Wolfetone Tele Bich Rewind

Pickup features: passive single coil
Impedence or other specs: 10.89 k, 42 gauge wire

Model of guitar or bass: '77/'78 Tele
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Wolfetone Bitch (see below)
Other pickups on guitar: Wolfetone Strat Cub
Artists using this pickup: ???
You musical style(s): art punk/noise rock
Reason for pickup change: This is the third report in an ongoing rewind project conducted
by myself and Wolfe MacLeod. The first Bitch rewind wasn't hot
enough.

Perceived output level: louder than vintage, more oomph! bigger bass. not overly distorto.
Tone: bassier than vintage. highs slightly but noticeably attenuated.
Sonic evaluation: Norhtern/hard ash Tele into Soldano HR50 out of Hiwatt cab with 65 watt Celestions.
I should say that this Bitch, at 10.89k is between a regular Bitch (up to 10k) and Rabid Bitch (15k). I wanted attenuated highs with as little breakup as possible. Between the guitar and amp, there's plenty of highs, and the preamp has plenty of gain. I'm trying to compensate for these characteristics.
Well, Wolfe certainly delivered the goods. Definitely darker in the top end, and just a little teensy bit more breakup. Through the normal channel of my Hiwatt (and through my Squier 15 practice amp), I
actually had to boost the treble just a bit, whereas with a vintage style pup, I usally cut the treble. This pup would work really well at
mellowing out an especially shrill guitar, like mine. Also, it sounds fatter with distortion than a regular Tele pup, yet still cleans up with the guitar's volume backed off. It's almost like having two pickups in one at the flick of a wrist. :)
Like the first rewind Wolfe did for me, the current one has that unmistakable Tele timbre, as well as the usual Wolfetone sensitivity and liquidity. You feel like every note is reaching its full potential. The sound is very open and full, "clear as an unmuddied lake, as an azure sky of deepest summer," to quote _A Clockwork Orange_. Wolfetones make you feel like you've been playing guitar with cotton stuffed in your ears. Troooly hi-fi.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: This is not a h.metal pickup, too Tele-ish. May not be clean enough for country. But for the kind of Gang of Four/Birthday Party/Sonic Youth stuff I do it's perfect.

Comments: Despite all these high marks, I'm actually having Wolfe rewind again.
Not because this baby doesn't sound great, it's still just too bright
with my regular rig. Wolfe's patience is amazing, and I am most appreciative and loyal. I'd actually like to build a guitar around Wolfetone pickups. Again, I'd say that this is a terrific value. See my other reviews for more info and opinions. Feel free to contact me if you need more specifics. I recommend this product to anyone and everyone.

Pickup features: single coil, passive
Impedence or other specs: Unknown D.C. resistance, 43 gauge wire

Model of guitar or bass: telecaster kit (standard routing, mahogany body with maple top)
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Seymour duncan hot stack lead for telecaster (tapped version)
Other pickups on guitar: Seymour duncan vintage stack rhythm in neck
Artists using this pickup: am I an artist? That's the question...
You musical style(s): blues, jazz, fusion
Reason for pickup change: I had this broken quarter pounder and thought it was a pity to keep it unused.

Perceived output level: High output, expected from this kind on single coil.
Tone: Plenty of bass, good midrange, sweet highs, with good definition
Sonic evaluation: Basically, I use Fender and Polytone amps for clean sounds, and I add a Sansamp for overdrive.
Several years ago, I fitted a Japanese basswood telecaster with this quarter pounder; its sound, with unique treble bite, strong attack, and an important level of noise, was always in my mind.
I was curious to see how it worked with a mahogany body, in opposition to the sweet sound of the hot stack.
The first surprise was to discover a complete different sound, compared to the original one. The bite has been replaced by a smooth tone, very warm, with big bass.
For clean sounds, it is definitely better than any kind of stacks, witch are characterised by reduced bass and midrange (I learned that Kent Armstrong doesn't make stacks for that reason)
Played with high gain overdrive, It could even slightly evoke a DiMarzio AirZone with less output but more brightness, by several tonal specs as the presence of bass, midrange, and good definition. That's amazing, given the tele bridge size.
The second good surprise was the quality of the tone with the tapped coil. I had always found this sound tiny, with oversized attack. The new one is really usable, without any loss of dynamic, in spite of the reduced output.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Great pickup for fusion

Comments: The pickup had to be repaired; I sent it to Wolfe, mainly because he told me he could attenuate the noise a little bit, even if it was not easy with those quarter inch magnets.
Not only the pickup is really quieter, but honestly, I didn't think to obtain such a great, warm tone.
Wolfe told me he made 6 different windings, to finally find the solution combining good sound and low noise; I really appreciated his professionalism.
Furthermore, I have two great sounds. This pickup will stay in my guitar!!!

Pickup features: single coil, passive
Impedence or other specs: 9.5k, wound with 42 gauge wire for fatness

Model of guitar or bass: '77 or '78 Fender Telecaster
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Rio Grande Tallboy
Other pickups on guitar: Wolfetone Strat Cub in neck
Artists using this pickup: me, myself, and i
You musical style(s): art punk/noise rock
Reason for pickup change: Rio Grandes are great, but I found I needed something other than
vintage twang

Perceived output level: "louder" than vintage, but not gainy. not a distortion pickup.
Tone: it's all there. bass has a nice, tight BOOM. highs are plenty Tele, more pronounced mids.
Sonic evaluation: I'm using the Tele (hard, or northern ash, judging by weight and BRIGHT tone) through a Soldano Hot Rod 50 (gain, gain, and then some more gain), into one of two Hiwatt cabs, one with the original Fanes, the other with 65 (or thereabouts) watt Celestions, both at 16 ohms.
This is a kick-ass pickup. I asked Wolfe for something that was fatter than vintage but not a distortion pickup, since my amp has more distortion than anyone needs. That's what I got. Compare to the Duncan Hot Lead Stack or maybe the Rio Grande Muy Grande. Big, tight bass, plenty of twang, more body. Really sensitive to finger and picking pressure and attenuation of volume/tone pots. Clear and articulate. With the volume rolled back, you get vintage Tele (I do have a .001 capacitor on my vol. pot to retain highs when it's rolled back).
The Bitch does everything that higher priced pups allegedly do, yet I paid only 30 bones for the rewind, plus 5 for the dead pup itself, which I got from a guitar repair shop.
The only downside for some folks might be the single coil hum, but that's not a huge problem for me.
The only downside for me was that this pup was still too twangy for my
current needs. But I liked it so much I kept it, and went out and bought another dead pup so Wolfe could rewind that.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: angular art rock, like Birthday ParySonic Youth, Jesus Lizard, Dog Faced Hermans, Gang of Four. It is a good match, but I've opted for yet another rewind. See below.

Comments: First off, let me say that I'll probably take all my pickup needs to Wolfe MacLeod. A consumate gentleman, Wolfe provides his customers with a 100% guarantee. You don't like the pup, he rewinds it till you do. In fact, that's just what he's doing for me now. Plus, he's patient with tone-geek questions, which I appreciate. The project that
Wolfe is currently helping me with is how to counteract the brightness and hi-gain of the Soldano (a wonderful amp, by the by, which I'll be reviewing soon). Vintage pups are clean, but shrill. Hotter pickups lose the shrill but break up too soon. I need something in between.
I have buttloads of other gear: Travis Bean standard, Music Man Sabre II, Hagstrom III, 2 homemade guitars, Jazz Bass, Guild bass, GK 800RB,
Dietz 1x15 cabinet, Tascam 4-track, 60s Hiwatt Custom 100 head. Have used Rio Grande and Duncan pickups. Been playing 22 years. I chose Wolfetone because I wanted to be able to actually talk to the manufacturer and ask specific questions, and have something designed to fit my specific needs. Plus, I couldn't find a pup model that solved my nitpicky dilemma. And don't forget the affordability. Joe Bardens are $130 a pop.

Pickup features: Single coil, passive
Impedence or other specs: 11K

Model of guitar or bass: '72-3 Tele Custom
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: SD '54
Other pickups on guitar: Original Fender humbucker in neck
Artists using this pickup: n/a
You musical style(s): Rock, blues
Reason for pickup change: When I bought my '72 Tele Custom a dozen or so years back, the bridge p'up was just about shot. I replaced it with a SD vintage Tele model, intending to have the original rewound eventually.

Perceived output level: Noticeably hotter than the SD '54 Tele bridge.
Tone: More edgy, less "sweet" in combo with the neck humbucker. Retains most of the Tele-twang-vibe but without the icepick.
Sonic evaluation: I play mostly through Fender tube amps. I've always been partial to the sound of the combination SC bridge/humbuck neck in this guitar, but felt there was something "missing". When I talked w/Wolfe about rewinding the original bridge he suggested overwinding it to better output-match to the humbucker. Excellent suggestion. The bridge/neck combo position is a bit more feisty now. With treble bypass caps on the volume controls, it still "sweetens up" nicely with the pot rolled back. I'm usually not one to use the bridge pickup alone, but that may change now w/this guitar.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Rock, blues. Excellent match. Good usable tones both solo and with the neck humbucker.

Comments: Wolfe's been getting quite a rep on some of the guitar boards, and this rewind proves to me that it's well deserved. Can't beat the "I'll re-do it 'til you like it" guarantee, although I didn't need it. Great guy to work with, too. While the "10" rating is probably overused in these review pages, anything less would be an insult in this case, so...

Pickup features: single coil tele bridge (passive)
Impedence or other specs: slightly over 11K ohms

Model of guitar or bass: 90`s Fender standard Telecaster
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Fender American Standard Tele bridge
Other pickups on guitar: Fender American Standard Tele neck
Artists using this pickup: Anybody in their right mind, or with a good ear for tone!
You musical style(s): All,blues,southern rock,classic rock,alt.,some country, some hard rock
Reason for pickup change: The stock bridge pickup was very tinny,hollow,lacked any smoothness. Now don`t get me wrong, I`ve heard some great sounding stock pickups on tele`s before, but this one just didn`t have it. I needed something more,something I wasn`t sure existed.

Perceived output level: Jalepeno and Crown Royal, Hot but silky smooth!
Tone: Very well balanced, bass is nice and tight without overpowering the mids and treble. Very useable tone!
Sonic evaluation: Never thought i`d ever hear a solid state (CRATE GFX)scream like that! I had to readjust everything when I got it back. This pickup does it all,roll the tone back and you get some very nice smooth blues tones.Run up the tone and volume and it will kick your ass. With a little bit thrown in from your effects and there is nothing it won`t do.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play a little bit of everything, but i`m a big fan of the texas SRV tone, even out of a Tele this pickup nails it, and still retains that great Telecaster tone, just beefs it up a bit.

Comments: I give it a ten plus!,now I want to pull the neck pickup out and send it to Wolfe to see how much beter he can make it. I`ve been playing off and on for ten years or more and have yet to find a company so willing to give you exactly what your looking for,I told Wolfe exactly what I wanted and he nailed it. His policy is, if you don`t like it he`ll rewind it until you do,now where does that say that in Mr.Duncan`s, or Mr.Dimarzio`s warrantee?,it doesn`t.You will buy a stack of pickups before you finally find what you are looking for, or buy one and get exactly what you always wanted garanteed! I highly recomend you give them a listen, I went from liking this guitar to not being able to put it down. WOLFETONE is doing something right! Before you go out and buy a noisy,mudddy,Texas special give one of thesse a try.