Re: PAF Pro Users
I'm a PAF Pro fan. Really nice pickup for what I like. It's not too hot and not too weak and has good cut. I never found it to be too weak in the neck with the SuperD in the bridge. That setup worked really well for me. But, IMO/IME, a really cool neck pickup for the SuperD is another SuperD wired in parallel. Trust me.
That's good to know! Still, I prefer to have a ''cleaner'', different, and companion neck pickup to the bridge. I imagine having two Super Distortion in the same guitar would be too ''hard rocking'' (not for a versatile sounding guitar). I may be wrong! The Super Distortion actually cleans up pretty nicely.
I went for eons (35+ years) not liking Dimarzio pickups in any iteration or configuration. In the interest of honest objectivity I have recently revisited their line of pickups. It hasn't taken me long to again realize that, generally speaking, I do not like Dimarzio pickups. Two noteable exceptions are the 36th bridge and the PAF Pro.
I was having trouble getting a bridge pickup to match a pair of Duncan Alnico Pro 2 in an HSS guitar. Definitely the best humbucker mate with those SCs in that guitar. I had tried a Custom Custom (too dark and powerful), the bridge 36th (too plain vanilla), a Dimarzio C3, and none balanced as well as the PAF Pro.
That said, that setup is getting yanked over CHRISTmas and being replaced with a 59/Custom and a pair of SSL-2s in hopes that will be the combo I've been seeking.
The PAF Pro is great in the bridge at any rate, but the Dimarzio line in general doesn't do much for me.
At least you have had luck with them, I have only liked the Dimarzio Super Distortion and the acquired taste of the PAF Master neck pickup, but have read that the Super Distortion + PAF Pro in neck is a classic. I believe you will definitely be on the right track on Seymour's camp.
That last sentence really hit home for me. I would just say that many of them have attributes that usually you would see in a bridge Pup
Glad to know I'm not alone on this. I somehow hear the Super Distortion in every Dimarzio pickup I have had installed in my guitars (three until the moment). Seems like a preset setting. Not that it's ''bad'', but when a pickup maker/manufacturer like Seymour Duncan says ''a neck pickup'', it actually sounds, and responds like one!
While not being a faithfull user of dimarzio over the years, (and while not being a paf pro) I am quite liking the 36th bridge in my lp special..its almost like a better 59b to my ears, as it has what the 59b is missing= MIDS!
The 36th I have not tried yet. I love the old DP103 PAF before it was re-designed several years back. That one is also a great match for the SuperD.
My favorite set from DiMarzio as of late has been the Air Classics. For a vintage output pickup, it's a crazy good set for everything from blues to scorching distorted rock.
I don't know what DiMarzio was thinking when they combined the PAF, Virtual PAF, and the Virtual Hot PAF all into the 36th Anniversary pickup.
The PAF and the VHPAF are two of my favorite DiMarzios.
Yeah, not sure about those earlier PAFs but the 36th is really good, just not great. I'd have no issues using it, but there are pickups that do that sound better IMO.
What is even more bizarre to me is the 36th is supposed to a "copy" of the pickups in Larry's '59 Les Paul. I don't hear vintage PAF when I use a 36th.
The latest "PAF 59" is actually pretty good though.
I disagree. The PAF 36th Anniversary in the neck sounds smoother, fatter, and more throaty without being muddy compared to the plinky, squelchy, scooped Duncan '59 and Jazz. More like a neck pickup should IMHO in a vintage output set. I really liked how the Duncan '59 Bridge/DiMarzio PAF 36th Neck was balanced when switching positions, while each pickup still had its own identity. But nowadays, I'm kind of over vintage output pickups, TBH.
I have read that the PAF36th is like Dimarzio's answer to the Seymour Duncan 59' (and kind of similar to the WLH Pickups).
I'm a big fan of the Seymour Duncan 59' neck pickup, and it's good to know the 36th neck is similar to it.
My ''winning'' combination is the Duncan Custom + 59n' combination in my DBZ Bolero. That guitar ROCKS!
I thought a Dimarzio Super Distortion + PAF36th combination would be Dimarzio's take on that Seymour's pickups combination.
For what I'm sure (due to my limited three pickups Dimarzio experience) is that once I get the ''right'' neck pickup for my Gibson Flying V (now with a Super Distortion bridge/PAF Master neck combination), I don't think I'll be back to the DMZ camp. I never had a bad SD experience and only had to replace them to better match the tone I wanted or needed out of the instrument with other SD Pickups.
