Posted on October 12, 2022December 9, 2024 by mrglynspickups — 1 Comment

50s wiring

I like to support my customers as much as I can so here is my drawing of Gibson 50s wiring. Hopefully it will help you fit your new pickups.

The 50s wiring is great for players wanting to retain some treble when the guitar volume is turned down.

The difference between the 50’s and modern wiring is in how the tone capacitor is connected to the volume pot. It’s a very simple modification if you have modern wiring and are curious.

I recommend this wiring for my Integrity humbuckers – https://mrglynspickups.com/2020/03/29/integrity-vintage-humbucker-2/

50s wiring diagram

I’ve used my humbucker colour code (same as Seymour Duncan).

There really is nothing wrong with modern wiring, having your tone darken as you turn down the volume can be very useful in some settings. So try both and see which suits you best.

It seems that all the cool kids and ‘experts’ on the internet are telling us it has to be 50s wiring or nothing but for anyone with a soldering iron it’s an easy mod and completely reversible so experiment for yourself. You may find you like 50’s for the neck pickup and modern for the bridge.

Here are some demos of my humbuckers https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOdXLT6XwMykEOjfDKlY6fBikNmVCBQXB

Head to store…

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Posted on June 16, 2021October 10, 2023 by mrglynspickups — Leave a comment

Gibson T-Top repair

I’ve been repairing a few broken old pickups recently so thought I’d share some pictures and thoughts on this classic old Gibson T-Top.

The T-Top is a fairly common pickup on my workbench. Not because there’s and common fault with them but simply there were so many made and they’re all getting quite old now.

The “T-Top” simply refers to the molding on the top of the bobbin. They were Gibson’s standard humbucker from 67/8 until around 1980 replacing the legendary PAF.

Mr Glyns Pickups Gibson t top — Gibson T-Top Mr Glyn’s Pickups

What is a Gibson T Top?

There were a few subtle changes from the PAF but enough to make a difference.

Although the bobbins look different the important dimensions were unchanged and they are still made of butyrate making it impractical to wax pot them. Butyrate distorts with heat.

The wire is poly insulated instead of the plain enamel used on PAF’s. Pretty much all T-Tops have a dc resistance of around 7.5 KOhms, neck and bridge the same. The coils are wound symmetrically and are unpotted so beware of squealing with high gain.

The magnets varied, often Alnico III, V or even Ceramic so not all T Tops sound the same.

T Top repair — Gibson T-Top Mr Glyn’s Pickups

This one came to me with a dead coil in need of a re-wind. the magnet is a rough cast Alnico V and from the good coil the finished dc reading I was after was 7.4 KOhms.

Gibson T-Top repair — Gibson T-Top Mr Glyn’s Pickups

After the re-wind I gave it some new cloth tape so it looked the part and it was ready to ROCK.

Gibson T Top humbucker — Processed with Focos

Get in touch if you have any old pickups in need of repair. Although most of my day is spent making new pickups I do enjoy repairing classic old pickups.

www.mrglynspickups.com

Head to store…

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updated 3 October2023

Posted on May 13, 2020August 21, 2025 by mrglynspickups — Leave a comment

Custom Pickup Relicing for Your Guitar

Pickup Relicing is available, it’s not on the website, just ask me when you’re ordering.

From gentle pickup ageing just to take the glare off to serious steampunk treatment.

Pickup Relicing available — ‘Integrity’ light/medium ageing

I am often asked about pickup ageing to match in with an old guitar. A 40 year old Les Paul can just look wrong with shiny new pickups. Giving them a little head start makes a lot of sense.

Sometimes I’m asked to age pickups to match in with a new but reliced guitar.

Guitar relicing used to be a really controversial subject but it’s so commonplace now that it’s pretty much universally accepted.

Soapbar ‘Sassy’ P90 aged

Some players feel a guitar should be played for years on end to earn its wear, I get that.

Personally, I like the feel of an aged guitar. A dulled finish, rounded over fretboard edges all make for a more comfortable playing experience.

And then there’s the other factor- fear. I find I’m afraid of a shiny new expensive guitar in mint condition but when there are already a few scratches I can just let go. I play look at a lot better on old or aged instruments.