59B with double adjustable poles

[raythepicker]

Had this old pickup in the drawer for years and years. When I bought it used it was already looking pretty ancient. Unusual for 59 in the fact that it has both sets of poles adjustable. It has the long leg style frame.and it looks very old as you can see

I'm about to use this pickup in a build I currently have underway. I've tested it in a guitar and the tone is quite amazing.

I'd be pretty pleased if some knowledgeable member could post any info at all on how old this pickup might be.
Also why was the double row of adjustable pole pieces included in this pickup?
Cant find any others like it on the net.

Thanks to any and all posters

 

[hamerfan]

Since the markings are a stock 59B my guess is that any former owner hacked it up.

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Simple model sticker combined with stamped-logo baseplate would seem to indicate mid-to-late 80s.
AFAIK there were only a handful of years with logo baseplates before they switched to the newer stickers.
I could be mistaken about that - someone more knowledgeable might be able to pinpoint the dating more accurately

Back in the 80s the Allan Holdsworth signature model was like this.
The first Holdsworth bridge was based on the JB, only with pole screws in both coils to mellow the harshness and fatten the highs a bit.
(AFAIK that JB-based bridge is still offered as a custom shop model called the Metal Fatigue.)
But then some years later, Allan stepped down to lower output and I'm pretty sure there was a twelve-screw Holdsworth bridge based on the 59B.

 

[hamerfan]

Big logo without Made in America and Sticker with winder initial: 1982 to 1987

 

[Mincer]

Simple model sticker combined with stamped-logo baseplate would seem to indicate mid-to-late 80s.
AFAIK there were only a handful of years with logo baseplates before they switched to the newer stickers.
I could be mistaken about that - someone more knowledgeable might be able to pinpoint the dating more accurately

Back in the 80s the Allan Holdsworth signature model was like this.
The first Holdsworth bridge was based on the JB, only with pole screws in both coils to mellow the harshness and fatten the highs a bit.
(AFAIK that JB-based bridge is still offered as a custom shop model called the Metal Fatigue.)
But then some years later, Allan stepped down to lower output and I'm pretty sure there was a twelve-screw Holdsworth bridge based on the 59B.

Yeah, that's what I heard- Allan Holdsworth used a double screw 59 in the bridge, but i am not sure if that was a neck or bridge model that he used.

 

[jeremy]

betcha its a great sounding pup but i could only guess as to how it came to be

 

[raythepicker]

Gday Jeremy this pickup has the tone of doom - cant wait to get it into a good home. I have an LP jnr style chambered build almost done so that's a strong possibility.
Florentine cutaway, walnut top blackwood core and solid mahogany neck. I reckon on a pretty raunchy tone there.

 

[Artie]

The way that the tape ends are layed perfectly at that angle, and don't appear to have been messed with, suggests a factory job rather than an owner mod.

 

[Masta' C]

I have to agree, looks to be factory-made like this...possibly for Allan himself?

Seriously cool find!

 

[Mincer]

I don't know if Allan was using those that long ago. It was a more recent thing for him.

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Might've been a shop floor custom for someone whose tastes ran along the same lines.
Did Duncan even offer shop floor customs in the 80s?
Since they'll do it now, seems likely they would've done it when the business was smaller.

 

[Masta' C]

Might've been a shop floor custom for someone whose tastes ran along the same lines.
Did Duncan even offer shop floor customs in the 80s?

I'm sure customers could make special requests like this even back then.

While there are no direct ties to Allan Holdsworth in this case, it does make me curious if he might have experimented with the '59 in this configuration sometime in the mid-'80s, especially given the limited number of Duncan offerings at that time.

I know his "signature" AH-1 model was offered well into the late-'80s/early-'90s as a production model, but Duncan regularly offers signature pickups long after the artist has moved on from a design.

Also, I found this interesting quote from Scott Henderson, a fusion/jazz/blues guitarist active in the mid-'80s, that might help shed some more light on the origins of this particular pickup:

...the first Tribal Tech album "Spears" [1985]. Back then I was playing a basswood Charvel strat with Seymour Duncan double-screw '59 humbucking pickups. Double screw pickups are smoother sounding than normal humbuckers, but they don't have much bass. I didn't care about that then but I do now, so I changed to the regular '59 after the Tribal Tech days.

Could've been a shop-floor custom or even something made specifically for Charvel. Time frame also fits perfectly with the age of this particular pickup (1983-86/87)

 

[raythepicker]

Something I neglected to mention is the pickup was found in Melbourne Australia for sale I believe on ebay. Meaning it was most likely a production pickup and not a special order.

Also pole spacing indicate it was not built for Charvel which used F spacing AFAIK

 

[Masta' C]

The fact that this was sighted on eBay in Australia in the past means little in terms of its likely origins. The pickup may have come installed in a used guitar or simply purchased off eBay and imported like so many other parts are.

Also, it should be noted that ALL Seymour Duncan pickups featured standard spacing during the era this pickup was produced. The "Trembucker" (i.e. SD's "F-spaced" option) wasn't introduced until 1987/88, the same time the baseplate stamp changed to a smaller logo.

 

[Wound_Up]

Since the markings are a stock 59B my guess is that any former owner hacked it up.

What's hacked up about that pickup?

Modified ≠ hacked up in most people's vocabulary.

 

[Aceman]

It could have been "hybridized" from two 59's.

 

[Masta' C]

Possibly, but it doesn't appear in any obvious way that the pickup has been tampered with.