PAF voicing I don't hear often and can't find in the aftermarket

[chuck liman]

I just came accross this video where the gentleman is using vintage PAF's:

The tone for me sounds absolutely like I remember it being 'back in the day'.
I can imagine Kossoff belting out the solo to 'Mr Big', Clapton's lead work on 'All Your Love' and Fleetwood Mac's cover of 'I've got a mind to give up living' etc. On all of them that is the tone I recall.

Thing is, when I search the various manufacturers of pickups prominent in today's market I can't find that tone anywhere it seems. What I hear instead, to me, sounds far more 80's than it does 60's and 70's.

I have checked out all the videos for the various SD, Dimarzio, Gibson PAF 'expressions' but can't hear that shrill punchy tone in any of them. Not even the boutique winders like Bare Knuckle seem to stock it. Their PG Blues, to my ear, sound little like Greeny actually does.

I'm not a pro on pickups, but I understand the construction of the humbucker and the various ways in which you can make it meaty, or have bite, be bias toward treble, mids or bass etc.

What am I hearing in this video? To me it sounds like moderate bass, low mid and a slightly microphonic high range that is quite dominant when gained. What magnet type does it represent do you think? It sounds like a degaussed A5 but I doubt it could be if its vintage.

Would love to hear about any SD products that sound like this past or present .. or any that other people make. Or even how I could wind my own. It must be a low wind, mis-matched coils probably with a slug bias and thinner/weaker magnets? Definitely not wax potted also.

It seems so strange to me that when I see people promoting their PAF replicas they sound very little like this. :33:

PS: Hello world! First post.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: PAF voicing I don't hear often and can't find in the aftermarket

Welcome aboard!
HIs sound is a combination of factors.
The JBLd120 speaker cannot be ignored. It is a very present and punchy speaker with a lot of treble detail and a big alnico magnet. The deluxe style cab it is bolted to also makes a difference in resonance. Also the fact that the blues junior is an el84 based small amp (not much bottom end inherently)right on it's ragged edge and he's sitting right in front of the speaker.
I'd probably try some pearly gates tho. It fits the description of what you are looking for at least as pickups go. I think you'd enjoy them. Tons of character, harmonic detail and sweet highs in both positions.

 

[darthphineas]

Re: PAF voicing I don't hear often and can't find in the aftermarket

Yeah. The amp has something to do with it.

And the guitar.

And the player.

 

[chuck liman]

Re: PAF voicing I don't hear often and can't find in the aftermarket

JBLd120 speaker cannot be ignored. It is a very present and punchy speaker with a lot of treble detail an a big alnico magnet. The deluxe style cab it is bolted to also makes a difference in resonance. Also the fact that hes running an el84 based small amp (not much bottom end inherently)right on it's ragged edge and he's sitting right in front of the speaker.
I'd probably try some pearly gates tho. It fits the description of what you are looking for.

Derp! I never even considered the speaker. :duh: I did some searching and .. here it is ..

No doubt that's the sound right there.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: PAF voicing I don't hear often and can't find in the aftermarket

Derp! I never even considered the speaker. :duh: I did some searching and .. here it is ..
No doubt that's the sound right there.

it is definitely part of it although the guitar is a big part of the equation. As is the amp.
Here is another example of a d120 with a tweed deluxe 5e3 style amp and a tele. Completely different.
I think you are still on the right track looking for pickups.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: PAF voicing I don't hear often and can't find in the aftermarket

Wolfetone and Throbak are touted as PAF's that get that nice unpotted cluck and honk.

 

[lemonman]

Re: PAF voicing I don't hear often and can't find in the aftermarket

Welcome! I don't know if you know who that is, but his name is Ed Amantia, aka Ed A, and he has had signature PAF winds from a number of high end guys, including Timbucker and Throbak. http://www.throbak.com/eda-paf-pickups.html He favors A2 pickups, slightly overwound. The pickups aren't super bright, but the dimed amp and speaker are. There's an old thread on the Les Paul Forum about how he sets that amp, I believe it was bass & treble at noon, mids and volumes dimed. Obviously his signature set would be a good place to start if you have that much to spend...

 

[rumblebox]

Re: PAF voicing I don't hear often and can't find in the aftermarket

A lot of what you're hearing is the speaker

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk

 

[Demanic]

Re: PAF voicing I don't hear often and can't find in the aftermarket

A lot of what you're hearing is the speaker

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk

Agreed.
Has anyone heard of the SD Eclair set?

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk

 

[AlexR]

Re: PAF voicing I don't hear often and can't find in the aftermarket

Wizz, throbak, ReWind, ECP, Tyson tone.

To be fair according to your list you actually looked up none of the brands/winders that actually specialise in getting all the nuances of the old pickups.

And the sound coming from the speaker is a combo of the entire rig. Actually that is quite saturated at full gain, so its not really a pure vintage tone IMO.

 

[darthphineas]

Re: PAF voicing I don't hear often and can't find in the aftermarket

Has anyone heard of the SD Eclair set?

Been using it since before it went into a marketing push. Seems to happen pretty often. *scratches head*

 

[LtKojak]

Re: PAF voicing I don't hear often and can't find in the aftermarket

Been using it since before it went into a marketing push. Seems to happen pretty often. *scratches head*

Sorry, I don't get what you're saying?

 

[Mincer]

Re: PAF voicing I don't hear often and can't find in the aftermarket

Antiquities can sound like that too with the right amp and player and style. Those pickups wouldn't sound like that if I were the player, or if that player using that guitar used my amp.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: PAF voicing I don't hear often and can't find in the aftermarket

I can get that tone, or very close to it, with 59's that have had the polished A5 magnet removed and a new Roughcut A5 magnet from Addiction FX installed in their place. A $10 mod.

Original 1959 A5 Gibson humbuckers would have had a Roughcast magnet. They could have been Alnico 4 too.

I can get a lot of that tone from my guitars with Pearly Gates pickups too.

But the 59 with Roughcut A5 gets even closer.

You don't have to go through a JBL speaker. I use Celestions and get real close to that tone.

Clapton and most of the British Blues guys also played through Celestions. Not JBL's.

Although I heard Mick Taylor with John Mayall around 1968 and he was blowing through a less than 10 year old, now vintage, Fender Tweed Bassman with four Jensen 10's. He sounded like he was wailing through a Marshall and got that "Clapton" tone in spades.

 

[voggin]

Re: PAF voicing I don't hear often and can't find in the aftermarket

I find I get something similar (though not nearly as well-played) with my Seth Lovers (unpotted) in a Les Paul through a Fender Hot Rod Deville 4x10.

I think it's the "unpotted" part that does the trick, gives you that not-quite-feedback thing.

There's a video somewhere on Youtube I saw where a guy shows how to get a Duane Allman tone from his bridge pickup by using the round end of his pickup, hitting the string at a bit of an angle rather than dead-on. It actually works, sweetens the tone up a bit.

By the way, OP, I really enjoyed that video. Thanks for posting.

 

[SFW]

Re: PAF voicing I don't hear often and can't find in the aftermarket

A4 59.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk