|
Post by GuitarAttack Forum on May 1, 2019 6:51:56 GMT -6
I had the chance to work on an original late-50s Les Paul Custom. Couldn’t resist taking a family photo. Lots of folklore around these guitars and pickups. It helps my sanity to actually see a survivor like this one once in a while and give it a test drive. John
|
|
|
Post by antares on May 1, 2019 9:33:02 GMT -6
There's a few shillings!
e&oe...
|
|
|
Post by dnic on May 1, 2019 18:10:31 GMT -6
Real live PAFs, not something I see everyday or ever in the flesh. I got goose bumps. That's sweet John how did they sound?
|
|
|
Post by GuitarAttack Forum on May 2, 2019 6:18:00 GMT -6
Real live PAFs, not something I see everyday or ever in the flesh. I got goose bumps. That's sweet John how did they sound? The guitar sounded fantastic. It is a great old guitar - a true classic. Concerning the pickups, there is so much hype around PAFs that most people would be shocked when they heard a real set. Based on my experience, a real PAF sounds a lot like a Tele pickup, only louder. You'll hear a lot of superlatives: "bell-like", round, hollow, etc. Whatever it is, if you put a PAF on a lousy guitar, it probably won't save it. On a side note, the Custom was a "fretless wonder", and, after playing it, I know why they are called that. The original frets were literally about the height of a credit card and flat on top! More to follow on my subjective assessments! John
|
|
|
Post by dnic on May 2, 2019 7:18:24 GMT -6
Thanks John, ready for more anytime. Did you get output readings and can you test gauss without taking the pickup apart?
|
|
|
Post by GuitarAttack Forum on May 3, 2019 5:22:08 GMT -6
Thanks John, ready for more anytime. Did you get output readings and can you test gauss without taking the pickup apart? Dane - they can be tested "non-invasively", and I regularly do. The specs are interesting, and, like any pickup, tend to vary, sometimes wildly. Based on my tests, I wind a "somewhere in the middle" version when someone wants a PAF-like pickup because, in my opinion, there is no such thing as a perfect PAF clone because there is no such thing as a perfect PAF. I've wound some very satisfying PAF-like pickups but will continue the search for more data. By the way -- the initials "PAF", in reference to a pickup, is a registered trademark of Dimarzio! John
|
|
|
Post by antares on May 6, 2019 5:02:25 GMT -6
I know it's the way of the world, but I find it a little dispiriting that another company can stake its claim on the acronym PAF. It reminds me of the way that Gibson have treated the Dobro trademark and what their lawyers did to old Mr. Dopyera.
Are those old PAFs potted John?
e&oe...
|
|
|
Post by GuitarAttack Forum on May 6, 2019 7:04:03 GMT -6
I know it's the way of the world, but I find it a little dispiriting that another company can stake its claim on the acronym PAF. It reminds me of the way that Gibson have treated the Dobro trademark and what their lawyers did to old Mr. Dopyera. Are those old PAFs potted John? e&oe...Dimazaio also has trademark claims on humbuckers with double-cream bobbins. Lots of companies used to make them, now it is down to one. It is my understanding -- may be folklore --but some companies use double-cream bobbins on their pickups then install covers to beat the trademark infringement. If the customer removes the factory-installed covers...well, that is for a judge to decide. Remember -- using a soldering iron to remove covers can be a really bad idea. I use a small Exacto saw blade to cut the solder joint. Bobbins, particularly the old ones made of butyrate, melt and deform readily under heat. The Gibson PAFs were not potted at the factory. If you happen to see one potted it is a dead giveaway that the pickup has probably been modded. I saw an early Patent Number humbucker in the shop last week that someone had installed a four-conductor lead in. The pickup was essentially a PAF and just about essentially worthless after the mod! John
|
|
|
Post by antares on May 6, 2019 12:04:33 GMT -6
Thanks John, I appreciate the time taken. Some ideas make perfect sense until you have pased the point of no return. A friend of mine scrutinises solder to eliminate those instruments that have been fiddled with or are simply marriages. If Changing the hookup wires is so verboten, then goodness knows what the sacriledge of re-winding a pickup does to the value of a pickup? My instinct says that a pickup with different connecting wires is less interfered with than one that has been rewound? This leads on to the idea that what's so wrong with any of it? Well, what's wrong with it is attempting to pass off items as something they're not. Of course if the emperor's new suit of clothes decrees that a guitar (of even a pickup) is worth tens of thousands of dollars then I can understand, but as much as I would love a Blackguard, common sense tells me the game's not worth the candle. I have a 1955 lap steel pickup in my self-assembled "Esquire". Ironically, someone swapped it for one of Larry's back in the 1980s and I was the right place-right time beneficiary. Funny how things turn out. Sure it's a good pickup, but it's no holy grail. Folks have to see through all this feldegarb eventually?
e&oe...
|
|
|
Post by GuitarAttack Forum on May 7, 2019 6:24:29 GMT -6
Thanks John, I appreciate the time taken. Some ideas make perfect sense until you have pased the point of no return. A friend of mine scrutinises solder to eliminate those instruments that have been fiddled with or are simply marriages. If Changing the hookup wires is so verboten, then goodness knows what the sacriledge of re-winding a pickup does to the value of a pickup? My instinct says that a pickup with different connecting wires is less interfered with than one that has been rewound? This leads on to the idea that what's so wrong with any of it? Well, what's wrong with it is attempting to pass off items as something they're not. Of course if the emperor's new suit of clothes decrees that a guitar (of even a pickup) is worth tens of thousands of dollars then I can understand, but as much as I would love a Blackguard, common sense tells me the game's not worth the candle. I have a 1955 lap steel pickup in my self-assembled "Esquire". Ironically, someone swapped it for one of Larry's back in the 1980s and I was the right place-right time beneficiary. Funny how things turn out. Sure it's a good pickup, but it's no holy grail. Folks have to see through all this feldegarb eventually? e&oe...Steve - The only reason I mentioned the modified pickups was as a cautionary tale. Les Paul, the man himself, modified all of his instruments, but that was how he viewed them as part of his craft. However, if you pass an instrument off as unmodified, then find a modification, the pool of potential buyers for a really expensive instrument becomes much smaller. The instrument normally goes into the category of "player's grade". It isn't that the guitar is bad or worthless; rather, it is that a buyer who wants an original instrument as an investment will go elsewhere. Much like art dealers maintaining documentation on their pieces, a work by a master is diminished by a botched restoration or a sneaky upgrade. The painting is still cool, but it will appeal to a different group of buyers. John
|
|
|
Post by antares on May 7, 2019 6:47:44 GMT -6
I agree 110% John. Personally I have zero issues with a rewound pickup, but if I had taken leave of my senses and paid a four figure sum for one, I would expect the item to be unsullied commensurate with the inflated asking price.
I paid the Sterling equivalent of about $80 for my "Tele" bridge pickup back in the late 1970s!
e&oe...
|
|
|
Post by GuitarAttack Forum on May 15, 2019 7:01:39 GMT -6
I agree 110% John. Personally I have zero issues with a rewound pickup, but if I had taken leave of my senses and paid a four figure sum for one, I would expect the item to be unsullied commensurate with the inflated asking price. I paid the Sterling equivalent of about $80 for my "Tele" bridge pickup back in the late 1970s! e&oe...Steve - It is interesting that the price-point for new pickups hasn't changed much in the last 30-40 years! John
|
|
|
Post by antares on May 15, 2019 11:21:55 GMT -6
Sorry John, I was unclear; I paid that amount back then around 1980 sometime for an original "50s" Tele bridge pup. The owner of the doner guitar had it swapped out for a DiZmarzio. Sheesh. My investigations using Nacho's book led me to believe it's a 1955, and that it *may* have come from a lap steel. That's why I put it in speech marks. As I said- it's a nice enough pickup but certainly no holy grail. Perhaps it needs to be punched through a DR at full tilt to shine brightly?
e&oe...
|
|
|
Post by GuitarAttack Forum on May 16, 2019 5:31:16 GMT -6
Steve - understand...I tend to read too quickly!
I see quite a few old Fender and Gibson lap steels with parts missing thanks to parts harvesters!
A few years back I looked through a box of used pickups a guitar tech friend of mine removed in the 70s and 80s. These were the old, unwanted castoffs nobody wanted. It was full of 50s and 60s Strat pickups and a treasure trove of Patent Number humbuckers.
John
|
|
|
Post by antares on May 16, 2019 18:02:06 GMT -6
A box full of those old pickups! Whoa...
I'm reading this again and have just realised that I wrote "speech". Hands-up- facepalm- no excuses!
e&oe...
|
|