83' - 84' Pick Up Identification

[Lars]

Can anyone give me any information on a humbucking p/u with a back sticker of 59B-M.

[JOLLY]

Welcome to the Forum Lars!!

That's a '59 Bridge Model.

[LtKojak]

Welcome to the Forum Lars!!

That's a '59 Bridge Model.

Yes, wound by Maricel. (that's the M after the B)

Hi, Jolly!

What's up, bro? Long time no see...

[Lars]

Thanks guys, I figured it was a '59 bridge, but was not sure what the M was for.
I see MJ is one of the most highly regarded techs, how does Maricel rate?

[BleedingEdge]

Bump, any more information on this?

59B-M
59N-D

Anything you guys got, would love to know. Thanks!

[Zerberus]

Yes, wound by Maricel. (that's the M after the B)

Hi, Jolly!

What's up, bro? Long time no see...

Actually the winder`s initial is the first letter of the last name, MJ (Maricela Juarez) would be a "J"

[DrNewcenstein]

And it's "Marciela", isn't it?


Anyhoo, the only one I know is "J", for "MJ". I've seen the "D" and "M" on a few older pickups, but mostly it's "J" or "L" I see.

Those are also the two that sell for the most, especially DDs (Duncan Distortions).


59B = 59 Bridge
59N = 59 Neck

[BleedingEdge]

I have DD-J as well - I imagine that's a Marciela Juarez wound Duncan Distortion? Supposed to be good? I picked it up a while ago but haven't put it in anything yet.

59B-M - could it be anyone else other than MJ, especially if it's double creme and hence pre-Dimarzio lawsuit? I'm wondering why M is used here? I thought J meant MJ...

59N-D - would this mean that Seymour Duncan himself wound this? Also, it's double creme like the other one.

[DrNewcenstein]

I can only imagine the money a pickup wound by SD himself would bring :drool:

And I'm sure there are more than just MJ and Seymour working on pickups, so "M" could be "Martin", "Martinez", "Miller", "Michaels", "Marmaduke", etc etc.

As for the DD-J, I've had both DDJs and DDLs, and I have to say I prefer the tone of the DDJs just a tad. They're not majorly different to my ears, but there's a subtle difference in character to the DDJs I can't quite nail down.

Maybe it's the acidity of her fingertips that affects the coil wires just right, or the tension of her grip as the coil winds. I dunno.

[Zerberus]

I have DD-J as well - I imagine that's a Marciela Juarez wound Duncan Distortion? Supposed to be good? I picked it up a while ago but haven't put it in anything yet.

This will open up a can of worms probably, but IMO an MJ wound pickup from the production line is no different than any other production pickup, be it wound by "A", "B", "C", "D", "E", "F", "G", "H", "I", "K", "L", "M", "N", "O", "P", "Q", "R", "S", "T", "U", "V", "W", "X", "Y" or "Z". She had the same material and same specs to wind to as anybody else. Of course all poickups ahve variances, and these make them tonally different a bit, but why MJs pickups should fetch 5-6x as much as identical PUs with a different initial is beyond me.

If I make pencils for company XYZ together with 25 other guys for 20 years and someday become the production manager, how does that make my pencils that I made 20 years prior any better?

59B-M - could it be anyone else other than MJ, especially if it's double creme and hence pre-Dimarzio lawsuit? I'm wondering why M is used here? I thought J meant MJ...

The whole reason for stamping the initial on pickup`s label in the first place is that Duncan had more than 1 employee. It was wound by someone who´s last name started with "M"

Double cream can still be had, though, you just have to order it as a shop floor custom with a lightly soldered cover... sometimes they just fall off, ya` know

It is however possible that these PUs were made pre-trademark (which is a whole other can of worms and a despicable move by Larry and co. IMO)

59N-D - would this mean that Seymour Duncan himself wound this? Also, it's double creme like the other one.

This is possible, for the double cream part see above.

And it's "Marciela", isn't it?

....

Only if she spelled her own name wrong when registering for the forum

http://www.seymourduncan.com/forum/member.php?u=2089

[BleedingEdge]

The 59B-M, and a 59N-D double creme - I will note that the magnets used in these two pickups appear to look like real PAF magnets - sand cast and significantly oxidized. Not like in my modern Seth Lovers. Also, these 59s have maple spacers and black wire (not the red/copper colored wire). I bought the 59N-D because I'm thinking this might be an early one wound by the man himself...

Anyway, I have real PAFs, Throbacks, Wolfetone, WCR, Holmes, Timbuckers, Lollars, and yes, a bunch of Duncans. Throbacks are the closest to PAFs, but that doesn't mean they're the best thing next to sliced bread. Seth Lovers just don't have the bite and harmonic complexity of PAFs, though I love them for how chewy they can be. I'll look forward to loading this old Duncan set into an LP and seeing how they perform.