Humbucker inventor?

[Artie]

I've always thought it was Les Paul. But my Aria, (Opera browser AI), says it's Arnold Lesti, in 1935. If that's true, it seems odd that I've never heard that name before, given how much time I spend reading in guitar forums and guitar gear blogs.

 

[ICTGoober]

Actually, there are multiple patents for humbucker pickups because the dolts at the Patent Office have no idea what they are reading.

 

[Artie]

Actually, there are multiple patents for humbucker pickups because the dolts at the Patent Office have no idea what they are reading.

I believe you're right. Copilot just answered Les Paul, to the same question. I guess that's why they call it "artificial" intelligence.

 

[ErikH]

I thought it was Seth Lover.

 

[beaubrummels]

Well, there are multiple types of humbucking pickups that achieve the affect using slightly different methods, so multiple people 'invented' humbucking pickups. I didn't know about Arnold Lesti, but I did know about Seth Lover and Ray Butts.

 

[freefrog]

According to Dave Hunter in The Guitar pickup handbook, Seth Lover is meant to have transposed to guitars a stacked humbucker for piano designed for Baldwin by A.F.Knoblaugh and whose patent is there:

https://patents.google.com/patent/US2119584

And AFAIK, AI can hallucinate sometimes. Which confirms it remains a human product...

 

[jeremy]

I thought it was Seth Lover.

seth lover created the gibson paf

 

[beaubrummels]

And AFAIK, AI can hallucinate sometimes. Which confirms it remains a human product...

AI hallucinates 20-25% of the time because of how it fundamentally works, so it is not a reliable method for getting answers. It will always give 'an' answer, but it is not good at giving 'the' answer.

 

[Artie]

AI hallucinates 20-25% of the time because of how it fundamentally works, so it is not a reliable method for getting answers. It will always give 'an' answer, but it is not good at giving 'the' answer.

I think I mentioned this in another thread, but a tech blog I was reading, mentioned that AI's answers feed back into it's own data base. Thus, poisoning it's own well, so to speak.

 

[justFred]

Lesti’s patent:
https://patents.google.com/patent/USRE20070E/en
​​

 

[Mincer]

Looks like it's time for an Arnold Lesti signature pickup set!

 

[Artie]

Switch 34 is interesting. Apparently, you charge the pole pieces in one position, then play the guitar in the other. Didn't they have permanent mags in the 30's?

And I don't even want to figure out what switch 66 is doing.

 

[freefrog]

So AI didn't hallucinate this time. I find it somehow reassuring.

One can suppose that Seth Lover didn't know the Lesti patent, given the story around the Baldwin / Knoblaugh one. The idea of humbucker was floating in the air of this era, anyway.

Now, I find interesting to see that Ray Butts cited Lesti in his own patent later. ;-)

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Looks like it's time for an Arnold Lesti signature pickup set!

Looks like a blade pickup too, no less!

Is it time for a Lesti Rails?

 

[Artie]

Apparently, he was somewhat instrumental, (no pun intended), in the development of the electronic keyboard.

https://120years.net/the-polytone-organa-lesti-f-sammisusa1934/

 

[ErikH]

And I don't even want to figure out what switch 66 is doing.

I see what you did there! LOL

 

[Sam SG]

I thought it was Seth Lover.

Me too

 

[Mincer]

According to this article, all it says is 'the humbucker as we know it' is designed by Seth Lover.

 

[hamerfan]

I thought it was Seth Lover.

He invented the PAF and the Wide Range HB afaik.

 

[jeremy]

that is correct