ZEBRA 1980 Gibson T-Top patent number humbucker - Chrome Gold PAF

Super rare and incredibly hard to find ZEBRA 1980 PAT. NO. 2.737.842 engraved Gibson T-Top humbucker, date stamped JUL 29 1980 and a perfect medium output of 7.71K Ohm.
 

Amongst Gibson owners the T-Top humbucker is, next to the PAF, arguably the most sought after 'vintage' Gibson pickup. Examples change hands for what can be quite a lot money ... so what's the deal with them.

 
Well firstly the T Top (it was never called that by Gibson) isn't so much one pickup, as a family of pickups from around 1968 to about 1980/1981, that all happen to use the same type of bobbin. The old PAF bobbin with its distinctive little holes at one end was distinctly fragile, and when Gibson re tooled the bobbin they made it a beefier moulding stamped with a T on top of the mold. All T Tops are wound with 42awg poly wire and Gibson's production techniques were much more standardized in the T Top era than in earlier PAF days, so it's not surprising that most T-Top's came in around 7.5k bridge and neck.