Johnnieboy2 Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 I just acquired a 2008 Les Paul USA Classic and I am trying to ID the pickups in it. I am including a picture which I hope will suffice. The neck measures 8.34k and the bridge is 8.42k Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zentar Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 Any chance both of those are neck pups? Perhaps leftovers shoved in a Deluxe and then sold? Measure pole widths. If one pup is 50mm and the other 48mm then they are not leftovers. Those are paf DCRs so maybe they are 57s or BBs Gibson Burstbucker Pro (sim: BB1,Alnico5, potted) 7.4 KO Gibson Burstbucker Pro (sim: BB2, Alnico5, potted) 8.0 KO Gibson Burstbucker 1 (Alnico2) 7.5 KO Gibson Burstbucker 2 (Alnico2) 8.0 - 8.4 KO Gibson Burstbucker 3 (Alnico2) 8.2 - 8.8 KO Gibson '57 Classic (Alnico2) 7.44 - 8.5 KO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnnieboy2 Posted July 21, 2016 Author Share Posted July 21, 2016 Any chance both of those are neck pups? Perhaps leftovers shoved in a Deluxe and then sold? Measure pole widths. If one pup is 50mm and the other 48mm then they are not leftovers. Those are paf DCRs so maybe they are 57s or BBs Gibson Burstbucker Pro (sim: BB1,Alnico5, potted) 7.4 KO Gibson Burstbucker Pro (sim: BB2, Alnico5, potted) 8.0 KO Gibson Burstbucker 1 (Alnico2) 7.5 KO Gibson Burstbucker 2 (Alnico2) 8.0 - 8.4 KO Gibson Burstbucker 3 (Alnico2) 8.2 - 8.8 KO Gibson '57 Classic (Alnico2) 7.44 - 8.5 KO The bridge has been ID'd as a BB #3. They are both 50 mm. About the only thing I can guess is a toss up between a 496R or '57 Classic if the winding ohms were pretty accurate. I don't think the neck is BB since it has no like marking as the bridge pu. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zentar Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 The other one probably is a A2 magnet as well That should be a really great pair for R&R. I love paf DCRs. They are about tone not high output. Although if they aren't high enough output I gotta wonder how you get to practice in a stadium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnnieboy2 Posted July 21, 2016 Author Share Posted July 21, 2016 The other one probably is a A2 magnet as well That should be a really great pair for R&R. I love paf DCRs. They are about tone not high output. Although if they aren't high enough output I gotta wonder how you get to practice in a stadium. Turn the amp up to '10'... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zentar Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 If you suspect 490 then you suspect a mismatched pair. Why? I have a new set of 490r/498t if you wanna swap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 The model code says LP Classic. The bridge seems to be an ABR-to-Nashville-studs mod and, like all ABR-1s, should be mounted with the screw heads towards the pickups to avoid that the strings touch them. Earlier LP Classics came with ABR-1 bridge and nickel hardware stock. The bridge pickup has a PAF back and indeed seems to be a BB 3. All of the PAF family PUs are neck aka R spaced. The adjustment screws should be nickel-plated and have slotted heads. The neck pickup looks like a 490R to me. It has the "convertible" back used for either R and T spaced and named pickups except Dirty Fingers calling for two T spaced rows of screw holes. The adjustment screws should be chrome-pated and have Phillips heads. At least one of the pickups is not original, but I guess both. To my knowledge they still came with 496R and 500T in 2008. Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnnieboy2 Posted July 21, 2016 Author Share Posted July 21, 2016 The model code says LP Classic. The bridge seems to be an ABR-to-Nashville-studs mod and, like all ABR-1s, should be mounted with the screw heads towards the pickups to avoid that the strings touch them. Earlier LP Classics came with ABR-1 bridge and nickel hardware stock. The bridge pickup has a PAF back and indeed seems to be a BB 3. All of the PAF family PUs are neck aka R spaced. The adjustment screws should be nickel-plated and have slotted heads. The neck pickup looks like a 490R to me. It has the "convertible" back used for either R and T spaced and named pickups except Dirty Fingers calling for two T spaced rows of screw holes. The adjustment screws should be chrome-pated and have Phillips heads. At least one of the pickups is not original, but I guess both. To my knowledge they came with 496R and 500T. Hope this helps. Uh, yes, that helped a bunch, but if that's true why is the 490R DCR high at 8.34k? Also, you don't think the neck could be a 496R? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 Uh, yes, that helped a bunch, but if that's true why is the 490R DCR high at 8.34k? Also, you don't think the neck could be a 496R? The DCR looks reasonable to me for a 490R. 496Rs come without covers except for those especially made for the Alex Lifeson Les Paul Axcess featuring stock a 498T at the bridge like all the Axcess LPs. Except for the Alex Lifeson Axcess they all have open coils. The cover could have been added afterwards to yours though. 500Ts have three magnets and thus not allow for soldering a cover to them without deteriorating the outer two magnet's field strength through heat. Since they are the usual choice along with the 496R, they don't make the latter with covers with the exception noted above. 496R and 500t have one respectively three ceramic magnets, not AlNiCos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zentar Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 You've got two BB3s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 You've got two BB3s Please take a closer look. The backplate of the neck pickup matches R and T series pickups and bears R coils. It's not a PAF style back like that of the bridge pickup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zentar Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 I see. Now I gotta wonder if that one pickups is a Gibson pickup at all.(wound by 3) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnnieboy2 Posted July 21, 2016 Author Share Posted July 21, 2016 I see. Now I gotta wonder if that one pickups is a Gibson pickup at all.(wound by 3) Actually, the name is below "wound by", the #3 is a BB#3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 I see. Now I gotta wonder if that one pickups is a Gibson pickup at all.(wound by 3) Actually, the name is below "wound by", the #3 is a BB#3. The label misses the initials of the person who wound it, but otherwise it looks correct to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zentar Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 Why Gibson can't label their pickups is a mystery. Was this a stripped down to the wood guitar that somebody stuffed with their spare LP parts? Since you have IDd the one pup and it is a BB3 and the remaining pup is only 100 ohms different why don't you just assume it is a BB2? The BB1, BB2, and BB3 are the same pup only wound a little hotter each step. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnnieboy2 Posted July 21, 2016 Author Share Posted July 21, 2016 Why Gibson can't label their pickups is a mystery. Was this a stripped down to the wood guitar that somebody stuffed with their spare LP parts? Since you have IDd the one pup and it is a BB3 and the remaining pup is only 100 ohms different why don't you just assume it is a BB2? The BB1, BB2, and BB3 are the same pup only wound a little hotter each step. To be honest, I'd be very happy to assume that, just thought I'd get some ideas from you folks. Not a huge issue to me really, sounds good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 ... Since you have IDd the one pup and it is a BB3 and the remaining pup is only 100 ohms different why don't you just assume it is a BB2? The BB1, BB2, and BB3 are the same pup only wound a little hotter each step. Again, the neck pickup pictured here has an R & T backplate used for 490R, 496R, 490T, 498T, and 500T. The bridge pickup shown has a PAF backplate used for '57 Classic, '57 Classic Plus, Super '57, BurstBuckers 1, 2, 3, Pro Neck and Pro Bridge. Why would anybody disassemble either a PAF style and an R & T style pickup and rebuild the PAF style one on an R & T backplate? This would be possible but honestly doesn't make sense to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zentar Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 Again, the neck pickup pictured here has an R & T backplate used for 490R, 496R, 490T, 498T, and 500T. The bridge pickup shown has a PAF backplate used for '57 Classic, '57 Classic Plus, Super '57, BurstBuckers 1, 2, 3, Pro Neck and Pro Bridge. Why would anybody disassemble either a PAF style and an R & T style pickup and rebuild the PAF style one on an R & T backplate? This would be possible but honestly doesn't make sense to me. For some reason we aren't being told the answer to that question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 To be honest, I'd be very happy to assume that, just thought I'd get some ideas from you folks. Not a huge issue to me really, sounds good. This is what counts! There also is no reason why a 490R neck pickup and a BB3 bridge pickup wouldn't work nicely, single or combined. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnnieboy2 Posted July 21, 2016 Author Share Posted July 21, 2016 Don't look at me, I didn't do it! . I really think it is either a 490R or 496R, can any of you gurus tell if it's ceramic or alnico type? The solder on the cover doesn't look factory to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnnieboy2 Posted July 21, 2016 Author Share Posted July 21, 2016 This is what counts! There also is no reason why a 490R neck pickup and a BB3 bridge pickup wouldn't work nicely, single or combined. What he said... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 Don't look at me, I didn't do it! . I really think it is either a 490R or 496R, can any of you gurus tell if it's ceramic or alnico type? The solder on the cover doesn't look factory to me. I think removing the cover isn't worth just for finding out. In case of an uncovered pickup, checking the conductivity would help. When reading DC resistance of the magnet between any two points of it, AlNiCo would read quite low, including the conductivity of metallic parts it is mounted to. A ceramic magnet is an isolator and reads infinite resistance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparquelito Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 Pickup identification help needed Those are guitar pickups, made mostly of metal, wire, and some other materials. They appear to have been removed from the victim guitar, violently. Have you called the local authorities? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnnieboy2 Posted July 22, 2016 Author Share Posted July 22, 2016 The model code says LP Classic. The bridge seems to be an ABR-to-Nashville-studs mod and, like all ABR-1s, should be mounted with the screw heads towards the pickups to avoid that the strings touch them. Earlier LP Classics came with ABR-1 bridge and nickel hardware stock. The bridge pickup has a PAF back and indeed seems to be a BB 3. All of the PAF family PUs are neck aka R spaced. The adjustment screws should be nickel-plated and have slotted heads. The neck pickup looks like a 490R to me. It has the "convertible" back used for either R and T spaced and named pickups except Dirty Fingers calling for two T spaced rows of screw holes. The adjustment screws should be chrome-pated and have Phillips heads. At least one of the pickups is not original, but I guess both. To my knowledge they still came with 496R and 500T in 2008. Hope this helps. It is a Classic, sorry I didn't think that through very well. I have since reversed the bridge, pic was made prior to that, good eye. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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