How to Tell the Difference in Gibson Pickups
Pickups are magnets that capture sound from an electric guitar's strings and transform it into a signal which is then amplified. Gibson guitars generally have humbucking pickups, which are two single-coil pickups wired together. Humbucking pickups aren't as noisy as single coils because they cancel out errant frequencies, such as radio, and the result is a fuller, fatter sound. The only non-humbucking pickup in Gibson's inventory is the P90, which is a large single coil. Gibson pickup differences can generally be visually identified. The differences, however, are found in the magnet and coil winding.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Look at the pickup cover. Gibson pickups have either chrome or plastic covers, or they have no covers, which exposes the top of the pickup underneath the strings. With the exception of P90 single-coil pickups, all Gibson pickups are humbuckers. The pickup positioned close to the neck is visually similar to the one located at the bridge, but they are normally wired differently to produce slightly different sounds.
-
2
Identify the P90 single-coil Gibson pickup. P90s are large single-cover pickups that have a "dog-ear" or "soap-bar" cover hiding their inner workings. The cover can be white plastic, black plastic or chrome for dog ears, and white or black plastic for soap bars. The dog ear refers to the cover's top and bottom extensions where mounting screws are located, while a soap bar resembles a bar of soap.
-
-
3
Look for pickups with chrome covers. Gibson humbuckers typically have a chrome cover attached with six screws that recedes into the guitar. These are Gibson 490T pickups, or later variations. Also, there are Gibson mini-humbuckers, found on select Les Paul models, that look exactly the same but smaller.
-
4
Look for pickups with no covers. Humbucking pickups with no cover expose the coils of the pickup and show the two single coils side-by-side. Each coil has six poles running down the center. These are traditionally Gibson 500T pickups, or variations.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
All Gibson pickups are generally a variation of the P90, 490T and 500T models. The differences are found within the coils, magnets and coil winding, and cannot be visually identified. To determine the exact pickup model, researching the Gibson guitar model and the year of manufacture is required.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Polka Dot/Getty Images
