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Are These Dirty Fingers?


westicle

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Hello Westicle, welcome to this nice place in the web! [thumbup]

 

These pickups are PAF style and thus no Dirty Fingers. I can't say from here what generation PAF style they are, but I think that forumites more knowledgeable will chime in.

 

In general, PAF style pickups all have the "R" spacing since 1957 that applies closely to neck and precisely to middle pickups. These have been used until today in all positions. Some current examples are '57 Classic, '57 Classic Plus, Super '57, BurstBuckers 1, 2, 3, Pro Neck and Pro Bridge, '59 Tribute. All of their baseplates are designed for one row of pole screws with "R" spacing.

 

Around 1970 Gibson began making pickups with "T" spacing matching the bridge position. 490T, 498T, and 500T belong here, beside some more, less common ones. Their baseplates until today have two rows of screw holes, one "R" spaced and one "T" spaced each. They are used for the "modern" "R" pickups, too, like 490R, 496R, and again some more.

 

Dirty Fingers for either positions are "T" spaced but have twelve pole screws and therefore a dedicated baseplate with two rows of "T" spaced holes.

 

500T and Dirty Fingers have three ceramic magnets each and don't allow for soldering covers to them. The heat would degrade the field of the outer magnets.

 

All of them have two more holes per coil for mounting the bobbin to the bottom plate. Again the "R" and "T" mount spacings are different.

 

Hope this helps. Good luck for a more precise identification!

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I measured the resistance of the pickups to get some more info.

 

Resistance in bridge pickup is 7.48

Resistance in neck pickup is 7.49

 

This post: http://forum.gibson.com/index.php?/topic/53043-gibsonepiphone-pickups-dc-resistance-values/

 

would suggest they are one of these...

 

Gibson Burstbucker Pro..........(sim: BB1, Alnico5, potted).....7.4KO

 

Gibson Burstbucker 1.............(Alnico2)..........................7.5KO

 

Gibson '57 Classic.................(Alnico2)...........................7.44 - 8.5KO

 

Gibson 490R........................(Alnico2)..........................7.2 - 7.83KO

 

Gibson Jimmy Page................(Alnico5)..........................7-8KO(not found yet, but I reckon within these values)

 

Gibson HB-R.........................(Alnico5)..........................7.06 - 9.13KO

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I measured the resistance of the pickups to get some more info.

 

Resistance in bridge pickup is 7.48

Resistance in neck pickup is 7.49

 

This post: http://forum.gibson.com/index.php?/topic/53043-gibsonepiphone-pickups-dc-resistance-values/

 

would suggest they are one of these...

 

Gibson Burstbucker Pro..........(sim: BB1, Alnico5, potted).....7.4KO

 

Gibson Burstbucker 1.............(Alnico2)..........................7.5KO

 

Gibson '57 Classic.................(Alnico2)...........................7.44 - 8.5KO

 

Gibson 490R........................(Alnico2)..........................7.2 - 7.83KO

 

Gibson Jimmy Page................(Alnico5)..........................7-8KO(not found yet, but I reckon within these values)

 

Gibson HB-R.........................(Alnico5)..........................7.06 - 9.13KO

 

They are not dirty fingers. they are in the range of Paf but I'm not sure if they are Gibson. For sure it's not a HB-R because of the absence of circuit board. Moreover back in the early 90 only 57 classic and 490r wera available. IMO they are OEM pickups

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They are not dirty fingers. they are in the range of Paf but I'm not sure if they are Gibson. For sure it's not a HB-R because of the absence of circuit board. Moreover back in the early 90 only 57 classic and 490r wera available. IMO they are OEM pickups

 

These are from a Gibson Explorer bought second-hand in 1993. The receipt said it was made in '74... so it's a bit of a mystery when it's actually from. Apparently it's been repainted and had a lot of hardware replaced. These were the pickups that came with it before I put EMGs in (recently swapped back to originals).

 

There are some photos of the guitar here from a few year back: My linkhttps://www.flickr.com/photos/nehemiahknowsmyname/albums/72157615992849321

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These are from a Gibson Explorer bought second-hand in 1993. The receipt said it was made in '74... so it's a bit of a mystery when it's actually from. Apparently it's been repainted and had a lot of hardware replaced. These were the pickups that came with it before I put EMGs in (recently swapped back to originals).

 

There are some photos of the guitar here from a few year back: My linkhttps://www.flickr.com/photos/nehemiahknowsmyname/albums/72157615992849321

 

 

great example!! Do you think a sticker was applied on the back plate of the pickups? Do you have any trace on them?

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great example!! Do you think a sticker was applied on the back plate of the pickups? Do you have any trace on them?

 

Hmmm. I don't *think* so. The pickups are back on the guitar now but it doesn't really look like it from the photos and there is certainly not an obvious square of gunk where a sticker might have been.

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Hmmm. I don't *think* so. The pickups are back on the guitar now but it doesn't really look like it from the photos and there is certainly not an obvious square of gunk where a sticker might have been.

 

70s gibson pick ups came with black patent applied for sticker

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70s gibson pick ups came with black patent applied for sticker

 

So does that mean it could be a non-70s version of any of those listed above? Or are there any of those that were not made in the 70s?

 

The volume/tone pots that were in it when I bought it had M500koa 81 K embossed on them and I'd taken the 81 to mean 1981. The guy that changed the pickups recently for me at first said that didn't mean anything as Gibson didn't use that kind of marking and later said they were "cheap Japanese crap" and should be thrown in the bin. He wasn't subtle about it.

 

There is also the chance they're not even Gibson pickups I guess. Something I've noticed in searching for pictures of various old Gibson pickups is that I pretty much can't find any pictures that match mine in terms of which way round the white/black halves are in combination with which side the little hole is at the end of the row of pole screws.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hello.

 

No Explorers were made by Gibson in year 1974. The first reissues appeared in 1976. The guitar has Norlin-era logo, so chances are big it was made in late-70s. Serial number may help dating it.

 

The pickups on the picture are not stock. In 1976 (for example), these guitars had ceramic magnet, "tarback" Super Humbucker pickups (DC resistance around 15kohm):

 

flxgm7dy6zgnf9zypecc.jpg

 

Bence.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Are these pickups Dirty Fingers? They're in an Explorer I've had since the early '90s they originally had silver/chrome cases over them.

 

Pickup currently in neck position

 

Pickup currently in bridge position (excuse the comedy grounding... long story)

 

I've been trying for days to figure out what my neck pup is on my '96 LP Standard (image below) and lo and behold, for the first time, I'm seeing it on this board. No one on the other boards have been able to identify it. It's not a 490R as would be expected but the person I bought the guitar from said all was the same as when it was originally purchased. Any chance Gibson sent this LP out in 96 with these two pickups? The bridge pickup looks like a 498T but the neck pick up is definitely something else just like the one in your Explorer. Will check resistance later tonight and update. BTW, love the ground job on your bridge pickup. Might try that myself because for the life of me, I can't make my rig stop humming. Regards, Albert

 

2lwm4hc.jpg

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Hello.

 

No Explorers were made by Gibson in year 1974. The first reissues appeared in 1976. The guitar has Norlin-era logo, so chances are big it was made in late-70s. Serial number may help dating it.

 

Bence.

 

Ah-ha. Thanks Bence that's a good bit of info. A quick Google tells me Norlin-era are considered not so good haha. Oh well, glad I like it anyway.

 

That certainly helps me narrow it down a little. I think I'm going to have to look into sanding down the back of the headstock and see if I can read the serial number. I'm hesitant as I've not done anything like that before.

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I've been trying for days to figure out what my neck pup is on my '96 LP Standard (image below) and lo and behold, for the first time, I'm seeing it on this board. No one on the other boards have been able to identify it. It's not a 490R as would be expected but the person I bought the guitar from said all was the same as when it was originally purchased. Any chance Gibson sent this LP out in 96 with these two pickups? The bridge pickup looks like a 498T but the neck pick up is definitely something else just like the one in your Explorer. Will check resistance later tonight and update. BTW, love the ground job on your bridge pickup. Might try that myself because for the life of me, I can't make my rig stop humming. Regards, Albert

 

 

Hi Albert. Is the pickup zebra striped as well?

 

Chris.

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Hi Albert. Is the pickup zebra striped as well?

 

Chris.

 

It is indeed. The numbers are in as well: 13.65 for the bridge pup and 7.89 for the neck. Sure reads like normal 498T and 490R according to the tables. If it is a 490R in the neck position, it sure doesn't look like it from the back, especially since there isn't any sign of a GibsonUSA logo or sticker to be found. Anyway, all sounds great. It was really just more out of curiosity on my part to find an unlabled pick up in my guitar that didn't look like the one that's supposed to be there!

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Hello.

 

No Explorers were made by Gibson in year 1974. The first reissues appeared in 1976. The guitar has Norlin-era logo, so chances are big it was made in late-70s. Serial number may help dating it.

 

The pickups on the picture are not stock. In 1976 (for example), these guitars had ceramic magnet, "tarback" Super Humbucker pickups (DC resistance around 15kohm):

 

flxgm7dy6zgnf9zypecc.jpg

 

Bence.

Funny, but the tarbacks of my 1978 S-G Standard look the same, are called Super Humbucking pickups, too, and their DC resistances are 5.17 kOhms for the neck and 7.59 kOhms for the bridge pickup. They are quite hot - the Seymour Duncan SH-5 Duncan Custom I had put into the bridge position of this S-G for one day in the mid-1980's has lower output!

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I've been trying for days to figure out what my neck pup is on my '96 LP Standard (image below) and lo and behold, for the first time, I'm seeing it on this board. No one on the other boards have been able to identify it. It's not a 490R as would be expected but the person I bought the guitar from said all was the same as when it was originally purchased. Any chance Gibson sent this LP out in 96 with these two pickups? The bridge pickup looks like a 498T but the neck pick up is definitely something else just like the one in your Explorer. Will check resistance later tonight and update. BTW, love the ground job on your bridge pickup. Might try that myself because for the life of me, I can't make my rig stop humming. Regards, Albert

 

2lwm4hc.jpg

The neck pickup's backplate seems a PAF style one to me like those of the '57 bunch (Classic/Classic Plus/Super), the BurstBucker family (1/2/3/Pro Neck/Pro Bridge), '59 Tributes (Neck/Bridge) and CustomBuckers.

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@ adastreetgang: I forgot to ask about the heads of the pickup mounting/adjustment screws on your Les Paul. Those of the 498T should have chrome-plated Phillips heads. What are those of the neck pickup? Screws of PAF style pickups usually have nickel-plated slotted heads. (NOTE: This is not valid for stock Gibson PAF-style pickups on Epiphones. Their screws come with nickel-plated Phillips heads.)

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@ adastreetgang: I forgot to ask about the heads of the pickup mounting/adjustment screws on your Les Paul. Those of the 498T should have chrome-plated Phillips heads. What are those of the neck pickup? Screws of PAF style pickups usually have nickel-plated slotted heads. (NOTE: This is not valid for stock Gibson PAF-style pickups on Epiphones. Their screws come with nickel-plated Phillips heads.)

 

Many thanks for your reply. This whole experience has been so interesting. I had no idea there were so many ways to identify a pickup. Before I posted, a pickup just seemed like a rectangular piece of metal and wire, with some obvious distinguishing characteristics like color, placement of screws, etc. But then, as I've learnt more thanks to the replies from everyone, I find that pickups are much like wine. There is a lot to know, and the more you know, the more enjoyable it is to drink/play guitar.

 

Just went and had a look at the mounting/adjustment screws and was hoping to find a difference in the front and back pups but regretfully, they are both chrome plated philips.

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hmmmmmmmmm... Tokai/Burny pickup?

The Tokai pickup obviously comes with a grey plastic cable insulation. How probably would anybody convert that to braided wiring? The soldering points of the neck pickup in question look original to me.

 

The inside threads for the pole screws of Gibson pickups are cut into the base plate while those of the pictured Tokai pickup seem to be part of the bobbin.

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