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Gibson Custom shop ABR Thumb wheels and posts, why still made of steel?

randall

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Feb 21, 2002
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Just curious, when will Gibson put correct brass thumb-wheels and brass posts on their historic LPs? I find it interesting that they have worked so hard to get the Les Paul as close as possible but yet forget a very key ingredient.

I know they use to have brass posts in the early 2000s, but from what i am hearing etc that they are in fact still using steel. I could be wrong...

I have a 2018 which i switched out the posts and thumb wheels for brass and it does make a big enough difference to the guitar, more accurate to the vintage tone i want out of the guitar.

Maybe this is apart of next selling feature for Historics?

What's your take?
 

C-4

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Jan 5, 2005
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I recently purchased the brass threads, thumb wheels, and a Faber bridge from Larry Corsa for my 60th R9, but I won't bother changing them out till I change strings.

Do they really make that big a noticeable difference? I bought them from my reading on this forum, so I'm putting my trust and faith in what others have found. :)
 

Tommy Tourbus

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Gibson uses brass posts stock, and steel wheels. Switching the posts out for steel was all the rage here a few years ago lol. I tried it and didn't like it. I noticed a diff playing the guitar unplugged, but plugged in and with gain/overdrive? Not sure
 

randall

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I don't think the posts are brass, once I changed mine to actual brass the guitars tone changed, i noticed when cranked up loud my volume and tone pots are way more drastic with more highs and less bass, call me crazy. I find the thin brass thumbwheels take a 3k spike out of the notes but make the guitar brighter in the low notes and more air to the high notes that doesn't rip your head off, again call me crazy... made the custom buckers sound different...
 

GreenBurst

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I don't think the posts are brass, once I changed mine to actual brass the guitars tone changed, i noticed when cranked up loud my volume and tone pots are way more drastic with more highs and less bass, call me crazy. I find the thin brass thumbwheels take a 3k spike out of the notes but make the guitar brighter in the low notes and more air to the high notes that doesn't rip your head off, again call me crazy... made the custom buckers sound different...

Intetesting observations. Would be great if you have another Historic and can do the same upgrade to compare results/observations. If a different wood yields a similar result then this change is something for others to pursue. Thanks for sharing.
 

markguitar

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Nov 27, 2001
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2,375
The stock Gibson bridge posts are in fact brass. But of course the thumbwheels are still non-accurate steel and probably will be until they use them all!
 

AA00475Bassman

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Apr 26, 2016
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Hardly doubt it's a matter of using inventory of a part costing .05 cents .

It's more like convincing your customer base of a $1,000.00 thumb wheel upgrade !
 

SoK66

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Aug 31, 2009
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Hardly doubt it's a matter of using inventory of a part costing .05 cents .

It's more like convincing your customer base of a $1,000.00 thumb wheel upgrade !

Never underestimate the power of the bean counters within a corporation.
 

randall

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The stock Gibson bridge posts are in fact brass. But of course the thumbwheels are still non-accurate steel and probably will be until they use them all!

Thanks Mark for your expertise, so then just the thumb wheel is brass. i still hear a difference with the TW being brass and it's an easy swap.
 

PHILBERT

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Nov 25, 2006
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Back in 2010 I tried brass thumbwheels on my "tone turd" R0. It did make it sound much better. Big difference. One I didn't expect.

I might have let them go with the guitar when I sold it. But if I find them I'm going to try them on my killer '59. I don't know if you can make a great thing better, but it can't hurt to try.

Why the heck Gibson keeps up this "not quite right yet" marketing crap really is getting very old. Just DO IT already! I thought this was going to change with the Levi Strauss guy.

Phil
 

C-4

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Two days ago, I called Wildwood and was in contact with their Gibson authority, who orders and is in charge of the Gibson stock for the store, who himself, contacted his man at Gibson in the custom shop concerning what the material is currently of the bridge posts on new Historics.
I was told it is steel. The only brass parts for the bridge assembly are the saddles, which are brass.
 

Tommy Tourbus

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Two days ago, I called Wildwood and was in contact with their Gibson authority, who orders and is in charge of the Gibson stock for the store, who himself, contacted his man at Gibson in the custom shop concerning what the material is currently of the bridge posts on new Historics.
I was told it is steel. The only brass parts for the bridge assembly are the saddles, which are brass.


It's easy enough to test that, hold a magnet up to one of the posts
 

randall

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Feb 21, 2002
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Two days ago, I called Wildwood and was in contact with their Gibson authority, who orders and is in charge of the Gibson stock for the store, who himself, contacted his man at Gibson in the custom shop concerning what the material is currently of the bridge posts on new Historics.
I was told it is steel. The only brass parts for the bridge assembly are the saddles, which are brass.

Well there it is...

I like the brass post and wheels!
 

MrNubs

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Nov 2, 2019
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for some reason my wildwood spec 2019 r0 came with the steel thumb wheels ... why ??? , called gibson and they also could not understand why. anyhow, they sent me a set of brass
 

randall

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So I should call Gibson and they should send me some brass wheels.
 

JASIII

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Sep 19, 2020
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Interesting thread, can anyone provide good sources for replacement brass posts/wheels? Thanks
 

Arnold M.

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Mar 29, 2018
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just weighed up 2 1970 Gibson brass thumbwheels in comparison to 2 2017 Custom Shop steel wheels .. the weights were exactly the same for both sets
 

Jeggz

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Jul 29, 2017
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109
I have a theory on why there’s confusion with the posts material.

Some say brass, some say SS (non magnetic).

I recently got a 2018 R9, I took a file to the top of the post, there was a very slight, almost non existent color change under the nickel.

My theory is, the posts are a high zinc/low copper brass which makes the color almost indistinguishable from the nickel plating. Probably less likely to bend or break.

Will that change the tone?

We’ll find out.

After my coffee, I’m gonna pull the stock posts, install regular brass, then cut a stock post in half to get a really good look.


Stand by.
 
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