Custombuckers vs. vintage T-Tops

[Subliminal lanimilbuS]

I like this quote from Seth Lover.

"Anyway, they ran out of black material, but they had white. So we were not gonna stop production just for that. So we got white bobbins, and I couldn't see any difference one from the other. And I think white was a better color for winding the pickups, because you could see the wire in there a lot easier than you could with the black. The wire was dark brown enameled wire, number 42 was the standard wire size for years.."

Kind of makes you wonder how so many of those white bobbins got overwound.

 

[rockabilly69]

I'm happy that you got it to sound how you wanted.

I'm a big T-Top fan yet don't think of them as many do. IMNSHO, 60s PAF and T-Top are pretty much the same pickups. They all are in that mid 7k range as they all used the same winders with auto stop. They all have short magnets.

The biggest change to make the most impact is to swap the magnets. A long, strong magnet puts the output firmly in PAF territory with a bright sound as they have fewer windings.

The biggest place i differ from the popular notion around here is about the BBs. I think they sound just great. SAme type of voice with a high enough output drive any amp well. Distotion and sustain don't come from pickups. Those are functions of the amp and the guitar.

I'm with you on Burstbuckers I have then in my 2010 R0, and frankly everybody that plays that guitar loves it. The pickups in that guitar just plain smoke!

 

[LCW]

Were T-Tops Alnico V? Or were they all over the place like PAFs?

 

[Subliminal lanimilbuS]

Were T-Tops Alnico V? Or were they all over the place like PAFs?

Alnico V 2.25" I guess I should add, if we are including all Gibson pickups with a T bobbin, except for a few oddball's in the 70's. If your T-top measures close to 7.5K it is Alnico V.

 

[Bryansamui]

Speaking of vintage T-Tops, does anyone have experience with the T-Types that Gibson is selling in their pickup shop? Any similarity as they claim or completely different? These new T-Types are listed as kinda of weak IMO, at 7.3 for the neck and 7.6 for the bridge.

The 7.3k or 7.6k has little to do with the power..A 7.3k pickup with a powerful ceramic magnet ( extreme example) will be "Hotter" for example than say a 14k pickup with a degaussed A3 magnet ( extreme example)
Early Gibson T Tops were similar DCR but from what I understand the magnets are quite different in the originals as to todays magnets.

 

[latestarter]

This is true… I have a set of vintage Gretsch Supertrons that read 4.5k, but they destroy the front end of every amp. I love them so.

 

[Bryansamui]

This is true… I have a set of vintage Gretsch Supertrons that read 4.5k, but they destroy the front end of every amp. I love them so.

Yes, Gretsch pickups through Marshalls sure had enough power for the immense sound of Malcolm Young