What the... Ebay + corksniffer content

MtB

Honestly, is this for real? I'm not a historic guitars person, is this really the going rate?

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gibson-PAF-Pickups-Original-Double-White-1959-/261930218360?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3cfc41f378

Dave_Mc

No idea of the exact usual value, but if I had to guess, I'd say, "Probably."

The reason for the price isn't how good they sound- they're aren't really meant to be bought by someone who wants a pickup upgrade. They're meant to be bought by someone who has a real 1959 Les Paul, but who for some reason doesn't have a pair of genuine PAFs to put into it. When you consider how much having the correct pickups will bump up the value of said guitar, the asking price there starts to make sense.

hobbio

I remember someone selling a full set of 59 electronics for some ridiculous price too, something like £16k.

usedtobe

Oh, well...

xmrchi

Please can someone buy these and put them in a Korean schecter:-)

WezV

mrchi;677060" said:

Please can someone buy these and put them in a Korean schecter:-)

Lets go 50/50. You buy the pickups, i will get the Schechter

Whitecat

"Buyer to sort own courier"

That's pretty much a red carpet to scammers...

UnclePsychosis

Whitecat;677065" said:

"Buyer to sort own courier"

That's pretty much a red carpet to scammers...

That bit struck me as utterly mental.

Plus, as a buyer, if the seller can't be bothered properly arranging a courier I'd be worried they can't be bothered doing anything else properly either.

bingefeller

Whitecat;677065" said:

"Buyer to sort own courier"

That's pretty much a red carpet to scammers...

I've just emailed JCon and he's going to stick a bid in.  

IvisonGuitars

Dave_Mc said:

No idea of the exact usual value, but if I had to guess, I'd say, "Probably."

The reason for the price isn't how good they sound- they're aren't really meant to be bought by someone who wants a pickup upgrade. They're meant to be bought by someone who has a real 1959 Les Paul, but who for some reason doesn't have a pair of genuine PAFs to put into it. When you consider how much having the correct pickups will bump up the value of said guitar, the asking price there starts to make sense.

This. I also think the price may be high due to them being double whites as I think Dimarzio have the trademark on this and no other companies including Gibson are allowed to make them.

 Obviously some do so perhaps I've got the facts slightly wrong...?

Maynehead

miserneil said:

Dave_Mc said:

No idea of the exact usual value, but if I had to guess, I'd say, "Probably."

The reason for the price isn't how good they sound- they're aren't really meant to be bought by someone who wants a pickup upgrade. They're meant to be bought by someone who has a real 1959 Les Paul, but who for some reason doesn't have a pair of genuine PAFs to put into it. When you consider how much having the correct pickups will bump up the value of said guitar, the asking price there starts to make sense.

This. I also think the price may be high due to them being double whites as I think Dimarzio have the trademark on this and no other companies including Gibson are allowed to make them.

 Obviously some do so perhaps I've got the facts slightly wrong...?

I thought that was double cream... Even Yamaha pacificas have double whites :P

Skipped

Mark's Guitar Loft has just sold a pair for $10k (covers never off).
But MGL is an experienced dealer who puts his huge reputation on the line every time he sells vintage parts with a big price tag.
That is quite a contrast with a guy on ebay who has 92 feedbacks, and doesn't know where the covers are, and is asking the same money.

With something like this the seller is as important as the item.

IvisonGuitars

Maynehead said:

miserneil said:

Dave_Mc said:

No idea of the exact usual value, but if I had to guess, I'd say, "Probably."

The reason for the price isn't how good they sound- they're aren't really meant to be bought by someone who wants a pickup upgrade. They're meant to be bought by someone who has a real 1959 Les Paul, but who for some reason doesn't have a pair of genuine PAFs to put into it. When you consider how much having the correct pickups will bump up the value of said guitar, the asking price there starts to make sense.

This. I also think the price may be high due to them being double whites as I think Dimarzio have the trademark on this and no other companies including Gibson are allowed to make them.

 Obviously some do so perhaps I've got the facts slightly wrong...?

I thought that was double cream... Even Yamaha pacificas have double whites :P

Cream/White, it's all the same to me at 8:45 on a Sunday morning after 3 gigs on the bounce! :-)

ICBM

As always with these things it's the value as part of an even more overpriced whole that drives the market. If you think this is stupid, check out the price of original cream M69 pickup rings for a Les Paul Standard.

As a pickup, they're nothing particularly special - many modern builders now know how to make ones which will sound identical. Or at least identical to some of them, given that originals don't all sound the same anyway…

Personally I think double-creams look horrible, especially in a Les Paul Custom - which is probably the highest-value guitar you could put them in where the gold screws aren't wrong - so I'm out on this pair .

And yes, DiMarzio do have a trademark on double-cream bobbins, and on the term 'PAF', despite the fact that they neither made them first, invented the term, or that their cream is the right colour. Such can be the stupidity of trademark law.

Jeremiah

AFAIK the DiMarzio trademark only applies in the USA.