stewmac bobbins and gibson spacing?

[Joe Gwinn]

I think the SM spec they gave me is correct or I wouldn't have the heads binding on the ends, where these bobbin come from and why they are spaced that way I don't know and they sure won't tell me. I have some guitar jones bobbins that ARE 50mm, I'll put some of my screws in one and see if it pops through easily, that would be the tell all .....

Plastic bobbins are likely to shrink while cooling during molding, and there is far more variation in this than in punching holes in a metal cover with a steel tool. Bobbin molds are made slightly oversize, in hopes of compensating for the shrinkage. It's more art than science.

So it may not be clear who it's telling on without some caliper work. Otherwise, one cannot tell which side is out of spec.

[Joe Gwinn]

I did so [measuring bobbins and covers] and noticed a significant difference in real life compared to the spec (49.5 mm = 1.9488” compared to the expected 50mm = 1.9685”). This difference is way bigger that the petty difference we have discussed in C-C measurements.

Metal bobbin covers will be more accurate than molded plastic, as discussed in my answer to Possum.

Cool! Where did you live [in Stockholm]? And when was that?

B.v. Platensgata 7 or 11, on the island of Kungsholmen, in the mid 1970s.

[David Schwab]

I think as far as age goes I bet Semour is the oldest pickup maker living, no wait I'm wrong Bill Lawrence is in his late-ish 70s, he's gotta be the oldest living pickup maker, heck I"m still a puppy....

Yeah Bill is 76!

The only age I can find for Seymour is that he was "twenty-something" in 1974.

[Peter Naglitsch]

B.v. Platensgata 7 or 11, on the island of Kungsholmen, in the mid 1970s.

Kungsholmen! Man, if you still had that flat you would probably be a very, very rich man by now. Sorry, back on topic now.

[Joe Gwinn]

Kungsholmen! Man, if you still had that flat you would probably be a very, very rich man by now. Sorry, back on topic now.

It would be true if I had owned the flat (a studio apartment on the ground floor).

[JGundry]

Stew Mac bobbins are exactly the same as All Parts bobbins. They must get them from the same supplier or Stew Mac gets them from All Parts. The covers that fit these bobbins best are the old All Parts covers which they no longer regularly stock but you can still get them. These are the covers that Lollar and I think most others used until All Parts stopped stocking them. You can still get them but you have to wait for them and you have to make sure the guy at All Parts taking your order understands what you want. I will double check on Monday Possum, but I am almost 100% sure they will work with your screws.

[PoorMan]

I just put a Seymour Duncan (allegedly) 50mm cover on a StewMac pickup and it doesn't fit so great. This StewMac pickup has the smaller metric fillisters too and the spacing is a little wide for the Duncan cover. But the Gibson 57 Classic cover fits StewMac bobbins perfectly.

[JGundry]

I checked it out with Dave's screws and the old style All Parts covers work fine.

[Zhangliqun]

Do Gibsons come with different spacings now? I haven't looked closely at any in years.

Not the 57's and BB's but everything else does. The 490/498/500T's have darn near F-spacing. Don't have the exact number but I bet they're 52mm easily.