What does PAF mean?

[zosozep7]

I know it means Patent applied for but I thought these pups only existed on the vintage Les Pauls? My Burstbucker has the PAF words on the back.

[tfunster]

Patent Applied For.

The original Gibson buckers are called "PAF's" They varied in the number of windings they received as well as the type of Alnico magnet used. There's lots of boutique (and non-boutique) winders today who aim for the "PAF" sound, even though the old pickups all sound a bit different from each other.

I believe Seth Lover designed the PAF to sound like a P90 but without the hum.

[DFBurst]

Boy, I could write a book on that question. Vintage Les Pauls, 1957-1960, did have them as well as other Gibson guitars, i.e. 335, 345, Super 400, 175, Switchmaster, Lap steels, etc....

I have one '57 PAF without a sticker since the early ones did not have stickers, whereas my 2 '59s both have stickers.

Do a Google search, and you should be bombarded with results.

I prefer low output pickups. Most of my PAFs are in the 7.25-8.00 range. As great as I think they are, there are a lot of great pickups out there. My personal favorite is a '59 VooDoo by Peter Florance. I usually do not bite on the flavor of the week...."Check out Joe Blow Pickups, they NAIL that PAF tone".

My favorite PAF tone? Don Felder's solo on "One Of These Nights"...'59 Les Paul through a cranked 5E3 Tweed Deluxe. You can really hear the subtleness of the PAF double-tone.

I started buying them after DaPra's first book had the Jimmy Page quote in it...something like this.."I refuse to pay the money that they are asking for old guitars now. I would buy a new Les Paul and put original PAFs in it. If you do not like it, put it in the corner and sulk and play another one..." or something close to that. So, I started buying PAFs. As I said, my '59 VooDoo is killer though. Florance knows his stuff...I like Lindy too. There are a lot of good guys out there. Hope that helps.

[Rumble]

Patent applied for>patent pending>patented. Once the patent is accepted, it is given a number, hence "patent #xxxx...."

The common use of PAF in guitar circles is just kinda silly, sorta like Fender using the "NOS" term. NOS means "new old stock". The problem is, something newly manufactured can't be "old" stock. Fender never got the memo on that.

[Boris Bubbanov]

PAF now pretty much means any pickup similar in nature to the original ones.

Rumble, you rite about NOS. I've got two circa 2006 built "NOS" model CS Fender Time Machines, a '60 Strat and a No-Caster. I bought one in the end of 2007, one in the end of 2008 so they're "new old stock" in the traditional parlance, but they are also NOS model guitars in the new CS Fender-speak.

[DFBurst]

I remember saying that they were descriptions....3 descriptions:

Relic: a guitar played hard for many years and not treated well.
Closet Classic: light checking, lovingly played and put away after each use
NOS: the "time machine" version...if you went back in time and bought one that was hanging on the wall of a music store in, i.e. 1965

PAF...back to that...like I said, do a little research and you will be an expert in no time. I never bought into the whole idea that they sound so good now because the magnets, plastic, etc have changed over many years. Well, if that's the case, Clapton's Beano Burst was 5 years old and virtually new (as was his amp) and Duane's Burst was about 10-11 years old. It is mostly them (their fingers and heart) and having a magical guitar in which all of the pieces form an amazing whole. You can put PAF's in a cra**y guitar and you will still have a cra#$y guitar. One piece (like a lightweight tailpiece) does not change your guitar into Pearly Gates.