Fake PAFs

[StarryNight]

I'm doing a pickup rewind for a customer with a Korean epiphone 335 made in the mid 90s. Nice guitar all around but I turn over the pickups and I see PAF stickers on the baseplate. Did Epiphone make a run of fake PAFs or is there another story behind this? I highly doubt these are genuine.

Also the F holes are too damn small to fit CTS pots through! I can tell this is going to be fun.

[LtKojak]

Those are aftermarket p'ups, probably '57 Classics or Burstbuckers. Measure the polepiece spread, it should be 49.2mm. If it's 50mm, or 50mm/52mm then they're asian and I don't know any manufacturer that would use PAF stickers in their products.

Epiphone use Alpha pots, which are metric, and it's a well-known fact that you need to enlarge the holes to fit CTS pots.

HTH,

[StarryNight]

Epiphone use Alpha pots, which are metric, and it's a well-known fact that you need to enlarge the holes to fit CTS pots.

HTH,

Thanks. I didn't mean the holes where the pots are mounted, but the F hole on this 335 is smaller than usual to fit the electronics through. There is currently a mix of cheap mini pots and at least one large pot with the Gibson logo on the bottom. I haven't removed any of them yet but it's going to be very tight.

[LtKojak]

Thanks. I didn't mean the holes where the pots are mounted, but the F hole on this 335 is smaller than usual to fit the electronics through.

Oh, I see. I misread your statement.

Sorry! My bad.

[the great waldo]

I'm doing a pickup rewind for a customer with a Korean epiphone 335 made in the mid 90s. Nice guitar all around but I turn over the pickups and I see PAF stickers on the baseplate. Did Epiphone make a run of fake PAFs or is there another story behind this? I highly doubt these are genuine.

Also the F holes are too damn small to fit CTS pots through! I can tell this is going to be fun.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]28263[/ATTACH]

Hi Starrynight

Is there not a hole under the lead pickup to pull the electronics through ? It's an obvious question but most 335 have a route out under the bridge pickup. It's going to be a pain in the bum if there's not.

Cheers

Andrew

[David King]

I would just blast a hole through if there isn't one. Future generations will thank you..

Presumably you know about the dental floss trick for pulling the new pots into place?

[Possum]

Those look really weird, I'm not all that sure they are Gibson product. They did make pickups in the early 80's with PAF decals, but they didn't look as funky as those do, the lettering wasn't so thick as those are....

[StarryNight]

Hi Starrynight

Is there not a hole under the lead pickup to pull the electronics through ? It's an obvious question but most 335 have a route out under the bridge pickup. It's going to be a pain in the bum if there's not.

Cheers

Andrew

No, the hole below the bridge pickup is only big enough to pass wire through. I could blast a hole down there, good idea David. This guy wants me to turn this into an Alvin Lee clone so there's going to be a route between the humbuckers anyway. I also ground down the bottom back end of a pot just a hair and that seemed make it just fit through.

These pickups are weird. I removed the coils on the bridge and they were two different types of coating! One coil kind of looks like PE and one looks like SPN. Both are waxed right to the core. Must have been vacuumed. The baseplates are long eared and the screw holes are threaded. Nice big chunky maple spacer. The magnet is not rough cast and I'm sure this is not a Gibson PAF but it has a story to it. Just not sure what it is!

[copperheadroads]

No, the hole below the bridge pickup is only big enough to pass wire through. I could blast a hole down there, good idea David. This guy wants me to turn this into an Alvin Lee clone so there's going to be a route between the humbuckers anyway. I also ground down the bottom back end of a pot just a hair and that seemed make it just fit through.

These pickups are weird. I removed the coils on the bridge and they were two different types of coating! One coil kind of looks like PE and one looks like SPN. Both are waxed right to the core. Must have been vacuumed. The baseplates are long eared and the screw holes are threaded. Nice big chunky maple spacer. The magnet is not rough cast and I'm sure this is not a Gibson PAF but it has a story to it. Just not sure what it is![ATTACH=CONFIG]28299[/ATTACH]

I wonder if they are Gibson 57 CLASSIC'S & they were actually wound with PE back in the 90's ,then some time in the 90's the changed from PE to poly & you could actually a pickup from this transition .
but I don't think they were potted ...just a theory

[Possum]

Ahhhh, pretty sure those are Duncans, I just had one here with the same thing, PE in one coil and poly in the other, Duncan used to put waterslide decals on his early buckers, these also had authentic 3M paper tape. The cores are identical to yours, they were also wax potted before the tape was put on. I'm guessing early 80's, those decals look terrible, I have a late 70's Duncan with a PAF decal that looks way more authentic, but also way too much blank space around the black rectangle.

[StarryNight]

Ahhhh, pretty sure those are Duncans, I just had one here with the same thing, PE in one coil and poly in the other, Duncan used to put waterslide decals on his early buckers, these also had authentic 3M paper tape. The cores are identical to yours, they were also wax potted before the tape was put on. I'm guessing early 80's, those decals look terrible, I have a late 70's Duncan with a PAF decal that looks way more authentic, but also way too much blank space around the black rectangle.

Yup, paper tape here as well. I agree the decals look awful. The pickups sounded pretty good though I have to say. Chimey and bright. Based on the weight of the guitar I'd say there's a heavy maple block in this 335 which may also brighten it up as well. Someone installed these pickups at some point. There's a mix of Gibson long neck pots and cheap minis in the harness. Oh well, one man's feast is another man's trash.

[soundguruman]

They look real to me.

[big_teee]

It does look like you have some fine rewindable parts there.
The Keeper looks like a quality piece.
The Bobbins with the indensions, look Newer than PAF type bobbins.
What type of magnet did it have? was it a A2, or A5? Or something else?
I too, would look into making a big enough hole in the Bridge Pickup Cavity for the Pots to go through.
T

[Possum]

Not real. PAF bobbins have solid core with a part number, the bottom of PAF bobbins have a single prominent seam in the middle. Those bobbins are not butyrate and the specs are wrong for PAF. The keepers are well done, but no idea what alloy it is, magnets are sand cast and ground to spec. The mix of two types of wire is one of those "magical thinking" ideas, not much point in it, the coils I cut off the slug coil had much more wire than the screw pole coil. The tape will fluoresce green under black light, not sure about the decal, haven't tried that but probably will, buts horribly done.

[freefrog]

Below is a dissected coil coming from a "pre historic" Duncan PAF replica. Looks the same than yours... :-)