Tim Shaw pickups - educate me

[ksdaddy]

I have heard people talk about Tim Shaw pickups. Apparently they are desirable. According to the Internet, Gibson used them during the 80s, at least until 1987.  I'm not one to split hairs about pickups; I seldom upgrade unless there is a distinct 'lack' in the stock ones. Either my ear is not that sophisticated or I'm easy to please or a combination thereof.

This all comes into play within my current quest to replace my Heritage Super Eagle (too BIG with it's 18" body!) with an ES-175. I've had a 1955 ES-295 plus three 175s from the 70s (1972 single PU, 1977 thinline, and a 1978).  All catch n release I guess. After years of this and that, I've discovered that a 16" body is most suited to me. Some people say the 80s models with mahogany back and sides sound better than the "all other things being equal" all-maple ones.  If I hear that enough, it will influence me. If I end up seeking an 80s model, it has a good chance it has the famous Tim Shaw pickups. I would definitely be asking if it had the originals, given the information presented.  I don't like buying guitars that have had the "money parts" plucked and replaced with cheaper alternatives. These are the same people who would pull the original engine out of a Corvette  and replace it with a crate engine from the local dealer and smile sweetly as if they did nothing wrong.

What is the big deal about these pickups, and if they were so great, why did they stop using them?

 

[duane v]

Most of all my Gibson's have been switched out to the Tim Shaw era pickups. I still have four pairs from my buying spree from 2010 to 2012 where I purchases a total of 20 pairs. Now they are just too expensive.

For me they have a nice bitey tone with tons of clarity whether you are distorted or clean. Of all the Gibson pups I have tried, for me the Tim Shaw era pups are by far the best for what I do.

See the below video when I first received my Pro Tools Recording program and I recorded a little guitar lick using my VOX AC50 and my 1980 Les Paul Custom.

 

 

[bigtim]

The ones in my 81 lp custom were not all that impressive. The neck was ok but the bridge sounded thin with no character. 

 

I swapped them out back in the early 90s and I was happy. 

 

Good luck!!!

 

 

 

 

 

[rct]

Tim Shaw made the pickup in my 70th Esquire.  Divine.  Silent.  I have considered others of his because of it.  I may, maybe, replace it with something super special, just haven't done it yet.

rct

[duane v]

On 4/24/2024 at 4:57 PM, bigtim said:

The ones in my 81 lp custom were not all that impressive. The neck was ok but the bridge sounded thin with no character. 

 

I swapped them out back in the early 90s and I was happy. 

 

Good luck!!!

Do you still have them (Shaws)???? I'll give you $300 for the pair 

 

 

 

 

Do you still have them (Shaws)????? I'll give you $300 for the pair

[bigtim]

On 4/26/2024 at 8:45 AM, duane v said:

Do you still have them (Shaws)????? I'll give you $300 for the pair

No they are long gone.

[Valeriy]

On 4/25/2024 at 2:57 AM, bigtim said:

The ones in my 81 lp custom were not all that impressive. The neck was ok but the bridge sounded thin with no character. 

 

I swapped them out back in the early 90s and I was happy. 

 

Good luck!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Hello guys,

This is a familiar problem, when the sound is too harsh and often for a bridge pickup. This does not happen very rarely and can happen on expensive guitars as well. Tim Shaw's pickups are certainly not to blame here. There is even a patent (method) on how to eliminate or reduce this harshness while maintaining the same pickup ( with the same impedance) and hum canceling abilities for humbuckers. If anyone is interested, you can read in detail here, this is already an old US patent (1997): https://www.google.com/patents/US5908998  In short, here it simply adds ferromagnetic material to the pickup to increase its inductance, which eliminates this harshness in sound. As the author writes there, this gives a more pleasing tonal quality.

But for humbuckers, I would recommend an even simpler method: you can simply place a steel plate between the coils that is approximately the same height to the strings as the pole pieces of the coils. This method is newer and also patented.