Gibson Iommi pickup disinformation leads to joy-joy!

[Sludgenutz]

All I ever heard from Gibson's website was that aftermarket Tony Iommi pup's were wired with a "four wire" harness. Yup, this true.

However, Gibson's website also says, if a guitar is factory equipped with Tony Iommi pup's...it is only a "two wire" pickup. I just assumed that this was true by virtue of the soldering points at the pickup...and that the pup's harness would be of the two conductor variety.

All that changed when I bought a used Epi Tony Iommi Signature G-400 (a Korean SG) a few weeks ago. I was bored one night this past week, so I decided to see what was inside the control cavity.

To my surprise, all of the black/red/white/green (and ground) were present at the end of the harness! The white and green wires were merely soldered together, folded back around the main harness, and covered/insulated by a piece of shrink tubing!

A small victory for the common man! I will eventually get around the telling the group about how these p'ups sound "split".

Until then, seriously rock on m'bruthas and sistas out there!

 

[Fusion1]

Re: Gibson Iommi pickup disinformation leads to joy-joy!

Good piece of investigating there. I'd be curious as to how it sounds split as well.

 

[bryvincent]

Re: Gibson Iommi pickup disinformation leads to joy-joy!

All I ever heard from Gibson's website was that aftermarket Tony Iommi pup's were wired with a "four wire" harness. Yup, this true.

However, Gibson's website also says, if a guitar is factory equipped with Tony Iommi pup's...it is only a "two wire" pickup. I just assumed that this was true by virtue of the soldering points at the pickup...and that the pup's harness would be of the two conductor variety.

All that changed when I bought a used Epi Tony Iommi Signature G-400 (a Korean SG) a few weeks ago. I was bored one night this past week, so I decided to see what was inside the control cavity.

To my surprise, all of the black/red/white/green (and ground) were present at the end of the harness! The white and green wires were merely soldered together, folded back around the main harness, and covered/insulated by a piece of shrink tubing!

A small victory for the common man! I will eventually get around the telling the group about how these p'ups sound "split".

Until then, seriously rock on m'bruthas and sistas out there!

there's no disinformation on Gibson's website. the only guitar that they are refering to with the 2-conductor iommi HBs is the Gibson Tony Iommi Sig. SG.

from the Gibson website:

"tony iommi signature

The Pickup Your Mom Warned You About.


The Tony Iommi Signature Pickups is the same humbucker that the Black Sabbath guitar legend uses in his signature model Gibson SG.

Using a totally unique design, this is the first signature pickup made by Gibson. With its closed cover it's built to pack a real punch, with blistering mids, razor-sharp highs and balanced low-end. The "patent-applied-for" magnet configuration and special wire winding ensure maximized sustain, while the wax and epoxy potting protects against unwanted feedback. Four conductor wiring permits any desired wiring combination. (NOTE: The factory installed pickup on the Tony Iommi Signature SG has two conductor wiring.)

Gibson USA Tony Iommi Signature SG"