T-Top Questions:

chilipeppermaniac said:
How do 500T's compare to say, 498T or Dirty Fingers? Gball Ever played either?
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500T's are very aggressive-sounding. I had them in a Studio Lite a while back, and they ripped - balanced tone with a lot of low end but never flubby, and the highs stay smooth enough to cut through a lot of gain without getting fizzy. They do clean up better than you might think but they are a Rock pickup all the way through and do really push the front end of an amp.

Dirty Fingers are one of my favorite pickups ever. Bad name for them, because they are LOUD and CLEAR and extraordinarily articulate. Not a "distortion" pickup really, it's just its own thing. They were probably made in response to Super Distortions but they are so much more versatile and nuanced-sounding than SD's that its not a fair comparison. DF's do everything well in my experience, from Jazzy clean to Metal.

I don't mind 498's but they are not my favorite. A little sterile-sounding and they have kind of a mid-scoop or something that bugs me. I've only liked them with high-gain/metal sounds dialed in.
 
gball said:
500T's are very aggressive-sounding. I had them in a Studio Lite a while back, and they ripped - balanced tone with a lot of low end but never flubby, and the highs stay smooth enough to cut through a lot of gain without getting fizzy. They do clean up better than you might think but they are a Rock pickup all the way through and do really push the front end of an amp.

Dirty Fingers are one of my favorite pickups ever. Bad name for them, because they are LOUD and CLEAR and extraordinarily articulate. Not a "distortion" pickup really, it's just its own thing. They were probably made in response to Super Distortions but they are so much more versatile and nuanced-sounding than SD's that its not a fair comparison. DF's do everything well in my experience, from Jazzy clean to Metal.

I don't mind 498's but they are not my favorite. A little sterile-sounding and they have kind of a mid-scoop or something that bugs me. I've only liked them with high-gain/metal sounds dialed in.
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Thanks G. I think I can remember Biddlin has a nice SG like guitar with the DF pups in it. Oh yeah, here it is, N225
legacy.gibson.com

Gibson.Com: N-225

The Designer N-225 blends time-tested elements of Gibson quality and performance with a new open-chambered body style, sweet and versatile tonewoods, a fully hot-rodded pickup selection, and a hip Vibrola tailpiece, and wraps it in a fully customized look, accented by striking black hardware.
legacy.gibson.com legacy.gibson.com
 
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Funny thing...

Sit down and listen to my Jackson San Dimas FR with the 14k GFS Double Slug and its not "incredible" sounding. However, listen to it in a live band setting, and it absolutely kills everything around it.
 
I had a Manlius Vinyl, the slightly overwound version of his T-top. Great pickup, a tad more body & midrange than my old Gibson T-tops but still nicely crisp, and clear when rolled back. I gave it to my son to put in his Ibanez superstrat.

Would not hesitate to try other Manlius models, if I didn't have too many loose pickups already. I went on a buying binge for a couple of years and still haven't installed all of them yet. One of these days I'm going to have a big sell-off of the ones I've pulled out.

I'm keeping my T-tops though.
 
DirtySteve said:
I recently put a set of Jim Wagner Darkburst pickups in my LP and they are amazing. I don't know much about Gibson pickups, but I know these are the best pickups I've ever had. They are clones of the pickups that were in Duane Allman's Darkburst LP which was a 1958-59 so I assume T-tops?
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The Darkburst are copies of a specific PAF set. So are his Godwoods, another great set.

PAFs are rather different from a T-top. Long magnets and the old style enamel-coated wire, with a lot of variety in strength and coil offset because they just stopped winding each coil when it looked full. The wound bobbins were paired randomly and no two original PAFs are exactly the same.

T-tops use a shorter magnet and, importantly, modern bright-sounding poly wire. The new winding machines had auto-stop so the number of turns on T-top coils is very consistent, with any differences in DCR due only to tiny variations in wire thickness from one spool to another.
 
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eclecticsynergy said:
I had a Manlius Vinyl, the slightly overwound version of his T-top. Great pickup, a tad more body & midrange than my old Gibson T-tops but still nicely crisp, and clear when rolled back. I gave it to my son to put in his Ibanez superstrat.

Would not hesitate to try other Manlius models, if I didn't have too many loose pickups already. I went on a buying binge for a couple of years and still haven't installed all of them yet. One of these days I'm going to have a big sell-off of the ones I've pulled out.

I'm keeping my T-tops though.
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Somewhere here, I have a Brandonwound T-Top that was given to me and I never tried it...
 
Good to know on the Manlius pickups priced right. As far as aftermarket pickups go been happy with JM Rolph Jim nailed my real PAF pickups.
My guitar amps are modified if I want high gain V-1 135K 2K2 both sections V-2 OD channel 150K 2K2 220K 3K3 with a trimmer set at 24K with a 220K tail resistor.

amp 001.JPG
 
eclecticsynergy said:
The Darkburst are copies of a specific PAF set. So are his Godwoods, another great set.

PAFs are rather different from a T-top. Long magnets and the old style enamel-coated wire, with a lot of variety in strength and coil offset because they just stopped winding each coil when it looked full. The wound bobbins were paired randomly and no two original PAFs are exactly the same.

T-tops use a shorter magnet and, importantly, modern bright-sounding poly wire. The new winding machines had auto-stop so the number of turns on T-top coils is very consistent, with any differences in DCR due only to tiny variations in wire thickness from one spool to another.
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Thank you for this post. :yesway: I googled T-tops the other day because I didn't know exactly what they were and I didn't get the info you posted.
 
Dono, if I remember right, mine are 2 days apart, like Sept 27 and Sept 29, Yours are soooooooooooooo clean. And I was also going to mention, I think there were also some Zebra ones too.
 
Let me say something.

I know guys who sit around, agonizing over these subtle nuances, and spending fortunes chasing some elusive tone. The fact is, you could NEVER hear any of it in a live mix.

Some Kats love the chase, and if that's you, then awesome!!@!! But, if you are frustrated and tired of spending money and just never quite "find it," stop looking because its not there...

I no longer listen to my rig - critically - unless its in a live mix.

My Les Paul's sound great on a recording, but in a band mix, they are too dark to really cut through the mix the way I want a guitar to cut through.

My Schecter - with EMG's - is so huge and edgey that I have to constantly ride my volume knob to keep from drowning out the Gibson's.

Even when we are at the same decibel level, I dominate the mix and that's the tone I have become known for.

My Schecter and my Jackson may not sound "stunning" just plugged in, bit they are devastating in a live mix.

I even simplify my guitar parts for live performances. Everything is as lean and tight as possible.

Once I started measuring/evaluating my tone in this manner, I stopped buying gear and just concentrated on performing.

I still play my rig at home by itself, but I don't change my live EQ settings, because the on-stage violence of action is what I know sounds the best....FWIW
 
jtcnj said:
Lots of respect for you guys that really know your sound and your gear.
Most days I feel like I'm lost in a hedgerow maze like in The Shining.

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I'm not an educated guy. What I know, I learned the hard way. I bought gear I didn't need because the marketing is geared that way. I became frustrated and discouraged. I was spending more time either researching the newest gear or trying to figure out what was wrong with the gear that I bought, when it didn't give me what I was looking for. After a while, I just decided to stop and look back. When I did, the answer became clear to me.

I played the same guitar for years, had only one amp and two pedals. I made a living from that gear and my sound wasn't bad either, but I began to drink the Kool-Aid and listen to the marketing. Soon, I had purchased 5 or 6 amps, 13 guitars (lifetime total - not all at once) and a slew of pedals and NONE of it was pleasing to me.

Now, I'm just trying to go back to a very basic setup and the funny thing is, I have a better tone now than I ever did and I only own ONE AMP now and TWO primary guitars.
 
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