DiMarzio PAF classic problem

mongrollo

mongrollo

New member
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?
 
Re: DiMarzio PAF classic problem

mongrollo said:
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?
Click to expand...

Replace them with Duncans ! :D :D :D :cool: :14:
 
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
 
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.
 
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.
 
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...
 
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.
 
jeremy said:
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.
Click to expand...

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?
 
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
 
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?
 
Lightning said:
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?
Click to expand...
silver nickle
 
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!
 
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.
 
For what you are saying it seems that PAF classic it is the DiMarzio's Alnico II Pro version. Isn't it?

Or may be Seth Lover's?
 
mongrollo said:
For what you are saying it seems that PAF classic it is the DiMarzio's Alnico II Pro version. Isn't it?

Or may be Seth Lover's?
Click to expand...
NO, the air classic is like a aged 1959 P.A.F.
the concept of "air buckers" is to make a full strength alnico 5 magnet a bit weaker.
in turn it makes the pup a bit more dynamic,and give a lower string pull from the magnet for better sustain.
If you feel the air classic is a bit too mellow,you can take off the cover and remove the air spacers, this will give the pickup more output,push, then it is up to you whether or not to put back on the cover? i dont like covers myself,they blanket the tone a bit:14:
 
Yea, but...
8.5k neck is like a thousand ohms over AP2, 59, seth. My personal taste 8.1 with an A2 is as high as I want to go (neck). Man that 8.7 (PAF Classic) isn't tromping the 8.1 (59) in the bridge then it has to be the airbucker spacer.
Someone else ask you about 250k pots...man they'll really take a pair of pickups down.
Chuck
 
Somebody please come save the PAF Classic Neck cause I'm about to bash it without even hearing it. Okay we're talking #42 gauge wire cause these are vintage replica's…that's given…who goes over 8.1 on the neck?
Mongrollo doesn't like them in either position, that doesn't mean I wouldn't, but with out hearing them to give them a chance to redeem...that neck pickup's out of there.
I think the rear pickup could be killer (Gib Classic Plus) with an A2 or A5 mag touching the coil.
I have put a nickel base on a Dimarzio PAF but I didn't record it
before the swap so no hard AB comparison but I'm going to say I don't think it is nearly as big a deal as nickel VS zinc covers.
The air gap below the mag Sure seams like it would affect the flux line pattern although I've seen cheap pickups built like the mod I'm offering.
Like I said before if you try the mod and there's hope...then replace the poles.
Based on the way my DiMarzio PAF performs (less bass and mid that compliments a JB or DD in the rear) in comparison with my other 8.1 neck pickups, and if that magic carries over to the PAF Classic Bridge, if modded would sound like a Pearly Gates Plus (IMO).
I wish Jeremy would elaborate on the Pearly Gates thought and did he insert the spacer below the mag or what?
 
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