ToneSpec Vintage Clone Series – 1980 “Shawbucker” Humbucker Set

A Tim Shaw Classic, Rebuilt the Way It Was Meant to Be

In 1980, Gibson was trying to get its soul back. The company had strayed from its golden-era tone throughout the ‘70s—and a young engineer named Tim Shaw was handed the impossible job: bring back the magic of the original 1950s PAF.

He did it.

Armed with a box of vintage PAFs, a stack of notes, and relentless curiosity, Shaw reverse-engineered what made Gibson’s early pickups legendary. But he wasn’t working under ideal conditions. Gibson’s new corporate owners, obsessed with cutting costs, forced cheap wire, generic magnets, and modern shortcuts into his builds.

Yet somehow, Tim Shaw pulled off a miracle. His early-’80s pickups—later nicknamed “Shawbuckers” by players—in 1980, they were the closest thing to a real PAF Gibson had produced since 1961. Rich mids, smooth top-end, articulate response… all wrapped in humble plastic bobbins and overlooked by the suits upstairs.

Today, original Shawbuckers are collector gold. But even those pickups are limited by the compromises of their era.

That’s why we built this.

The ToneSpec VintSpec 1980 Shawbucker Clone is what Shaw would have built if he’d been given the right materials. We’ve kept his design, but corrected every corner the corporate execs forced him to cut.

• Plain Enamel wire, just like the 1950s PAFs

• Vintage-correct Alnico magnets, not cost-cut subs

• True-spec parts

The result? A humbucker that captures Shaw’s original voice—only richer, more harmonically alive, and dynamically untethered. It has the balance and musicality of a great PAF, but with the slightly firmer low end and smoother highs Shaw’s design was known for.

If you’ve played an original Tim Shaw pickup, you’ll hear the DNA. If you haven’t, you’re about to understand why some say his work saved Gibson tone in the ‘80s.

We’ve already cloned the legends—Virgil Arlo, Tom Holmes, Tim White & Alan Hamel. Now we’re bringing back Tim Shaw’s lost masterpiece, as it was meant to be.

So if you want the tone that was almost forgotten—rebuilt without compromise—we’ve got you covered.