bluezguy Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 I'm very concerned about my effort to get a pair of new OEM Firebird V pickups for my 2004 FBV. For about 3 years now I've made numerous phone calls to Gibson Customer Service begging, offering huge money, sandwiches for life, one of my hot daughters ... anything to get me a replacement set of those ceramic pups. The answer, in a nut shell, has always been NO. No part number, no pickups, no nothing ... NO! One service guy said to even try StewMac for replacements. Anyways, I just got a set yesterday that I purchased off eBay. The patent# was stamped in the base plates and is exactly the same number on my OEM pickups. The soldering is perfect, resistance is 24k & 16k ... and the part that freaks me out is - the top of the pickup still has the clear plastic protection cover as though this was a brand new Gibson pickup. In case your wondering why I needed another set, I am going to experiment with different Alnico bar magnets and want all genuine Gibson parts to be my base. How could this eBay seller get their hands on these pickups when I - a Gibson user for over 40 years could NOT. Even the leads are long & clean and indicate no previous soldering. COULD THEY BE A KNOCKOFF? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 Well, not putting you off, but you are in a better position to be able to tell than anybody. You have 2 pairs, the genuine, and the ones you question. If they APPEAR, identical, I would think that is the best proof. I am sure that you know as well as I, that actual Firebird pups are not something you can get easily. I don't even know where to get aftermarket ones that are built the same way as a firebird pup, as most make what they call firebird pups but are actually mini-humbuckers. DIFFERENT construction. IF ANYONE KNOWS WHERE TO GET ACTUAL FIREBIRD PUPS, REGARDLESS OF MAKER, PLEASE CHIME IN HERE. Why Gibson does not offer for sale Origonal pups for all their makes is a mystery to me. They already have the tooling set up. Just as much of a mystery, is why the aftermarket makers, especially the high-end ones who take great care in replicating other types, don't offer or make a Firebird pup like a Firebird pup is made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluezguy Posted January 28, 2012 Author Share Posted January 28, 2012 Well, not putting you off, but you are in a better position to be able to tell than anybody. You have 2 pairs, the genuine, and the ones you question. If they APPEAR, identical, I would think that is the best proof. I am sure that you know as well as I, that actual Firebird pups are not something you can get easily. I don't even know where to get aftermarket ones that are built the same way as a firebird pup, as most make what they call firebird pups but are actually mini-humbuckers. DIFFERENT construction. IF ANYONE KNOWS WHERE TO GET ACTUAL FIREBIRD PUPS, REGARDLESS OF MAKER, PLEASE CHIME IN HERE. Why Gibson does not offer for sale Origonal pups for all their makes is a mystery to me. They already have the tooling set up. Just as much of a mystery, is why the aftermarket makers, especially the high-end ones who take great care in replicating other types, don't offer or make a Firebird pup like a Firebird pup is made. Hey Stein .. thanks for your comments. You are very right about the 'mini-humbuckers' - they are a totally differnt pup than FB. I got a set a few years ago because I once had a LesPaul Deluxe back in the '70sand I loved the tones back then when I was cranking through a HiWatt stack. After sticking them into my 'bird, I really got tired of them after only a few months. I tried to convince myself that I loved 'em but I eventually came around to my senses. There still are, as I type this note, a few more FB pickups on eBay ... both chrome and gold. Just enter 'Gibson Firebird Pickups' in the search engine and you'll see them with a few Seymour Duncans and others. My FB V is here to stay with me for however long forever is ... ceramic pups or Alnico ... I'm just gonna shuddup & play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfox14 Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 There are some sellers on eBay that take Gibson guitars and "part them out". They sell the body & neck as a "project" guitars and sell off the other hardware separately. My guess is the pickups came off of a guitar like that. glad you were able to find them. Too bad Gibson doesn't sell these. Don't understand why they would NOT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Mollard Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 Plus, some people buy Gibsons and switch out the pickups, and then put those pickups up for sale on eBay. I wouldn't bother trying to locate the Firebird pickups that way, though, I would just contact Curtis Novak and tell him what you want and he will do it: http://curtisnovak.com/pickups/firebird.shtml Not cheap, but it's what I will likely do. Not sure if that will be helpful here or not, but it might be to someone else regardless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluezguy Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 There are some sellers on eBay that take Gibson guitars and "part them out". They sell the body & neck as a "project" guitars and sell off the other hardware separately. My guess is the pickups came off of a guitar like that. glad you were able to find them. Too bad Gibson doesn't sell these. Don't understand why they would NOT. Roger that! I called the ebay 'seller' and that's exactly what happened - parted out. Since I posted this, I've had the pups in my FBV and they sound and feel identical as the OE ... because they are OE! Thanks for your comments! Slide on ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hydra26 Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 I don't own a bird but I do have a Deluxe. Pardon my ignorance, but what's the differenc ebetween a mini bucker and a bird pup? Just the magnets or something else? Just curious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blaster Posted February 28, 2012 Share Posted February 28, 2012 I'm fairly sure that the original '60s Firebird pickups were Alnico around 6.9K - 7.2K, and not the ceramic 16K and higher. The new pickups seem shrill by comparison. I have a few of the newer Reverse Firebird 1 models, and I've replaced the pickups on them using ones from Jason Lollar and Seymour Duncan instead, which sound more like the original '60s models. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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