Can anyone tell what pickups I have? *pictures*

[Ruben]

I took some pictures today of the pickups I have in my Les Paul.
I've been playing with them for the last 6 years and they do sound great.
But, hey I'm a guitar player and always changing stuff

BUT I'm not an expert when it comes to pickups unfortunally...

So that's why I took some pictures maybe someone here can tell me what kind of pickups they are?

* Bridge pickup: http://www.mijnalbum.nl/Album=3ZOV3JKZ

specs: Back nr says: patent no 2 737 842

Is this a PAF? Is it an alnico magnet? What Value?



* Neck pickup: http://www.mijnalbum.nl/Album=GYO7XPRF

Seymour Duncan, there's a sticker saying: 94105079

Is this an alnico magnet?


The reason why I want to know is because I want to experiment with the Bridge pickup...I would like the sound to be somewhat smoother, yep you're right... like the early Van Halen records...

Now what I also would like to know: Can somebody tell me maybe what will be the difference in sound between the one I have now (bridge) and the SD custom custom / SD '59 & SD EVH?

I think of buying a '59 SD but if the one already installed is just as good, or even better it would save me a lot of money!

So any help would be great!!! Thanks

[MacGaden]

The bridge pick-up is a T-top, made between 1967 and 1975.
PAF means "Patent Applied For", meaning that Gibson did´nt hold the patent for the humbucker yet:



Your has the patent sticker, so it can´t be a PAF.

More here : http://www.provide.net/~cfh/paf.html

The Duncan I don´t know anything about, but I´ve never seen an ordinary SD with his signature on, and it looks old, not aged, so it´s too old to be an Antiquity. Maybe it is costum built, or was rewound by him.

[Ruben]

Thanks!

Is my bridge pickup considered as a good one?
Is it an alnico 2 magnet or alnico V?

I haven't compared it to others so I don't know...

Is there anybody who can answer the other questions about the SD's?
How does the sound from this pickup compare to the
Custom Custom / EVH / or the '59?

[BrownSound1]

That's a good question, but one that I don't think can be answered unless we actually hear that pickup. I'll be honest with you, I think early Van Halen sounds can be obtained with a variety of pickups. I'd say keep it in the PAF realm of output and you'll be ok. I have a Custom Custom in one of my guitars, and it does seem to be in the ballpark. However, I think the EVH '78 is probably closer to the real thing.

[Ruben]

How does the EVH pickup sound compared to the '59 & custom custom?

[GIBSON Les Paul]

If you are selling the bridge pickup I might be interested.

[JD]

The SD pickup appears to be an early "Seth Lover" model which features a smooth machined Alnico II bar magnet and that signed paper tag. That is the serial number and SD customer service should be able to tell you from that number. They are somewhat uncommon with the double creme bobbins.

The Gibson pickup is most likely Alnico II as well, looks like a cast magnet that has been machined to dimension. My guess '60s.