Gibson Pickup Noise Anomalies:

frankblade said:
You do too Double drop D.
and no humbuckers he trows them in the trash or atleast his tech does Neil only uses P90's
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I can honestly say I've never heard more than a few chords of any of his work. If music doesn't grab me, I change to something else that interests me...
 
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm........:::........::::.:..........::.....


P90 hummmmmmmmmmmmmm...

Neil's got it goin on!
Great stuff indeed!
Thanks for that.
...and, no...Robert couldn't handle the mojo there...he uses too much gain, but needs the quiet.
Sorry Robert.
 
From Gibson's website, the neck is the original '53 P90. The bridge was first changed to a duo sonic single coil, then to a '72 firebird mini. I guess to know for sure we'd need to ask Uncle Neil. Edit; also from the same Gibson site, Old Blackie started life as a ('53) Gold Top, the only LP available then. Cheers
 
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frankblade said:
His tech has been asked many times when Gibson sends Him a guitar he has the Humbuckers or mini humbuckers thrown in the trash
and he usualy gets a Deluxe LP so he can fit the p90's right in. Lp here is a youtube history of old Black ever pickup put in bridge was a P90
he only uses them and gretch filtertrons.

Ohh and Gibsons full of poop but that's nuthin new LOL
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I have never owned a guitar with mini HBs. I never heard any that did it for me.
 
Thatbastarddon said:
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm........:::........::::.:..........::.....


P90 hummmmmmmmmmmmmm...

Neil's got it goin on!
Great stuff indeed!
Thanks for that.
...and, no...Robert couldn't handle the mojo there...he uses too much gain, but needs the quiet.
Sorry Robert.
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Even at high gain and nearly full volume I have a quiet signal.... :-)
 
At least some of his V's & explorer's are humbucker equiped. He used a humbucker equiped V pretty extensively during the Time Fades Away tour (73). Cheers
 
Robert Herndon said:
I took the Gold Top and had a colleague listen to it. He immediately said, "Oh, wow, you got a broken ground lead on the bridge pickup. see it all the time on Gibsons..."
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Now, that makes a lot of sense.

If that is the case, then I'm curious as to what the build process or machinery is like that contributes to frequent broken ground leads.
 
smitty_p said:
Now, that makes a lot of sense.

If that is the case, then I'm curious as to what the build process or machinery is like that contributes to frequent broken ground leads.
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Me too. You know, Smitty, I have seen this buzzing-when-touched pickup issue on Gibson's in the store on both bridge and neck pickups periodically, so it's an issue of some sort, not to mention the You Tube videos that demonstrate the same issue I am having,

You know, I'm really not upset. It's a little disappointing, but I intend to turn this into a positive.

First, the guitar is going to Gibson warranty and getting repaired. After that, I am really thinking about making one of my student's lifelong dreams of owning a real Gibson Les Paul come true. He is trying to save up for an Epiphone Les Paul.... :-)

I think, for me, this journey to find a guitar that speaks to me in some way has been a very long one. I've learned a lot along this path and my own guitar tech work has gotten much better. I am not the smartest fellow around, but I have learned a lot about tone capacitors, treble bleeds, pickup impedance, tailpiece material and it's influence on tone, how to get a more accurate intonation, and I think this would have never happened had I have not had all the troubles with my Gibson SG.
 
Good to see you're approaching this in a positive manner Robert, though I would like to see it come back functioning properly & you keep it. Now I apologise for de railing your thread, but I would like to clear up this "Ol' Black" pickup thing. Here's late 2010 pics of Larry Cragg (Neil Young's guitar tech) with Ol' Black.C__Data_Users_DefApps_AppData_INTERNETEXPLORER_Temp_Saved Images_old-black-back-cragg.jpg C__Data_Users_DefApps_AppData_INTERNETEXPLORER_Temp_Saved Images_old-black-cu.jpg
Note the bridge pickup mounting screws. Here's the dimensions of an uncovered P90C__Data_Users_DefApps_AppData_INTERNETEXPLORER_Temp_Saved Images_SP90-1.gif
Aside from the fact that a P90 will not fit in a mini humbucker cover, those pickup mounting screws would pass through the outter edges of a P90 coil. From the Thrasherswheat site, Larry Cragg tells us that the mini toggle mounted between the controls is to bypass the volume & tone controls on the bridge mini humbucker only. As an aside, note the metal plate on the back of the guitar positioned behind the bridge, mentioned on the Gibson site. Regarding Neils tech having to replace all the Gibsons he's supplied with's pickups, I honestly believe that if a player of Neil Young's caliber wants a P90 equipped guitar off Gibson, then that's what he gets, no need to change the pickups. All you want to know about Neil Young's guitars & equipment
Neil Young's Sound

Neil Young News: Anatomy of Neil Young’s ‘Old Black’ Guitar
Cheers
 
Funny thing about Mom's replica. Epiphone Probuckers and Epiphone "Take out" electronics...into which I added the Bill Lawrence treble bleed and a pair of .033uf/.015uf K40Y tone capacitors....bare wood cavities....no copper...no noise whatsoever....Crazy!!!
 
O.K...... so --- throw stones at me and what not--- but I am now and never was a HUGE Neil YOung fan ....I mean I like SOME songs.....and all....but the guys "vibe" just ran/runs aginst my grain....so I am not privy to the lore of the Ol Black......

can someone tell me WHY it looks to have been sawed in half with a band saw?
 
Kinda does, doesn't it. Not sure why they'd carve into it behind the bridge either. Cheers
Edit; I think its a binding inlay running up the center of the back, but again, why. Cheers
 
That seam up the back you see might be the body halves glued together.Thing is just so worn down you can see the seam
 
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