The Greco pickup is exactly like the one Steve back engineered...
NO, IT'S NOT...ThunderBuckers are reverse engineered from 60s pups.
After ALL the work was done on the 63 and 66, when Steve visited we listened to my '89 Orville by Gibson. He took one of the pups (appears to be the same as used in the
Greco) from it's cover to analyze it. Physically it's a VERY different pickup from a ThunderBucker/ Gibson original 60s pup. IMO it gets it's (harsher?) 'sound' from the magnets rather than from copper wire. That might work better for an 8 or 12 string.
Maximizing the 60s sound characteristics is the logic behind the 666, it fits in the same can and uses the same physical dimensions of the components of a ThunderBucker. It has a stronger but not overpowering magnetic field and maximum copper.
He's also working on a system similar to the original L-1000 G & L,
passive V/T/B pots with coil switch to get the max variety of sounds from the 666.
