DiMarzio 36th anniverary PAF vs. StewMac Parson St PAF?

mrfunnyman

mrfunnyman

New member
Howdy folks, it's been a minute since I was last on here, hope all is well. I am thinking about taking the Seymour Duncan "Whole Lotta Humbucker's" out of my 2016 Gibson Les Paul Traditional that I have been playing for the past 2 years. Not gonna lie, the "Whole Lotta's" have exceeded my expectations as far as covering the classic rock pallet really well, but as of lately I have been wanting to swap the pickups out for a more traditional PAF type tone, so I can cover more genre's. I think I have narrowed it down to either the DiMarzio 36th anniversary PAF, or the StewMac Parson Street PAF. Both of these pickups are selling around the same price, but the Parson Streets have a few more choices, such as a hotter bridge pickup, and an A2 magnet, also I can get either of these pup's in double cream. So I was just curious, if you fellas could give me some input on these two brands as far as to which one will help me get closer to the classic PAF tone?
 
Re: DiMarzio 36th anniverary PAF vs. StewMac Parson St PAF?

Isn't a "hotter bridge pickup" what got you into this mess? You said you wanted something more traditional than the WLH. Resist the urge to go hotter. Maybe you just need to ride the volume knobs? I have a set of Rebel Yells in a LP and just riding the volume works good.

Other than that, I haven't tried either but I do have the 36th's set in cream waiting for me to get off my @$$ and load them into an axe.
 
Re: DiMarzio 36th anniverary PAF vs. StewMac Parson St PAF?

Have you tried backing the WLH's away from the strings a bit?
 
Re: DiMarzio 36th anniverary PAF vs. StewMac Parson St PAF?

DonP said:
Isn't a "hotter bridge pickup" what got you into this mess? You said you wanted something more traditional than the WLH. Resist the urge to go hotter. Maybe you just need to ride the volume knobs? I have a set of Rebel Yells in a LP and just riding the volume works good.

Other than that, I haven't tried either but I do have the 36th's set in cream waiting for me to get off my @$$ and load them into an axe.
Click to expand...

I mentioned that "hotter" was an option, but I didn't necessarily say I was going to go hotter.
 
Re: DiMarzio 36th anniverary PAF vs. StewMac Parson St PAF?

I actually have. I've tried them flush with the pickup ring w/ the treble side raised slightly, and right now I have the bridge pup at around 2.5mm on the low E side, and 2.75-3mm on the high E side. Do you have any recommendations?
 
Re: DiMarzio 36th anniverary PAF vs. StewMac Parson St PAF?

What don’t you like about the wlh? A set of seth lovers, 59s, or antiquities are much more traditional paf. I’ve never been impressed by StewMacs pups but haven’t tried their more recent offerings. The 36 ann pups are decent too for a less traditional take on the paf
 
Re: DiMarzio 36th anniverary PAF vs. StewMac Parson St PAF?

Of the two, the SM pickup is made like a real PAF. It’s not a hard thing to copy. Any if SD’s vintage pickups are in that territory.

The DiMarzio pickup is interesting in that it’s not made like a real PAF, but has been voiced that way with a combination of air gaps between the poles and magnet, and small iron slugs inserted into the bobbins between the poles to increase the inductance.

I’ve not tried either pickup however. Lol

Personally I like a slightly hotter bridge pickup. Usually around 10k (not that DC resistance is a perfect indicator of pickup output, but you get the idea).


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Re: DiMarzio 36th anniverary PAF vs. StewMac Parson St PAF?

Did you consider putting a Jazz or pearly getes on the neck and keeping the WLH bridge p/u?
 
Re: DiMarzio 36th anniverary PAF vs. StewMac Parson St PAF?

The StewMac seems like a weak attempt to sell nobrand pickups at premium pricing... there's some Chinese Duncan-lookalike on Amazon at $24 a pop, A2 8.4 bridge 7.2 neck, supposedly same materials, right down to wire types and baseplates... and right down to a Duncan-lookalike box they come in

Imho no reason to expect the stewie to be any better

Anyone wanna be the forum guinea pig for the amazon knockoffs?
 
Last edited:
Re: DiMarzio 36th anniverary PAF vs. StewMac Parson St PAF?

Wasn't the WLH's like an improved 36th Anniversary PAF's?
I believe you should specify what gear you use, and the tones/response you want out of your instrument.
 
Re: DiMarzio 36th anniverary PAF vs. StewMac Parson St PAF?

36ths all the way.

They are my favorite humbuckers as of late and sound great in les pauls.
 
Re: DiMarzio 36th anniverary PAF vs. StewMac Parson St PAF?

I had a pair of Parson Streets. They were decent. The price keeps going up and all they really are is an asian made pickup made to Stew Macs specifications. I wouldn't pay what they are asking now. Not potted, so make sure that's what you want. The photo shows and I've read that they are double cream under the covers but not sure I'd bank on it. I do like the Dimarzio's.
 
Re: DiMarzio 36th anniverary PAF vs. StewMac Parson St PAF?

Darg1911 said:
I had a pair of Parson Streets. They were decent. The price keeps going up and all they really are is an asian made pickup made to Stew Macs specifications. I wouldn't pay what they are asking now. Not potted, so make sure that's what you want. The photo shows and I've read that they are double cream under the covers but not sure I'd bank on it. I do like the Dimarzio's.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I haven't tried them, but I think of the Stew-Mac pickups the same as GFS; Asian pickups built to a spec. That's not bad, but it's usually not quite that expensive.

Larry
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top