PAF style humbuckers

[Phil O'Keefe]

Do you have any particular favorites? I really like the 57 Classics that are in my 2013 SG Standard, but I'm wondering what else is out there that people like...

 

 

[Danocoustic]

Not a "best", but ---I've replaced the crappy stock 'buckers in some of my cheap project guitars with Stewart-MacDonald's "Golden Age" line. There are a few varieties. They're pretty darn good for their price.

[bluesmann]

There's lots of great PAF's PRS, Lollar imperials, all at imo over priced around 200 each. My favorite is the Duncan 59. You can get them with nickel covers around 100 bucks. Who does it Better than Seymour?

Hall of fame to newbie? Vindictive software?

[Freeman Keller]

Not a "best"' date=' but ---I've replaced the crappy stock 'buckers in some of my cheap project guitars with Stewart-MacDonald's "Golden Age" line. There are a few varieties. They're pretty darn good for their price.[/quote']

 

I've put these in three different guitars (including T_e_l_e's 335, don't know if he is still using them) and everyone seems to like them. I also put SD Benedetto pickups in two jazz guitas - everyone who hears those rave about them.

[onelife]

I like the '57 Classics in semi-acoustic guitars and the 490/498 combo in Les Pauls.

 

The late '70s offerings from Ibanez and Yamaha on their 335 style guitars are some of my all time favorites as well.

[Emory]

Amen to that. Replaced stock Ibanez on AF95 hollowbody with those. Friend with ES335 said he likes tone of mine better, and he is not one to flatter.

[mbengs1]

A lot of the pickups I own sounds like paf's. I think all dimarzio humckers sound like paf's. Coz they make my guitars sound like les pauls. hehe. But if I had to choose. It's the dimarzio evolution. It's quite different from most humbuckers since it's snappy, has ceramic magnets, and really sounds as good as the alnico 5 humbuckers.

[Etienne Rambert]

Do you have any particular favorites? I really like the 57 Classics that are in my 2013 SG Standard, but I'm wondering what else is out there that people like...

 

 

490 R&T are PAF's. For clean tone Jazz & Blues, they are super. I love them on my Les Paul Faded.

 

A lot of lead players keep the 490 R but swap out the T for something else.

 

On my style of playing - clean tones only --

490 R&T are great on a Les Paul.

 

My son has 57 Classics on his SG. I played w/ it several days this month.

 

IMO, the LP puts it to shame. Dunno if it's the

pick-ups, the wood or what. I prefer the 490 R&T to those 57 Classics.

[Danocoustic]

My personal Epiphone Sheraton has StewMac "Golden Age" pickups. It also has the "woman tone" mod on the neck pickup.

 

This, plus my heavily-modded TacoTele, is my most-used electric guitar.

[WRGKMC]

PAF simply means Patent Applied For which Gibson had stamped on their pickups forever, mainly because they were trying to patent something which they really couldn't patent because it was stolen from the Telephone/Radio industry.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by "PAF like" unless you're referring to Clones of Gibson humbuckers. Otherwise any Humbucker with similar sized coils should qualify because they all do the same things in the same way. The coil and magnet strength simply vary the signal strength and frequency response.

 

As far as I'm concerned, many of the Classic Gibson PAF designs got the formula between Henry's and magnet strength balanced properly to match the most popular amps of the time. The amp and pickup are part of the same symbiotic circuit. We simply don't view them that way because it unplugs.

 

Hot pickups began with the first Dimarzio's and both Dimarzio and Seymour knew how to vary the coil winds and pickup strength scientifically to get a huge variety of tones.

 

Gibson pickups on the other hand were pretty primitive in the beginning comparison. I suppose its because they knew several hundred turns either way wouldn't make much difference with the amps of the time or they didn't think guitarists would notice the difference, but the better ones did, especially when effects pedals became popular and they started squeezing the signal through them. Two sets could begin to sound very different after various effects are applied or amps are driven to extremes.

 

As far as I know Gibson never had a fixed formula for their pickups, only a best guess based on the size of the bobbin and how much wire would fit. Some pickups would up sounding fantastic and others simply mediocre because of this. I would hope they've learned the lesson companies like Dimarzio and Seymour taught them and eventually standardized their designs, but not till allot of market share disappeared.

 

Like many things Gibson was far behind the curve when it came to replacement pickups. Even today they only have a few sets available and charge exorbitant costs based on the name, not the performance which is actually quite sad. How is it there are entire companies making millions cloning Gibson designs whereas Gibson facing Bankruptcy. Maybe Gibson should have bought up the competitors who built pickups instead of getting into technologies that have nothing to do with guitars.

 

When you ask, which PAF's you like best, my opinions have to be narrowed down to specific sets I've used over the years and not simply a genre. I've used just as many bad sets as good or at least pickups poorly matched to the instruments they were mounted in. My 62 SG had an excellent set of PAF's. My buddies 71 LP Norlin era custom with embossed pickups is actually an excellent sounding pickup too. I call it putting lipstick on a pig but its actually a fine sounding instrument as was my LP Gold top from that era.

 

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I was more into Mini humbuckers and P90's and 100's back in the late 60's and 70's.

 

The mini humbuckers had patent applied for stamps on them too so they do fall into the category as being PAF's too. Of course the patents on the mini's have been received since then and changed to Patent Received Pickups. Would we call them PR's simply because the patent status has changed? PAF has stuck with Gibson pickups but its a stupid identifier if you ask me. Gibson should have named their pickups long before a patent warning sticker did. That sticker did little to stop people cloning them. They should have sealed them in epoxy.

 

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[Phil O'Keefe]

Not a "best"' date=' but ---I've replaced the crappy stock 'buckers in some of my cheap project guitars with Stewart-MacDonald's "Golden Age" line. There are a few varieties. They're pretty darn good for their price.[/quote']

 

Saw an email ad for those the other day - IIRC, they are selling the Parsons Street humbuckers for something like $50 each, which is a really low price.

 

https://www.stewmac.com/Pickups_and_Electronics/Pickups/Electric_Guitar_Pickups/Golden_Age_Parsons_Street_Humbuckers.html

 

Do you know if you have AlNiCo 2 or AlNiCo 5 magnets in yours?

 

[Phil O'Keefe]

There's lots of great PAF's PRS' date=' Lollar imperials, all at imo over priced around 200 each. My favorite is the Duncan 59. You can get them with nickel covers around 100 bucks. Who does it Better than Seymour?[/quote']

 

I've always had good experiences with Seymour Duncans - thanks for your suggestion.

 

Hall of fame to newbie? Vindictive software?

 

Apparently you missed my reply to you the other day - I offered to change it to whatever you wanted it to say and asked you to send me a PM telling me what you wanted... since you didn't, but you commented about it again, I just changed it to Hall of Fame.

 

Again, if you want it to say something else, just drop me a PM and tell me what you want. And yes, the system automatically reverts back to the default "title" sometimes after someone comes back from a temp ban.

[bluesmann]

Thanks. I just got used to seeing it there then newbie. means nothing really. I'm not getting emails or notifications?

[t_e_l_e]

i'm really happy with the ones freeman put in my guitar, no need to change anything so far.

 

my lespaul custom is still original and has in it what ever gibson has put into a 1975 les paul custom at that time

sometimes i think the bridge pu on the les paul is some what to shrill, has to much highs and sounds a little bit weak at the same time, but it feedbacks easily. but thats nothing which cannot be corrected with the right eq setting on the amp, or tube screamer, or an ehx lpb-1 or all three together

 

all in all, the les paul sounds like a les paul and the es335 sounds like an es335, they are somewhat similar, but in the details they are very much different, and its not the pickups...

 

i also have an epi lespaul custom, which gets almost no playtime since i got the gibby 10+ years ago. it has epi pickups in it, they have bit more bite and seem to be a bit stronger and "modern" sounding compared to the gibby, but still it sounds like a les paul and there is not that much difference, to my ears...

 

call me tone deaf or what ever, but to me, there is not that much difference between all this PAF style pickups and if you go the stemacs you get really a good bang for the buck, and i guess you don't care about a signature slash seymor duncan or what everoverpaid signature model from any one right?

[Danocoustic]

 

Saw an email ad for those the other day - IIRC, they are selling the Parsons Street humbuckers for something like $50 each, which is a really low price.

 

https://www.stewmac.com/Pickups_and_Electronics/Pickups/Electric_Guitar_Pickups/Golden_Age_Parsons_Street_Humbuckers.html

 

Do you know if you have AlNiCo 2 or AlNiCo 5 magnets in yours?

 

5s

[Phil O'Keefe]

Thank you Dano.

[Phil O'Keefe]

I replied to wherever it was that you mentioned it - it was in a thread somewhere, and I either quoted you or used the comment field (if that's where your comment was) - I don't recall which... so if it was in a comment to a post that someone else made, you wouldn't get a notification.

[Mikeo]

Very nice write-up.

 

I have had stuff with classic 57 's in it. 490's, 498's.

Had Duncans in an old Kramer, had Dimarzio's in a knockoff Les Paul.

 

It's a piece of the puzzle, but a small piece of the puzzle.

[Mikeo]

Do you have any particular favorites? I really like the 57 Classics that are in my 2013 SG Standard, but I'm wondering what else is out there that people like...

 

 

Personally I'd leave it alone, the 57's I gave in Gibson guitar are very nice.

 

If you want some totally different try a set of TV Jones Classic with the Humbucker mounting, or maybe the Power tons. You'll get a honkier style tone. Great company too.

 

I have Power Trons in a Gretsch Power Jet and that guitar rocks

 

[video=youtube;5AkUW-kgS7k]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AkUW-kgS7k

 

You could take your classic and do this to it.

[video=youtube;pGXPK9ZzGNA]

 

[video=youtube;L3kW4x2VTlU]

 

It just another thought to add to the mix.

[badpenguin]

I have the Stew-mac Golden Age A2's in my Eastman, Super sweet clean tones, that can handle some dirt with the best of them.

The original Lawrence designed Tarback in my 72/73 SG Standard, is one of the best from Gibson, and I love it for it's ability to handle everything from clean to uber gain well and articulate.

The DiMarrizio Virtual PAF is one of the nicer sounding pickups in my arsenal, and has a great tones when coil tapped.

 

[Phil O'Keefe]

 

Personally I'd leave it alone, the 57's I gave in Gibson guitar are very nice.

 

 

I've already got a guitar with P90s in it (although that was a good suggestion!), and to be clear - I don't want to change what I have in the SG... but I do have a '96 Epi Les Paul that I might want to upgrade with some better humbuckers...

[Mikeo]

 

I've already got a guitar with P90s in it (although that was a good suggestion!), and to be clear - I don't want to change what I have in the SG... but I do have a '96 Epi Les Paul that I might want to upgrade with some better humbuckers...

 

TV Jones

 

The weak tone link in that Epiphone is probably the cheaper pup that were put into it at the factory.

 

You could do a TV Jones in the bridge and a 57 like pup in the neck. Seth Lovers are nice and a Duncan Phat Cat would be cool in the neck, with a TV Jones classic in the Bridge. Kind a like a Duesenberg Star Player.

 

You could put a Bigsby (if you dig them) on it too, and now you really have a different animal.

 

[video=youtube;L3kW4x2VTlU]

[Phil O'Keefe]

 

TV Jones

 

The weak tone link in that Epiphone is probably the cheaper pup that were put into it at the factory.

 

You could do a TV Jones in the bridge and a 57 like pup in the neck. Seth Lovers are nice and a Duncan Phat Cat would be cool in the neck, with a TV Jones classic in the Bridge. Kind a like a Duesenberg Star Player.

 

You could put a Bigsby (if you dig them) on it too, and now you really have a different animal.

 

[video=youtube;L3kW4x2VTlU]

 

 

I have an Electromatic Pro Jet that I put some of the GFS Minitron pups into - it came with a Bigsby stock. Here's a picture of it:

 

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I don't think I want to put a Bigsby on my Epiphone Les Paul though... although it's certainly an interesting idea.

 

[Mikeo]

 

 

I have an Electromatic Pro Jet that I put some of the GFS Minitron pups into - it came with a Bigsby stock. Here's a picture of it:

 

[ATTACH=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","title":"gfs-minitron-nashville-humbucker-pickups-in-gretsch-copy-2d97d78c.jpg","data-attachmentid":32353195}[/ATTACH]

 

 

I don't think I want to put a Bigsby on my Epiphone Les Paul though... although it's certainly an interesting idea.

 

Phil, I think between me and you, and what we both own for guitars, we have knocked out a lot of tonal territory.

 

Down the road I have plans to buy maybe one more guitar and that will be a Martin 00028, but Martin makes a few different models, so I am taking my time.

 

I did sell a long time ago a 90's RI Danelectro U2 in burgundy. It was ok, it was just not me. I paid 99 buck for it new.

 

 

 

 

 

[Phil O'Keefe]

 

Phil, I think between me and you, and what we both own for guitars, we have knocked out a lot of tonal territory.

 

That's always been the idea for me - it gives me and the artists I record a wider variety of tones to work with in the studio.

 

Down the road I have plans to buy maybe one more guitar and that will be a Martin 00028, but Martin makes a few different models, so I am taking my time.

 

I'd like to get something with nylon strings, and maybe do a DIY lap steel, but I'm pretty happy with my guitars.

 

I did sell a long time ago a 90's RI Danelectro U2 in burgundy. It was ok, it was just not me. I paid 99 buck for it new.

 

I have a late 90's DC-12 that I really love. It was practically thrown into a larger studio gear purchase as an afterthought; I always wanted a Ric 12 to go along with my 610, but that little Dano is so good that I find it hard to justify the considerable $$ it would cost to replace it with a Ric. I also have a '05 Dano baritone, which is also a nice instrument.