My CURRENT list of top PAF's

My favorite pafs:

1) SD Customshop Joe Bonamassa 2012. That pickup set was perfect
2) SD Customshop Candy. Clean, clear, lots of growl, pick attack, and clarity.
3) SD Customshop Peter Frampton. The pickups are good. His signature on the bottom makes it better.
4) Nordstrand Alnico III: sweet yet clean. Raunchy yet elegant.
5) BKP Stormy Monday. Clean, clean, clean. So clean. I love this set. It's sweet and clear. Like... Herradura Ultra Tequila. Smooth yet sweet and clean.
6) BKP Greenie: like Stormy Monday but a bit more gnarl.
7) Sheptone Alnico II. This is what the Slash wants to be. Clean yet ballsy. Dirty yet controlable.
8) DMZ PAF36th. Just because it is so, so tasty. It's not a PAF at all, but it sounds so good.
9) Lundgren Heaven 57 set. Bridge is clean, clear, biting, cutting, aggressive. The neck is hollow, glassy, fluid, flutey. It is just so, so good.
10) SD Antiquity & Seth Lover. The Ant set is a bit fizzier than the Seth, which is really smooth.
 
nienturi said:
Hey Aceman, two questions: Have you ever tried Mojotone '59 Clone set? They are pretty aesome, too. And two, you say Dimarzio PAF; is it 36th paf or original dp103?
Click to expand...

I haven't even tried a TC Electronics MojoMojo pedal - LOL!

Like I said - not a PAF guy in general. Except for my beloved Pearly Gates.

I have 5 guitars with PAF's in them
2 with PG sets
Strat with a PG+ Bridge
Caddy with a PG neck
Les Paul with a PAF neck

My DiMArzio is a original DP103. Might be quite old. Came in a 1973 Les Paul.

I have like 30+ guitars
 
Aceman said:
I used to include the A2P as a PAF style, but I now don't. It is a cool sound for some things I would play with a PAF loaded guitar though...
Click to expand...

a2p is of course a jazz, which is a clone of a T-Top, which is a "PAF" with supply chain issues (different insulation, shorter magnet). To not see it as a PAF would imho be a mistake, but I get your point.

I.e.: you're not wrong. I just don't share your opinion :drive:
 
Took me a little to widdle the list down to my favs.

No particular order:
Gibson '57 Classics
Gibson Burstbuckers (especially the BB3)
Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates set
Seymour Duncan '59 set
Seymour Duncan Brobucker (great overwound PAF)
DiMarzio PAF (original DP103)
DiMarzio Air Classics

I've been curious about the Lollar Imperials but haven't had the opportunity to try them yet. I really like how my guitars are dialed in right now and don't want to change anything.
 
my favorite paf type pups sorta in order but guitar dependent are:

antiquity
seth
pearly
timbucker
tom holmes
jm rolphs
59

i love the brobucker but thats not a paf to me. i like dimarzio 36th anniversary but again, its not a paf to me
 
Wagner Darkburst or Crossroads Necks
Motorcity First Degree Black Belt (I use a bridge in both possitioins, SO GOOD)
Duncan 59 with A2
Motor City 2nd Degree Black Belt (Brighter, attackier)

I only have one guitar currently with a PAF in the bridge. Motor City Black Belt. It works in the Gibson ES 135.

Rest of my guitfiddles have flame thowers
 
I've used and loved Duncan 59s in a number of guitars for more than forty years now.
A great all-rounder. Plus, it's not picky - sounds great in just about anything.

Yet in favorite true-PAF types, my tastes run more toward the boutique.
Zhangbucker Pure Handwounds; I have a number of these, every one an individual and all exceptional
PRS 57/08s, hypnotic & addictive. vintage sepiatone sound and just a ton of personality
Tom Holmes 450/455 set, like a magnifying glass for nuance, and perfectly balanced tone
Rewind Creme Brulees (also a bespoke set that James wound for one all-mahog axe), vintagey and perfect
Wizz Gregbilly set, crisp sweet airy A3 neck and a classic Tele-on-steroids bridge tone
 
orpheo said:
a2p is of course a jazz, which is a clone of a T-Top, which is a "PAF" with supply chain issues (different insulation, shorter magnet). To not see it as a PAF would imho be a mistake, but I get your point.

I.e.: you're not wrong. I just don't share your opinion :drive:
Click to expand...

I totally agree with that. Like I said, I used to think of the A2P as a big fat blues PAF. But as I age, my definition of "PAF" style has narrowed. I now see it as a Modern styled Humbucker with a classic output level.

as for the T-Top - PAF with supply chain issues - LOL. BAD issues. So much so that PAF or not I generally don't like them. (Although I'm forever keeping the one in the neck of my #1 LP, and have a The Paul with a set still...)

Again - so departed as to no longer be a PAF IMO. But I totally see yours.

I need a certain EQ for and output to call it a PAF. Noting that mags can vary them quite a bit.
 
xxxplorer said:
Wagner Darkburst or Crossroads Necks
Motorcity First Degree Black Belt (I use a bridge in both possitioins, SO GOOD)
Duncan 59 with A2
Motor City 2nd Degree Black Belt (Brighter, attackier)

I only have one guitar currently with a PAF in the bridge. Motor City Black Belt. It works in the Gibson ES 135.

Rest of my guitfiddles have flame thowers
Click to expand...

Motor City P.A.F. style humbuckers are under the radar but I'm fond of them. Purists would object they are hand wound while Gibson PU's were machine wound... But to me, Wade Westbrook is one of the rare winders nailing what is going on with vintage P.A.F.'s - mainly the defiant blend of fatness, brightness and transparency of these oldies, with creamy high mids and tight bass / low mids but the ability to morph in a convincing single coilish tone once the volume pots lowered...

I also wish more supposed P.A.F. clones delivered this squeaky atonal attack obtained with real ones, and/or their "double tones" and/or this remanent sustain happening when a note is almost dying then comes back louder than before... All real P.A.F. traits partly or totally lost in many current replicas. :-/
 
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I was about to chime in on the A2P not being a PAF until realizing it's a SH2 Jazz variant. It's got a more modern tone quality to my ears though.
 
Oh, yeah. I forgot to list the WCR (Wagner) Crossroads.

Is Wagner still in business?
 
I never thought the A2P sounds all that modern. It is rounder than typical PAFs, sure, but the touch-sensitivity is the same.
 
Mincer said:
I never thought the A2P sounds all that modern. It is rounder than typical PAFs, sure, but the touch-sensitivity is the same.
Click to expand...

I get that. But to me, once you pass Pearly Gates sweetness, you are somewhere else.

But PAF is not just an "output level". There is a tone about it. Yeah - I know they all sound different, but there are not any original PAF's that sound like a Jazz or an A2P, IMO.
 
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On the largely shared idea that all (vintage Gibson) P.A.F.'s sound(ed) different...

The use of different winding machines in Gibson factories would explain that if needed.

Now, coils wound on different machines could/would still be paired with parts made of same/similar materials and through the same process... giving a common tonal character to most vintage P.A.F.'s or at least some common tonal features among a list of recognizable ones. I've shared my indifferent thoughts about that in the post 31.

But I must admit that I like Duncan humbuckers for... their Duncan character and not as replicas. Even in the very first SH1's Seymour had started to improve the recipe to avoid some Gibson flaws (like bobbin warping due to the softness of butyrate and that early 59's avoid thx to a specific bobbin molding with clever "redans"). To me, such personal design decisions go with a kind of tone that I hear with Duncan and not with other brands. Even a Seth, to my ears, blends the honky vocal mids of P.A.F.'s with a less raw sound / nicer smooth dimension that I identify with Seymour's idea of good tone... And that's what I love in 'em.

That's another reason why I'm reluctant to use the "PAF" acronym trademarked by DiMarzio when it comes to talk about the Duncan line. ;-)
 
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Those are my preferences
1.pearly gates neck in a les paul
2.59 neck
3.dimarzio old dp103 (a have a late 70s one)
4.prs 85/15 S neck
With the exception of wolfgang all my dual humbuckers guitars hasve an hot bridge pickup paired with one of the aforementioned pick ups. Scrolling down all the messages in this thread it's easy to detect a trend. There are three models considered universally, at this point, as keepers. The 59,pearly and dimarzio PAF are more or less present in each reply. I am trying to figure out why those ones are still present even if there are plenty of choices nowadays. The outsider, and it's quite strange to me, is the 57 classic. An old forumite described the 57 classic as dull and uninspiring in one old thread. I don't know if this is a too much excessive opinion. I simply don't care
 
Those are my preferences
1.pearly gates neck in a les paul
2.59 neck
3.dimarzio old dp103 (a have a late 70s one)
4.prs 85/15 S neck
With the exception of wolfgang all my dual humbuckers guitars hasve an hot bridge pickup paired with one of the aforementioned pick ups. Scrolling down all the messages in this thread it's easy to detect a trend. There are three models considered universally, at this point, as keepers. The 59,pearly and dimarzio PAF are more or less present in each reply. I am trying to figure out why those ones are still present even if there are plenty of choices nowadays. The outsider, and it's quite strange to me, is the 57 classic. An old forumite described the 57 classic as dull and uninspiring in one old thread. I don't know if this is a too much excessive opinion. I simply don't care
 
EmiAba said:
There are three models considered universally, at this point, as keepers. The 59,pearly and dimarzio PAF are more or less present in each reply. I am trying to figure out why those ones are still present even if there are plenty of choices nowadays.
Click to expand...

In my case, even though I've tried others, Pearlys and Seths and 59s ended up staying in my guitars in some combination far longer and more than any of the other unique offshoot brands or variants. Really all the ones I tried were very good and excellent pickups. But in the end, I was able to make far more music with the ones on my list.
 
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