Up for sale an original Gibson Patent sticker number T-top pick-up, one of the earliest ones.

I’m by no means an expert on pick-ups but I am a big fan of Gibson T-top’s and have had the one you see in the neck position of my Gibson SG since April last year. It was originally sold to me as a bridge pick-up and I have played it there but decided to swap it after purchasing another t-top, one I’m certain is a 1971/72 Alnico V magnet, and I simply prefer the later slightly brighter sounding pick-up at bridge.

It comes with a long wire (almost exactly 30cm) and because of this decided to try it in the neck position in my Gibson SG. This has resulted in a really sweet tone for playing lead blues and I had been very happy with it there but recently had reasons to try something else and having had enough time to weigh up what I’m hearing the new pick-up combination is more suited to what I really want from a Gibson SG and as it’s unlikely that this will ever displace either of the PAF style pickups I have in my Les Paul standard I am now permanently one pick-up over and so have decided to sell,

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From the time and research I put in the first proper T-top pickups were introduced in 1966 not changing much all the way through until 1980/81 but you can identify the first patent sticker ones - like the one you see in this advert - by the two Phillips head screws underneath. At some point maybe late 1967 but certainly by 1968 these Phillips head screws changed to flat head screws and continued until probably late 1974 … at which point the patent sticker number pickups changed to patent stamp pickups but still remained t-tops as is visible by the ‘T’ on either one or both the top bobbins.

Also … the consensus seems to be that from 1966 through to sometime around 1970 the magnets used in these pickups were (short) Alnico II magnets but by 1971 had changed to (short) Alnico V magnets and from what I can gather this remained so until end of production at the end of the 70’s with the exception being - around middle of the 70’s - some of the T-tops being made with Alnico III magnets …

… some editing probably required here
I have a patent stamp pick-up, very possibly from 1975 and also very possibly one of the said Alnico III as it sounds different from my other two. It is also a bridge pick-up with a long wire and at neck position it sounds like James Williamson playing on Iggy Pop’s Raw Power!! I’ve had it in there before, and was convinced I preferred the 1966/67 pick-up on sale here, but after putting it back in last week I’ve decided I prefer it. It’s dirtier & suits whatever it is I think I’m doing on guitar! It has been an interesting learning experience for me, I have previously had two fabulous T-tops in an early 70’s Les Paul Custom but for pick-ups that have a reputation for being very consistent I currently own three that all sound very different!

My best guess on this 1966/67 pick-up is that, because of the gold screws, it originally came from a 1966 Gibson SG Custom. However, there may well have been a 1966 or 1967 ES-335/345/355 type Gibson Guitar that came with Gold Hardware and as my first proper guitar was a 1980 ES-335 I can say from personal experience that this pick-up would probably have been perfect in there. It’s all personal taste but hopefully some of this is helpful

I’m not looking for offers on the £375 asking price at the moment but if the ad is still live and not marked #ON HOLD# this pick-up is still available. At this price it will be fully insured and as I expect it to be posted it will be sent by parcelforce which should be next day delivery

Thanks for reading