Re: Duncan PAF question
It's perhaps an interesting historical/archeological experiment. But I don't see the tonal issue. Do we really think that the braid or the spacer material will make it sound different? Or is that not the point????
It's definitely an Indiana Jones thing. Seymour (the man) loves this stuff. He's also into arrowheads and archaeology. In fact, one time when we were talking he said he would love to make a "really" authentic PAF at some point.
But the issue at hand (at least the way I see it) is that it is a business; a brand. And it was built partially on being THE authority on vintage tone and accuracy. And to be honest, in that CBS/Norlin era when Seymour emerged on the scene, he nailed it. Seymour DID put in the time and the research. He was friends with the original cast of characters. Duncan's position is "look, for all the stuff that really matters, we are accurate." Now within these parameters, if you think all of SD's offerings are too hot, and you want that 6.9k neck/7.2k bridge, then MJ will make you some amazing pickups. And in my opinion, she has all of the important parts to capture vintage-accurate tone.
Here's where it gets convoluted: Guys like Throbak have decided that SD doesn't go far enough in their pursuit of accuracy, and that they can build a brand/product line on "out-vintaging" Seymour. It's not enough to have the Leesona 102, now you need some OTHER winder that they barely used. Throbak is a good example of doing many things right, but plenty of others somehow pretend they have uncovered some magic pixie dust, or that on Thursdays, Jim used to dump Irish whiskey into the vat of plain enamel so he wouldn't get caught. Or that somehow Unobtainium made it onto the alloy for 3 summer weeks in 1959. And they've told people that you NEED these outliers to capture the "real PAF" tone. Then, there are guys who can't afford/won't research the idiosyncrasies asserting that it doesn't matter, or "I've figured out how to NAIL the tone using other materials."
Its tough to know who to trust anymore, especially since they all have their own winding techniques which are responsible for greater differences than small pole piece alloy variations anyway.
Finally, this has created a business/branding minefield. If Duncan releases a premium "ultra-vintage spec" PAF, they're admitting the booteeks are right. They're in effect surrendering the authority to the little guys who have raised awareness. I know Seymour, and there's no greater authority in my opinion, especially not some of these Google-ologists who have only begun their research in the past 5-10 years. If'n you ask me, it's better for the brand to stick to their guns. The pickups sound great. They're extremely accurate by today's standards in manufacturing. If this were any other industry we'd be getting the cheapest modern materials along with a healthy dose of marketing assuring us they're "the same". Not so with SD.
