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Gibson 335 1976 epoxy pickups


fireflyva

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Hello to all - I'm sure some of you have run into these older super humbuckers that have been potted with epoxy. I have one, a super humbucker from 1976 in a 335 with a coil tap switch, that has apparently shorted out or something. Anyway, I need to get into it but am not exactly sure how to get past the expoxy. Have any of you been successful at removing the expoxy to repair one of these? or do you know anyone else who has and how they did it? I would appreciate any feedback.

 

Thank you....

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Well, as I recall, your situation is exactly the reason not to epoxy things, because there ain't no getting in there without busting the whole thing. That's why that nut Dumble dunked his amp chassis in it, so others couldn't reverse engineer his amps. Were some of the early Shaws epoxy'd maybe? Anyway, good luck with it.

 

rct

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Well, as I recall, your situation is exactly the reason not to epoxy things, because there ain't no getting in there without busting the whole thing. That's why that nut Dumble dunked his amp chassis in it, so others couldn't reverse engineer his amps. Were some of the early Shaws epoxy'd maybe? Anyway, good luck with it.

 

rct

 

The Shaw's were not epoxied, only the super humbuckers which I believe were designed by Bill Lawrence. I have a pair in a 79 Explorer and the resistance has dropped from about 7.5 to about 5.0 in the neck pup. I too would like to know if anyone works on them.

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Yeah, I'd like to know as well if anyone knows someone who is able to work on them. I guess I could try and dissolve the epoxy with acetone or something to get into it, but I've never done anything like that before and apparently by the responses I've seen over the web others have not tried it nor been successful with it either.

 

I hate to devalue my 335 in case when I die and children sell off all my stuff, I want them to be able to get as much for the guitar as they can. But then the neck pickup isn't working up to snuff anyway. I guess I could try and replace the pickup with one which is similar but thus far locating a neck super humbucker epoxied pickup has been next to impossible.

 

Also, sorry about the misspelling of epoxy in the subject line - things like that drive me crazy and here I did it.

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...

Also, sorry about the misspelling of epoxy in the subject line - things like that drive me crazy and here I did it.

You can correct this through selecting "Edit" for your first post, and then select the "Use Full Editor" button. This allows for editing topic title and topic description, too.

 

I think your pickup is a subject for a real pickup specialist. They are rare, but they exist. Maybe a musical instrument dealer or a luthier near you can be of help and give you an address. At least this would be what I did - I know two dealer workshops where they know someone who does the very special pickup work for them, too.

 

I wouldn't try to get beyond the epoxy myself. In my opinion it may be hazardous to health, and rather likely to damage the pickup beyond repair.

 

Good luck.

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Thanks, guys....I was able to change "expoxy" to "epoxy" yesterday and I slept better last night.

 

As far as my original post, I may have misspoke when I said I had a problem with my single coil switch. It works fine with the bridge pickup - just not the neck pickup. I had someone recommended to me by my local music store to do some work on it because getting inside a 335 through the f-holes is a difficult feat of patience and agility, and I just wasn't up to it. Anyway, the technician who worked on my guitar said that the front pickup was "shorted out."

 

However, I'm starting to have my doubts about his abilities because I plugged it up and the neck pickup is sounding good - just no effect with the coil tap which simply might be that it isn't hooked up. I'm going to have to get in there and do some exploring myself.

 

Anyway, are there any tricks or special tools to working with a 335? Getting the "reach" necessary to get some of these pieces (pots, jacks, toggle switches) taxes my patience beyond belief. Any advice is welcome.

 

Thanks again.

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You know, through this whole thing I've got to admit that I am disappointed in Gibson. I've written twice to the department that does restoration/vintage as recommended by the Gibson tech department, and now over a week has passed and still not a word from them. I wrote to them the first time over 10 days ago. That is just disappointing is all I can say.

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If you decide to pull the pots to have a look at them, tie a piece of dental floss (the string type) to the pot's post before dropping it into the body, when you are ready to put it back in place, just pull on the floss to guide it back to the hole.

 

If you loose the end of the floss into the hole (it happens) take an old solid guitar string or piece of wire and bend a hook on the end and a large enough loop to come out the F hole or the pickup hole, whichever hole you pulled the pot through, and tie the floss to the guitar string and pull it back through.

 

For the 1/4" jack, if you have to remove it, take the screw-on shield off the end of a guitar plug plug it into the jack and use it as the guide to bring it back, just remember to pull gently when putting it back in place.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hello to all - I'm sure some of you have run into these older super humbuckers that have been potted with epoxy. I have one, a super humbucker from 1976 in a 335 with a coil tap switch, that has apparently shorted out or something. Anyway, I need to get into it but am not exactly sure how to get past the expoxy. Have any of you been successful at removing the expoxy to repair one of these? or do you know anyone else who has and how they did it? I would appreciate any feedback.

 

Thank you....

 

 

You could hand the guitar to someone else and let them drop it. That's how my bridge pickup on my '75 L6-S came loose from the mounting plate. I've been trying to find out the best way to reattach it but I am apparently having about the same luck in that quest as you are in yours! My specific search parameters have yielded no useful info. I guess it's a case of just keep trying. Good luck to you!

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