Three new PAF pickup sets compared to original '58 PAFs

Lewguitar

Lewguitar

New member
Here's an enlightening video that shows the difference in tone between Alnico 2, Alnico 4 and Alnico 5 in the same set of PAF style pickups, in the same guitar.

At the end, he gets out a real '58 Gibson Les Paul with original PAF's and plays that for a while.

The music starts at about 16:00 so skip ahead to avoid the talking.

I'd like to know which of the three sets of new pickups demoed sound the most to you like those in the '58 Les Paul.

And which of the three sets sound best to you!

Anyone up for that? Do you think the pickups in the '58 Les Paul sound more like A2, A4 or A5?

 
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I've been doing this same sort of comparing in my PRS SE Singlecuts only using Duncan pickups like 59's, Seth Lovers and Antiquitys. The black Singlecut has roughcast Alnico 5 Antiquitys. The sunburst Singlecut with double cream Seth Lovers has roughcast Alnico 4...the magnet most used in 1959 Gibsons. And the sunburst Singlecut with black 59 humbuckers has roughcast Alnico 2 for what I think of as being more of a '57 sound. Any type of magnet can show up in a 50's PAF humbucker though. You just have to try them all and learn what you like.

0B467D98-2263-4E3C-9102-73C668F38107.jpeg
 
Yeah I think the A4s sound best in that Les Paul. Just the right amount of hi-pass. Detailed, but not sharp. Chewy midrange.

A5 seemed too compressed in the lows.

A2 was maybe a hair too warm overall.
 
They have another shootout video where they play A4 Wizz Humbuckers which are arguably one of the more common and well liked high end PAF clones. A4 seems to yield a good amount output while making sure the top end isn't shrill.

I think A3 PAF neck humbuckers were introduced to me by MJ in the Joe Bonamassa "Magellan Set" which used A3 neck/A2 Bridge. They sound great in Antiquities as well. I agree that most A3 bridge humbuckers aren't too good.

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YeRedHouseOverYonder said:
They have another shootout video where they play A4 Wizz Humbuckers which are arguably one of the more common and well liked high end PAF clones. A4 seems to yield a good amount output while making sure the top end isn't shrill.

I think A3 PAF neck humbuckers were introduced to me by MJ in the Joe Bonamassa "Magellan Set" which used A3 neck/A2 Bridge. They sound great in Antiquities as well. I agree that most A3 bridge humbuckers aren't too good.

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That's interesting. Didn't know about that Joe B. set. I have an Antiquity set with A3 neck and A2 bridge. It's probably my favorite of all the sets I have in my guitars.

I'd use A3 necks in all of them except sometimes I want an overdriven tone from my neck pickup and A3 just doesn't excel at that.
 
Yup, the original set of humbuckers MJ/Seymour cloned for JB was an A3 neck/A2 bridge combo. This set was my favorite. I think Skinner (another burst) had A3/A3 and Amos (flying V) has A3/A6. If you pull the cover form the Megallan set, the neck has double cream bobbins.

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YeRedHouseOverYonder said:
Yup, the original set of humbuckers MJ/Seymour cloned for JB was an A3 neck/A2 bridge combo. This set was my favorite. I think Skinner (another burst) had A3/A3 and Amos (flying V) has A3/A6. If you pull the cover form the Megallan set, the neck has double cream bobbins.

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I didn't know that. Gives me confidence I can still hear and recognize good tone after all these years! lol
 
the clips were nice, oscar sounds like a2 to me as well.

just to flip things a bit... the magellan set is a3 bridge, a2 neck. (skinner was all a3, amos is all a6) the magellan neck pup is very degaussed from what i can remember
 
LLL said:
Yeah I think the A4s sound best in that Les Paul. Just the right amount of hi-pass. Detailed, but not sharp. Chewy midrange.

A5 seemed too compressed in the lows.

A2 was maybe a hair too warm overall.
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Thanks!

I put Duncan 59's in one of my PRS SE Singlecuts and replaced the polished A5 magnets with roughcast alnico 2.

I love A2 in the bridge pickup. Might be my favorite.

But A2 in a neck pickup always sounds a "hair too warm" to me as well. Kind of flat.

It's why I started using A3 in a neck pickup and A2 in the bridge pickup.

A3 is weaker and doesn't do overdrive as well as A2, A4 and A5 but I love the jazzy and "almost acoustic" CLEAN tones it gives a neck humbucker.
 
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jeremy said:
the clips were nice, oscar sounds like a2 to me as well.

just to flip things a bit... the magellan set is a3 bridge, a2 neck. (skinner was all a3, amos is all a6) the magellan neck pup is very degaussed from what i can remember
Click to expand...

My guess would be that Oscar is roughcast A2. Maybe A4. Doesn't sound like A5 to me.

I found some specs on the Skinnerburst set: A3. 8.2K neck and 8.7K bridge

Amos: A6. 7.8K neck and 8.7K bridge.

And Joe's first Custom Shop set apparently has A2 neck and A3 bridge.

Have you played any of Joe's pickup sets Jeremy?
 
only the skinnerburst set for any amount of time and it wasnt my guitar. that said, it sounded great! not a world away from antiquitys but definitely different. great clarity but a nice blooming when you dig in ive heard great things about the amos pups
 
At about :45 Mike Bloomfield holds a note and then tears into his solo on his '59 Les Paul. Then plays some blues as the song ends.

Electric Flag live at Monterey in 67.

His tone is warmer than I associate with Alnico 5, so I'm going to say Alnico 4.

 
Whoops. Guess I did have those mixed around. In my defense, there was a reason why I liked the neck pickup better in the Megallan set. The A3 bridge haha.

Throbaks have always peaked my interest, but the sets are too expensive. It is nice to see Seymour Ducnan jump into the PAF replica game with all the "small" boutique winders. Seymour and MJ still have some of the best ears and winds in the game.


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YeRedHouseOverYonder said:
Throbaks have always peaked my interest, but the sets are too expensive. It is nice to see Seymour Duncan jump into the PAF replica game with all the "small" boutique winders. Seymour and MJ still have some of the best ears and winds in the game.
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$500 a set is too steep for me and I can do what I need to do with Duncan Antiquitys. Swapping magnets and swapping a pickup from one set with a pickup from another. You might like two Antiquity neck pickups (that might be more like the ThroBak set) or two bridges.

One thing ThroBak does that's different than Seymour is the two pickups in the set demonstrated in the video are wound for about the same output.

The DCR of the neck pickup is 7.73K and the bridge is 7.57K. That's about like using two Antiquity NECK humbuckers.

Seymour's PAF sets always have a weaker neck pickup and stronger bridge pickup.

I think most players prefer that because it balances the volume of the neck and bridge pickups.

But in real 50's guitars, like Oscar the 1958 Les Paul in the video, Gibson wouldn't have made any attempt to calibrate the pickups for neck and bridge..

The two pickups could be very similar, or the neck could be wound a little hotter than the bridge, or the bridge could be wound a little hotter than the neck.

If two pickups are wound identically, the neck pickup always seems louder and fuller and bassier than the bridge pickup.

The example would be a Stratocaster with three identical pickups.

The bridge pickup always sounds a lot weaker than the neck pickup.

Which is what created the demand for HOT Strat bridge pickups.
 
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