Favorite PAF style pickups

  • Thread starter Thread starter Bxlxaxkxe
  • Start date Start date
The steckel Duncan models are great, they used a set of 1960 PAF’s and cloned them.
-these are lower output but work great with high gain, tight and articulate

Throbak, I think sle model. Also epic.
 
Just my 2 cents, but I’ve had at a one point almost the entire line-up of Wagner pickups. They’re good for current made pickups and for the price, better than most of the popular pickups on here imo, but I didn’t find any of them to be much at all like the real PAF’s I’ve had (6 at one point, 3 now) or many others I tried. I can see their appeal, but a paf they are not IME. Some may prefer them being tighter, faster and firmer than real PAF’s typically are, but even for that I’ve had much better pickups in the same price range in the vintage category (hidden gems). If more guys knew about the various vintage Hagstrom, Japanese, Gretsch, Guild humbuckers and other hidden gem vintage pickups many of these current makers may have gone out of business lol

If you also want a truly authentic vintage paf flavor there’s a certain rawness and warm fuzzy texture surrounding the notes in all these vintage pickups I’ve had (even the duds) that I find really inspiring that Wagner’s, MPC’s, BKP’s and most recent pickups really don’t have an iota of at all, which for me makes them in comparison kind of flat, lifeless and boring to play, lacking character. The closest I’ve tried to capturing these qualities were the Tone Specifc’s and Virgil Arlo’s, but it’s still not fully the same as the real deal. It’s like a great reissue like we got with the newest Mesa’s. I have a bunch of guitars loaded with them still. I can see some may require potted noiseless pickups, but even there I gotta wonder if it’s still better to just get vintage pickups lightly potted, idk. I just don’t enjoy this more bland flavor personally. I will say though the best sounding guitars I’ve had sound amazing with almost any pickup, which is why I also always compare pickups in the same exact guitar to be fair. And that includes the sacrilege pickup comparisons I’ve even done in some ‘50’s and ‘60’s Gibson’s
 
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braintheory said:
Just my 2 cents, but I’ve had at a one point almost the entire line-up of Wagner pickups. They’re good for current made pickups and for the price, better than most of the popular pickups on here imo, but I didn’t find any of them to be much at all like the real PAF’s I’ve had (6 at one point, 3 now) or many others I tried. I can see their appeal, but a paf they are not IME. Some may prefer them being tighter, faster and firmer than real PAF’s typically are, but even for that I’ve had much better pickups in the same price range in the vintage category (hidden gems). If more guys knew about the various vintage Hagstrom, Japanese, Gretsch, Guild humbuckers and other hidden gem vintage pickups many of these current makers may have gone out of business lol

If you also want a truly authentic vintage paf flavor there’s a certain rawness and warm fuzzy texture surrounding the notes in all these vintage pickups I’ve had (even the duds) that I find really inspiring that Wagner’s, MPC’s, BKP’s and most recent pickups really don’t have an iota of at all, which for me makes them in comparison kind of flat, lifeless and boring to play, lacking character. The closest I’ve tried to capturing these qualities were the Tone Specifc’s and Virgil Arlo’s, but it’s still not fully the same as the real deal. It’s like a great reissue like we got with the newest Mesa’s. I have a bunch of guitars loaded with them still. I can see some may require potted noiseless pickups, but even there I gotta wonder if it’s still better to just get vintage pickups lightly potted, idk. I just don’t enjoy this more bland flavor personally. I will say though the best sounding guitars I’ve had sound amazing with almost any pickup, which is why I also always compare pickups in the same exact guitar to be fair. And that includes the sacrilege pickup comparisons I’ve even done in some ‘50’s and ‘60’s Gibson’s
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Well to be fair, when I say PAF, I’m only using that as a reference to low output. I’m not particularly interested in sounding like my favorite 60s and 70s records. But in a standard LP, I’ve been happiest with low output pickups in general. I got a low of cool ideas from this thread and have had some cool people reach out and offer up stuff. Will be a fun month coming up
 
Bxlxaxkxe said:
Well to be fair, when I say PAF, I’m only using that as a reference to low output. I’m not particularly interested in sounding like my favorite 60s and 70s records. But in a standard LP, I’ve been happiest with low output pickups in general. I got a low of cool ideas from this thread and have had some cool people reach out and offer up stuff. Will be a fun month coming up
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That’s fair and I’m not either looking for that lol. I just think it’s important to clarify as “paf” is a particular flavor that most here get totally wrong and wouldn’t necessarily even want. Real PAF’s are no doubt incredible, but again not my personal favorites either (Gretsch’s are #1 for me). I tend to prefer low output pickups in most of my guitars in general. I find they just can be so much more expressive, nuanced and my personal favorites also the most aggressive/nasty/rude pickups I’ve tried. I find of all gear categories tubes, speakers and pickups are where I’m most like it’s gotta be vintage lol. If you want to make those other pickups sound like trash I’ll send you some of my preferred pickups to try. I’d bet real money it’ll have that effect lol as it did for me at least
 
braintheory said:
That’s fair and I’m not either looking for that lol. I just think it’s important to clarify as “paf” is a particular flavor that most here get totally wrong and wouldn’t necessarily even want. Real PAF’s are no doubt incredible, but again not my personal favorites either (Gretsch’s are #1 for me). I tend to prefer low output pickups in most of my guitars in general. I find they just can be so much more expressive, nuanced and my personal favorites also the most aggressive/nasty/rude pickups I’ve tried. I find of all gear categories tubes, speakers and pickups are where I’m most like it’s gotta be vintage lol. If you want to make those other pickups sound like trash I’ll send you some of my preferred pickups to try. I’d bet real money it’ll have that effect lol as it did for me at least
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Haha. Well now intrigued. Hey if you’ve got something that I can easily put into an LP - would love to add it to the mix
 
Bxlxaxkxe said:
Haha. Well now intrigued. Hey if you’ve got something that I can easily put into an LP - would love to add it to the mix
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Yes, any of what I’d send would fit in it. Some may leave some empty space in there by being smaller, but that’s it. The only thing is they’re unpotted and most are noisy as a result in many setups, but in terms of pure tone and feel I can guarantee it should be no contest and in darker amps like your Recto’s and Ubers I find them fine in noise
 
Bxlxaxkxe said:
This is cool!!

I’m considering doing a low output pickup shootout myself soon. I need to figure out a way to change pickups without removing strings - may use the capo trick but need to try it first.
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I believe that on a Floyd guitar you can hold the wammy bar all the way down and it gives enough room to get the pickups out. Depends on how thick (by height) the pickups are. Been forever, but I’m pretty sure I was able to do that before which is a huge plus.
 
For me, dig the Arcane Triple Clones and Lollar Imperials. For slightly higher output bridge PAFs I go for the Tyler Secret or Fralin Modern PAF.
 
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