Starfire Acquired, Mind Blown!

[danerectal]

To me, that looks like a Gotoh pickup. They used the weird tabs like that, and I seem to remember the bobbin on the one I had looking like that in black. I could totally be wrong, but the way mine was labeled would explain why there's no mark on yours. A little ink stamp that erases at the slightest contact. Mine had yellow leads.

 

[billy budapest]

danerectal:

Gotoh is certainly an interesting thought - thanks for that! I'm going to see what I can dig up about their older humbuckers. My lead is white (going a little creamy with age!).

I have Gotoh P-90 pickups in a Peavey Firenza and they are fantastic!

 

[danerectal]

Another rabbit hole is the Bigson Sonnex. I recall them having a similar mount too.

 

[billy budapest]

You're correct - the Sonex pickups were the three-hole variety but most examples I've seen are zebra. Another good thought, though. Thanks again!

 

[billy budapest]

Just a follow-up:

The missing piece of neck binding has been repaired. It feels great/looks great and all is well in Starfireland tonight!

Before:

After:

bb

 

[taabru45]

Does it match up to the adjustment screw holes in the pup rings?

I have an old 80s Cort guitar, like a small les paul..identical pickups,..it was kicking around for a long time without a jack on it....one day I installed the jack and plugged it in, and WQW, now I'm mostly acoustic, but I sure recognized that old les paul vintage tone.....these could be the ibenez that you talked about....I might put them on my Silvertone, see what happens....I also have a Sheriton epi. now with Gibson 490s on them, but before I picked up the gibbys, if I had known how good these unknown pickups were, I'd have tried them....I think my luthier said they might have been made by DeMarzio

 

[billy budapest]

Steffan:

Thanks for your input (hey - kind of a pun!).

Your points are well taken. I think that it most likely came out of an MIJ Les Paul-type guitar. I didn't know that Cort also had the three-screw scheme, but that makes sense. This one obviously isn't Ibanez-branded, but I have a late 80s MIJ Ibby that have very similar-looking pickups which are original and branded DiMarzio USA, and they positively s-c-r-e-a-m!

In any event, I think I will definitely try to find a use for this one and not toss it into the parts drawer!

 

[taabru45]

Well Billy, from the depths of obscurity....check this out on this forum.....Steffan

The VintAxe Guitar Forum
A Place for Vintage Guitar Enthusiasts to Pursue their Passion

I'm not sure about the price. Cort made some very inexpensive lower quality models and also more expensive, better quality models. Some of the Les Paul clones had set necks instead of screw on,and some even had genuine DiMarzio pickups. I think your model would be in the middle range. Your model is described as having "Power Sound" pickups,whatever that means.Here's one just like yours for sale on CaigsList,although yours looks to be a bit nicer,condition wise. Maybe ask $200-$225 for yours? That gives you some some room for haggling.