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Not to throw a wrench in your operation here.....but I think that Seymour makes all of his Firebird pickups the same size as they originally were (vintage).....the modern Gibson FB pup is slightly larger. So what this means is that when you install the Duncans you will have tiny spaces between the pickup and the ring. It's not much of an issue, but should be pointed out.

I am not 100% that this is the case with the SM-1s, it definitely is with the antiquities though....

Also when you change the covers, if you leave any space you will have major feedback issues....melt some wax in there.

Also also, Lollar's pickups are the correct size to replace the current Gibson FB pups....you might want to investigate his offerings too. I found a used one on CL for cheap and it's the best neck humbucker I've ever heard in any guitar ever!

This has been a great thread for me--I'm glad I found you folks! I've got a recent Firebird and I'm planning on swapping out the pups and the tuners. This has been very helpful. Thanks!

You should check out the other pickup thread(s).

Tony

I've heard some great things about the Lollar pickups. I'm going to try these in the near future.

Yup, I hear good things too. The standard issue Duncan's are nice too, after a cover change, of course!

Tony

Yeah, The Duncan Firebird pickups are all spec'd to the original size. The only problem you run into with later and Historic Firebirds is that the Duncan repros are somewhat loose in the new style pickup surrounds, and few folks have the original smaller PU surrounds to use.
It's not a big deal. I replaced the Ceramic with a Seymour Duncan Alnico Antiquity on my RFB1, which is a great sounding PU and major improvement.
I beleive that the last Alnico Firebird PUs that Gibson put out, were on the Medallion FB series back in 1972, can anyone confirm this?

I believe the Bicentennials & the subsequent late 70's & early 80's also have the alnico magnets. I DO know that they have a "vintage" wind(about 6-7K ohms), as opposed to the "Mega-wind"(18-24K) modern units. I have a 1980 FB with stock pickups, so I CAN testify to that. The tone is consistant with vintage units, at least to my beat uo old ears.

Tony