Gibson 57 Classic .. Dissection has Begun :>)

[old guy]

OK .. I finally did it. I've ruined my chances of getting $75 bucks for my pickup. Here's the basic observation of this pup without ruining it's functionality. It's a 2-wire, 2012, Gibson 57 Classic @ 7.91k

1. On removing the cover; I never saw any copper or brass color at all inside the cover walls where the dremel tool had contact. Unlike Epiphone where, I took the cover off last week from my new G400 SG test guitar and the dremel disclosed
copper/brass color everywhere.
2. Wax was very minimal .. hardly any
3. Baseplate measured perfectly to dimensions of 2 of our pup parts suppliers.
4. duo Black bobbins with square in circle (or vice versa)
5. comparing one of my brand new butyrate bobbins side by side, and, calipering as much as I could, my opinion is that Gibson is using butyrate bobbins for these 57s and bobbin is identical to mine.
6. heavy tape wrap of what looks like standard black paper tape like what I use from Hobby Lobby.
7. wire looks to be 42 plain enamel - purple in color. What I couldn't tell is if it was 'dyed' to be that color OR was it the real thing. Some guys have implied Gibson 'dyes' the cheaper wire for economic reasons ... hard to believe but, possible.
8. black & white leads are used .. couldn't tell which one came from which position - looked like 28 gauge.
9. slugs looked nickel coated and had very pronounced 'bulls-eyes'
10. wooden shim
11. magnet is full length 2.508" x .505" x .151"(fatter than normal?? mine are all .125-7"), rough cut. My Radio Shack gauss gadget read it at '142' .. that's after 1/2 a dozen measures... that can't be right. They say the A2 mag is 'aged' ...
that much????

That's the best I can do now. I don't want to dig deeper for fear of wrecking the pups functionality.

[big_teee]

Sounds like just run of the mill Clone type parts.
IMO to make a good Humbucker you need the following.
1. Nickel Silver Baseplate, no brass
2.Good quality Alnico Magnet, Your choice A3, A2, A4, A5, and for Brighter Pickups use A8, & C8
3.Good Quality Wire, either SPN, or PE
4. For a neck IMO Keep the DCR Low, under 7.4k with 42AWG
5 For a Bridge I like a little offset, and a little overwound, Your DCR will vary.
6. Bobbins, I've had good luck with all, and if on a budget the Butyrate IMO are overated.
You can also make a fairly decent clone with either the StewMac, or Mojo PAF kit!

[SonnyW]

I happened to have a 57+ classic that I have been meaning to rewind one coil of and took a photo and some measurements. I thought you might enjoy seeing them, since the wire is removed on one coil.

In the photo I also included a Mojo butyrate bobbin for comparison. There is a slight difference in the coil height dimension of the bobbins. The mojo bobbin does measure the same as best as I can get without unwinding to the bobbins in my '63 pat sticker version. .248

On measuring the magnet's gauss, there will be two opposite corners that will read higher than the other two. I have always found this to be the case. I noted the measurements on the photo. I measured several times and got similar gauss readings with my alpha lab meter and a spin doctor one. The magnet is not rough cast but it is the longer M55 dimensions. Also based on the finish I think the 57+ bobbin is ABS not butyrate.

[David Schwab]

...Gibson 57 Classic @ 7.91k

Did you measure each coil separately?

7. wire looks to be 42 plain enamel - purple in color. What I couldn't tell is if it was 'dyed' to be that color OR was it the real thing. Some guys have implied Gibson 'dyes' the cheaper wire for economic reasons ... hard to believe but, possible.

They don't dye it. Magnet wire comes in different colors. They just use black poly magnet wire.

[mcgruff]

Thanks old guy very interesting - keep it coming

[old guy]

I happened to have a 57+ classic that I have been meaning to rewind one coil of and took a photo and some measurements. I thought you might enjoy seeing them, since the wire is removed on one coil.

In the photo I also included a Mojo butyrate bobbin for comparison. There is a slight difference in the coil height dimension of the bobbins. The mojo bobbin does measure the same as best as I can get without unwinding to the bobbins in my '63 pat sticker version. .248

On measuring the magnet's gauss, there will be two opposite corners that will read higher than the other two. I have always found this to be the case. I noted the measurements on the photo. I measured several times and got similar gauss readings with my alpha lab meter and a spin doctor one. The magnet is not rough cast but it is the longer M55 dimensions. Also based on the finish I think the 57+ bobbin is ABS not butyrate.

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Now that you mention the possibility of 'ABS' being used for bobbin material, I have to scratch my gonads and ask myself "why bother putting the square hole in the circle thing"??? I'm tending to believe you are right as I just took the Mojo butyrate bobbin and the 57Classic out for a walk into this eyeball burnin' Florida sun. The 57 Classic bobbin is much more glossy that Mojo's butyrate which is rather dull.

[old guy]

Did you measure each coil separately?
.

No Dave .. I didn't. The ends of the wires were tucked under and between the two coils in such a way that I feared I might break a contact. They were waxed over as well. Since I gotta use this pickup in my 'throw away open mic & get beach sand from the environment guitar', I don't wanna dig any deeper.
The measurement was off the braided pullback wire. The other 57Classic mate to this one measures at an even 8k.

[big_teee]

No Dave .. I didn't. The ends of the wires were tucked under and between the two coils in such a way that I feared I might break a contact. They were waxed over as well. Since I gotta use this pickup in my 'throw away open mic & get beach sand from the environment guitar', I don't wanna dig any deeper.
The measurement was off the braided pullback wire. The other 57Classic mate to this one measures at an even 8k.

Rewind them, then you will have Old guy 57 Classic's!
I like to rewind name brand pickups, but not vintage ones with historic value, unless they are broke.
I've rewound Seymour Duncan, and Gibson Burst Buckers.
They use high quality parts. good magnets, and good metal parts.
I recharge the magnets and then put the amount of wire I like on them.
IMO they sound better than new.
T