And when they finally started putting the patent number on the pickup, it wasn't the pickup's patent number at all. Rather, it was the patent number for that of the ABR-1 Bridge.

Another interesting thing about PAFs was the fact that they were all supposed to be made with black bobbins. A strike at the regular bobbin maker's plant back in '59 caused Gibson to seek an alternate source for them. They could only come up with a supplier who would supply creme and to a lesser extent, white ones. Gibson wasn't too upset about it as all these humbucking pickups were to be permanently covered any way. So, these creme and white bobbins were dumped into bins which already contained the black ones Gibson still had on hand. As always, when a winder needed a bobbin to wind a coil on, they simply dipped into these bins and pulled out the first one they had a firm grasp on. Naturally, the bobbin's color was irrelevant to them and they continued on.

Eventually, the usual bobbin supplier's strike was over and Gibson reverted back to the all black ones. This is why the all creme, all white and zebra variations of real PAFs are more sought after as they are production wise, rare and to many enthusiasts, esthetically more pleasing. (And down the road, why DiMarzio was slick enough to put a patent on double creme humbuckers.)

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You dig?

Very interesting!