Best Aftermarket T-top type pickup

Re: Best Aftermarket T-top type pickup

Aceman said:
Probably THE most replaced pickup of all time - just sayin'

But yeah…if it works it works. I have one that does.

just see T-Tops as the "Pabst Blue Ribbon" of pickups. It was meh then, and it is meh now. But because it is old it somehow became like nostalgic chic. I can't think of a tone issue that I'd be going "You know - it sounds like you need a T-Top."

But as mentioned - what rocks, rocks.
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well... ..the t-top was/is much better than the SD designed by HB-102 by an extremely wide margin. seriously was a soul crushing experience .. that 'pup.. was totally lifeless and ended up giving it away to a college classmate.. sometimes you just have to use what is available as your funds are non-existent. sometimes it works out,other times it doesnt.. in my case, it beat my expectations:)
 
Re: Best Aftermarket T-top type pickup

Aceman said:
Probably THE most replaced pickup of all time - just sayin'
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For the record, I'm not a fan of T-Tops at all.

Having said that, even tough it was kinda a fluke, T-Tops from the '70s make good NECK p'ups.

They were changed mostly because of the change of music the world was listening to. The capacity of slamming hard the 1st preamp stage was preferred over good tone.

However, today, with all the gain on tap most amps have, people can again choose tone over power.

Aceman said:
It was meh then, and it is meh now.
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As a neck p'up, I beg to disagree.

As a bridge p'up, it's just too shrill and anemic, unless you put an A8 in it. ;)

Yes, I said it! ;)
 
Re: Best Aftermarket T-top type pickup

I don't disagree - and swapped the bridge for a Distortion for exactly that reason.
 
Re: Best Aftermarket T-top type pickup

All depends on your tone - The bridge can sound good too, just some can only use a sledgehammer as their tool.
 
Re: Best Aftermarket T-top type pickup

AlexR said:
All depends on your tone - The bridge can sound good too, just some can only use a sledgehammer as their tool.
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was going to say that I use a t-top that came out of the neck of a LP... in the bridge of a dinky.. I know, that that is an odd choice for a "metal" guitar..:)

ttop to me is so smooth and harmonically pleasing to the ears.. just sounds very natural and has a soul.. in away, it feels alive to me. Hell maby they screwed up at the factory and made a "mistake". been known to happen
 
Re: Best Aftermarket T-top type pickup

Aceman said:
Still waiting on an answer to "why?"

Seriously…

I have 73/74/79 Les Pauls. Between the 7 pickups in them, there are 5 DiMarzios (2 SuperD's, 3 PAF's) A Duncan (Distortion) and just one T-Top.


Full disclosure: I have the neck T-Top in my 79 LP and it is never coming out. It is so Slash you can smell Jack Daniels in the air when I play it.
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All I can say is, as far as the "why", I just love the both positions in my '72 LP. They just do it for me, any amp, any room. The neck is quite bassy, the way I have it set anyway, but I still love it. The bridge is not in the least shrill for me, or anemic - it is fat, clear and nasty.

Just as a caveat though, I have played a few historics, many of the meh to very good, none of them more pleasing to me then my '72 - until recently, when I played a spectacular one (that I am scheming to acquire) - and that has the more vintage, open and airy les paul sound, which is very different then the Norlin tones - and I love that as well.

AlexR said:
All depends on your tone - The bridge can sound good too, just some can only use a sledgehammer as their tool.
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I am going to go with this.

Brandenburg said:
was going to say that I use a t-top that came out of the neck of a LP... in the bridge of a dinky.. I know, that that is an odd choice for a "metal" guitar..:)

ttop to me is so smooth and harmonically pleasing to the ears.. just sounds very natural and has a soul.. in away, it feels alive to me. Hell maby they screwed up at the factory and made a "mistake". been known to happen
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And this.
 
Re: Best Aftermarket T-top type pickup

The thing with a vintage ES-335, like Larry Carlton's '69, is that the bridge pickup is not wound hotter than the neck pickup.

They're both wound more or less identically.

And for that reason, if you own a vintage ES-335, 345 or 355 from the 60's, you tend to use the Neck pickup or the Neck and Bridge combined mostly. Like BB and Larry.

The Bridge pickup alone? Not so much because it sounds weak compared to the Neck pickup.

But there's a unique sound when both are combined that you don't get if you have an overwound Bridge pickup or calibrated pickup set.

I have other guitars with sets of PG's or APH-2's for when I want a strong bridge pickup tone.

But when I play my ES-335 I stick with the Neck pickup or Neck & Bridge combined for the most part.
 
Re: Best Aftermarket T-top type pickup

Actually had this conversation with someone this week with someone from the Duncan company that said there's no real valid T-Top option on the menu.

Someone did say Brandonwound. I'll call him, as well as Manlius and Wolfetone.
 
Re: Best Aftermarket T-top type pickup

Maybe I'm young and stupid, but I still keep racking my brain over this: aren't these pickups the reason why aftermarket pickups exist??? And they sell for big bucks???
 
Re: Best Aftermarket T-top type pickup

Archer250 said:
Maybe I'm young and stupid, but I still keep racking my brain over this: aren't these pickups the reason why aftermarket pickups exist??? And they sell for big bucks???
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My understanding of the original real deal T-Tops is that the tone can be a little all over the place, depending on what year they were made....and then whatever they may have been through in the time since then. I think I'd want to check them out before I committed to them if I were to ever been the market for any of the real ones.
 
Re: Best Aftermarket T-top type pickup

Archer250 said:
Maybe I'm young and stupid, but I still keep racking my brain over this: aren't these pickups the reason why aftermarket pickups exist??? And they sell for big bucks???
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my theory is after all these years, the magnets have "weakened" a tad and mellowed a bit. nothing to back this up.. just a feeling..Mine was in a box for atleast ~23 years, in very close proximity with atleast 5 or 6 humbuckers, and around the same number of single coils.. Maby this had an effect as well

I love mine and want to get custom wound one.. i also realize that the TTOP i have might just be a fluke as well, and finding another that has the same qualities might damn near be impossible..


Gibson T_Top.jpg
 
Re: Best Aftermarket T-top type pickup

During the 70s, fuzz apart, pedals were not that common, TTops were just too weak, the SuperD could push the amps instead.
As Pepe said, now that we have a lot of options, we got back to Tone
 
Re: Best Aftermarket T-top type pickup

I like T-tops in neck position. Great neck pickup for an SG. And I used one in bridge position on a Floydcaster for more than thirty years before switching over to a set of PATBs. It wasn't powerful but it had character, texture, and tone. Good touch response, and I liked that it was crisp but never shrill. Didn't seem thin, even with 25½" scale and the Floyd. I will say that the PATB-3 is warmer and fatter though.

A big +1 on Rewind. I have 5 of James' pickups now, all are excellent. No T-top types but I have no doubt those would be as good as his other ones.

I do agree about amp gain in those days, but not all the aftermarket pickups were hot. People were buying DiMarzio PAFs too. I think a big reason so many T-tops got replaced back in the 70s is just that that's when replacement pickups first became widely available. Not that the factory pickups really were bad, just that people were as tempted to customize their axes then as they are now. They became aware of pickup swapping as an easy reversible way to change their sound, and pickups could be bought over the counter rather than custom made.

Never imagined T-tops would become collectible, though. There were SO many of 'em replaced... If I ever gave them a second thought I would've figured they'd always be available dirt cheap.
 
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Re: Best Aftermarket T-top type pickup

Doesn't Sheptone make a T-Top?

I haven't used one but in my mind isn't it similar to the 498T maybe a bit lower wind? Something that's pretty neutral but not as dark as the 498T? I'm not sure what the closest SD would be as it wouldn't be overwound or a PAF type.
 
Re: Best Aftermarket T-top type pickup

eclecticsynergy said:
I like T-tops in neck position. Great neck pickup for an SG. And I used one in bridge position on a Floydcaster for more than thirty years before switching over to a set of PATBs. It wasn't powerful but it had character, texture, and tone. Good touch response, and I liked that it was crisp but never shrill. Didn't seem thin, even with 25½" scale and the Floyd. I will say that the PATB-3 is warmer and fatter though.

A big +1 on Rewind. I have 5 of James' pickups now, all are excellent. No T-top types but I have no doubt those would be as good as his other ones.

I do agree about amp gain in those days, but not all the aftermarket pickups were hot. People were buying DiMarzio PAFs too. I think a big reason so many T-tops got replaced back in the 70s is just that that's when replacement pickups first became widely available. Not that the factory pickups really were bad, just that people were as tempted to customize their axes then as they are now. They became aware of pickup swapping as an easy reversible way to change their sound, and pickups could be bought over the counter rather than custom made.

Never imagined T-tops would become collectible, though. There were SO many of 'em replaced... If I ever gave them a second thought I would've figured they'd always be available dirt cheap.
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Was looking at Rewind prices. People were pissing and moaning about "Lust for Tone" pup prices, well Rewind is no different @ $400/set. It's like I said then, MOST pup winders are charging exorbitant amounts for their pup sets these days.
 
Re: Best Aftermarket T-top type pickup

If you change that to 'a fair price for the exorbitant lengths they have to go to to source vintage accurate components' I would agree.
 
Re: Best Aftermarket T-top type pickup

eclecticsynergy said:
I like T-tops in neck position. Great neck pickup for an SG. And I used one in bridge position on a Floydcaster for more than thirty years before switching over to a set of PATBs. It wasn't powerful but it had character, texture, and tone. Good touch response, and I liked that it was crisp but never shrill. Didn't seem thin, even with 25½" scale and the Floyd. I will say that the PATB-3 is warmer and fatter though.

A big +1 on Rewind. I have 5 of James' pickups now, all are excellent. No T-top types but I have no doubt those would be as good as his other ones.

I do agree about amp gain in those days, but not all the aftermarket pickups were hot. People were buying DiMarzio PAFs too. I think a big reason so many T-tops got replaced back in the 70s is just that that's when replacement pickups first became widely available. Not that the factory pickups really were bad, just that people were as tempted to customize their axes then as they are now. They became aware of pickup swapping as an easy reversible way to change their sound, and pickups could be bought over the counter rather than custom made.

Never imagined T-tops would become collectible, though. There were SO many of 'em replaced... If I ever gave them a second thought I would've figured they'd always be available dirt cheap.
Click to expand...

James does have a T top. The bridge pickup of the Page post 72 is precisely that.
 
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