What going on with my hex poles?
- Thread starter vinnie1971
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Re: What going on with my hex poles?
See, I don't like the big headstock, no matter how much of a Blackmore fan I am (and indeed, I really am)...I just hated his choice of guitars. My Strat is an '82 'The Strat' which went back to the smaller headstock, but it doesn't quite look the same as the 50s models:
This isn't mine, but mine is exactly the same.
See, I don't like the big headstock, no matter how much of a Blackmore fan I am (and indeed, I really am)...I just hated his choice of guitars. My Strat is an '82 'The Strat' which went back to the smaller headstock, but it doesn't quite look the same as the 50s models:
This isn't mine, but mine is exactly the same.
Silence Kid
New member
Re: What going on with my hex poles?
Super cool. I always loved The Strat. Don't those have some sort of hot pickups/boost circuitry?
Always funny to see the headstock on those; overall I think big CBS looks best
But plus one-million points for any matched headstock.
Super cool. I always loved The Strat. Don't those have some sort of hot pickups/boost circuitry?
Always funny to see the headstock on those; overall I think big CBS looks best
But plus one-million points for any matched headstock.
DavidRavenMoon
New member
What going on with my hex poles?
No, those were copies. They just looked like DiMarzios. Schaller also made copies that looked like the real thing. I guess DiMarzio's patent didn't apply outside the US. It would make no sense for Maxon, who has been making pickups since the 60s, to buy a DiMarzio and put their number on it. And then sell it as OEM? How would they make any money?
That's also not what the "lawsuit" era means. Ibanez was making guitars with the Gibson "open book" headstock. Gibson asked them to stop. Then Ibanez came up with their own shape.
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No, those were copies. They just looked like DiMarzios. Schaller also made copies that looked like the real thing. I guess DiMarzio's patent didn't apply outside the US. It would make no sense for Maxon, who has been making pickups since the 60s, to buy a DiMarzio and put their number on it. And then sell it as OEM? How would they make any money?
That's also not what the "lawsuit" era means. Ibanez was making guitars with the Gibson "open book" headstock. Gibson asked them to stop. Then Ibanez came up with their own shape.
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Re: What going on with my hex poles?
It uses a special hotter X-1 pickup in the bridge, which isn't very hot compared to today's pickups. It has master volume and master tone, with a 2 way switch which allows some alternate series settings. These sound thicker and not as useful, but they are nice to have there:
neck and middle pickups in series
middle and bridge pickups in series
neck and bridge pickups in parallel
neck and bridge pickups in parellel, with the middle pickup in series
Super cool. I always loved The Strat. Don't those have some sort of hot pickups/boost circuitry?
Always funny to see the headstock on those; overall I think big CBS looks best
It uses a special hotter X-1 pickup in the bridge, which isn't very hot compared to today's pickups. It has master volume and master tone, with a 2 way switch which allows some alternate series settings. These sound thicker and not as useful, but they are nice to have there:
neck and middle pickups in series
middle and bridge pickups in series
neck and bridge pickups in parallel
neck and bridge pickups in parellel, with the middle pickup in series
LLL
New member
Re: What going on with my hex poles?
The 70s were awesome with colors. Cars especially.
With some exceptions (dodge challenger comes to mind - dodge is in fact copying Mopar's crazy color palette
from the 70s), most colors you get to pick from automobile-wise are white, black, some shade of gray, and maybe red.
Go out into traffic or take a look at a big parking lot sometime. You will see mostly white, some shade of gray and black cars.
The 70s were awesome with colors. Cars especially.
With some exceptions (dodge challenger comes to mind - dodge is in fact copying Mopar's crazy color palette
from the 70s), most colors you get to pick from automobile-wise are white, black, some shade of gray, and maybe red.
Go out into traffic or take a look at a big parking lot sometime. You will see mostly white, some shade of gray and black cars.
vinnie1971
New member
Re: What going on with my hex poles?
Even the Maxon ones that had the DiMarzio stamp and sticker on? These look like DiMarzios rather than Maxons:
http://www.tokaiforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=176572&sid=cf1fa18df7e5eec825e184904ead7e9d
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Even the Maxon ones that had the DiMarzio stamp and sticker on? These look like DiMarzios rather than Maxons:
http://www.tokaiforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=176572&sid=cf1fa18df7e5eec825e184904ead7e9d
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Silence Kid
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DavidRavenMoon
New member
What going on with my hex poles?
Gibson uses a date stamp like that too. I have some vintage DiMarzios I bought back then. They don't have a stamp. They did have a "Patent Applied For" sticker though.
Anyone can stamp a pickup. If those were DiMarzios they would also have the name stamped in, right?
Vintage Maxon pickups also have stamps.
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Gibson uses a date stamp like that too. I have some vintage DiMarzios I bought back then. They don't have a stamp. They did have a "Patent Applied For" sticker though.
Anyone can stamp a pickup. If those were DiMarzios they would also have the name stamped in, right?
Vintage Maxon pickups also have stamps.
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vinnie1971
New member
Re: What going on with my hex poles?
I am inclined to go with the popular notion that a load of DiMarzios were order stamped with a Maxon stamp in addition to the DiMarzio stamp and installed in various Cushin Gakki and Fugien guitars in a small number and while they were cloned in the process.
Those Maxon pickups, super 58, 70, 80 and 88, V2 and V1 are really decent
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I am inclined to go with the popular notion that a load of DiMarzios were order stamped with a Maxon stamp in addition to the DiMarzio stamp and installed in various Cushin Gakki and Fugien guitars in a small number and while they were cloned in the process.
Those Maxon pickups, super 58, 70, 80 and 88, V2 and V1 are really decent
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DavidRavenMoon
New member
Re: What going on with my hex poles?
In a lot of the photos you can see the baseplates are totally different.
I have several DiMarzio clones from the 80s in my junk box. And even a Lawrence L500 copy. They are very accurate copies. It's not a hard thing to do, especially when you are a company that has been making copies of Gibson pickups since the 60s. I'm sure the date stamp was intended to make them look like DiMarzio pickups. DiMarzio did do OEM. I had them in a Hondo II P bass. But they were labeled as DiMarzio pickups. They don't do private label pickups. But there's several Korean companies that do, such as WSC and G&B (they make EMG Select)
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In a lot of the photos you can see the baseplates are totally different.
I have several DiMarzio clones from the 80s in my junk box. And even a Lawrence L500 copy. They are very accurate copies. It's not a hard thing to do, especially when you are a company that has been making copies of Gibson pickups since the 60s. I'm sure the date stamp was intended to make them look like DiMarzio pickups. DiMarzio did do OEM. I had them in a Hondo II P bass. But they were labeled as DiMarzio pickups. They don't do private label pickups. But there's several Korean companies that do, such as WSC and G&B (they make EMG Select)
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vinnie1971
New member
What going on with my hex poles?
I think we are at cross purposes. DiMarzio supplied Cushin Gakki and Fujien with pickups that were then stamped with an additional Maxon serial number, then those specifications found their way into Nacin production. In this photo its clearly DiMarzio pickup that was just stamped with a Maxon serial number. I guess they were DMZ OEM for Greco? Who knows. Those that don't say DiMarzio are clones.
This is a Maxon code indicating production line 1 (which some say means prototype) year 7 which is 1977, 0 for the month which is January and day 26.
My own pickups were incorrectly ID'd as DMZ by 2 luthiers. I have contacted DiMarzio and the helpful guys at Japan Axe to get a proper ID on what mine are - which are clones of DMZ super 2 made by Maxon on production line 2 in July 1979 - super 80s using the DMZ super 2 format even got the early 70s single core hookup and outer braid.
It's the one at the top that's of interest.
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I think we are at cross purposes. DiMarzio supplied Cushin Gakki and Fujien with pickups that were then stamped with an additional Maxon serial number, then those specifications found their way into Nacin production. In this photo its clearly DiMarzio pickup that was just stamped with a Maxon serial number. I guess they were DMZ OEM for Greco? Who knows. Those that don't say DiMarzio are clones.
This is a Maxon code indicating production line 1 (which some say means prototype) year 7 which is 1977, 0 for the month which is January and day 26.
My own pickups were incorrectly ID'd as DMZ by 2 luthiers. I have contacted DiMarzio and the helpful guys at Japan Axe to get a proper ID on what mine are - which are clones of DMZ super 2 made by Maxon on production line 2 in July 1979 - super 80s using the DMZ super 2 format even got the early 70s single core hookup and outer braid.
It's the one at the top that's of interest.
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DavidRavenMoon
New member
What going on with my hex poles?
I don't know why you think those are "Maxon stamps". The fonts don't even match. The guitar builder might have stamped them. That's common on Japanese guitars to check the date.
Maxon is a manufacturer. There's no reason for DiMarzio to send them pickups. They make pickups. They also make all the pedals Ibanez stuck their name on.
DiMarzios were popular back in the late 70s-early 80s, so all the Japanese guitars copied them.
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I don't know why you think those are "Maxon stamps". The fonts don't even match. The guitar builder might have stamped them. That's common on Japanese guitars to check the date.
Maxon is a manufacturer. There's no reason for DiMarzio to send them pickups. They make pickups. They also make all the pedals Ibanez stuck their name on.
DiMarzios were popular back in the late 70s-early 80s, so all the Japanese guitars copied them.
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vinnie1971
New member
What going on with my hex poles?
Those look like Maxon stamps (they all have wonky eneven fonts) and conforms to the Maxon serial convention to December 1977. My El Maya has wonky Maxon serial number stamped, it looks just like that but 6 characters as mines 1979 when the serial number convention changed from 1977 to 1982. I bought that as a brand new guitar that had sat in my local music shop in the mids 1980s since it was shipped from the factory.
The story goes is that Cushin Gakki / Fujien ordered DMZs put them in guitars which had a Maxon stamp, and it didn't last too long until Maxon copied them and no more DMZ pickups were fitted in the factories. A few early V2 in Ibanezes in the 70s / early 80s came with DMZ pickup saying DiMarzio pickups made in USA with a Maxon serial number stamped on them - ibanez forums and Japanese guitar forums have a few postings about this. It's not common but they are out there, with pictures.
I don't know why anyone else would want to put a date mark on DMZ pickup conforming to Maxon serial number conventions apart from Maxon. Doesn't make sense.
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Those look like Maxon stamps (they all have wonky eneven fonts) and conforms to the Maxon serial convention to December 1977. My El Maya has wonky Maxon serial number stamped, it looks just like that but 6 characters as mines 1979 when the serial number convention changed from 1977 to 1982. I bought that as a brand new guitar that had sat in my local music shop in the mids 1980s since it was shipped from the factory.
The story goes is that Cushin Gakki / Fujien ordered DMZs put them in guitars which had a Maxon stamp, and it didn't last too long until Maxon copied them and no more DMZ pickups were fitted in the factories. A few early V2 in Ibanezes in the 70s / early 80s came with DMZ pickup saying DiMarzio pickups made in USA with a Maxon serial number stamped on them - ibanez forums and Japanese guitar forums have a few postings about this. It's not common but they are out there, with pictures.
I don't know why anyone else would want to put a date mark on DMZ pickup conforming to Maxon serial number conventions apart from Maxon. Doesn't make sense.
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Last edited:
DavidRavenMoon
New member
What going on with my hex poles?
It's not a Maxon serial number. It's a number stamped by the guitar factory. Maxon had nothing to do with it.
You can read lots of things in forums, but it's all speculation.
Those stamps are different. The numbers are uneven because the numbers rotate and they don't line up straight. Doesn't mean they are the same stamp. I used to have some too.
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It's not a Maxon serial number. It's a number stamped by the guitar factory. Maxon had nothing to do with it.
You can read lots of things in forums, but it's all speculation.
Those stamps are different. The numbers are uneven because the numbers rotate and they don't line up straight. Doesn't mean they are the same stamp. I used to have some too.
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