vintage 59's
- Thread starter ADR63
- Start date
Edgecrusher
Well-known member
Re: vintage 59's
They arent P-90's at all. But they are a take on the original gibson PAF. How close to the original is hard to say. There was much inconsistency back in that day. Most old PAF's were about 7.5k resistance where the 59 has a bit more at 8.1k
They are great pickups in their own right. I dont think they are so much a direct copy but a rendition of the same formula used to make the originals if that makes sense.
They arent P-90's at all. But they are a take on the original gibson PAF. How close to the original is hard to say. There was much inconsistency back in that day. Most old PAF's were about 7.5k resistance where the 59 has a bit more at 8.1k
They are great pickups in their own right. I dont think they are so much a direct copy but a rendition of the same formula used to make the originals if that makes sense.
Re: vintage 59's
thats not really true. pafs made from '56-'61 were all over the place. 7.5k to 8.8k+ is pretty common. ive seen a real paf that was 9.2k out of a '58 lp. the pat # pups that followed the short magnet paf were all right about 7.5k due to the switch over to a fully automated system
the duncan '59 is an alnico 5 paf style pup. its even made on the actual machine that gibson used back in the 50's to wind the paf. because there was alot of variation in paf's youll see many different versions that people call paf clones that are quite different than each other but still can be very accurate clones of a particular paf
p90's are single coil pups that gibson used on all their guitars before 1955 and still use today.
thats not really true. pafs made from '56-'61 were all over the place. 7.5k to 8.8k+ is pretty common. ive seen a real paf that was 9.2k out of a '58 lp. the pat # pups that followed the short magnet paf were all right about 7.5k due to the switch over to a fully automated system
the duncan '59 is an alnico 5 paf style pup. its even made on the actual machine that gibson used back in the 50's to wind the paf. because there was alot of variation in paf's youll see many different versions that people call paf clones that are quite different than each other but still can be very accurate clones of a particular paf
IanBallard
New member
Re: vintage 59's
Are you sure the run-of-the-mill '59's are produced on the old Gibson machines? I thought that was reserved for the Antiquities and CS models.
The '59 is an affordable take on a PAF. You could spend twice as much and get the maple spacer and other minor bells and whistles, but the '59 is a good average take on the PAF. You can also swap A2, A3, A4 or UOA5 mags and get other variations on the PAF tones, since Gibson used a grab bag of various magnets from '55 till around '65, when A5 was used exclusively.
Are you sure the run-of-the-mill '59's are produced on the old Gibson machines? I thought that was reserved for the Antiquities and CS models.
The '59 is an affordable take on a PAF. You could spend twice as much and get the maple spacer and other minor bells and whistles, but the '59 is a good average take on the PAF. You can also swap A2, A3, A4 or UOA5 mags and get other variations on the PAF tones, since Gibson used a grab bag of various magnets from '55 till around '65, when A5 was used exclusively.
Re: vintage 59's
the 59 is made on the leesona 102 from kalamazoo unless something has changed.
by mid '61 they were switching over to a short a5 magnet. they would have used anything they still had around but most '62 and later gibson pups were short magnet a5. there are some short magnet a2 pups out there from this era though from when they couldnt get enough a5 to meet production needs. from '56 thru early '61 you would have a variety of alnico's depending on what was available.
the 59 is made on the leesona 102 from kalamazoo unless something has changed.
by mid '61 they were switching over to a short a5 magnet. they would have used anything they still had around but most '62 and later gibson pups were short magnet a5. there are some short magnet a2 pups out there from this era though from when they couldnt get enough a5 to meet production needs. from '56 thru early '61 you would have a variety of alnico's depending on what was available.
Edgecrusher
Well-known member
Re: vintage 59's
Yeah thats what I was trying to say you just said it better. Needs to be highlighted that PAFs can vary widely and what one persons idea of a PAF is isnt necessarily anothers. The sound of the 59 is one that could have been made at that time and probably was. Just comes down to each persons idea of that sound.
Yeah thats what I was trying to say you just said it better. Needs to be highlighted that PAFs can vary widely and what one persons idea of a PAF is isnt necessarily anothers. The sound of the 59 is one that could have been made at that time and probably was. Just comes down to each persons idea of that sound.
