Help....Help... I'm in the PAF Rabbit hole.........................................

lespaul6 said:
good luck calling MJ... you will get a dude named scott who will take your order and send the invoice.
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When I ordered my Steckel i November 2024 the custom shop was very responsive and asked exactly how I wanted my Steckel pickup built if I wanted it any different from the stock configuration.

It was not MJ who emailed me but the rep was very cordial and made sure his notes got to whoever was winding the pickup and it was MJ who built my pickup exactly to the resistance value I was wanting. The pickup was at my door two weeks later....That's excellent service in my book.
 
JohnnyGtar said:
Call MJ at the Duncan Custom Shop. That girl knows tone!
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She definitely does.... I did speak to her in 2009 when I ordered my 78 model and my Jake E Lee Holdsworth with the double screws polepieces and she had notebook of notes she has taken on star guitar players and the pickups Duncan had made for them. When I asked her about Jake she said hold on and confirmed it was the Double Screw Holdsworth JB and and not a standard one. She was very nice.
 
harddriver said:
When I ordered my Steckel i November 2024 the custom shop was very responsive and asked exactly how I wanted my Steckel pickup built if I wanted it any different from the stock configuration.

It was not MJ who emailed me but the rep was very cordial and made sure his notes got to whoever was winding the pickup and it was MJ who built my pickup exactly to the resistance value I was wanting. The pickup was at my door two weeks later....That's excellent service in my book.
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Yes.. they are great. I just didn't want people to think you can just call MJ like you can Dave Friedman lol not happening
 
Fiesta Red said:
EVH has a Frankenstein Classic model that is an Alnico II and 8.2K. I like it

https://evhgear.com/gear/accessories/frankenstein-humbucking-pickup/0223752100
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I've been digging the tones of those EVH Frankestein pickups quite a bit.....So I picked up a Jalen Pinnacle which by most accounts is a spot on Frankenstein copy either of the Duncan or EVH version or both....I liked how sounded in all the clips.

After all these years my 2009 Duncan 78 model wound by MJ is still my number 1 PAF.....it just does all things well.
 
Alrighty then.......................I installed the Duncan Whole Lotta Humbucker 8.65K A-5 rough cast about two hours ago. I've been playing it well over and hour now and just took a break....

It is installed in a Poplar bodied Floyd Rose 83 Kramer and I installed it in a 500KV 500KT 500K T with a .022uf cap Volume Tone Tone network for some context....

I wasn't sure what to expect so these are my initial thoughts...the pickup is warmer and does have some chew to it compared to my Steckel 7.78K A-4 PAF which is uber tight with tons of clarity. It is a bit greasier on the lows but it still is tight and thumps nicely yet has some clarity yet some grind, I don't find it harsh at all anywhere even in the highs. I imagine the tone network takes some of brashness off but I also did have the Steckel installed the exact same way so it is an apples the apples comparison. So far I like it... and I feel it is less clanky/twangy as compared to a stock Duncan 59B that doesn't have the rough cast A-5.

I'd have to agree with Seymour's description of rough cast adding a bit or warmth to it, maybe the hotter wind also gives it some more body and a bit of mids giving it some of that chew that I love in my 9K A-2 78 model. It is way hotter outputwise than my Steckel 7.78K and pinched harmonics are easy to get and it's got alot of grind to when you dig in.

The best tone comparison without a clip from me is Jim Gaustad's Gibson Burstbucker 8.3 A-3 he used in his VH1 video as I hear it. I think this pickup would shine in a Les Paul for a hotter PAF is you want bit less A-2 A-3 chew to it. We'll see after after I put some more miles on it.
 
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mooncobra said:
I think the steckels are great with high gain, the clarity and tightness are awesome. .
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I totally agree...........:2thumbsup:I'm just trying out different spec'd PAF's and hot PAF's that I have wanted to try out for a while. Having played my 78 model for years I kinda crave that chew of the Alnico 2 but the Steckel's are everything they are described to be.
 
harddriver said:
She definitely does.... I did speak to her in 2009 when I ordered my 78 model and my Jake E Lee Holdsworth with the double screws polepieces and she had notebook of notes she has taken on star guitar players and the pickups Duncan had made for them. When I asked her about Jake she said hold on and confirmed it was the Double Screw Holdsworth JB and and not a standard one. She was very nice.
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She's a sweetheart!
 
harddriver said:
I've been digging the tones of those EVH Frankestein pickups quite a bit.....So I picked up a Jalen Pinnacle which by most accounts is a spot on Frankenstein copy either of the Duncan or EVH version or both....I liked how sounded in all the clips.

After all these years my 2009 Duncan 78 model wound by MJ is still my number 1 PAF.....it just does all things well.
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78 is my favorite PAF type, too. I agree with @harddriver that the 78 does all things well. I've never heard a PAF that beats it.
 
Glad to see you are liking that Whole Lotta Humbucker! I found it to be everything I loved about the '78 with just a touch more warmth and a touch less bite. Both are great pickups and really do sound / feel different in different body wood guitars.
 
PDC said:
Glad to see you are liking that Whole Lotta Humbucker! I found it to be everything I loved about the '78 with just a touch more warmth and a touch less bite. Both are great pickups and really do sound / feel different in different body wood guitars.
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Your description is 100% spot on what I heard yesterday.:2thumbsup:
 
JohnnyGtar said:
78 is my favorite PAF type, too. I agree with @harddriver that the 78 does all things well. I've never heard a PAF that beats it.
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I'm still looking.................. :LOL:but the WLH is pretty damn good...

While it may stay in this guitar so I can have some PAF variety I don't think my 78 model is coming out of my Franky just yet.
 
I'm sure there are PAFs that are cool. I did try a spendy Tone Specific PAF and while I love mids, this thing had such a HONK to it, pulled it immediately. It had great feel, clarity....but I couldn't stand that mid hump it had.
Thankfully that takes me out of the PAF rabbit hole.
 
Racerxrated said:
I'm sure there are PAFs that are cool. I did try a spendy Tone Specific PAF and while I love mids, this thing had such a HONK to it, pulled it immediately. It had great feel, clarity....but I couldn't stand that mid hump it had.
Thankfully that takes me out of the PAF rabbit hole.
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That was the virtuoso set that is a bit different from a PAF voicing, imo a bit more like the early ‘60’s pickups I’ve played. The Bloombucker set by them is very accurate in voicing to my real ‘50’s PAF’s. You also got a vintage Japanese PAF copy from me that you said you loved. That is also close in voicing to the real PAF’s I’ve had

They definitely have a mid hump though. A little different type of mid hump though imo than the virtuosos that sits a bit higher than PAF’s. I love PAF’s, but my all time favorites are the vintage Gretsch pickups. They’re way more grindy/ripping, aggressive, percussive and not remotely mid humpy. I’d think more guys should go down that rabbit hole than PAF’s. I think guys just don’t think about it because they mistakenly think they’re just rockabilly pickups from the hollowbody guitars they came in (massive mistake/oversight on them)
 
Racerxrated said:
I'm sure there are PAFs that are cool. I did try a spendy Tone Specific PAF and while I love mids, this thing had such a HONK to it, pulled it immediately. It had great feel, clarity....but I couldn't stand that mid hump it had.
Thankfully that takes me out of the PAF rabbit hole.
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The only high dollar PAF I might lay down some big bucks on would be a Tom Holmes 455 but I'm just playing the Duncan PAF kiddie pool for now and they sound really good. I would imagine Seymour and MJ have seen plenty of PAF's over the years, I like the wax potting and the slight overwinding.

I only paid 80 bucks shipped for the SD WLH so I can't bitch about that and it's a great sounding PAF IMHO........
 
harddriver said:
The only high dollar PAF I might lay down some big bucks on would be a Tom Holmes 455 but I'm just playing the Duncan PAF kiddie pool for now and they sound really good. I would imagine Seymour and MJ have seen plenty of PAF's over the years, I like the wax potting and the slight overwinding.

I only paid 80 bucks shipped for the SD WLH so I can't bitch about that and it's a great sounding PAF IMHO........
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I’ve tried them all pretty much and for non-vintage pickups the best paf types I’ve had was the Tone Specific Bloombucker and Virgil Arlo a super close 2nd place. All others were a very distant 3rd or onwards imo

Generally though for alternatives to real ‘50’s Gibson PAF’s I recommend vintage Japanese PAF copies like Matsumoko or the vintage Tim Shaw PAF’s. Both sound amazing, raw and organic in the way you only get with pickups that old and generally don’t have as much mid hump besides the version Magic Sam used that I also have

Imho no Duncan’s IME are on the level of these pickups mentioned above in tone quality, feel, nuance, complexity. I even have some early ‘80’s Duncan’s and still are far from top tier to me. The vintage Japanese pickups in general are criminally underrated and cheap. Some of their vintage p90’s and various single coil pickups can be especially killer IME. If guys knew more about them I don’t see how Duncan, Dimarzio and others would be in business lol
 
Racerxrated said:
I'm sure there are PAFs that are cool. I did try a spendy Tone Specific PAF and while I love mids, this thing had such a HONK to it, pulled it immediately. It had great feel, clarity....but I couldn't stand that mid hump it had.
Thankfully that takes me out of the PAF rabbit hole.
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Good!
 
braintheory said:
That was the virtuoso set that is a bit different from a PAF voicing, imo a bit more like the early ‘60’s pickups I’ve played. The Bloombucker set by them is very accurate in voicing to my real ‘50’s PAF’s. You also got a vintage Japanese PAF copy from me that you said you loved. That is also close in voicing to the real PAF’s I’ve had

They definitely have a mid hump though. A little different type of mid hump though imo than the virtuosos that sits a bit higher than PAF’s. I love PAF’s, but my all time favorites are the vintage Gretsch pickups. They’re way more grindy/ripping, aggressive, percussive and not remotely mid humpy. I’d think more guys should go down that rabbit hole than PAF’s. I think guys just don’t think about it because they mistakenly think they’re just rockabilly pickups from the hollowbody guitars they came in (massive mistake/oversight on them)
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Yeah the Jap mini hum was very good...and in no way resembled what I heard from that TS pickup. Not even close actually. Both into the same guitar also.
I'm sure the TS is a great pup for what it is; but that 'it' is not for me.
 
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