Been offered a pair of 1965 Pat# pickups - advice please!!

[woody-89]

Hi guys,

I've been offered a pair of uncovered Pat # pickups, and was just wondering what you guys felt would be a suitable price for them?

They are the 2737842 numbers, which apparently were the ones with the wrong patent number (according to the guy at least). They have red bobbin wire and White bobbin leads, as well as the L shaped tooling marks on the feet.

It'd be great to know what you guys feel they're worth, and I'll see if it corresponds to what the guys asking for them.

Cheers in advance!
Woody

:2cool

 

[woody-89]

Bumpy bump..

 

[sap68/69]

I can't speak for the value of them but, I have a 68 LP custom that has an original PAT sticker Pre T (L shaped tooling marks on the feet) in the bridge position, Great P-ups. To me they sound a lot like a 57 classic but better in every way , I love the sound.

Again sorry I can't put a value on them, I hope someone here can.

 

[cryptozoo]

Woody, there are a few things to consider, but if they're in good shape and everything's straight on them, I'd say between $5-600 USD per pickup. These are usually in the 7.2-7.7k ohm range, but you can find them hotter sometimes. The hotter ones are a little more desirable, in my opinion. They sound very good, a bit more refined than a PAF to my ears.

 

[woody-89]

Cheers guys! Really appreciate the help, still in the debating stages at the mo, but seems like I'd be getting quite a good deal. Does anyone know anything about this supposed 'wrong' patent #? If it is true I'm not certain if this would have a positive or negative affect on the value.. Any ideas?!
Cheers!

 

[roxrob]

Hi,
wasn't the patent number actually the patent number for the tunomatic bridge or something like that? I read it somewhere that Gibson did this to throw competitors off the scent if they wanted to look up the patent application to copy the design. (although they could have just bought one and took it to bits...Ha Ha!)

Rob

Cheers guys! Really appreciate the help, still in the debating stages at the mo, but seems like I'd be getting quite a good deal. Does anyone know anything about this supposed 'wrong' patent #? If it is true I'm not certain if this would have a positive or negative affect on the value.. Any ideas?!
Cheers!

 

[v-verb]

can you post pics? Are these t-tops with a label or stamped on the underside?

 

[Wilko]

They all have the same number, and it is the patent number for the one-piece trapeze bridge.

Are the pickups you are looking at t-tops or pre-t's The latter would cost about 2x the value of t-tops.

 

[Siegler]

Are the pickups you are looking at t-tops or pre-t's The latter would cost about 2x the value of t-tops.

If T-top, definitely later than 1965, no?

Or is that another unreliable guideline to Gibson dating?

 

[woody-89]

Amazing guys, thank you! I completely remember now about the tailpiece patent - thought the guy was saying they had got the patent number wrong on only a small batch or something like that!

But no, they are not T Tops, and have the L shaped tooling on the legs so it can only be 1965 at the latest. No pics available, but the guy says they're in relatively good and un-tampered with condition. Any more ideas as to value?!

Thanks so much again guys!
Woody

 

[Wilko]

L-shaped tooling marks are on many Gibson Pickups well into the 70s.

 

[v-verb]

non-t-tops can be in the $1k range for purply wire and black leads.

Why don't you tell us what he's asking?

 

[cryptozoo]

Here's a general guideline (assuming condition is nice and bobbins, magnets, etc are straight):

- Non T-Top, purple wire, double-black bobbin leads - $850-$1.3k per

- Non T-Top, reddish wire, one white, one black lead - $500-600 per

- T-Top w/ Phillips head screws on base and cover - $150-200 per

 

[woody-89]

Guys, many many thanks for all your help - I'd forgotten just what a jem of a place this is! The guy is asking a great deal less than the figures that are here, although I'm not looking to flip them, but is always nice to know that a deal is being had!
He's asking what translates to $400/420ish for the pair, so they'll be going straight in my '59/'60 es355 (currently sporting some original dirty fingers! :-S) for something a little more authentic.

Once again, a thousand thanks for all your help!
Woody

 

[v-verb]

Cool grab them fast - take pics before you install them and enjoy those bad boys!!

 

[cryptozoo]

Yeah, that's way cheap. I'd snag 'em!

 

[woody-89]

Will do!

 

[efk]

There was also a brief period between the "classic" patent number (purple wire, patent sticker, dbl. black leads) and the red wire/one white, one black lead: Purple wire/patent sticker/one white, one black lead pre-t tops. That's a mouthful. What's odd is that despite the dark purple/black wire, every one I've had carried chrome covers. They are (at least in my experience) all low-ohm reading, i.e. 7.2 to 7.4K but are great, really great pickups and usually can be had cheap because of that one itty bitty white lead. Unfortunately only way to find them is to crack the cover.

 

[cryptozoo]

There was also a brief period between the "classic" patent number (purple wire, patent sticker, dbl. black leads) and the red wire/one white, one black lead: Purple wire/patent sticker/one white, one black lead pre-t tops. That's a mouthful. What's odd is that despite the dark purple/black wire, every one I've had carried chrome covers. They are (at least in my experience) all low-ohm reading, i.e. 7.2 to 7.4K but are great, really great pickups and usually can be had cheap because of that one itty bitty white lead. Unfortunately only way to find them is to crack the cover.

I had those in a 335 once... they're not very common, and honestly, it's a toss up to buy off eBay based on seller descrips and non-pro photos of pickups like that. It's hard to tell wire coil wire color online.

 

[wooderson]

Just to play my role of Forum Heresiarch:

Original Dirty Fingers + Gibson semi-hollow = Hydrogen Bomb.