Gibson 480 or Duncan "Staple?" (Alnico V repro)

[Chris S.]

Anyone have any personal experience with either the Gibson 480 or Seymour Duncan "Staple" pickups? They're modern versions of the original Gibson Alnico V pickups that appeared on such models as the mid-fifties Super 400, L-5 and Les Paul Custom prior to the development of the humbucker. (They're also the pickups Scotty Moore used on the original version of "Mystery Train" with Elvis... a-ha!) ;-)

They're "dog ear" shaped like the old P90s, but they use <u>six individual alnico V magnets</u>, hence the original Gibson name. Gibson calls their current model the 480 (as opposed to the 490 humbucker) and Seymour offers a similar pickup through their Custom Shop called the "Staple" – I guess based on their appearance. Here's a pic of the SD version (too big to post here):

http://www.seymourduncan.com/images/staple_p90.jpg

I'm thinking (always dangerous, I know... hehe) about trying one of these in the neck position of a Tele, and I've played some of the vintage ones in the past, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of info about these current models out there on the Net. :-\

Also, do you know of anyone else that manufactures a version of these? (Again, I'm NOT looking for a P90, but an 'Alnico V' repro...) Thx in advance, CS :-)

[Tele295]

I had a '54 Les Paul Custom RI that had one of theose pickups in the neck. Mine was from the run they did around 1973. Even with the ebony board, the Alnico V sounded smoother than a P90 in the neck. If you hit them with a lot of treble at the amp, they sound more like Bill Haley.