The PAF stickers look just like the one on my 83 Studio pickup rings?
You can ck the lead ends at the pots to see if there is red and yellow paint marks on them.
All of my Shaw era pups have the paint marks on them.
![]()
Shaw paf reissues did not run to 88 and ended much earlier. There is not a group of Shaw Era pickups, only the Patent Applied For humbucker, 137/138, developed for the 1980 Heritege Series 59 reissue Les Pauls. He was not a pickup maker but he is who I talked to when he was collecting data for the reissue.
If you check the archives you'll find I was the person who initially brought up these pickups in detail almost 20 yrs ago and in fact coined the term "Shawbucker" and associated Tim with this pickup.
Those peel n stick stickers were given to dealers on sheets and we gave 'em away or stuck 'em on the rings or pickup bases.
All of the Shawbucker pafs had Nickle or Gold covers. They had solid 6 pole bases and not 12 pole. I've never seen red or yellow painted terminal lead ends? on any 80-84 reissue.
The paint marks on the pickup leads were simply an assembly aid to distinguish the neck pickup from the bridge pickup when you flipped the guitar over to wire it up. The letters on the metal control plate were color codes for the wires. W = White (from toggle switch) O = Orange (Neck pickup) B = Black (from toggle switch) R = Red (from toggle switch) Y = Yellow (Bridge pickup).All of my Ink stamped # PUs that I Have this yellow or red paint marks. Yellow bridge and red neck. Pardon the pun!
Even my 137 and 138 in a XRIII have the paint marked leads.
The ones with no code just Ink Date that I have do not have painted lead ends?
Big Al I want to thank you for helping me learn! I hope I'm not asking too many dumb questions.
The paint marks on the pickup leads were simply an assembly aid to distinguish the neck pickup from the bridge pickup when you flipped the guitar over to wire it up. The letters on the metal control plate were color codes for the wires. W = White (from toggle switch) O = Orange (Neck pickup) B = Black (from toggle switch) R = Red (from toggle switch) Y = Yellow (Bridge pickup).
Also FYI, Nashville stopped using the PAF stickers on April 9[SUP]th[/SUP], 1986.
When you talk like this, you can read all your experience from working at Gibson and years of playing guitar, it kinda feels like getting into a warm bath of Gibson knowledge. Great place to get Gibson info. Keep it up Big Al for many more years.
Cap, the only paf reissue is the 137/138 pat. app. for humbucker. Bases were slowly intregrated with 12 hole Dirty Fingers bases as well as dropping the Ttop bobbin and adopting the square hole in a circle paf bobbin across the line. The pat. app. for 137/138 pickups had identical pole spreads with identical long leg 6 hole bases. Other humbuckers saw bridge poles widen around mid 80's, which may account for mixed 6/12 hole bases. There are distinct bridge and neck bases and covers.
Gibson could explain prefix codes, no one else has them. I do not know if the later pickups continued with 3 digit prefix stamps. I am unfamiliar with the pre 57 Classic post 137/138 1959 Reissue Humbucker. Color coded painted ends was explained, no mystery involved.
Thanks for the info Al
I find all of this very interesting and glad that I have a set of 137/138 pups.
Seems to me their is a lot of misinformation out there about what a Tim Shaw spec PAF is.
I guess Ink stamps and stickers confuse a lot of people Myself included?
And just to clarify this is a 138 PAF reissue dated 1981?
![]()