Soundwise? Acoustically, I was disappointed to find it a bit dull and lifeless... but thankfully a simple string change improved things a great deal. I can't really comment on these notoriously awful "Wide Range" pickup reissues, I've never tried the originals, but these sound like perfectly decent low-output humbuckers. I need some time to get used to them.
Anyway, I like it. And it looks $%&#in' awesome. :lol:
I like the Tele Deluxe/Custom look as well. Considering one as my next purchase, next year, actually.
I think part of the reason the reissue "wide range" humbuckers get a tough time from some is the fact that Fender uses 250k pots (I think), giving it a darker tone that maybe some people see as "un-fendery". The WRHB reissues are actually more like conventional humbuckers than the old ones. Some people like to put 1 meg pots in which brightens up the sound making it a little closer to the originals.
The thing is, the originals uses Cunife magnets as opposed to Alnico or ceramic magnets. That stuff is expensive now, even for boutique pickup makers to do clones of.
That said, Curtis Novak makes a Wide Range-style humbucker (but gibson sized) that allegedly sounds close:
http://curtisnovak.com/pickups/hum-WR.shtmlIf you can get a new pickguard designed to take "regular" sized humbuckers (the WR pickups are bigger), might be worth a look.
