Dimarzio PAF 36th Anniversary?

[Ocifer]

Re: Dimarzio PAF 36th Anniversary?

If it's Dimarzio you seek, a Virtual PAF Bridge is my vote for the bridge position. It was recently discontinued but should be around at a few dealers or e-bay. Great pickup.

No woofy bass or shrill highs, punchy, plus distorted chords are complex and defined. I currently have it in my Strat in the bridge with a single 500K volume knob -- Van Halen sounds fly out of this thing -- but I'm planning to put one in my LP copy too, with LP wiring.

As far as Seymour Duncans go, I've had great experiences with the Pearly Gates and Alnico II humbuckers.

 

[jimijames]

Re: Dimarzio PAF 36th Anniversary?

Ok, so I finally got to installing the 36th anniversary with A5, and I gotta say, it's A LOT better than with A2 - Very very fat and woody, even frequency response with fat highs and mids, and warm lows that are tight enough for what I do, but wouldn't cut it for heavy metal or anything. Compared with the VHpaf that it was supposed to replace, it's definitely louder and woodier. Not as much 'chew' or 'snarl', and much smoother in the high register. I imagine it sounds a lot like the AIIpro bridge model (although I haven't tried the AIIpro to be clear). Great pickup, and it combines fantastically with this custom-wound job I have in the neck (By the way, jon more pickups rock tits). I would reccomend this to anybody who wants a fat vintage bridge pickup, think allman brothers and zz top more than led zeppelin or AC/DC, but it can do all of the above well too.

edit: +1 to ocifer, the pearly gates is a fantastic pickup, as I imagine the virtual paf is (I've only tried the virtual hot paf)

 

[jerryjg]

Re: Dimarzio PAF 36th Anniversary?

are you guys saying waht I think your saying??..that the
36th is a bett'r neck pickup?
Well, then I guess I neeed a PAF pro for the bridge, cause I wass gonna slam a Paf 36th Annv. into the bridge with an Air Norton neck on a Les Paul someday.

 

[Yngwiestein]

Re: Dimarzio PAF 36th Anniversary?

are you guys saying waht I think your saying??..that the
36th is a bett'r neck pickup?
Well, then I guess I neeed a PAF pro for the bridge, cause I wass gonna slam a Paf 36th Annv. into the bridge with an Air Norton neck on a Les Paul someday.

No it makes a fantastic bridge pickup. There's a 36th bridge and a slightly lower output 36th. Not sure if there is enough difference in output to use as a set. What sounds good to me is a VPAF neck & PAF 36th bridge or Air Classic neck & 36th bridge.

 

[jumpinjackf1ash]

Re: Dimarzio PAF 36th Anniversary?

figured i would report on my 36th anniversary since i finally got one haha.

i have one in the neck of my LP.....it kicks the ASS of the Jazz i used to have there.....it is such a cool pickup

same goes for the Bridge model 36th that replaced the JB.....this combo is so much better, sweeter, and more versatile.....SCREW the jazz/jb combo haha

 

[NoOnesFang13]

Re: Dimarzio PAF 36th Anniversary?

figured i would report on my 36th anniversary since i finally got one haha.

i have one in the neck of my LP.....it kicks the ASS of the Jazz i used to have there.....it is such a cool pickup

same goes for the Bridge model 36th that replaced the JB.....this combo is so much better, sweeter, and more versatile.....SCREW the jazz/jb combo haha

lol versitile indeed, i still want to try one, since i love the VHPAF

 

[GuitarMick]

Re: Dimarzio PAF 36th Anniversary?

figured i would report on my 36th anniversary since i finally got one haha.

i have one in the neck of my LP.....it kicks the ASS of the Jazz i used to have there.....it is such a cool pickup

same goes for the Bridge model 36th that replaced the JB.....this combo is so much better, sweeter, and more versatile.....SCREW the jazz/jb combo haha

Thanks for the info. So tell us about the tone. Which artists tone(s) can you get from these pups? Robben Ford? I've been planning to replace my active pups in my Ibanez ART 420 with DiMarzios. Like you I was wondering about using the 36th anniversary in both neck and bridge or some other combination.
Mick

 

[jumpinjackf1ash]

Re: Dimarzio PAF 36th Anniversary?

well, the tone isn't really set to just one persons sound. You can nail almost anything that an old les paul was used to play. With a little OD it nails aerosmith. i mean, it is RIGHT on...but with more OD they are able to do van halen and anything else you want. Its really versatile. they are really thick, but clear and sweet sounding. best overall humbuckers I've ever tried.

 

[GuitarMick]

Re: Dimarzio PAF 36th Anniversary?

well, the tone isn't really set to just one persons sound. You can nail almost anything that an old les paul was used to play. With a little OD it nails aerosmith. i mean, it is RIGHT on...but with more OD they are able to do van halen and anything else you want. Its really versatile. they are really thick, but clear and sweet sounding. best overall humbuckers I've ever tried.

It's the clear and sweet sounding that I'm mostly after, along with a small boost and OD where needed. I would also want to have them wired in parallel with push/pulls. I've read that they do this quite well. The good news is I'm told I can purchase and try out and if I do not like the tone, I can exchange. I'm looking into the tech cost too.

 

[eggman]

Re: Dimarzio PAF 36th Anniversary?

Howdy,

Has anyone tried DiMarzio's 36th Anniversary in thier ES-335?

Eggman

 

[veil]

Re: Dimarzio PAF 36th Anniversary?

...just get the pups you think you would like the most without thinking about it too much - odds are you'll be satisfied.

This is the most rational advice about gear I think I've ever seen on the internet.

Listen to this man.

 

[catrachoman]

Re: Dimarzio PAF 36th Anniversary?

does anyone have a wiring schematics to install dimarzio 36th anniversary on my prs ce 22 with rotary pcb switch ?

 

[bancika]

Re: Dimarzio PAF 36th Anniversary?

it's also a bit more conservative with output than Paf Pro. I got a pair of 36th for mini LP project me and my father are making. Can't wait to try them, got them purely based on clips and reviews.

Not to hijack the thread, but here's a spoiler for mini LP. It's a full scale but with smaller body and headstock so it's kind of a travel guitar

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Dimarzio PAF 36th Anniversary?

does anyone have a wiring schematics to install dimarzio 36th anniversary on my prs ce 22 with rotary pcb switch ?

you will have to convert the wire colors to DMZ
SD--------DMZ
black ----red
white ----black
red ------white
green ---green

 

[marcello252]

Re: Dimarzio PAF 36th Anniversary?

I'm interested in the 36th Anniversary Bridge model, I'm still looking for the right bridge pickup in my mid scooped sounding ash strat, rosewood neck.

I know very well the sound of SD A2P, '59, CC, JB, Custom, I tried them all in that guitar, has anybody ever used both the 36th bridge and one of these PUs and can tell me what are the differences?

thank you

 

[Varg]

Re: Dimarzio PAF 36th Anniversary?

I have experience of all those Duncans, and I have a 36th bridge model.
Unfortunately, its in the NECK of my Les Paul. I should really get around to swapping it with one of the old original DP104 PAFs I have in my Hamer.

 

[eggman]

Re: Dimarzio PAF 36th Anniversary?

Howdy,

I'm several weeks late Marcello252 , but a 36th Anni PAF bridge will bring plenty of mids to your Strat; it sounds good in the bridge of my 335. Best of luck!

 

[Ed Hunter]

Re: Dimarzio PAF 36th Anniversary?

I just bought another 36th, i sold my last one to metalmaniac and missed it so i scored a white F-spaced one for $30 shipped
It is without doubt one of dimarzios best pups!
it is strongly based on their discontinued VHpaf(Van halen PAF) which was a clone of duncans 78 in a roundabout way. since dimarzio will not use A2 mags on their buckers they made the VH and 36th PAF with the air design to mimic the tone of a old 5

 

[RayBarbeeMusic]

Re: Dimarzio PAF 36th Anniversary?

discontinued VHpaf(Van halen PAF) which was a clone of duncans 78 in a roundabout way.

No not at all. The VHPAF stands for "Virtual Hot PAF" simply because it was the "hot" version of the Virtual PAF model, i.e. slightly over wound. It has nothing whatsoever to do with Van Halen, nor a duncan 78, and was not designed to sound like, nor does it sound like, an Alnico 2 pickup. Unlike Duncan's "extended variable harmonics" or whatever nudge nudge wink wink thing they used to get away with using EVH on a pickup that was not endorsed by him, DiMarzio never claimed, implied, or even hinted in any way that the VHPAF had anything to do with Van Halen, nor did they call it a VHPAF for that matter. It was the Virtual Hot PAF.

Air buckers arent designed to emulate Alnico 2 in any way other than that the string pull is lower than a normal A5 or ceramic pickup (which really makes a difference in the guitar's sustain when put in the neck position). It's a design choice that accomplishes certain things, but emulating an A2 magnet's tone isn't one of them.

In fact, I've got the distinct impression talking to Blucher that he doesn't care for the tone of A2. Even the Areas, which are A2, are A2 designed to sound like A5. I think that's also what he was doing with the Air bucker idea, trying to get the low string pull/sustain benefits of A2 without the A2 tone.

FWIW, I tried the 36th Bridge and the VHPAF in the same guitars with 2 different guitars, and I liked the VHPAF a lot more. It wasn't night and day, but the VHPAF was both a tad ballsier in the lows and smoother in the highs. I found the 36th Bridge on the edge, or over the edge, of harsh in the highs, and a bit too tight in the lows. Not quite as bitey as a '59b, much less a Lollar Imperial, but still too bitey for me. DiMarzio considers it an upgrade, I found it to be a downgrade and got rid of the 36th bridges ASAP and kept the VHPAFs.

 

[Reckless Abandon]

I put an A2 in my VHPAF. It is a van halen PAF like the 78.