What's your opinion of modern T-Tops?

AniML

AniML

New member
I got sucked into a VIP event at Guitar Center with a 20% off coupon and gravitated to a beautiful walnut Gibson 335 with T-Tops. Playing it through a $3800 Mesa Boogie Mark Vii was heaven, but when I went to a "regular" amp (an AC-15), they were too bright for my liking and the guitar lacked the characteristic warmth of a semi. It was just too punchy and not nuanced enough to plunk down 3 grand for it.

Anyone else tried newer T-Tops? What did you think of them?
 
T-Tops are inherently bright. I've tried a set in an old Les Paul Custom, but the ones I tried were microphonic, so no real thourough evaluation. I have read about them and heard clips of T-Tops, and they all point to them being bright.

I think the modern reissues are called T-Types, rather.

I suppose the neck SD Jazz is along the lines of what old T-Tops were with the poly coating on the wire and the 7K-ish wind. I do think old T-Tops had shorter magnets.
 
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If the "new T-Tops" evoked are "T-Types": I've tested this model and measured its specs and actually, Gibson seems to have tweaked the recipe to make it LESS bright than real vintage T-Tops. :-P

I've modified one of these T-Types once to correct its character and to make it closer to the old T-Top mounted in the same guitar... ;-)


Anyway: Gibson often mounted 300k pots to round a bit the pointy bright resonant peaks of T-Tops. On a guitar with 500k pots, the same result can be obtained just by lowering a bit the tone pot(s)...

Also: the sound of passive pickups depends partly on external factors. Play a T-Top or T-Type through a long cable with high capacitance and it shouldn't appear as "too bright" no more. Even through an AC15 - amp that I own and play personally with cables / FXs / settings making it not too bright, even with real T-Top / T-Type PU's or bright pickups in the same vein like the SH2.

Because yes, the SH2 is very close to a T-Top fitted with a long magnet and a 4-cond. cable. I've devoted a topic to this idea a while back, for the record:

https://forum.seymourduncan.com/for...-to-gibson-patent-sticker-t-top’s#post6255977

FWIW. HTH. :-)
 
After I found out they are A5, that was what I was hearing. I generally, almost always, prefer pickups with A2s magnets for their roundness and warmth.
 
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