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anyone know how to identify Tim Shaw PAFS?


JimAnsell

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I had no idea that they weren't ALL Tim Shaw PAF reissues from the early '80's onward. But if that's not the case, then might it depend on what guitar they came from? I'm pretty sure that the advertising at the time mentioned these "reissue" pickups.

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Originally posted by dewees

I had no idea that they weren't ALL Tim Shaw PAF reissues from the early '80's onward. But if that's not the case, then might it depend on what guitar they came from? I'm pretty sure that the advertising at the time mentioned these "reissue" pickups.

 

 

well i'm not sure really.

 

i was selling 2 on ebay that i thought were the shaw pafs. they had the same pat number and they were from an 87 lp custom.

some guy emailed me and told me that they weren't real shaw pafs, and that they were only gibson pickups form that era.

 

i asked him to get back to me and tell me how to tell the difference between shaw and not shaws, but he never responded.

i'd ask the lp fourm, but i have a hotmail email address, so i can never register.

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I checked with one seller who was selling two seemingly similar Gibson pickups from the 80's--one marked as a Tim Shaw PAF reissue, one just marked as a Gibson pickup. I asked him what the difference was and he told me the PAF/Shaw had 3 holes on top of each bobbin--two round (between poles 1&2 & 5&6), one square (before pole 1 from left), like the one in this auction:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Gibson-Shaw-Zebra-Pickup-humbucker_W0QQitemZ7409578126QQcategoryZ41429QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

6d_1.JPG

 

I'm not sure if they are/were all "T-Tops," but it seems to me that if the cover hasn't been removed, there's no real way to tell. The resistance should be in the 7.3k to 7.75k range, too. FWI recall, they made some pickups in the same timeframe with the Patent number that were a lot hotter.

 

This is all info I've picked up from sellers who were obviously out to make some money on these, so please correct me if I'm wrong.

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Here's a quote from a thread at the LPF....plus a link to the thread. Hope it helps:

 

___________________________________________________

 

They were all made in the same place. They all had a seperate inked in number on the base plate in addition to the stamped patent number.

 

The first three digits will tell you the type. 137 is a neck pickup with less windings and 138 is a bridge pickup with more windings. There is a date code after the fist three digits. 1381280 would be a bridge Shaw made in December 1980. Not all of them had the silver PAF sticker.

 

They had PAF coilforms with the square/round inspection holes and no T on top. The wire is a bright copper color. The magnet was a special Alnico V that was longer like the 50's style and rough cast. This is a special magnet and the closest to a vintage PAF in tone to my ears. They had white plastic spacers and braided connecting wire.

 

They typicaly read under 8Kohms and seem to average out in the middle 7's. They sound very big and powerful in spite of the low readings.

____________________________________________________

 

Shaw pups

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Originally posted by JimAnsell

i'd ask the lp fourm, but i have a hotmail email address, so i can never register.

 

 

You could set up a free email account at net zero so you can register at the LP forum .

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Mine have the following ink stamps:

 

Neck: 329483

Bridge: 330483

 

I have assumed they are Tim Shaw PAF Reissues because they came from my 1983 ES 335, which I've had since 1983. I recall the ads for the Dot Neck Reissue mentioning the reissue pickups. But it was a long time ago....

 

Maybe I'll put them back in to see if I can hear what the fuss is all about. The bridge sounded OK to me. But the neck was nothing but mud. They both sounded very compressed. They both do read under 8 Kohms. They are also very low output compared to any other humbucker I've heard.

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i think the shaw in the neck of my lp custom sounds incredable.

i canned the bridge one because i wanted something hotter.

then i threw it on ebay with a rediculously high buy it now ($200 for one pup!), and someone snagged it within hours.

:thu:

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Originally posted by JimAnsell

i think the shaw in the neck of my lp custom sounds incredable.

i canned the bridge one because i wanted something hotter.

then i threw it on ebay with a rediculously high buy it now ($200 for one pup!), and someone snagged it within hours.

:thu:

 

Nice sale! You doubled your money AND you still have one of the pickups. I'm very close to putting these up on eBay. I just have this feeling that $200 for one of these pickups isn't going to last. But, maybe in ten years they'll go for $1000 each....

 

Anyway, I'm going to have to try them again. They've been out of the guitar for several years now. Just going on my memory, there's a reason why I pulled them out.

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