GIbson L6-S suggestions please.

[explodenator]

I have a Gibson L6-S (Custom, with the 6 way switch) and the original neck pick-up gave out recently. I'm curious if there is a modern option in the way of humbuckers, should I want to simply replace the pair of 'em.

It's a solid maple body, maple neck with the rosewood fretboard, and I would like to keep the original 6 way switch functional. For those who don't know, the pickup switching options were:
Both pickups, in series
Neck pickup, alone
Both pickups, in parallel
Both pickups, parallel out of phase, with the neck pickup's bass response restricted thought a series capacitor.
Bridge pickup, alone
Both pickups, series out of phase.

I don't really intend to restore the guitar, just looking for a good versatile tone.

 

[Inder_Cine_Mann]

Re: GIbson L6-S suggestions please.

What music, amp, and sound are you going for?

 

[explodenator]

Re: GIbson L6-S suggestions please.

I mostly play classic rock/country tunes; CCR, The Band, Hank Williams Sr., some Beatles, and even Jakob Dylan - anything I can strum and sing while my fiancee plays bass. Sometimes I take over lead guitar if I can find someone to play rhythm. I play small casual gigs, and perform/practice with my Rogue SC40R combo amp or Epiphone Valve Jr. half-stack.

I'm looking for a nice clean tone that I can strum and play some simple licks. Something that varies from warm to punchy, not so twangy and bright. I have a Stratocaster that I use for now, and am looking for a complimentary tone to round out my arsenal.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: GIbson L6-S suggestions please.

One important detail is that the L-6 series has a twenty four fret fingerboard. This results in the neck position pickup being closer to the bridge than on, say, a Les Paul or an SG.

 

[Rockstar216]

Re: GIbson L6-S suggestions please.

Welcome to the forum. I would recommend the A2P or Pearly gates humbucker for the neck. Also if you don't mind spending a little bit extra you could use the neck pickup from the Whole Lotta Humbucker set.

 

[explodenator]

Re: GIbson L6-S suggestions please.

Thanks for the suggestions. Would I be better off replacing both pick-ups, or just the busted one?

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: GIbson L6-S suggestions please.

whole lotta humbucker set will make it sound killer. Plenty of grunt to accommodate all those switching options and just the right amount of big defined bass and slightly attenuated treble to really complement a maple body.

 

[Henning]

Re: GIbson L6-S suggestions please.

The picups in the Gibson L6S were extremely powerful due to the magnetic structure named a "triple magnet", which is interpreted as three active string detectors. Furthermore the magnets were "INDOX", a ferrite structure which aparently was accessible at that time, but searching the internet it seems obsolete from the market and is impossible to find. It was produced by a metal company in Indiana, I guess hence the name. Another trade name for it was "ARNOX" and is claimed to be the same structure. Other information tells the INDOX 5 is the ferrite Ceramic 5 ??
The L6S PU was for sure overwound to some degree and was - as mentioned before - extremely powerful. As several participants on this site tell they were epoxy sealed/potted and impossible to repaire/rewind.
An earlier and late friend and music-colleague of mine had the L6S : The guitar as an instrument was to my opinion far from top quality with bad balance and a clumsy neck, but it had the 6 pole switch with usable combinations and was a versatile tool. The late Bill Lawrence which was on the L6S project was under strict economical restrictions on this project, and the final result didn't amuse him - - -

 

[Mincer]

Re: GIbson L6-S suggestions please.

This is an old thread, and I am guessing the OP has solved this. For people coming back to read it though, it might be easier to have Duncan rewind such an odd pickup rather than try to duplicate it with another model.

 

[Dave Locher]

Re: GIbson L6-S suggestions please.

I don't think you can rewind a Gibson tarback. It is built into the chrome cover which is then filled with epoxy. No screws, no full baseplate. Just a cover completely filled with hard black goo.

It can be done but step one would ge to find a solvent that would completely dissolve the epoxy without eating away the magnets, bobbins, etc.
But for just about every other pickup ever made that is excellent advice!

 

[zionstrat]

Re: GIbson L6-S suggestions please.

Here's a somewhat parallell thread that includes info about Glenn Phillips, an Atlanta-based guitar player who plays or played with the Hampton Grease Band, Supreme Court, Glenn Phillips Band-

He gets an unbelievable variety of sounds out of one guitar platform- I believe all of his guitars are modified L6s-

https://www.thegearpage.net/board/i...hool-me-on-the-1977-gibson-l6-s.950716/page-2

Wild and crazy sounds-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6odCDJQ9s8