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Anatomy of a Firebird Pickup

andreja marovic

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Jun 1, 2004
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2,688
To see the recent FB pu's will be a good idea.
We are talking vintage but a look at the new Gibson FB pu's, they have been making them for long time.I am sure some changes have been made since early 80's to this day.
Someone have said that a recent FBI had a pu that sounded close to BB's in a LP....it will be intereseting to get soundclips as well as pictures.
 

andreja marovic

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Jun 1, 2004
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2,688
Hi there,

Do you think this is an original '65 Firebird (neck) pickup? (I think it is...) These pickups sit in my '99 Firebird VII, so I have three of them (all look identical). The neck one reads 6.2 (normal) and the bridge pickup reads a very unusual high 8.4 ! The bridge really bites!

DSC_0784-2.jpg


DSC_0785-1.jpg

Hey Dutchie,
if you have this pu's in a 99 FBVII you got a great deal having this guitar.
They sure look identical to the real deal.Someone have replaced the 99 stock ones with real vintage FB pu's.:3zone
You are a lucky man.:dude:
 

58dutchie

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Aug 31, 2006
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602
Hey Dutchie,
if you have this pu's in a 99 FBVII you got a great deal having this guitar.
They sure look identical to the real deal.Someone have replaced the 99 stock ones with real vintage FB pu's.:3zone
You are a lucky man.:dude:

Thanks, I certainly am, they absolutely sound AMAZING!!! :salude
 

Jason Lollar

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Jul 26, 2001
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307
someone has taken those apart before that wasnt very good at putting them back together, you can tell by how the covers are splayed in the middle and the way the solder didnt flow properly. Its quite possible the 8+K was rewound with 43 gauge wire, you could never get that much 42 gauge on the standard bobbins which is what they used back then
 

dewey decibel

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Jul 12, 2005
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185
First off, I just want to say thank you for all the great info!

And now the question; was this pickup potted (and original Firebird pickups in general)? I was under the impression Gibson didn't pot pickups, just checking...
 

j45

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Jun 14, 2002
Messages
9,081
...And now the question; was this pickup potted (and original Firebird pickups in general)? I was under the impression Gibson didn't pot pickups, just checking...

I've taken apart a few myself and have not noticed any evidence of vintage Firebird pickups being potted.
 

pablomago

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Jul 5, 2002
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1,225
This is a great thread! I've often wondered what gave a Firebird it's unique tone. What after-market makers are making accurate repro FB pickups? It appears that Jason is...
 

talpa

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Joined
Apr 30, 2005
Messages
193
I have some custom built Lollar relic aged FBs for my JW Sig...I ended up using it in the neck slot only, as I like the bite of the Gibson bridge, yeah it's way overwound to vintage (like the Lollar - great pickup iow). I will have Jason rewind the bridge a bit hotter before reinstalling it.

am hoping one day Jon at Throbak will dig into the FB pickup archetecture...but given the FB mkt. vs. LP mkt. probably won't happen.
 

tooold

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Jul 31, 2006
Messages
2,071
Did anybody save barbarossa's photos? They're not coming up any more... arrgh.

EDIT: Turns out I did. Here they are... barbarossa, let me know if there's a problem with my posting these...

378024016_zps38c46d53.jpg


378024020_zps4ae16377.jpg


378024019_zps58c9766e.jpg


378024017_zpsa7eac32a.jpg


378024018_zps2760017d.jpg
 

Old crow

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Joined
Dec 30, 2012
Messages
80
What do you make of this ? wood spacers, extra hole on opposite corner for lead wire, but no pat # stamp////maybe the sticker never got put on ??
Reads 5.85 k.

IMG_3193_zps73022c0f.jpg
 

Kris Ford

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Jan 6, 2007
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4,003
Funny, I took apart the black plastic minbucker from my 1971 SGI, and the construction was almost exact....but the coils were pink...
 

Cliff Gress

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Aug 26, 2004
Messages
3,301
I have been looking at used CS Firebird 1. I know that their magnet configuration was different than the standard mini-humbucker, i.e. rails, and have heard comparisons of standard MHs vs regular humbuckers founding the MH brighter. I cannot find a Firebird MH vs a standard MH. Could anyone offer an opinion?

The new Clapton Firebird 1 has an alnico 5.

Thanks
 

somebodyelseuk

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Joined
Jun 10, 2020
Messages
454
I have been looking at used CS Firebird 1. I know that their magnet configuration was different than the standard mini-humbucker, i.e. rails, and have heard comparisons of standard MHs vs regular humbuckers founding the MH brighter. I cannot find a Firebird MH vs a standard MH. Could anyone offer an opinion?

The new Clapton Firebird 1 has an alnico 5.

Thanks
First, youtube, search Bernie Marsden, look for Andertons Captain meets... There are three with BM. I think the 2019 one about his book is the one where he demos a couple of Firebird 1s.
FWIW, they sound... how the bridge pickup on a Strat should sound. Regular minibuckers just sound like thin PAFs. Firebirds sound like fat Strats, but without being harsh or muddy... Hard to describe, but IMO much,better than minibuckers.
I'm not sure modern Firebird pickups are made like the originals, though. Yyou might have more luck with Seymour's versions.
 

Big Al

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Apr 24, 2002
Messages
14,537
The Deluxe style minihum on average are louder and more powerful sounding than classic FB minihum. Deluxe type sound like humbuckers, fat, full, powerful, smooth with lots of clarity, thin is not an apt description. More balanced and focused with slightly less power of full size humbucker.

Firebird mini's are articulate and clear. Very much like a smooth Strat. Thin in comparison to Deluxe mini, brighter and snappier with less power. Bridge pup can sound weak and thin by itself, center pos and neck positions can be just magical. They have clarity, definition and more punch and power than a Strat and sing more.
 

dna9656

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Jun 14, 2021
Messages
7
Hi there. There seems to be somewhat of a lack of knowledge of how a vintage Gibson Firebird is constructed. Today I got a chance to take apart a vintage '63 Firebird III pickup to repair a problem with a dead coil due to a faulty coil lead. The good news is that I was able to fix the pickup without having to rewind it. The better news is I have pictures to dispel all myths regarding the makeup of these things. They are not at all like a '70s mini humbucker. What they basically are, design wise, is two shrunken Melody Maker pickups wired as a humbucker.

First, the whole thing is held together by the cover and base plate, and a bit of glue.

Under the base plate are a couple of thin maple shims:

378024016.jpg


The dual coils are simply sitting inside the tight fitting cover. Under the wooden shims is a thin, ferrous metal plate:

378024020.jpg


Under that are two coils made up of thin, flimsy, translucent plastic bobbin formers. Inside each bobbin is a bar magnet. Picture a regular humbucker magnet cut in half horizontally. One coil has the North facing up, South on the other. The ferrous plate mentioned before is simply held in place by those magnets and is magnetically coupling them:

378024019.jpg


The coils themselves are wound with the typical, purplish/maroon Formvar wire as found on period or earlier humbuckers and P-90s. Each coil measures around 3.2k and they are connected in series like a PAF.

378024017.jpg


On the other side of the bobbins, the one facing the cover, there is another small strip of ferrous metal glued across the magnet bars. Again, apparently, to magnetically couple the two coils. On top of that there's simple transparent adhesive tape to insulate the magnets from electrical contact with the cover:

378024018.jpg


In a regular PAF style humbucker the magnet is in direct touch with the base plate, cover, and pole pieces. Obviously, the FB pickup's designer took efforts to avoid this. The wood spacers on the bottom and insulating tape on top of the bobbins ensure that the magnets have no contact to electrical ground. I'm no pickup designer and I'm not sure why this matters, but here it is.


b
New member here... where are the pics?! I'm taking delivery on a Epiphone 63 re-issue this Thursday and would love to know what they are SUPPOSED to look like!
 
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