Which coil is cream in Zebra and Reverse Zebra

[PhilKing]

Hi Tim,

In a Zebra pickup which coil is cream and which is black?  I am attaching a picture of 2 original 59 and 60 Les Pauls, and you can see the the screw coil is black.  

Which way around are your Zebra's?

Thanks
Phil

[chris o'donnell]

Hi Phil.

I received a Zebra set of Emeralds last week and the best way I can describe them is that the cream coils are nearest to the fretboard and the bridge. They look fantastic.
My history is not great but I think they came about when Gibson used whatever materials were available at the time, and the Zebras only came to light when guys started removing their covers to get the pickup closer to the string, causing the guitar to distort earlier.



Cheers

Chris

[Tim]

OK here goes:

We call zebra:black screw, cream slug
Reverse zebra:cream screw, black slug.

I know SD do it the other way round but this is my understanding and the colour code we work to.

[bucketshred]

Isn't Zebra pickups the ones with cream on the screw coil) and Reverse Zebra has black screw coils?

Andy!

Like I said that's SD's description but I've always been led to think the opposite.

[PhilKing]

I like the cream for the slug coil in the neck so the dark screw coil is next to the fingerboard - and if it was good enough for this real 60 Les Paul, then this is what I want on mine!  I love the double cream/zebra combination.

I wonder if SD only makes them one way to cut costs?  They can't make 'double creme' because of DiMarzio, so by always making the pickups one way round they save money.

btw.  Tim, these are the colours i want for my next set, I just haven't worked out which pickups yet!  I will do it at LGS  :)

[chris o'donnell]

It's all cosmetics really.

The look is secondary to the performance.

Cheers

Chris.