Billie Joe Armstrong's blue strat has a tilted pickup in the back, its tilted a bit clockwise from the front of the guitar, so the pickup gets more lower end and and a extended higher end, it gives it a more wider sound right? So.. my question is whether fender wide range pickups sound almost the same?
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1You might be interested in this article and included video in which Billie Joe's tech discusses his setups, including "Blue"– AaronApr 3, 2021 at 0:53
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1Hi Aloysius, welcome to Music.SE! I've edited your question title so it's more clear what you're asking; feel free to change this if you think it could be improved.– Richard is stepping down ♦Apr 3, 2021 at 3:13
1 Answer
Wide Range, like the pickups in the 70s Fender Deluxe?
Going by the Wikipedia page, you don't lose as much high end with them, but they require more winds and are bigger than PAF-based ones. For years, you could get ones from Fender that look like the 70s pickups, but they didn't have the CuNIFe magnets and didn't sound the same. I read online that only a few makers got that sound right, but while I'm leaning on it being Lollar who got it right, I cannot remember fully, but I know that many other boutique makers have developed their own and Fender USA is making more accurate versions.
I'm sure there's some tone effect from the angle, but EVH did it so that a Gibson-built PAF would handle the spring spacing of his Strat-copy body. If I was to make a Billie Joe copy, going with a Seymour Duncan JB in the bridge seems the obvious choice, and in not sure that angling it would be necessary if you can find a trembucker style, which adjusts to the Fender string spacing. I'm pretty sure that the Wide Range wouldn't fit in a swimming pool route, and and getting the right pickguard that will take one seems difficult.
But I'm some guy on the internet. If you want to give it a shot, do it.