syscokid
Ambassador of War & Peace
Wanted - late 60s to early 70s Goldtop.
- Thread starter Jethro Rocker
- Start date
OP
Jethro Rocker
Ambassador of Live & Loud Action
Am seriously considering this as again, I am unsure about mini HB. Am offering less potentially if I like it.
reverb.com
Gibson Les Paul Deluxe 1973 Gold Top | Reverb Canada
1973 Les Paul Deluxe Gold Top. All original except the pickups. I replaced the mini humbuckers with vintage 1965/66 humbuckers. The guitar is in great shape and plays like butter. The top has zero finish defects other than some patina/tarnishing that is typical of vintage gold tops. The date code...
reverb.com
67plexi
Ambassador of Amps
Early pat # pickups same as the PAF pre T Top
reverb.com
Gibson PAF Pickup 1961 | Reverb
Between 1957 and 1962, the Gibson humbucker that was designed by Seth Lover was labeled with the letters "PAF" for Patent Applied For. Starting in 1962 when the patent for the humbucker was granted, the pickups were instead labeled "Patent Number 2,737,842." PAFs from this period rank as the...
reverb.com
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gball
Ambassador of Boogie
Early pat # pickups same as the PAF pre T Top
Gibson PAF Pickup 1961 | Reverb
Between 1957 and 1962, the Gibson humbucker that was designed by Seth Lover was labeled with the letters "PAF" for Patent Applied For. Starting in 1962 when the patent for the humbucker was granted, the pickups were instead labeled "Patent Number 2,737,842." PAFs from this period rank as the...
This. Completely.
OP
Jethro Rocker
Ambassador of Live & Loud Action
Someone wants like $5k CDN for the pickups????Early pat # pickups same as the PAF pre T Top
Gibson PAF Pickup 1961 | Reverb
Between 1957 and 1962, the Gibson humbucker that was designed by Seth Lover was labeled with the letters "PAF" for Patent Applied For. Starting in 1962 when the patent for the humbucker was granted, the pickups were instead labeled "Patent Number 2,737,842." PAFs from this period rank as the...
So that guitar seems like a reasonable deal, even given that Reverb has ridiculous prices
gball
Ambassador of Boogie
Depends on who you ask. I've never thought there was anything special about those old pickups and you're better off with new ones. Opinions vary. But no, not for me, nothing reasonable at all about the prices of those old pickups.
OP
Jethro Rocker
Ambassador of Live & Loud Action
But i mean if someone is willing to pay down the road for em. Because they are full sized HB I can put 57+ or 498T etc in.
I already have T Tops in the 76 and whatever in the R0 that are unpotted. For my higher gain stuff an upgrade would seem reasonable. BUt hey, they fit in this guitar and the existing PU are certainly worth something on their own if it came to that.
gball
Ambassador of Boogie
For sure they are a good investment. Just don't go in thinking there is some magic in them that has somehow escaped the rest of the world for the past 65 years.
OP
Jethro Rocker
Ambassador of Live & Loud Action
No, not at all. I might like em, who knows? I am not really looking at investment anyways but even having full size HB in it is a big plus.
gball
Ambassador of Boogie
Oh, agreed. I like minis but would choose a full-size 'bucker every single time. Just like P-90s - fun for some stuff but I couldn't live with them as my only pickup.
chilipeppermaniac
Ambassador of Decibels
My '79 kinda looks like this yet it also looks sweet from 5 feet away.
chilipeppermaniac
Ambassador of Decibels
Kinda like an A cup woman for a DD+ cup type guy huh G?
Best point ever made!
The P90's and Mini-Hums do not have the same tonal quality as a full-size humbucker, not to mention noise management. I've also noticed min-hums seem to produce much more noise too.
I've had some real nightmares with unpotted, vintage-style pickups and high gain/volume levels.
You have to pay attention to the style of mini HB. There is the Firebird style and the PAF style. However, even the PAF style is not ~exactly~ like a PAF, but it's closer to a PAF design than the Firebird minis. The point being, the two styles are made quite differently and you need to take that into account when evaluating them. They will not sound the same.
Anyway, the PAF style minis, as I have on my '74 SG and which you see in @67plexi 's post above (Post #19) are quite versatile. You can get a really tight snarl out of them that maintains clarity under distortion. They also clean up very nicely.
The concerns about microphonics are valid, however, as the older ones often were not potted.
For quality of tone, in a clean setting, the Gibson BB3 Bridge/BB1 Neck (2 Volume, 2 Tone; Hand-wired with Orange Drop Capacitors) its a tough guitar to beat...
OP
Jethro Rocker
Ambassador of Live & Loud Action
I have 2 now with unpotted PUps and while one can get a squeal if not careful, some judicious use of noise gate helps. I will never be playing on what would be described as high volume levels.
OP
Jethro Rocker
Ambassador of Live & Loud Action
I decided to go with something different as I was getting nowhere with above. I found a more locally sourced one with lots of checking and finish cracks with mini HB from 1973. Now, I get unpotted noise from older PUps but as these are HB are they not mostly hum free? Not like a P90. It gives me a different flavour.