So... it seems I'm not the only one that's been on the hunt for my ideal Les Paul PAF sound. What do you have in your LP guitar right now? What have you tried before? What was different about the different sets?
For me: I like to rock... pretty hard but I also love the blues and some jazz. Mostly a bluesy hard rocker. I play through an Axe FX and don't need my pickups to give me gain. I appreciate a nice clear sound that can do almost anything with lots of dynamics. What's fun about PAF pickups is that there's not really a standard and we can mix/match to taste. I prefer to sound like I've got a big Tele with my les paul. If you've seen Pete Thorn's LP video on youtube, you know what I'm talking about.
My H150 came with 59's stock. They sound good. Actually, really good. They're just a little too clean and lacking mids for me. It's a very big sounding neck and almost like a big strat because of the scooped EQ. The bridge is also big, but kind of... nice and doesn't feel at home when I am using a Rectifier or Uberschall. Sounds pretty good with the lower gain stuff like the AC30 and a good plexi.
I've had Antiquities in a Les Paul. I loved the vintage vibe on these but always wanted a more powerful magnet. I think the sound of electronics on the fringe that these make is just so full of mojo and probably what most hardcore vintage PAF tone chasers are looking for. Many PAF on the market use aged magnets but this is the one with aged coils and you can sure hear it. Conversely, I think that the pickup always sounding like it's breaking up hurts the clarity on the cleans for me. Makes me want to try some Seth Lovers.
Recently, I've been playing the Bonamassa set for a while. I dig a lot of what's going on here. Something that's not mentioned very much about these is how damn dark the neck is. It's very jazzy clean. The bridge is much brighter with less bass and compliments the neck very well. Also, it seems to have some similar "electronics on the edge" vibe that the ants have but less of them. Again, clean sounds are a little muddy and lacking clarity like the antiquity.
This week I threw some Dimarzio 36th in my Paul. Bam. These things sound incredible. I was pretty surprised at how they seem to give me that overpowered antiquity sound I was looking for. Nice tight bass response and sweet highs with some of the vibe from that "electronic breakup" without the mud that comes with it. I absolutely love them. The only thing they don't do is "squish" the attack to give you some of the proper Slash style sounds. I'm pretty surprised that, to me, they're more dynamic than the Bonamassa and 59's in their ability to take it from clean to dirt on a Plexi or Matchless with pick attack alone.
If I'm looking for that big, open, super-dynamic sound that cuts and handles Fenders, Voxes, Plexis and Rectifiers equally well, I'm thinking the 36th is a keeper. I'll probably try out a Slash set because the description seems right up my alley but I do love me some Dimarzio 36th PAF models, even if they are parts accurate clones. Just the right punch, clarity, dynamics and open sound with "electronics breaking up" mixed together for me.
Has anyone compared them to the Slash Set or Pearly Gates? I do want to try those and will probably end up buying both models at some point.
For me: I like to rock... pretty hard but I also love the blues and some jazz. Mostly a bluesy hard rocker. I play through an Axe FX and don't need my pickups to give me gain. I appreciate a nice clear sound that can do almost anything with lots of dynamics. What's fun about PAF pickups is that there's not really a standard and we can mix/match to taste. I prefer to sound like I've got a big Tele with my les paul. If you've seen Pete Thorn's LP video on youtube, you know what I'm talking about.
My H150 came with 59's stock. They sound good. Actually, really good. They're just a little too clean and lacking mids for me. It's a very big sounding neck and almost like a big strat because of the scooped EQ. The bridge is also big, but kind of... nice and doesn't feel at home when I am using a Rectifier or Uberschall. Sounds pretty good with the lower gain stuff like the AC30 and a good plexi.
I've had Antiquities in a Les Paul. I loved the vintage vibe on these but always wanted a more powerful magnet. I think the sound of electronics on the fringe that these make is just so full of mojo and probably what most hardcore vintage PAF tone chasers are looking for. Many PAF on the market use aged magnets but this is the one with aged coils and you can sure hear it. Conversely, I think that the pickup always sounding like it's breaking up hurts the clarity on the cleans for me. Makes me want to try some Seth Lovers.
Recently, I've been playing the Bonamassa set for a while. I dig a lot of what's going on here. Something that's not mentioned very much about these is how damn dark the neck is. It's very jazzy clean. The bridge is much brighter with less bass and compliments the neck very well. Also, it seems to have some similar "electronics on the edge" vibe that the ants have but less of them. Again, clean sounds are a little muddy and lacking clarity like the antiquity.
This week I threw some Dimarzio 36th in my Paul. Bam. These things sound incredible. I was pretty surprised at how they seem to give me that overpowered antiquity sound I was looking for. Nice tight bass response and sweet highs with some of the vibe from that "electronic breakup" without the mud that comes with it. I absolutely love them. The only thing they don't do is "squish" the attack to give you some of the proper Slash style sounds. I'm pretty surprised that, to me, they're more dynamic than the Bonamassa and 59's in their ability to take it from clean to dirt on a Plexi or Matchless with pick attack alone.
If I'm looking for that big, open, super-dynamic sound that cuts and handles Fenders, Voxes, Plexis and Rectifiers equally well, I'm thinking the 36th is a keeper. I'll probably try out a Slash set because the description seems right up my alley but I do love me some Dimarzio 36th PAF models, even if they are parts accurate clones. Just the right punch, clarity, dynamics and open sound with "electronics breaking up" mixed together for me.
Has anyone compared them to the Slash Set or Pearly Gates? I do want to try those and will probably end up buying both models at some point.
- I actually really liked this combo, it seemed really versatile. The Demon to my ears sounds like a PAF with more output and a bit more treble bite whereas the Pearly Gates wasn't overly dark or muffled in the bass and had enough treble to not be too smooth (something I didn't like about the AIIPs I tried before).
They're very neutral sounding, no frequency in particular seems to dominate the sound and they have better clarity and an airy-ness to them that I've ever heard in any other PAF type pickup. The clarity thing is a bit odd at 1st and takes a while to get used to; it's almost like you've turned the gain down on your amp as you can hear every note in every chord, even under high gain. I notice this even more so when I switch back to my Dimarzio loaded Strat and Firebird and Duncan loaded Jackson, the same amount of clarity just isn't there. Both still have their place in my guitars though.
