Leaderboard

Dave, I heard that was very true in the early days. They used 2, 3, 4 and 5, but by 58, I think they had pretty much settled on #2 or #5, but as you said, whichever was available. That's how the white vs black bobbin deal came into being. But that is what I (and apparently others) find so strange of how they are being touted. "Using a combination of 3D scanning, scientific analysis, reverse engineering of original examples from the late 1950s, and specifications from the Gibson archives, the Gibson Pickup Shop has developed the most accurate recreations of these acclaimed pickups ever made, right down to the tool marks on the baseplates. " How much analysis and reverse engineering does it take to wind some wire on a bobbin (which, by the way, didn't have a counter on it) until it's almost full, and to stamp out some nickel silver baseplates and screw the things together. They certainly weren't "boutique" builds, hand wound and assembled by magical elves in the dark recesses of Parsons Street. It would be different if they were made like some of the slot car motors we had years ago. They might be hand wound with 38 turns of #27 gauge wire, precisely laid side by side on each pole for one class, then carefully polished and balanced. But nobody is going to precisely win 5000 turns of #42 wire on a bobbin by hand.

Pete Marino (RIP) told me the factory filled up the back of his pickup truck with them and asked him to deliver them to the dump. From what I understand less them 1/2 made it to the dump.

Am I wrong in that the magnets used in PAFs by 59 were usually Alnico 2 or some #5s? I wonder why they used Alnico 4 for these authentic 59 recreations? I think you're probably right on the money. I know a shop nearby who can wind a set of pickups and sell them for $65 to $100, which includes a profit margin that is got to be at least half that (retail is often 100% markup). This is a small shop, so you know they don't get the same terms and pricing that Gibson will get. "Send me 15,000 of our standard Alnico 5 magnets, and while you're at it, throw in 2000 rough cast Alnico 4s, 2.5" long. .. yeah, a buck twenty sounds good."