Favourite PAFish Pickup

[Lee Bob]

I've been looking for a great sounding PAF style bridge humbucker for duties within my Tokai PRS copy. I'm seeking a mid-gain, classic rock sounding guitar to contrast my high gain LP. I will be playing it through my Mesa Tremoverb. The stock pickups are actually quite good, and thus I will be keeping the neck in place, however I want to improve some on the bridge pickup. I tried a Seymour Duncan C-5 in there recently and it sounded very thin no matter what I did (pup height and screw height). I'm in the midst of possibly trading that pickup for a covered SD '59 and see how that does. What other pickups should I look at if I find I'm not satisfied with the '59 in the bridge? Feel free to suggest other brands (including boutique pups such as WCR, Fralin etc) and why you feel they would suit this situation.

Thanks.

 

[jokerjkny]

Fralin's and Wagner Goodwoods... ;

 

[Cary Chilton]

Fralins are sweet and great service, but the Semour antiquity pafs did it for me......

 

[dosmun]

Genesis Sounds Mr. Browney. A Duncan 59 is muddy sounding compared to the Browney which has excellent clarity.

 

[MarkWorth]

Genesis Sounds Mr. Browney. A Duncan 59 is muddy sounding compared to the Browney which has excellent clarity.

theres no way in hell my 59s sound like anything other than the opposite of mud..... i love them.....any "less" muddy(brighter?) and theyd sound like trebly crap...


try the 59s....


-j

 

[gitpicker]

I bought a Les Paul Special (double-cutaway) that came with a set of Seymore Duncan Stack 90's. The neck position sounded sweet, but the bridge pickup was weak and muddy. The guitar came with the original Gibson P-90's and so I switched them out. I much prefer the stock Gibsons! The trick I found was to set the neck pickup as low as possible, and the bridge pickup fairly high. Point is, the stock pickups sounded like P-90's, and the SD's sounded like something else.

Sometimes people get carried away with replacement pickups. If you want a P-90 pickup, get a P-90 pickup (I think Gibson makes them... ha, ha!). Others may sound great, and you may like them better, but just remember that in order to justify the price, they won't sound like P-90's (otherwise, why bother?). They will have the P-90 vibe, with enhancements. Cool if you dig it, but they will take you away from square one.

It is kind of like someone who buys a Strat or Tele with humbuckers... I never quite understood that one....

 

[MarkWorth]

It is kind of like someone who buys a Strat or Tele with humbuckers... I never quite understood that one....

you just knocked Tele Deluxes...


there's nothing wrong with a tele deluxe.

that's what i play

 

[gitpicker]

Sorry Spydog - You are correct, and I should have noted that exception.

Fact is, I have owned a Tele Slimline with a Tele Deluxe neck for over 15 years (although it is in pieces right now as I am refininshing it ala Jimmy Page's Black Tele!). This is a guitar with the f-hole and the Fender stock humbuckers, and a Strat style headstock (I think it is a '73). A very cool guitar with a very distinctive sound. If I had a clue how to post pics, I would include one.

I was referring to the newer Fenders that apparently are for those players who think a Tele or a Strat looks cool, but want that humbucker sound. I guess I am just a purist...

This is why I recommended stock Gibson P-90's - they have that distinctive sound, heard on so many old songs. Plus they are the best of both worlds, the bite of a single coil, with the raw scream of a humbucker. Tasty!

:AOK

 

[Deaj]

I dig the Fralin Unbucker alot! The Duncan Seth Lover's are also very nice.

 

[dosmun]

theres no way in hell my 59s sound like anything other than the opposite of mud..... i love them.....any "less" muddy(brighter?) and theyd sound like trebly crap...


try the 59s....


-j

Just my experience. I liked the Duncan and thought it had a pretty clear sound until I tried the Genesis. The Browney is far from being too bright but it does have more clarity than the 59. I guess it comes down to your rig as well, everyones guitar and amp will react differently. There is nothing wrong with the Duncan 59 and is also a reasonably priced pu as well. The Browney actually sounded really close to an old PAF T-top that a friend of mine has in his LP.

 

[MarkWorth]

Sorry Spydog - You are correct, and I should have noted that exception.


I was referring to the newer Fenders that apparently are for those players who think a Tele or a Strat looks cool, but want that humbucker sound. I guess I am just a purist...


:AOK

ok, yeah. i totally agree with you on that...


and just to note, its just been MY experience to say that the browney does NOT have more clarity than the '59. not in my experiences...


thus, i say just try 'em both!:angel

 

[phoenix 7]

I like my Voodoo 59's a lot -- especially for overdriven sounds.

For clean sounds I like my Fralin Humbuckers best. Extremey fat, detailed and musical. I think the Voodoos beat the Fralins for overdriven tones.

 

[ButchR]

I like Rolph's for my PAF'ish tone. The '58's are the one!

 

[fast ricky love]

I like Rolph's for my PAF'ish tone. The '58's are the one!

Word!!!!

 

[drbob1]

Surprisingly, PAFs tend to be fairly low output humbuckers, and both bright and warm at the same time (how do they do that?). It's a hard act to follow. I always thought that the stock Duncan offerings tended to be too high output and a little generic sounding, but I've compared several guitars with the Seth Lovers in them to PAFs and been favorably impressed.

I love those Fender 'buckers from the 70s. Being designed by Seth Lover, they sound very similar to a good PAF. I think the Thinline, with the little bit of air it adds, is the best of the humbucker equipped Fenders (although the Tele Deluxe and Starcaster are a little more flexible with the 4 knobs).

 

[Matt Gordon]

Surprisingly, PAFs tend to be fairly low output humbuckers, and both bright and warm at the same time (how do they do that?). It's a hard act to follow. I always thought that the stock Duncan offerings tended to be too high output and a little generic sounding, but I've compared several guitars with the Seth Lovers in them to PAFs and been favorably impressed.

I love those Fender 'buckers from the 70s. Being designed by Seth Lover, they sound very similar to a good PAF. I think the Thinline, with the little bit of air it adds, is the best of the humbucker equipped Fenders (although the Tele Deluxe and Starcaster are a little more flexible with the 4 knobs).

I once played with a singer who had a black Telecaster Custom with those PU's in the neck position. Fantastic sounding guitar. You could easily go from chicken picking country to smokey jazz/blues with a flick of the toggle. Tried like _ell to buy it, but he knew he had a great guitar!

 

[Cary Chilton]

SEymour's can be generic like so many Gibson pups if you are spending a generic dollar sum

Buy an antiquity, seth anniversay or EVH pup, pricy but as real as if you had a TIME machine and got some.

 

[bgmacaw]

I like the SD Seth Lover. The only problem with it is that it will feedback easily if you go high gain since it is unpotted. I've recently found out how great this pickup sounds in a semi hollow.

 

[jj4guitar]

Duncan Antiquity, Fralin Unbucker, or a Tom Holmes Bridge all sound good to my ears. Holmes being the most authentic, duncan has the most character, and the unbucker has the most clarity and bandwidth in my opinion. Depends on what you are going for, and style of music. My 2 cents.

JJ

 

[Dale]

Seth Lover