t tops

hey guys in looking for a replacement paul to gig, with i bought a rather gorgeous plain top 95 vintage with 498 and 500 in it.really didnt care for them so in trying something different i opted for duncan slash al2's.not my favs.i just wanted something diff from pearly.s and jb's so here's where it gets good my late dad who got me into this wonderful world of guitars bought me a yard sale gibson .not a gear guy at all but knew gibby's fenders and such.turns out its a modded 66 melody maker complete with swimming pool route,for a pair of t tops, grovers home made pik guard but sounded pretty good .so i pulled the duncans out put in the the patent number t tops and my god in 40 yrs of playing have never heard a better neck pick up than this it literally changed not only the guitar but my thought process of pickups the way it rolls off the volume without losing anything in tone is incredible by far the best neck pickup ive ever had .a qwick note currently i own a57 strat 59 double cut jr 63 strat 66 tele 71 lp custom and about 25 others .in addition to these i have owned 57 paf goldtop 54 goldtop 61 sg lp 52 58 teles i guess what im getting at is i like to think i know a little about tone and its crazy i owned these t tops for almost 10 yrs without giving the a chance to shine.. will be looking for a pair to install in my partscaster tele thanks ....love the forum

I have T-Tops in a few guitars and very much enjoy them for "rock" sounds. My '76 Explorer has a pair that I wouldn't change for anything except maybe some PAFs...even then...

I change the magnet sometimes in them, but often they sound great stock. They can be bright (they are in my '67 335), but hey, the tone knob is right there! That's why they work in the neck so well...articulate and no mud.

Enjoy!

I found mine bright in my t tops. I put A4’s in mine and it sweetened them up a lot.

I have a set of Patent sticker T-Tops from my first guitar (LPC) and the both measure at 7.7 and I have been thinking about whether or not to restore them to my LPC or not . They are not wax potted and I wonder if they have enough output thru my Marshall 2555X . The pickups in my LPC now are the Gibson 57 classics and they sound weak compared to my ThroBak SLE -101 Plus in my R8, and my Custombuckers in my R9.

El Gringo said:

I have a set of Patent sticker T-Tops from my first guitar (LPC) and the both measure at 7.7 and I have been thinking about whether or not to restore them to my LPC or not . They are not wax potted and I wonder if they have enough output thru my Marshall 2555X . The pickups in my LPC now are the Gibson 57 classics and they sound weak compared to my ThroBak SLE -101 Plus in my R8, and my Custombuckers in my R9.

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They will have less push for sure, but I find my 101+’s to still be clear...more so than Classocs etc. the t tops will have that same clarity about them.

latestarter said:

They will have less push for sure, but I find my 101+’s to still be clear...more so than Classocs etc. the t tops will have that same clarity about them.

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The SLE-101 Plus neck pickup is the most clear and detailed out of all the pickups I have ever used ,it really is astonishing to me , the bridge pickup is just pure rock and roll magic thru my Marshall 2555X . Everything that I want with a PAF pickup and then some , the tone and sustain is just to die for . I love them so much that I will be ordering another set for my LPC which has the Gibson 57 Classic in the neck and the 57 Classic plus in the bridge .Last year I swapped out the wiring harness wit 500k pots and Bumble Bee caps and the guitar tone opened up and became bright , where before it was like a wet blanket muffled type sound . An improvement for sure but a roll of the dice with the pickups ,which is why I am going to get the ThroBak's . Some may disagree with this but since 2015 when I got my Marshall and I was using Fender amps and the tone and sound of these pickups was manageable including the single coil teles and strats , not with the Marshall . My ears are so locked in with humbucker loaded Les Paul's blasting thru the 2555X and the Vintage 30's which interestingly enough were loaded in 2 of my Fender Combos . The Fender single coils going thru the 2555X sound brittle and harsh , the Rosewood Tele sounds the least harsh and closer to a humbucker but still not enough . I completely understand Keith Richards putting in Vinatge PAF's in the neck of his prized vintage Tele's for that one of a kind unique PAF tone .

El Gringo said:

I completely understand Keith Richards putting in Vinatge PAF's in the neck of his prized vintage Tele's for that one of a kind unique PAF tone .

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He uses 2 vintage Teles, regularly. Only 1 has an original PAF in it; Which was already in it when he got it. .. And, he almost never uses it! :ganz

Black58 said:

He uses 2 vintage Teles, regularly. Only 1 has an original PAF in it; Which was already in it when he got it. .. And, he almost never uses it! :ganz

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You mean this one?

Black58 said:

Only 1 has an original PAF in it; Which was already in it when he got it.

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Richards received Micawber in December 1970 on his 27th birthday from fellow Fender fan Eric Clapton. At the time, Richards and the Stones were getting ready to work on the album that would become Exile on Main Street.

According to Fender, the guitar originally featured the standard single-coil pickup in the neck position. After the Stones’ 1972 tour, Richards replaced it with a Fifties-era Gibson PAF humbucker, which he turned backward so that the magnet poles are facing the guitar’s tail, which brightens the humbucker’s naturally dark tone.

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https://www.guitarworld.com/gear/keith-richards-reveals-one-guitar-he-cant-do-without

chasenblues said:

You mean this one?

https://www.guitarworld.com/gear/keith-richards-reveals-one-guitar-he-cant-do-without

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Okay, so I'm partly wrong. I love that! That's how we learn. Danke! :salude