Please school me on Gibson T-Tops and T-Top clones

JohnnyGtar

JohnnyGtar

Well-known member
Howdy,

I just checked out the post from @EyesOfTheSouth! on Brandonwound T-Top clones.

I've heard some amazing tones (Page, Schenker) on records and some great demos of Gibson T-Tops and T-Top clones. The thing is, in the late 70's and early 80's tons of people yanked 'em and threw DiMarzios in their guitars. A lot of people went for DiMarzio PAF's instead of Super Distortions.

I don't know the history of T-Tops. When did Gibson start making them? What do you like or dislike about them? Were there transition pickups between PAF's and T-Tops? When did the shitty Gibson pickups make their way into Gibson guitars? (Like the stock ones in the late 70's and early 80's, those were awful.) Is a better sound from T-Tops just a matter of changing to higher potentiometer values? Can you help me learn about them? I'd be grateful for any T-Top knowledge you can pass on to me.
 
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JohnnyGtar said:
Listening to "Freezing Moon" right now. I can do without the vocals and black metal isn't my thing, but those are killer guitar sounds. Thank you!
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Especially for the time period, listen to how much clarity Euronymous' guitar retains with all that gain - its actually probably the coolest thing about t-tops IMO

edit: if im not mistaken he double boosted with either two Hm-2s, an hm-2 and a metal zone, or either into a tube screamer into a dimed 2203, 2204, 2205, or 2210 - that's a metric FUCKload of gain lol
 
DanTravis62 said:
Especially for the time period, listen to how much clarity Euronymous' guitar retains with all that gain - its actually probably the coolest thing about t-tops IMO

edit: if im not mistaken he double boosted with either two Hm-2s, an hm-2 and a metal zone, or either into a tube screamer into a dimed 2203, 2204, 2205, or 2210 - that's a metric FUCKload of gain lol
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Is Euronymous the guitarist in Mayhem?
 
JohnnyGtar said:
I remember hearing about a guy in the black metal scene who murdered someone. Yikes!
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There's actually multiple murders around the scene lol

Faust (emperor drummer) as well as Jon Nodtveidt from Dissection both did the murder too

Unfortunately all of these bands are like the Clash, Sex Pistols, and Ramones of black metal - like foundational mount rushmore bands

So theres no getting around it. And that's not even getting into the church burnings
 
Ack! I realized that I could search the internet. DERP. Still, I'd like your input on these pickups. Thanks!
 
JohnnyGtar said:
Ack! I realized that I could search the internet. DERP. Still, I'd like your input on these pickups. Thanks!
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They excel at clarity under gain IMO, but they are very "amp picky"

Personally, I think they sound best with marshalls and hiwatts, but my T-top guitar got stolen out of our tour van many years ago and I haven't had another

I didn't think they sounded good with amps with a ton of low end - ie, fender, boogie, diezel, soldano

They definitely are their own thing with their own vibe
 
DanTravis62 said:
They excel at clarity under gain IMO, but they are very "amp picky"

Personally, I think they sound best with marshalls and hiwatts, but my T-top guitar got stolen out of our tour van many years ago and I haven't had another

I didn't think they sounded good with amps with a ton of low end - ie, fender, boogie, diezel, soldano

They definitely are their own thing with their own vibe
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I always dug that mid 70's Freddie King tone with ES355's and what I assume are t-tops into a Twin or Quad Reverb.
 
As far as I understand, you can achieve a T-Top-ish kinda vibe by dropping a short A5 magnet on a 490R or a Duncan Jazz N as T-Tops are wound with 42 gauge poly-coated wire in the 7K-ish range.
 
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I have them in my ES-345. I like them, just wish they were wax potted. They are fairly scooped and bright so they sound good with a more mid-heavy darker amp like my Bogner XTC.
 
hellzington said:
I have them in my ES-345. I like them, just wish they were wax potted. They are fairly scooped and bright so they sound good with a more mid-heavy darker amp like my Bogner XTC.
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You're making them sound kinda like Seth Lovers, which I found usable but I still like 57 classics more in an ES (through a Twin). Any insight you could give me on the Brandons vs the Seths?
 
My first Gibson was a ‘78 Custom with the original pickups. It sounded like shit, so if that was T-Tops, I don’t like them. Guitar was a 10 pound ice pick.
 
VonBonfire said:
You're making them sound kinda like Seth Lovers, which I found usable but I still like 57 classics more in an ES (through a Twin). Any insight you could give me on the Brandons vs the Seths?
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I like Seth Lovers but only with 250k pots. I think they're too bright with 500k. Never played Brandons.

If you want to hear a good example of T-Tops in "modern" music, check out Candlebox. The guitarist is a huge fan of T-Tops and uses them almost exclusively in his LPs. He was also one of the first guys to use a Recto back in '92-'93. The T-Tops work really well with that amp since it's so dark.

 
hellzington said:
I like Seth Lovers but only with 250k pots. I think they're too bright with 500k. Never played Brandons.

If you want to hear a good example of T-Tops in "modern" music, check out Candlebox. The guitarist is a huge fan of T-Tops and uses them almost exclusively in his LPs. He was also one of the first guys to use a Recto back in '92-'93. The T-Tops work really well with that amp since it's so dark.

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Ah, the fucking 90’s. Sensitive rockers in sensible clothes standing amongst the flowers….ROCK! 😂
 
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