The 60′s were a turbulent decade. The assassination of JFK kept us fixated on the TV for days and gave us an insecurity that other decades had not felt before.

Those of us growing into our own during the 60′s were also very much affected by the war in Vietnam. We would all watch the "war lotto" to see which of our friends and loved ones would go across the world to fight in a country that we had not even known had existed.

For me, like other teens my age,  the lotto was especially painful as I had a brother that was just 2 years older than I was and I wasn’t ready to let him or my other friends leave our safe, secure Long Island town.

The 60′s was also showing pains from the growing racial issues that faced us all. Segregation, desegregation, marches on Washington. We all needed to become equals.

Many families were separated by what has been termed the "generation gap". Parents not knowing what their children were doing and children learning not to trust anyone over 30.

There was confusion and mis-trust between the "straight" and the "heads", music was going in directions that most didn’t understand.

The world was spinning out of control and we were all angry about something.
 

Then for 3 days in 1969 the world stood still

• Kim LaFleur talks PAF Pickups

The cover has never been removed and the lead is over 11" long.

With the cover never being removed we can only guess at the magnet length, However being a 1959 we would guess long.

• Kim LaFleur talks PAF Pickups

Gibson wanted to counter the latest electric guitars introduced by Fender. Leo Fender had built a company that was a sizable competitor in the solid-body guitar market place.

Gibson believed they could beat Fender with their high quality Les Paul, and by developing a low-noise pickup.       

The problem with Gibson’s P-90 and Fender’s single-coil pickups was inherent in their designs, allowing 60-cycle hum (noise) to interfer with the sound.

Seth Lover was the Gibson engineer assigned to solve the problem. Seth connected two single coil pickups in series (opposed to parallel) and connected the coils out-of-phase electrically and magnetically. Thus the signal noise of each separate coil canceled out the noise of the other coil. That is how the pickup came to be known as a "humbucker".

Seth/Gibson filed their patent for the pickup design on June 22, 1955. Gibson added the new pickups to steel guitars in 1956, and in 1957 on electric solid-body and arch-top guitars including the Les Paul Model. During late 1957, a small black decal with gold lettering was added to the underside of the pickup that read, "PATENT APPLIED FOR" (hence the PAF abbreviation).

Seth Lover received his pickup patent #2,896,491 on July 28, 1959. By mid to late 1962, Gibson changed the pickup decal to read, "PATENT NO 2,737,842". Interestingly the patent number listed on the decal was not for Seth’s pickup design but was for Les Paul’s trapeze tailpiece! Perhaps this was a research roadblock for the competition, or maybe just a mistake?

Billy Gibbons with his 1959 Gibson Les Paul (Pearly Gates):

• Kim LaFleur talks PAF Pickups

Les Paul Standard model is probably the most famous of the models to have PAFs pickups, though other models had them too. Like the ES-175, ES-295, Byrdland, ES-350, ES-5 switchmaster, L-5CE, the Super 400 and the ES-335/ES-345/ES-355 (when introduced in 1958/1959). Peter Green with his 1959 Gibson Les Paul:

Gary Moore with the same Les Paul:

• Kim LaFleur talks PAF Pickups

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1959 Fender Telecaster Harness assemble

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vintagecheckout.smugmug.com/gallery/5513517_eBTrj1956 Les Paul P-90 Pickups Soapbars Goldtop

 1956 Les Paul Pickguard

• Kim LaFleur talks PAF Pickups

• Kim LaFleur talks PAF Pickups

The Fender Stratocaster guitar is probably the most popular solidbody electric guitar ever made. Early models (1954 to 1965, known as "pre-CBS" models, since CBS Broadcaster Company bought Fender in January 1965) are the most collectible. Originality and condition are the two most important features of a vintage Fender Stratocaster guitar, and Fender Strats do seem to have been easily modified (due to their "bolt together" nature). The 1957 Fender Stratocaster is considered a "classic" year by most with its two-tone sunburst finish on an Alder body wood with a Maple "V" neck. The change in plastic from "bakelite" (polystyrene) to ABS took place in the spring of 1957. Though I personally like the look and feel of "Bakelite" plastic better, it is far more fragile and often broken or missing. Serial number range for the 57 Fender Stratocaster are generally 16000 to 25000 (some numbers with a "0" or "-" prefix on the neck plate). If you need to figure out the exact year of your pre-CBS Fender Stratocaster, use the serial number and the general features of the guitar. The serial number is located on the back metal neck plate.

The 1957-58 Fender catalog (image on the left) continues with the Stratocaster description language first used in 1955, though sunburst is now one word and the key points are now 20 instead of 21 (with or without tremolo is now mentioned separately and the hardtail is now priced below the trem model whereas they were previously priced the same). Added though is the fact that the Stratocaster is now "available in custom colors or blonde finish at an additional 5% cost," otherwise the model is manufactured in sunburst. To what price would the 5% custom color surcharge be added? The 1955 Stratocaster listed as follows: no tremolo: $249.50; with tremolo: $274.50; in Blonde with 14 Carat Gold-Plated Hardware: $330.00 (we know this model as the Mary Kaye Stratocaster because the inside cover of the catalog has a photo of the Mary Kaye Trio in which Mary Kaye is holding the blonde upgrade version). It was the non-Mary Kaye models that were available in custom Dupont Ducco finishes for an extra 5%.

1957 Stratocaster Specs: "Bakelite" pickup covers and knobs are replaced by vinyl (early ’57 instruments may have a mix of bakelite and vinyl), neck profile becomes a more pronounced "V."

• Kim LaFleur talks PAF Pickups