Question about Old vs. New Timbuckers

[CSwanston21]

How can you tell the difference? Mine is a set of double creams that have nothing but a sticker with Tim White's signature and the resistance. No number appears on them and nothing referencing EdA, EdA V1 or EdA V 2. How can I tell which version they are?

 

[CSwanston21]

Anybody?

 

[DonP]

Older is better LOL!

 

[Ian Anderson]

I seem to recall mine were #173 and were the old wind, but Tim started doing the Ed.A wind shortly afterwards and I got mine rewound by him about four months later. So, anything after #200 (ish) is gonna be Ed.A wind (imo), prior to that they are much darker, but I preferred the Ed.A wind as it had more of a balanced tone with the midrange I like.

 

[skhan007]

Are there new Timbuckers now?? I thought he ceased production. I was on the waitlist and then got an email from him that he was no longer going to make these pickups.

 

[littlepicker]

Timbuckers are Timbuckers. I've got 4 sets of them,
and they all sound pretty damn good!

 

[Guitar Whiskey]

By new he means newer than the old ones; they are no longer made. The ones without number are the latest. My set is 7.78 and 8.30. What are yours?

 

[blauserk]

Once Tim stopped numbering them (which was pretty early on--like 2005 or so), I think it's impossible to tell except by tracking down the original owner and asking. I don't think you can tell from the cosmetics of the pickup.

 

[rockpit]

Seems like there is a slight difference in the bobbin color of his DW pickups from earlier to not so earlier. The bobbins on one set I have are more like white, and another set that is more beige colored bobbins.

 

[CSwanston21]

By new he means newer than the old ones; they are no longer made. The ones without number are the latest. My set is 7.78 and 8.30. What are yours?

Thank you for the information.

My pickups are at home (I'm at the office), so I'll have to check, but the resistance is not too high on them. They're right in the same zip code as yours. The bridge might be slghtly lower, like 8.28; but the neck might actually be the same or in the very low 7.8's.

 

[CSwanston21]

Are there new Timbuckers now?? I thought he ceased production. I was on the waitlist and then got an email from him that he was no longer going to make these pickups.

They're no longer made. I meant "new" in a relative sense, as in "the most recent version."

 

[Guitar Whiskey]

Seems like there is a slight difference in the bobbin color of his DW pickups from earlier to not so earlier. The bobbins on one set I have are more like white, and another set that is more beige colored bobbins.

Here's what mine look like colorwise.

 

[sharq attaq]

why did he stop? is he ok?

 

[blauserk]

why did he stop? is he ok?

He didn't quit because of health reasons. I think he got burned out from winding pickups so much--he started as a hobby, and when the word got out, it started consuming every free moment. Glad I have a spare pair!

 

[CSwanston21]

Here's what mine look like colorwise.
QUOTE]

Here's the back side of mine

[/IMG]

Go ahead and laugh at the job I did soldering the covers. My soldering skills is the reason I have not bought a MetroAmp JTM45 kit. If you could see the pots and caps, you'd be rolling on the floor. It looks like the Tin Man took a dump in the cavity.

 

[dragon]

I've got an early set that I just checked and they are DW covers never off, leads never cut that were in my GT for years, I may have to revisit them and a/b them with other pups I've gotten recently. I put clabs and pio's in that one and tried one set which I asked if he could redo which he did (nice guy) the 2nd set did it. I have moore greens in it now. Signature/resistance/consecutive numbered.

 

[sharq attaq]

do these things still bring a premium?

or did they turn into just another "flavor of the day"?

 

[CSwanston21]

I don't think they are pretenders. I think they're great pickups. But that doesn't prevent them from becoming "last year's model," which is more a function of fantasy than reality. The best evidence that they may have become forgotten is the current "best paf" thread, where Timbuckers aren't even mentioned. http://www.lespaulforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=168945

Throbaks seem to be the flavor of the month now. A lot of people are sold on the idea that Throbak has the "secet recipe" and is operating in a time warp that places them square in the 50s.

By tying up old equipment and an inventory of old wire, they certainly have managed to get a lock on nostalgia. I haven't heard a set.

 

[skhan007]

I don't think they are pretenders. I think they're great pickups. But that doesn't prevent them from becoming "last year's model," which is more a function of fantasy than reality. The best evidence that they may have become forgotten is the current "best paf" thread, where Timbuckers aren't even mentioned. http://www.lespaulforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=168945

Throbaks seem to be the flavor of the month now. A lot of people are sold on the idea that Throbak has the "secet recipe" and is operating in a time warp that places them square in the 50s.

By tying up old equipment and an inventory of old wire, they certainly have managed to get a lock on nostalgia. I haven't heard a set.

Excellent points made here. I too have wondered about Tims, Thobacks, etc. since they are all going after the same tone. My biggest question is will either sound any better **to my ears** than my Duncan Antiquities, that I had custom wound for me by Seymour and MJ? If so, is the incremental improvment in tone worth several hunderd dollars **from my wallet**? I guess the only way to know is for me to actually play a Les Paul that has Tims or Throbacks and hear for myself. Youtube clips don't work for me, in that regard.

 

[CSwanston21]

will either sound any better **to my ears** than my Duncan Antiquities, that I had custom wound for me by Seymour and MJ?

I have a set of SD Antiquity P-90s that I have A/B'd against a set of original P90s from the 50s, and SDs were very, very close to the originals. I would think that Seymour could recite more details about pickups and pafs in his sleep than all of the boutique pickup winders combined could recite after 10 cups of coffee. The SD Antiquities, however, rarely figure into the "best paf" discussion.

Youtube clips don't work for me, in that regard.

No kidding. What's up with that? Why does every guy demoing an amp on Youtube either (1) record with their camera's internal microphone (and without any context about what the room they're recording in looks like or anything about the acoustics) or (2) if they use a decent mic, also use a delay pedal, a reverb pedal AND an overdrive pedal--or any one of these? Those clips KILL me.