Pickups in '70s EDS-1275 (Page and Lifeson)

R

RMosack

New member
Two of my favorite players of all time are Page and Lifeson, and both happened to periodically play Gibson EDS-1275 models from the '70s. My guess is Page's Cherry one must have been from around 1971 or so. Lifeson's Alpine White is from around 1976. So I thought I'd ask the good folks here. Does anyone know what kind of pickups would have been in these guitars back then? I'm not an expert, by any means, of what Gibson was putting into their guitars in that era?

My uneducated guess is that one or both of those guitars may have had T Tops, since they were around in the '70s. But I don't know much about T Tops. Were they in part of the '70s or all of the '70s? Some guitars or all Gibsons with humbuckers? Etc... My understanding is that T Tops actually were rather clear with a bright top end, maybe lower output and brighter than a PAF. So they maybe have a cool sound by today's standards, but they weren't what people wante din the '70s when rock guitarist tried to drive the front end of a non master Marshall.

I'm aware that Page's guitar had the covers taken off the 6 string side. I guess it was what a lot of guys did back then to get a little more top end out of them, maybe a bit more sparkle, output, etc. Every photo I've ever seen of Lifeson's guitar had the covers on all four pickups.

So anyway...

1) What pickups were likely in those guitars? T Tops in both?
2) I know Seymour Duncan doesn't make a T Top, but which model in the line would be closest to a T Top?
 
Re: Pickups in '70s EDS-1275 (Page and Lifeson)

Wouldn't the Saturday Night Special or Whole Lotta Humbucker cover that era?
 
Re: Pickups in '70s EDS-1275 (Page and Lifeson)

idsnowdog said:
Wouldn't the Saturday Night Special or Whole Lotta Humbucker cover that era?
Click to expand...

Both of those are significantly hotter than a T-Top. That being said I get pretty good Lifeson tone from my 335 with a WLH set.

The OP is correct that SD doesn't make a T-Top clone, though there are some boutique winders that do. Anyone remember which? From the SD line, the closest is probably a Jazz or '59, though neither one sounds all that close.
 
Re: Pickups in '70s EDS-1275 (Page and Lifeson)

You can get the Custom Shop to make T-Top replicas. Contact them for a quote.
When I think of those guitars, and the 70s, I think of Steve Howe and John McLaughlin.
 
Re: Pickups in '70s EDS-1275 (Page and Lifeson)

Brandonwound do a T-top clone the closest in terms of cosmetics....being the only one with the right bobbin.

I think a member here called copperheadroads is the owner of Vineham pickups, and they are the best bang for buck boutique pickup on the planet......at $85 Canadian per pickup. The 6070 classic (with 2 vintage strength pickups) or the 6070's (with a calibrated/hotter bridge position) is their specific T-top recreation.
 
Re: Pickups in '70s EDS-1275 (Page and Lifeson)

T Tops were used through the '70s, and pre T Tops in the '60s were basically the same.

They are machine guided, very consistently wound, usually around 7.4 to 7.6 K, A5 powered, and non calibrated (i.e. the same for bridge and neck positions).

You can read all about them without much digging on Google.

I like them better than P.A.F.s., in general. Clearer, lower in output, very close to the same from one to the next, and inexpensive in comparison. They used to be considered stock crap that people pulled to put in DiMarzios and EMGs, and had trouble giving away. People have wised up a bit now, but they are still quite affordable compared to P.A.F.s.
 
Re: Pickups in '70s EDS-1275 (Page and Lifeson)

i bet a sns neck with short a5 is pretty damn close to a ttop
 
Re: Pickups in '70s EDS-1275 (Page and Lifeson)

ItsaBass said:
T Tops were used through the '70s, and pre T Tops in the '60s were basically the same.

They are machine guided, very consistently wound, usually around 7.4 to 7.6 K, A5 powered, and non calibrated (i.e. the same for bridge and neck positions).

You can read all about them without much digging on Google.

I like them better than P.A.F.s., in general. Clearer, lower in output, very close to the same from one to the next, and inexpensive in comparison. They used to be considered stock crap that people pulled to put in DiMarzios and EMGs, and had trouble giving away. People have wised up a bit now, but they are still quite affordable compared to P.A.F.s.
Click to expand...
Wow, interesting. From the few replies so far, I gather that T Tops were likely in both guitars.

But the part that's interesting is your description. I was (I guess erroneously) under the impression that they had A2 magnets. I thought I actually read it online, FWIW.

So in my mind, I was wondering which Duncan models with A2 might be approriate. But you wrote A5. Are you certain they were A5? Can anybody else confirm?
 
Re: Pickups in '70s EDS-1275 (Page and Lifeson)

all ttops were a5 as far as i know. pafs varied over the years, mostly due to cost and supply issues. by the time ttops were being put in, things were very consistent
 
Re: Pickups in '70s EDS-1275 (Page and Lifeson)

SD do make a T-Top variant and its called Jazz Bridge and Neck. A5, 42 awg poly wire and a dcr around 7.5k (with a slightly hotter bridge as the modern touch). If you want it hardcore, take a Jazz N for the bridge, too.
 
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Re: Pickups in '70s EDS-1275 (Page and Lifeson)

jeremy said:
all ttops were a5 as far as i know. pafs varied over the years, mostly due to cost and supply issues. by the time ttops were being put in, things were very consistent
Click to expand...

Thanks. I must have taken a wrong turn in Google yesterday. No idea where I got my A2 assumption from. The lower power A5 driven pickup description actually makes a bit more sense. I actually have a Manlius T-Top replica in the bridge of my #1 guitar (1994 Les Paul Standard) with a PAF replica in the neck position. I should have remembered that the Manlius uses A5.

So going back to the original intent of the thread, I guess I can draw some conclusions:
1) The Page and Lifeson 1275s from back in the '70s probably both had T-Tops
2) T-Tops themselves were basically lower powered A5 types, kind of evolved from the older PAFs.
3) Given all of the above, I'm looking at one of two options for modern pickups: something from Duncan in the general A5 PAF realm, preferably lower output; a T-Top clone from someone else.
 
Re: Pickups in '70s EDS-1275 (Page and Lifeson)

From 1965 to 1980 is when the T-top was fitted, so there is no 'probably' about the scenario of any guitar produced in this period. However the T-top did change a bit over the years despite it being way more consistent in wind.
The early t-tops (mid/late 60's) supposedly are a bit nicer than later, but I've not tried any from this period to confirm this. What is certain is that in the swap to the stamped baseplate from the Pat# sticker (approx 74/75) that some suppliers of parts were changed too. The magnet supplier (or formulation) changed for sure.
The previous short A5's were very rough, often with elaborate rainbow swirls in the texture. The newer magnets went to being much smoother and more shiny. The later T-tops are also credited with a more focussed tone - less airy and more 'hard'. Some of the earlier ones also would feature a slightly hotter wind - a period in the early 70's often saw 7.8-8k pickups as well as the typical approx 7.5k.

In terms of where you want to go, it all depends on what you want to hear. The t-tops I own don't sound like any low output PAF style pickup I have heard. So I guess its just how closely you want your sound to mimic the tone you are aiming for.
 
Re: Pickups in '70s EDS-1275 (Page and Lifeson)

AlexR said:
The early t-tops (mid/late 60's) supposedly are a bit nicer than later, but I've not tried any from this period to confirm this. What is certain is that in the swap to the stamped baseplate from the Pat# sticker (approx 74/75) that some suppliers of parts were changed too. The magnet supplier (or formulation) changed for sure.
The previous short A5's were very rough, often with elaborate rainbow swirls in the texture. The newer magnets went to being much smoother and more shiny. The later T-tops are also credited with a more focussed tone - less airy and more 'hard'. Some of the earlier ones also would feature a slightly hotter wind - a period in the early 70's often saw 7.8-8k pickups as well as the typical approx 7.5k.
Click to expand...

I owned a set of later T-Tops in a '77 Les Paul Custom which I remember reading 7.5K for the neck position and 7.7K for the bridge, and I've played a few sets of the late 60s version. While I don't have a ton of time with late 60s T-Tops, I greatly preferred the few I played to the set in my LPC. Those later T-Tops sound exactly how you describe; hard, bright, unforgiving, and a bit weak generally.

As good as the late 60s T-Tops sounded, I actually like the early 60s patent number pickups even more. I've also played a few late 70s and early 80s Duncan 59s and IMO they sounded more like an early patent number humbucker than a PAF.
 
Pickups in '70s EDS-1275 (Page and Lifeson)

hamerfan said:
SD do make a T-Top variant and its called Jazz Bridge and Neck. A5, 42 awg poly wire and a dcr around 7.5k (with a slightly hotter bridge as the modern touch). If you want it hardcore, take a Jazz N for the bridge, too.
Click to expand...

FWIW a 59 neck in the bridge was better for me in my Les Paul Studio than the JazzN. 59N are tubby in the neck, but that gives them thick evenness in the bridge. The JazzN felt like it was missing something in the mids, but the 59N sounded like the famous Zep records, even better than the Electric City T-Top replica I have. The T-Top was good and a close cousin but a little bit murky/unclear in the mids.

Jazz Set is really good also.
 
Re: Pickups in '70s EDS-1275 (Page and Lifeson)

I have 2sets. My embossed cover 72's are quite well balanced and I can get even volume even though they are only about .3k different. This pair is where the rainbow magnet came from.
I bought a 1980 set which overlaps the Shaw era production....the bridge has 1 Shaw coil and 1 T-top coil. Luckily these match well even though the bridge reads fractionally lower. The Shaw coil maybe stops it being harsh or thin.

The early pat# pickups are really more like PAFs in construction. Until the wire change in 65 they really don't get that iconic tone.
 
Re: Pickups in '70s EDS-1275 (Page and Lifeson)

beaubrummels said:
FWIW a 59 neck in the bridge was better for me in my Les Paul Studio than the JazzN. 59N are tubby in the neck, but that gives them thick evenness in the bridge. The JazzN felt like it was missing something in the mids, but the 59N sounded like the famous Zep records, even better than the Electric City T-Top replica I have. The T-Top was good and a close cousin but a little bit murky/unclear in the mids.

Jazz Set is really good also.
Click to expand...
Hey, I can attest to this, I've got a 59 Neck in the bridge of my SG and it's a spectacular tone indeed. It sounds just like the vintage rock albums where all the guys used 59' Les Pauls.

Sent from my SM-G965W using Tapatalk
 
Re: Pickups in '70s EDS-1275 (Page and Lifeson)

There is a suggestion on the SDRL site for SD to come out with a replica T-Top set. If that's your thing, vote for it here.
 
Re: Pickups in '70s EDS-1275 (Page and Lifeson)

thats only because thats gibsons cool new thing, although i bet they sound good in there.
 
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