Classic 57 or not? Help needed with identifying pickups

[simon.luzny]

Hello folks,

 

I know there has been said a lot about identifying Gibson pickups, especially the vintage ones, but after 3 days of forums and websites browsing I am still at a loss about what pickups I retrieved from the bottom of a drawer.

I remember I bought them more than 12 years ago on Ebay, have never installed them since they got lost during moving my house. Now they have resurfaced again and I would like to ask for help anyone who is competent to tell me anything that can be told based on the pictures attached.

I am pretty sure they were supposed to be a pair of classic 57s, but then why did I find them in a box with Angus Young signature label with "Gold" option box ticked even though the official Gibson chart says they are made only in nickel? And the wire covered in plastic instead of braid does not help me either.

I will appreciate any input from curious guitar investigators.

Simon

[cjsinla]

I doubt they are Classic 57's, they may be much older. I believe they may be from 1983, the last three numbers would be month and year if they are Shaw pups. With the exception of the 4-conductor wiring on the one, they look like the set of gold Shaw pups that came stock in my 1982 Flying V. Here's a pic of the bridge one:

 

 

Here's a pic of the neck one:

 

 

Mine date to May 1982 as seen by the stamp, they even have the same first three numbers as yours. Note that the neck pup has the shorter legs and extra holes like yours. The gold color is right but the space between the ink stamps are different. Shaw pups look pretty distinctive inside:

 

 

The two pics without the covers were taken of a different set that I have that were originally nickel when I bought them. I have never taken the covers off the gold ones.

[Jon S.]

They do indeed look to be a pair of Shaw PAF's from 1983.

[simon.luzny]

Hi Chris, Hello Jon

 

Thanks a lot for your posts. Chris, when you mentioned Flying V, I had a flashback and remembered that the pickups indeed came from a Flying V. Mine seem to look identical, except for the spacing between the serial no. and plastic lead (BTW, does it look like an original one or a mod to you?)

I also took the reading and long-legged braided reads 7.55 kOhm and the one with the plastic lead is 7.51 kOhm. Would that confirm your suspicions?

 

What would be the best way to determine if they are Shaws?

[cjsinla]

Hi Chris, Hello Jon

 

Thanks a lot for your posts. Chris, when you mentioned Flying V, I had a flashback and remembered that the pickups indeed came from a Flying V. Mine seem to look identical, except for the spacing between the serial no. and plastic lead (BTW, does it look like an original one or a mod to you?)

I also took the reading and long-legged braided reads 7.55 kOhm and the one with the plastic lead is 7.51 kOhm. Would that confirm your suspicions?

 

What would be the best way to determine if they are Shaws?

 

I believe my Shaws are all around 7.5. I would guess the plastic wire was an add on, I have never seen Shaws with that. It also looks as if that cover may have been removed to do it, which one would suspect if that plastic wire was on there. Probably was done for coil splitting. Shaws have white plastic spacers inside and the end of the magnets are pebbly looking, not machined smooth. The bobbins should look like my pics. They replaced the older T-tops and were more of a copy of PAF bobbins in terms of their markings. Usually black or zebra, all white is rare.

 

Shaws were put in the Heritage series and Les Paul Customs. Here's a pic of my V.

 

[simon.luzny]

Hi there,

 

It took me a while to get someone to open the pickups for me, but I've finally got it.

I am attaching some pictures, they look awfully similar to those posted by you, cjsinla (thank you very much), would you mind taking a look, I'd appreciate if you guys could let me know what you think.

 

Thanks again for your help.

 

Simon

[cjsinla]

Hi there,

 

It took me a while to get someone to open the pickups for me, but I've finally got it.

I am attaching some pictures, they look awfully similar to those posted by you, cjsinla (thank you very much), would you mind taking a look, I'd appreciate if you guys could let me know what you think.

 

Thanks again for your help.

 

Simon

 

Do the tops of the bobbins have three holes like the zebra one that I posted? If so, there's a very good chance those are Shaws. Your pic is small but I see the white spacers and the magnet looks about right. The magnet should be rough and pebbly looking on the end, not smooth or machined looking.