finally gets the love she deserves. Bliss 🤓

[@JeanMarceaux]

Here's an unconventional question: are these Wide Range humbuckers slightly bigger than standard humbuckers, or are they the same size? I'm wondering if I'll be able to retrofit Black Winters in this thing.

[@WorkingClassMusic]

Now that is a very good question

[@JeanMarceaux]

@@WorkingClassMusic if you ever get around to measuring them, please tell us :)

[@snoooozer]

Yeah they are bigger. You can't just drop them in to a PAF humbucker guitar.

[@JeanMarceaux]

@@snoooozer damn. I guess I'll have to get the Affinity, then.

[@mlnem2k]

Could that bad solder affect the "before" tone?

[@WorkingClassMusic]

possibly 👀

[@Hikaru109Ichijyo]

thanks for this, also like the intro . . . I'll be getting a star caster and lots of reviews saying the workmanship of the guitar is great but they skimped on the electronics and can't sweep the control knobs

[@mikesalt8248]

I feel you just killed the guitar ! Why do people buy guitars and just change the p/ups. If you don't like the sound buy a different guitar, the stock p/ups are great !

[@yallimsorry5983]

@@mikesalt8248 some people like to mod their instruments which they yanno, own. Also, there’s no guarantee you’ll get the same playing feel or value from a different model. Most of Fender versions of the wide range models still don’t have the real wide range pickups either, so it’s not like you’re getting that with the alternative

[@pwhite102]

Yessss deftones!

[@Kyayn81]

what song is that amazing riff from at around 4:43?

[@WorkingClassMusic]

not sure what song, but it was something by Smashing Pumpkins

[@lexaahall]

here is no why by smashing pumpkins :-)

[@urbanrunoff]

wide range or not, humbuckers are just not my thing , i'd put some p90s in that guitar :)

[@1ambreakfast]

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@classicevil8982]

Funny you play Deftones on such guitar. 😄😘

[@ChristopherStandardTime]

Zzzzz...

[@carl-magnusconsitt7389]

Liked the original better, nicer midrange!

[@57stratkat]

Everyone thinks (and Fender promotes) the idea that it's the Cuneiform magnets that made the original pickups special. Guitar pickup guru Bill Lawrence said magnets are magnets - it isn't the type of magnet, it's controlling and adjusting the strength of the magnet. The tone differences are in the pickup design, the wire, and the wind. What made the originals special was that they had close to 7,000 winds on the bobbing ( the reason they had to be in a larger cover. Regular humbuckers have about 4,000. The 72 reissues are just regular humbuckers with a waxy material loaded into the cover to take up the extra space. They still sound good.

[@jayyoungmusic919]

I’m a tripping or did bro have his vape just sitting on his lap

[@thseed7]

CuNiFe sounds like a British curse word however you pronounce it.

[@-doggy-6670]

Change the pots boys

[@TKTunstal]

Nah changing pots is pseudoscience

[@renula]

Is that winter soldier?

[@WorkingClassMusic]

that's hilarious

[@mchandler7625]

Big fish eat the little ones

[@WorkingClassMusic]

i don't even know what that means. also, are you the MMA fighter Michael Chandler? because that'd be really cool

[@JasonTMays]

@@WorkingClassMusic it’s Radiohead! From the riff I played.

[@jralanmorgan]

Que-niff.

[@ratta2006]

Sorry guys... both sets sound exactly the same to my ears?

[@WorkingClassMusic]

our producer/editor said the same thing, but he's not as much of a "gear nerd" as the rest of the team. hopefully you still enjoyed the video tho

[@ratta2006]

@@WorkingClassMusic Cheers Frank THE MEMPHIS SUNS Australia Spotify us!

[@ruangnada9477]

Correct me of im wrong, in my ears the new one is more "glassy or bright" and the old one is more "bassy or warm".

[@vonicrimson3619]

*plays deftones*

[@forshigity5000]

no difference

[@gafarbello107]

Digimon is way better for sure

[@ThatHuskyisCrazy]

Too much money.