gjet Posted January 9, 2012 Posted January 9, 2012 Hello. A friend of mine recently brought his slightly used 2011 Gibson Les Paul over to my house. He's positive it's a "Traditional Faded" but there's no mention of it on the product card in his guitar case, or label on the truss rod cover. I'm trying to ID the bridge pickup in this guitar. The MODEL number is: LP5FTBNH1. The SERIAL number is 102710477. The local store he purchased it from had it online listed as a Gibson Les Paul Traditional Faded, with BurstBucker Pickups — now SOLD from here in Canada: Lauzon Music But they don't say which BurstBuckers, 1, 2, 3? Or could they be BurstBucker Pros? I called Gibson to verify what the bridge pickup is, Gibson told me that the serial number in question applies to a Gibson "Standard", not a Traditional. Now I'm just confused because Gibson doesn't know exactly what the bridge pickup is. Are they BurstBucker 1, 2's, 3's? OR Burstbucker Pros? Can anyone ID it? Thanks. See attached images. — Thanks.
surfpup Posted January 9, 2012 Posted January 9, 2012 Yep - it's a Standard Faded in Tobacco Burst. The letter S can look like a 5 I have one just like it. And the pickups are should be Burstbucker Pros LPS= Les Paul Standard F= Faded finish TB= Tobacco Burst
BigKahune Posted January 9, 2012 Posted January 9, 2012 . NH = Nickel Hardware Very nice looking LP faded. Congrats to your friend. . B) .
gjet Posted January 9, 2012 Author Posted January 9, 2012 Surfpup - I had to do some more ridiculous digging. I even called the Canadian distributor that shipped this guitar to the store where my friend bought it. They told me, that the bridge pickup is a BurstBucker 2, not 3, or BB Pro. AND, that 5 that you said was an S, is actually a 5 - (which mean's 50's styled neck) My god, these people are all over the place. Why don't they just put EXACTLY what pickup is in the guitar - ON the owner's card. It's not rocket surgery. OR, maybe this can help to some degree: Gibson Pickup Output Chart It appears that the BB PRO BRIDGE, BB2 BRIDGE, and 57 Classic BRIDGE are very close in terms of output. But I know each has some sonic differences.
Angellus Posted January 9, 2012 Posted January 9, 2012 identifying gibson pickups is a real pain not even gibson can do it. you can wire it up to a volt meter and check the output and compare it to the outputs of the pup in question but thats about it. so unless they were changed they should be as listed for that model when it was released. in which case BB pro's. i got the zebra reverse zebra on mine in SD alnico 2 slash. they look kool
Work in Progress Posted January 9, 2012 Posted January 9, 2012 My god, these people are all over the place. Why don't they just put EXACTLY what pickup is in the guitar - ON the owner's card. It's not rocket surgery. Rocket surgery, ha :). I can't argue with the breakdown of the Model Number, however, the shop could've called it a Traditional because of its vintage Kluson tuners. I'd not heard of a Standard OR Traditional in a Faded, but I'm not an expert, or familiar with the Canadian line (if it even differs). Guitar companies seem to have about 10-15 models and a billion product lines so I'm sorry if I missed a Faded Traditional or Standard. However, I am certain I've seen Faded Studios, SGs, and Flying Vs. It's quite common for Traditonal owners to replace the TRC for a historically-"correct" blank.
Angellus Posted January 9, 2012 Posted January 9, 2012 i wouldnt say traditional. i've not seen one in faded to that spec. might be custom, not sure if its the picture but that headstock looks skinny like a historic no fat like the traditional. its not a historic though looking at the serial number. maybe a LP classic??? i dunno
surfpup Posted January 10, 2012 Posted January 10, 2012 Surfpup - ... AND, that 5 that you said was an S, is actually a 5 - (which mean's 50's styled neck)... Ah, that makes sense. I looked at my pics again. Mine says LP6F - Faded with a 60s neck. So I still say yours is a Faded Standard but with a 50s neck. Did you see any wax in the pickup cover area? Burstbucker Pros are wax potted while Burstbucker 1, 2, and 3 pickups are not. Surely the mystery can be unraveled!
gjet Posted January 10, 2012 Author Posted January 10, 2012 UPDATE: I had left a message with a Gibson customer service rep who was going to do some serious digging for me. He responded today with this: Hello. Thanks for writing. This serial number appears consistent with a 2011 Les Paul Standard Faded model, which are factory equipped with Burstbucker Pro pickups. Thank you for the inquiry. Best regards, Gibson Customer Service 1-800-4GIBSON www.gibson.com Can you believe that? So the distributor in Canada that actually shipped this guitar to the music store where he bought it says they're BB2's, and Gibson says BB PRO'S. My God, so much inconsistency. I'm going to ask my friend to take the pickup out so I can see for myself. That should settle it. Ah, that makes sense. I looked at my pics again. Mine says LP6F - Faded with a 60s neck. So I still say yours is a Faded Standard but with a 50s neck. Did you see any wax in the pickup cover area? Burstbucker Pros are wax potted while Burstbucker 1, 2, and 3 pickups are not. Surely the mystery can be unraveled!
Angellus Posted January 10, 2012 Posted January 10, 2012 Ah, that makes sense. I looked at my pics again. Mine says LP6F - Faded with a 60s neck. So I still say yours is a Faded Standard but with a 50s neck. Did you see any wax in the pickup cover area? Burstbucker Pros are wax potted while Burstbucker 1, 2, and 3 pickups are not. Surely the mystery can be unraveled! its open coil so check for signs of wax
gjet Posted January 11, 2012 Author Posted January 11, 2012 Angellus, since you're in the UK, have you had any experience with Bare Knuckle pickups? I heard an audio file yesterday of their "Black Dog" bridge. WOW, lots of bite. But they recorded it with the guitar down-tuned. Too bad they didn't do it in standard tuning, I'd like to hear that instead. Here: Black Dog - Classic Rock Tone I thought they sounded really good. — I did inspect them the other day, didn't pull it out of the guitar, but I couldn't see wax. How obvious would it be? its open coil so check for signs of wax
Angellus Posted January 12, 2012 Posted January 12, 2012 Angellus, since you're in the UK, have you had any experience with Bare Knuckle pickups? I heard an audio file yesterday of their "Black Dog" bridge. WOW, lots of bite. But they recorded it with the guitar down-tuned. Too bad they didn't do it in standard tuning, I'd like to hear that instead. Here: Black Dog - Classic Rock Tone I thought they sounded really good. — I did inspect them the other day, didn't pull it out of the guitar, but I couldn't see wax. How obvious would it be? run your finger over the coils and see if you get any waxy residue on your fingers the same as if you had handled a candle thats the best way yes Bare Knuckle in my oppinion are awesome boutique PUPs expensive but they are great. Only the high end boutique guitar shops stock them here in the UK. your average independant or chain store like Guitar Guitar normally dont stock them.
gjet Posted January 12, 2012 Author Posted January 12, 2012 So no wax, then it must be a BB2. Those Bare Knuckle pickups... £114.00 pounds, about $182.00 Canadian. To me, that's not ridiculous - not for what you're getting. It's the kind of thing you buy once. I'm sure they sound amazing in person. run your finger over the coils and see if you get any waxy residue on your fingers the same as if you had handled a candle thats the best way yes Bare Knuckle in my oppinion are awesome boutique PUPs expensive but they are great. Only the high end boutique guitar shops stock them here in the UK. your average independant or chain store like Guitar Guitar normally dont stock them.
Angellus Posted January 13, 2012 Posted January 13, 2012 So no wax, then it must be a BB2. Those Bare Knuckle pickups... £114.00 pounds, about $182.00 Canadian. To me, that's not ridiculous - not for what you're getting. It's the kind of thing you buy once. I'm sure they sound amazing in person. ah ok, I didnt notice the recent prices. They used to be more expensive. also in my experience Bare Knuckles have a great re-sale value so if you decided they were not for you you wouldn't take too much of a loss. My SD alnico 2 pro slash sound amazing. I went from ceramics 490 500's (didnt like at all) to 57's (kool PUPs now on my SG) SD alnico 2 pro's (great pups) SD alnico 2 pro Slash (WOW adds the sparkle an a little snap in the tone compared to the standard alnico 2 pro's) I found my pups, wouldnt change them at all now an thats how you know if you've got a winner. My next custom mod LP Traditional will definately be trying more boutique PUPs like the Bare Knuckles
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