Gibson L6-S humbuckers.

[Will S-T]

They were made by Bill Lawrence for Gibson in the early 70's using a ceramic magnet.

Anybody know what the specs were?

Thanks in advance.

Will

[Will S-T]

Re: Gibson L6-S humbuckers.

Anyone?

[Laughing Kookaburra]

Re: Gibson L6-S humbuckers.

I'll bump it...did you like those pups Will? My vague memory was that they were a bit muddy, but that was a long time ago.

[Will S-T]

Re: Gibson L6-S humbuckers.

I'll bump it...did you like those pups Will? My vague memory was that they were a bit muddy, but that was a long time ago.

G'day Brian , how the fark you been mate?

Just enquiring because I scored a really, really nice and accurate copy,
made by Ibanez in the 70's, though it came with no electrics.
I'm trying to get something similar to those early Bill Lawrence "Super Humbuckers".

Can't quite pin it, but my research is indicating that they were quite high output,
some suggestions of around 18K. The odd thing is that Carlos Santana was
an endorsee, claiming that they had incredible sustain, but Al Dimeola was
also an endorsee and had a very different tone to Carlos, jazzier and cleaner.

Some of the L6-S models also had Marauder humbuckers, and these are much
lower output. I've got two NOS neck Marauder buckers and they read only 5.3k.

I'll be doing a full restoration for this guitar including a full refinish she deserves.
I'm attempting an adventurous wiring setup which includes the 6 way rotary pickup selector,
push pull volumes for each pickup, master no-load tone and 6 way rotary varitone
where the output jack used to live. Previous owners modified her with a side
input jack, segmented block inlays and a nude angel inlay on the headstock.

Here's a pic of an original model in the same colour and ebony board as mine.

Hey Brian, I'll be downing a few beers for you tonight mate

[Laughing Kookaburra]

Re: Gibson L6-S humbuckers.

IIRC, the pups I played on an L6-S were not high output at all, but like I said, that was a long time ago. The bridge was eventually replaced with a Duncan, a 58? Not sure of that model name, but it was an improvement.

Doing ok here Will, knocked back some Aussie Shiraz earlier tonight!

[Ashurbanipal]

Re: Gibson L6-S humbuckers.

We demand a restoration thread!

The BLs in the Gibsons were triple mag affairs epoxied into the cover, pretty hot (hence Santana's description). Don't know anything about the DC and such technicalities; my guess: in the 15k+ ball park. I think they were the first hot pups Gibson put in their electric guitars; as we know, T-Tops, which were their contemporaries, are in the low output category.

[Laughing Kookaburra]

Re: Gibson L6-S humbuckers.

That's interesting about the triple mags. The pups on the L6-S I played may have been changed out then. I've used T Tops, and these were not much different, again, IIRC.

[King IzzO)))]

Re: Gibson L6-S humbuckers.

I remember I couldn't get them out fast enough...

Actually, I'm almost certain mine were T-tops.

[Ashurbanipal]

Re: Gibson L6-S humbuckers.

Who knows, maybe some came with T-Tops in spite of the catalogue information. The Marauders themselves came with a bunch of pups - those black covered units on some, no idea if they're the same spec as the clear acrylic covered ones.

These BL 'super' buckers seem kind of similar to the IBZ humbuckers that came in so many Ibanez axes in the mid-80s - hot, triple mag, epoxied into cover.

[Will S-T]

Re: Gibson L6-S humbuckers.

Who knows, maybe some came with T-Tops in spite of the catalogue information. The Marauders themselves came with a bunch of pups - those black covered units on some, no idea if they're the same spec as the clear acrylic covered ones.

These BL 'super' buckers seem kind of similar to the IBZ humbuckers that came in so many Ibanez axes in the mid-80s - hot, triple mag, epoxied into cover.

I believe the Marauder black and clear epoxied were the same, relatively low output.
I remember reading somewhere that it was Gibson's answer to the Tele.

The guitar I have is heavy, really heavy, and I suspect it is made of maple.
All hardware components are of high quality such as Schaller tuners, same as
the Gibson branded Schallers and it has a unique heavy brass almost inch thick
mounting bar under the long saddle travel bridge, for sustain purposes I assume.
It also has a very nice chrome plated nut and the build is of very high Ibanez quality.
I only found out it is an Ibanez after seeing the branding bridge mounting bar.

I think I might just take the middle road and use a pair of Schaller Super Golden 50's.
They are about mid 13k each and are constructed of two A5 pole piece coils,
similar to the Stag Mag but with flat pole pieces. They will also have solid
plastic covers replaced with solid chrome ones like the original L6-S.

As for the restoration, it will have to wait till early next year when I take my
long service leave and finish off a few more of the many projects on hold.

Cheers

[Ashurbanipal]

Re: Gibson L6-S humbuckers.

^^ A mate of mine in my school days had a brown Marauder. Looked awful but sounded and played pretty well. You're right about the Tele connection - Fender had the Tele Custom out in the 70s, so this was meant to be a competitor.

Hmm, I take it that it doesn't have an Ibanez headstock logo. Maybe it's one of a myriad of MIJ guitars made at Fujigen using Ibanez bits here and there, like the Greco Explorer, which is identical to the Ibanez except for the logo and tuners.

Those pups sound interesting. Haven't played anything with Schallers installed. The Hannes bridge kicks serious arse though.

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Gibson L6-S humbuckers.

If you want to have an L6-S that still looks "right" but sounds MUCH better use Gibson Iommi pickups.

I can't really remember any of the specs on the L6-S pickups but they sound pretty bad...

[Will S-T]

Re: Gibson L6-S humbuckers.

Thanks for the feedback gents. l'll be using solid chrome
covers over the schallers for the original look.
whatever logo it had has been removed and covered over
by a custom inlay of a naked angel with long hair and wings.
It also has custom block inlays on the fretboard. she was owned
by a recording studio in frankfurt judging by the writing on the
the inside of the back control cover. I've strung her up and the
playability is amazing. However I do need to relocate the tailpiece
a little further back as it is too close to the volume knob.
I'll post pics next week.

Cheers

[idsnowdog]

Re: Gibson L6-S humbuckers.

I haven't played an L6, but if you can track down a set of Dimarzio Al Dimeola pickups they might be similar? The Al Dimeola pickups are oddballs! They are sensitive, clean and powerful sounding but they will not distort no matter how much distortion you throw at them. You really need good technique because they are very unforgiving.

[Josep_cla]

Re: Gibson L6-S humbuckers.

I had a L6-S Custom.
I have its neck pickup in my strat, paired with a 500T in bridge.
3 ceramic mags, epoxy covered and no holes chrome cover.

Sounds dark, but not muddy. Less than 6k for what I remember, but high output volume wise.
Pairs perfec with the 500T (the only pickup I could find which does that!).
Very nice warm fluid neck leads out of it.