Shaw Paf

[NightWinder]

Opon taking the cover off this babby, It appears that he used Stainless Steel slugs as they are almost pure white in appearance....You guys have any thoughts??? Gauss is 436 Btw, A2 Most likely

[David Schwab]

They do have a weird powdery look to them. But it's not stainless, because I have one here I'm rewinding and the slugs are rusty.

I was wondering if they were A2's or not.

[Possum]

....

Mine are rusty as well, it kinda looks like they cheaped out and used 1018 there, the powdery look is most likely just oxidized nickel plate....

[David Schwab]

the powdery look is most likely just oxidized nickel plate....

Yes.. that makes sense. It looks oxidized.

[NightWinder]

Ahhh

Mine are rusty as well, it kinda looks like they cheaped out and used 1018 there, the powdery look is most likely just oxidized nickel plate....

Ah Ha!! Sounds like someone swiped your poles - These don't have a drop of rust on them... the cover was on and Not a drop of wax!! I'm sure it would have rusted somewhat

[JGundry]

That magnet might be unoriented A5. In the Tim Shaw interview he says all of the PAF magnets he had tested were A2 and A5 and implies some of the A5 was unoriented. I just today tried out some of the mythical unoriented A5. I finally found a place that would do unoriented A5. It responded to a picked note like A2 but was brighter like A5. It's sounds very nice. It came charged at about the same level as A2. I charged it myself again to make sure it was saturated and after about 3 hours it was at about 580. Maybe it will back down to the sub 500 range in a couple days.

[NightWinder]

That magnet might be unoriented A5. In the Tim Shaw interview he says all of the PAF magnets he had tested were A2 and A5 and implies some of the A5 was unoriented. I just today tried out some of the mythical unoriented A5. I finally found a place that would do unoriented A5. It responded to a picked note like A2 but was brighter like A5. It's sounds very nice. It came charged at about the same level as A2. I charged it myself again to make sure it was saturated and after about 3 hours it was at about 580. Maybe it will back down to the sub 500 range in a couple days.

Actually, This one looks like They put it in a tumbler....Very soft edges??

[David Schwab]

Ah Ha!! Sounds like someone swiped your poles - These don't have a drop of rust on them... the cover was on and Not a drop of wax!! I'm sure it would have rusted somewhat

They didn't pot the pickups back then.

The Shaw from my '81 Standard had nice shiny metal parts. It had the cover still on it. This pickup here is also from 1981. This came out of one of my partner's guitars, so it wasn't tampered with.

The bottoms of the slugs are not rusty, but they do have that powdery look. They almost look like they are silver plated.

But what ever they are, they aren't stainless steel.

[NightWinder]

The bottom looks the same......as the tops

[NightWinder]

They didn't pot the pickups back then.

The Shaw from my '81 Standard had nice shiny metal parts. It had the cover still on it. This pickup here is also from 1981. This came out of one of my partner's guitars, so it wasn't tampered with.

The bottoms of the slugs are not rusty, but they do have that powdery look. They almost look like they are silver plated.

But what ever they are, they aren't stainless steel.

What did that magnet look like??

[David Schwab]

Actually, This one looks like They put it in a tumbler....Very soft edges??

It not sand cast?

It should be a sand casted magnet with the two pole edges ground smooth, and the ends are still pebbly looking.

[NightWinder]

Thats Identical to mine...Lets see

[Possum]

....

No they are the original poles, its been uncovered for years and years. Only 1018 type steels will have cheap looking rust like mine does, the keeper is correct PAF metal just like the originals. In the article I have somewhere it says Shaw was forced to use alnico 2 because Gibson wouldn't pay for nonoriented alnico, nor would they pay for plain enamel wire. Obviously they didn't pay for the right alloy for the slugs either. You wouldn't believe the crap they are using in their burstbuckers, bottom dollar, lowest bid type of stuff

[David Schwab]

That magnet might be unoriented A5. In the Tim Shaw interview he says all of the PAF magnets he had tested were A2 and A5 and implies some of the A5 was unoriented. I just today tried out some of the mythical unoriented A5. I finally found a place that would do unoriented A5. It responded to a picked note like A2 but was brighter like A5. It's sounds very nice. It came charged at about the same level as A2. I charged it myself again to make sure it was saturated and after about 3 hours it was at about 580. Maybe it will back down to the sub 500 range in a couple days.

That's right... he was saying they were un-oriented A5's.

Well there's another piece of the puzzle.

[David Schwab]

Thats Identical to mine...Lets see

My other pickup was nice and clean looking like yours.