DiMarzio PAF classic problem

[mongrollo]

Hi everyone

I have a problem that's anoying me. I have mahogany guitar with two paf classics. The problem it is the sound it is mellow, SO MELLOW that it is really anoying.

I have another axe that has 59's in it and sounds really good, it is defined or punchy when needed. So, do you think the solution goes thru a pickup change or there is another solution?

I don't think the PAF classics are bad pickups. May be it is a problem of the intrinsic soud of my guitar...

Any sugestions?

[Puck]

Check the potīs values. They should read 500 k.

[yes-fan]

take off the cover(if it has one) and if you never use the tone pot then dislocate the tone pot.

[captain cavman]

Re: DiMarzio PAF classic problem

Originally posted by mongrollo
Hi everyone

I have a problem that's anoying me. I have mahogany guitar with two paf classics. The problem it is the sound it is mellow, SO MELLOW that it is really anoying.

I have another axe that has 59's in it and sounds really good, it is defined or punchy when needed. So, do you think the solution goes thru a pickup change or there is another solution?

I don't think the PAF classics are bad pickups. May be it is a problem of the intrinsic soud of my guitar...

Any sugestions?

Replace them with Duncans !

[rmcfee]

I have a DiMarzio PAF from the 80's and it sounds fantastic in the neck of my SG. Sweet and what I would expect from a PAF style pup. It was in the bridge of an ash body Strat for a while and was beautiful there too. Plenty of bite and tone.
It has 2 conductor cable so no splitting going on.
----Rob McFee

[Lightning]

According to DiMarzio's web site the PAF Classic is an airbucker. If you lift the tape you'll see a piece of plastic separating the magnet and the coils. The classic uses an A5 and adding this gap is supposed to make it sound like an A2. From my experience with replacing big ceramics with thin alnico's (I put a popsicle stick under the mag and if it sounds good I'll order short poles and get the mag down on the plate). I haven't actually seen the airbucker spacer but DiMarzio says its there and it's on the top of the mag...see if you can pull it out and put it below the mag.
If that mod takes the pickup in the right direction, but still doesn't nail the tone you can order the correct length pole pieces so the mag will sit on the base plate of the pickup like it does in a 59' or Home Depot has allen screws that fit and people will think you have Screamin' Ds in your axe. If you do these mods the pick up will have more output and only slightly less highs than the 59's.

[Majestic]

Flat-out removing the cover, and re-adjusting the pickup height to your liking should be enough to make this pickup sound like an Air Classic. (an uncovered PAF Classic)

I wouldn't d*ck around with the Airbucking modifications. Just remove the cover, and adjust the height. If it's not too late, you can always swap the pickups for some PAF pros.

In fact, if it's not too late, I'd skip all of the above and return the pickups for some Air Classics. If those don't work, I'd go for the PAF Pro.

[mongrollo]

Hey!

Thanks for the infomation! I will think about uncovering the pickup but i don't think I will try to do mag thing. This pickup were expesive and i don't want to ruin them.

I allways can try to sell them...

[jeremy]

i pulled the spacing out from an air classic that i had and i thought it improved the tone quite a bit, opened up the top end. i ended up selling it anyway and i put the spacer back in.

[shreddin_ED]

Originally posted by jeremy
i pulled the spacing out from an air classic that i had and i thought it improved the tone quite a bit, opened up the top end. i ended up selling it anyway and i put the spacer back in.

he just answered your question,the dimarzio paf classic is a air bucker and because of that it will have a more mellow tone. this mimics a aged alnico 5 magnet,that is why you 59's sound hotter they really are not.
you can do one of two things first take out the air spacers to give it a hotter output or just buy the regular dimarzio PAF?

[jeremy]

i dont think the air classic and the paf are the same wind so there are probably more differences than just the spacer, but they might be similar in tone

[Lightning]

PAF Classic coils are a little beefier than 59 or PAF. Seems like the bridge would be worth the Mod. DC resistance is the same as Gibson Classic Plus.

Are the covers German Silver or Zinc?

[shreddin_ED]

Originally posted by Lightning
PAF Classic coils are a little beefier than 59 or PAF. Seems like the bridge would be worth the Mod. DC resistance is the same as Gibson Classic Plus.

Are the covers German Silver or Zinc?

silver nickle

[Thames]

Well... I had the same problem with a set of Dimarzio PAF from the 80's... they were thin sounding... dont ask me why, but really whimpy. Not an out-of-phase or similar problem... they were simply weak in terms of signal strength... but they sounded good!

[Lightning]

I have a PAF (first year production '76?). It measures 8.1 and sounds like a 7.4 T top just sweeter. I even moved the coils to a Gibson T base (ground is connected to the base) and it still sounds the same. I'm going to swap the back in the next few months after I get some recordings and time so I can hear them ABed. To many people say the brass plate sounds different than nickel for it not to be true.