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1981 Gibson pickups


love gibsons

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Hi Love Gibsons,

 

Without seeing the pickup I can only take an educated guess, and I would say that it's likely "The Original Humbucking" model used for many years. The spec sheet shows that the output was spec'd at 7.8 Ohms, but there was some variance in production and your magnet could have lost some strength over the years.

 

I'll keep digging though my info and see if I can identify your pickup more accurately.

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I remember there were some Bill Lawrence pickups called something like that in the late eighties. I think they were sealed on the back (I can't be sure) this one isn't. Whatever you find would be appreciated as well as any opinion of the tone of this. I am thinking of pairing it with a minihumbucker (measures 6.74) in the neck position for a custom project I am planning on talking to the custom shop about doing. I bought this pickup from a friend a few years ago thinking it could be a Tim Shaw but the date stamp does not seem consistant. I have Shaws in a LP Custom that sound great. I have heard there are some Shaws around that have different date stamps on them than the three main ones but I don't know. I am wondering what I have now.

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I remember now. I think the Bill Lawrence that was sealed came on L6s with the rotary switch (I have a real cool cherry sunburst one). There was also a Bill Lawrence that the back plate looked like a circuit board and they were called OHBL and OHBR (I think or something very much like that, but that was 20 years ago or so). Not to stray from the original topic too much - I will pull the covers off tonight if I can find the time. What would I look for? I believe the magnets should be 2.5" but what about the spacers (and what are spacers exactly)? As you can tell I am no expert. The guy I bought it from says the it has a very nice tone and should work well for my type of music - British Rock and early Joe Walsh as well as King Crimson although I have to bow to Mr. Fripp.

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Thanks for the reply - this is the first thread I have ever started and I think it is really cool that people share their knowledge. If this sounds as good as the ones in my LP Custom I can't wait to get started on my project. I have always wanted to pair one of these with a mini hb in the bridge. By the way - Am I correct that the Shaw's have a longer magnet? Any direction you can give me on what I am looking for in the spacers?

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  • 6 years later...

Hi all. Adding my item to this existing thread as it was this thread that lead me to your site.

 

Yesterday I acquired a beautiful 1981 SG Standard in walnut. I opened the back cavity to be sure electronics were original and it was unmolested. Today I benched her to see what was in it for pickups. The bridge was exactly what I expected, 595 with a date code 10 days before the guitar. Perfect so far, then I opened the bridge pickup. What? it has a yellow resin and seems to say MB hand written and 1979 on a stamp on masking tape? Here is what I have for pics so far. Anpost-73246-006524400 1438083357_thumb.jpgy clue on the neck pickup?

post-73246-066942800 1438083345_thumb.jpg

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi all. Adding my item to this existing thread as it was this thread that lead me to your site.

 

Yesterday I acquired a beautiful 1981 SG Standard in walnut. I opened the back cavity to be sure electronics were original and it was unmolested. Today I benched her to see what was in it for pickups. The bridge was exactly what I expected, 595 with a date code 10 days before the guitar. Perfect so far, then I opened the bridge pickup. What? it has a yellow resin and seems to say MB hand written and 1979 on a stamp on masking tape? Here is what I have for pics so far. Anpost-73246-006524400 1438083357_thumb.jpgy clue on the neck pickup?

I've never seen one like that. But, those black ones do go bad. Maybe somebody opened it up to fix it and sealed with that yellow stuff.

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