Gibson Pickup-Need Help Identifying

[big_teee]

Owner of a Local Vintage Guitar Shop, Bought this Pickup.
Need help Identifying it.
He thinks it is 60s vintage gibson pickup?
An unusual thing is the slotted bobbin screws.
It is a long legged base plate with the L stamping on the feet bottom.
Any help Identifying it will be appreciated.
Terry

[David Schwab]

Looks like an early patent label pickup. They are very similar on the inside to PAFs.

Hey, I have that same meter.

[big_teee]

Looks like an early patent label pickup. They are very similar on the inside to PAFs.

Hey, I have that same meter.

Got any idea what year they would be?
Have you seen the slotted brass base plate screws?
Not my meter, belongs to the Shop Tech.
I have a Fluke 89!
T

[David Schwab]

Gibson started using the patent label in about 1963. That's also the year they switch to poly wire. The set I used to have had the slotted brass screws on the bottom.

[LtKojak]

Owner of a Local Vintage Guitar Shop, Bought this Pickup.
Need help Identifying it.
He thinks it is 60s vintage gibson pickup?
An unusual thing is the slotted bobbin screws.
It is a long legged base plate with the L stamping on the feet bottom.
Any help Identifying it will be appreciated.
Terry

As David said, it is an early Pat#.

It looks like it's been under water, maybe saved from one of the several floods the US's had in the last five years?

That's the kind of thing I wouldn't spend a dime on. But hey! To each its own.

HTH,

[big_teee]

No it hasn't been wet, I held it in my hand it is just Old.
T

[JGundry]

It could also be an early T-Top which also have Pat.# stickers.

[big_teee]

It could also be an early T-Top which also have Pat.# stickers.

It measures 7.9k wouldn't that make it before the auto winders?
You would know a lot more about that than me.
Did the T Tops have slotted brass screws?
T

[SkinnyWire]

Did you measure after handling/what was the pickup temp? Check the probes for zero before measuring? It's not uncommon for late '60s/early 70's T-Tops to be in the 7.7-7.8k range, or thereabouts. With that cover, I'd guess T-Top. These are great pickups.

[big_teee]

Did you measure after handling/what was the pickup temp? Check the probes for zero before measuring? It's not uncommon for late '60s/early 70's T-Tops to be in the 7.7-7.8k range, or thereabouts. With that cover, I'd guess T-Top. These are great pickups.

I didn't measure them the tech at the shop did.
The room was cool and they were not handled long enough to warm up.
So I guess without taking them apart, and that was not an option, we will never know.
I told him early Patent pickups.
T

[SkinnyWire]

Knowing something about the original guitar would help. If he bought it from someone who knows what it came out of and if it was the original guitar, etc. Either way. Should be a nice pickup.

[Possum]

There's TTops inside the cover most likely. The slotted screws for bobbin mounts are the give-away, plus the chrome cover. Early TTops had patent decals on them, I have two 1965 TTop sets in here right now for restoration and study that a customer sent for research and documentation. They are good pickups, the PAF character disappeared though, and they sound better with covers on as they are hard edged and bright. I would guess its from late 70's though, as I've seen some Gibson buckers pre-Shaw, that had patent decals on them, slotted screws/chrome covers, but inside are ABS plastic bobbins with plain enamel I think. Its been awhile since I had one of those come in but they are strange and they measure higher readings than early TTops or early Patents, up near and around 8K. Early TTops and Patents almost always never got any hotter than 7.7K because they stuck to 10,000 winds.

[big_teee]

Not Late 70s because of the L markings on the feet.
That should put it early 60s like DS Said.
Anyway we are sticking with that for now.
No way to really know without removing the cover.
T

[Bill M]

Slot head screws started around 1968. All t-tops I've ever seen used poly wire, either honey or reddish color. Patent sticker, L-tool marks, slotted screws = 1968 till 1974 = T-top.

[Possum]

I'm sorry but you're wrong, I have two 1965 TTop sets in here as I mentioned, both have slotted bobbin mount screws on all four pickups. "L" tool marks are on them too. "L" tool marks aren't a good way to date Gibson pickups, even now you can buy 50mm baseplates with double holes that have L toolmarks on them from GuitarPartsUSA.com Don't set hard fast rules on Gibson buckers because you'll always find an exception. This '61 PAF I'm dissecting has a stamped keeper in it and white leads out the bottom and PAF sticker. You find transitional stuff that has mixed up parts from both. '61 PAF's sometimes even had steel bobbin mount screws in them too, I had one of those come thru here last year. If I get a chance I'll post some photos of the '65 TTops as I dissect them and get my notes from them. Mainly I wanted to see if the winding method had changed much that year, I had a '64 Patent a few months ago and they were still winding them like PAF's were. Judging by how these sound in bench listening there suddenly stopped winding the way PAF's were. Why, I have no idea. Poly wire came in '63, but I ran across someone who dissected a supposed '64 that had black PE in it, but a bit skeptical on the date, I just go by what I see in person these days.....