Finally tried T-Tops (Gibson "The Paul")

[nigelpkay]

Today on a whim I picked up an early 1980 Gibson "The Paul" (January 15th, 1980 Nashville plant) This is a pretty interesting guitar, walnut body and neck, ebony fretboard, T-Top pickups. Kind of like a Studio Faded from yesteryear. It plays really great, even though it was a budget guitar for the time. Also love how the pickup switch is out of the way. Kind of looks like 70's furniture, but that was the charm for me. She might not be the prettiest at the prom, but she puts out!

The main reason I bought it was to try T-Tops, and I have to say I really liked them. Definitely gave me that 70's UFO Michael Schenker vibe. They definitely sound like a "bridge" pickup between PAFs and the hotter hard rock/metal pickups that came soon after. They have this neutral character in that they can do a lot of things well, and for that mid-late 70's hard rock sound (that wasn't a Dimarzio Super Distortion) they really kick ass.

I've gone through two Traditionals, a Custom Light, and a Axcess Stop Tail, and to be honest this one is my favorite Gibson of the lot so far. But a lot of that is probably the built-in vintage mojo. It feels like a substantial piece of wood (or pieces of wood I should say, I think the body is 4 parts, the neck 3!). Just a really fun guitar to play so far.

 

[charvelstrat81]

Love that old schenker tone! May be i will score a T-top on ebay for $150
I have seen a few sell for under $200 each

 

[nigelpkay]

Yeah they are too expensive on their own, that's why I figured I got a decent deal on the whole guitar with their original pickups.

They are not a magic elixir or anything, but they sound much hotter than they are (high 7k?), and just have a really nice overall EQ that doesn't really accentuate any specific part. To be honest they sound a lot like a lower powered 500T, or maybe how a 57 Classic with an Alnico V magnet would sound like.

All I know is that playing the chords from Rock Bottom sounds so much more like the original

 

[charvelstrat81]

Y
maybe how a 57 Classic with an Alnico V magnet would sound like.

I have a 490R(7.5K) that i put a small bar roughcast alnico 5 in and was told by gibson it is the same thing as the Tops?
Sounds good but i dont have a real T-top to compare the two

 

[Bxlxaxkxe]

Pretty cool score man