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Inside a Bumble Bee: A cap inside a cap...

Bradster

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Dec 8, 2003
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Hey pepejara, were you ever able to determine if Gibson put a chip into the historic you xray'd?
(there's an internet rumor that historics have an ID chip embeded in them somewhere)
 

pepejara

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Bradster said:
Hey pepejara, were you ever able to determine if Gibson put a chip into the historic you xray'd?
(there's an internet rumor that historics have an ID chip embeded in them somewhere)

I haven´t seen any chip, neither in body, neck or headstock, in the about 10 Gibson Les Paul I have X-rayed
12%5B1%5D.gif
 

Bluesbubba

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As you say that these Bumble Bees are "sheep in bee's clothing" what would then recommend to replace them with. I'm always game to tinker around. On my Les Paul Classic I replaced the 300k pots with 500K CTS pots and went through a plethora of caps; I settled with the caps I took out of my 1955 Les Paul Jr. amp. They were Cornell & Dubler "Grey Tiger" caps: one a .025 in the neck and in the bridge .050 I think. Sounds Very cool!!!!

With my 57 Goldtop reissue I might want to play around with the caps....so.....what would you suggest. Thanks!
 
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TT100

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Jul 22, 2002
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Bradster said:
Hey pepejara, were you ever able to determine if Gibson put a chip into the historic you xray'd?
(there's an internet rumor that historics have an ID chip embeded in them somewhere)

Here's a link to an old thread. I've searched the forum but pics are long gone.

Chips anyone?

I did see a pic of a small capsule, about the size of a cooked grain of rice, being inserted into a small hole drilled in the side of the tenon. Anyone X-raying post 1999 Custom Shop Les Pauls, concentrate your efforts in the neck pup / cutaway area. It would be in side of the neck tenon.

I don't know if it's still being done though.
TT
 

pepejara

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Tele-Tubby said:
Here's a link to an old thread. I've searched the forum but pics are long gone.

Chips anyone?

I did see a pic of a small capsule, about the size of a cooked grain of rice, being inserted into a small hole drilled in the side of the tenon. Anyone X-raying post 1999 Custom Shop Les Pauls, concentrate your efforts in the neck pup / cutaway area. It would be in side of the neck tenon.

I don't know if it's still being done though.
TT

I have checked my 03 Goldtop and 05 58 with my "Microchip reader" (I use it to read microchips on dogs, it reads almost every passive microchip in the market) and I havent found any chip reading...Haven´t seen them neither in the Xrays...Perhaps it is a microchip type this reader does not read...
regards, Pepe
 

TT100

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Beats me Pepe, maybe it was just on custom orders? I'm sure this will come up again.

Cheers,
TT
 

dwagar

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Apr 18, 2005
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curt1lp said:
Ok thats as I thought. I pretty well knew that Black Beauties are not the same as Bumble bees. If they are mylar film I suspect that they would sound closer to the sound of an Orange Drop but I've unfortunately never had the chance to try one.

So it appears that Bees are PIO.
Beauties are mylar film.


...Black Beauties aren't the same as Bumblebees?
 

Todd Louis

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pepejara said:
I have checked my 03 Goldtop and 05 58 with my "Microchip reader" (I use it to read microchips on dogs, it reads almost every passive microchip in the market) and I havent found any chip reading...Haven´t seen them neither in the Xrays...Perhaps it is a microchip type this reader does not read...
regards, Pepe
Didn't that stop in 02'?
 

Todd Louis

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pepejara said:
It's possible... I would like to check one earlier, but my 3 historics are 03, 05 and 05...
12%5B1%5D.gif
Quick Come on over to the States and you can check some of mine:lol
 

plaintop60

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Nov 20, 2006
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Looks like they got a plastic injection molder to overmold the wesco caps, meaning you place the original cap in the mold and shoot plastic around it, I bet they never thought anyone would be x raying them and cutting them open, it's actually pretty shocking, I know there's a lot of grumbling about quality etc but this is just plain fraudulent.

It doesnt shock me at all. It fits the profile of American companies as greed motivated skumbagz. Some one give me stick on a thread recently about my attitude towards corporate motivation saying that it bordered on "conspiracy" theories. Sure it does.....if the shoe fits.......We live in a time when corporate executives get paid multi-million dollar salaries to milk and bilk the last dollar out of hardworking people all the while riding the company into bankrupty. Then they get paid a 40 million dollar severence package for destroying the company while the workers, the customers and the taxpayers who get stuck with the bill get it in the ass. Gibson will go broke if they dont change their ways. Then I guess we will line up to buy chinese copies of Les Pauls until China starts calling in their US Bonds. WTF!
 

Plankspanker

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Jul 16, 2001
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I know this thread is somewhat old and did not read it when it first was posted.
What Gibson approved in the case of their reproduction Bumblebees is called "Cladding", It's a common practice in the Antique Radio restoration field and is not imited only to capacitors. They print out all the old labels so that hobbyists can make their own. Granted injection molding a repro BBjacket is a little more sophisticated, but it's essentially the same thing,

What is concerning is the outright dishonesty. Hard to beleive, and truely a shame..
 

pepejara

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Sep 6, 2003
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This thread is 10 years old, but some people are reinventing the wheel and rediscovering the fake capacitor affair (not in this forum), just a little bump....
 

Dreadnaught

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Feb 26, 2004
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I've been pulling modern BB's out for a while. Any good Paper and oil will sound much better than this crap. True BB's are a bit expensive, but if you can spring for it, go for it.
 
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