The PAF tone and feel

  • What are in your experience the PUs that best represent the classic '57 PAF sound?
    I've been told that the PUs that currently equip the LPs are more modern and basically different.

    OTOH, original PAFs from the '60s are very expensive and those from the '90s seem to be the worst in terms of manufacturing (or so I've gathered).

    What would you look at for a real '57 LP's tone and feel nowadays?


    Thanks :)

    Still chasing a worthy one :/

    Edited once, last by pippopluto ().

  • The original PAF pickups did not all sound the same, so, there is not one definitive PAF sound.


    From my experience, the Seymour Duncan '59 and Dimarzio PAF pickups sound to me like the early Patent Number pickups that were in my 1962 ES=335, and also the pickups in my 1973 Les Paul Custom. A more expensive option that also sounded the same to me was the Lindy Fralin Pure P. A. F.

  • I've got the EMG 57/66 combo and it's said it's the active humbuckerfeel having the passive PAF-ish sound.
    But then, if there are so many variations of the PAF sound, what are the characteristics of the PAF sound in general?

  • I have some wound by a guy who has a few Pafs he bases his on. They are great. They have that growl and sweetness that I love in paf pickups. The best I have ever tried in 20 something years. He doesn't have a buisness yet, he winds for a few people here and there, word of mouth although he is thinking about offering them in small batches soon through a website, his price is good but I don't know what he will sell them for when he offers them. Has done some work for some notable artists. I got his email from someone respectable and took a chance. Now, pretty much all my guitars have his pickups. Remember his name Polar Llera. He's from Florida.

  • Thanks everyone for your opinions :)


    I have some wound by a guy who has a few Pafs he bases his on. They are great. They have that growl and sweetness that I love in paf pickups. The best I have ever tried in 20 something years. He doesn't have a buisness yet, he winds for a few people here and there, word of mouth although he is thinking about offering them in small batches soon through a website, his price is good but I don't know what he will sell them for when he offers them. Has done some work for some notable artists. I got his email from someone respectable and took a chance. Now, pretty much all my guitars have his pickups. Remember his name Polar Llera. He's from Florida.

    Thanks BB, but I am not sure what to do with this piece of information :D


    if there are so many variations of the PAF sound, what are the characteristics of the PAF sound in general?

    Yep, it would of course be quite hard to determine "the" PAF sound. I believe tho that LPs from 1957 have something in common (granted, lutherie matters as well).

    Quite weak as a hint, but better than nothing :)

    Still chasing a worthy one :/

  • Lol. Sorry, I am just impressed with his work and rattle off my head. Lol. They sound great and the prices were right. Lol. I sent him an email to see if I can post his contact info.

  • A friend of mine who knows vintage guitars fairly well A/B'd some original Gibson, late 50s PAFs with the Dimarzio 36th Anniversary set and thought they were very similar if not spot on. I have them in my '80 Les Paul. I like them. I dislike high output pickups if that makes a difference.

    The key to everything is patience.
    You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it.
    -- Arnold H. Glasow


    If it doesn't produce results, don't do it.

    -- Me

  • I’ve never owned an actual Gibson guitar, let alone one of the holy grail ones associated this this tone so please take the following with a pinch of salt; if you decide to google these, others seem impressed by the pickups I’m about to mention and maybe some of them have actually experienced the originals :)


    With that in mind, I have a PRS Stripped ‘58 which has the PRS 57/08 pickups in it. If you read up on them, there’s lots of mojo speak for why they capture the spirit of back then. Apparently made on an ancient machine from wire that is actually wood from earth’s first tree as opposed to metal, magnets made from Jack Sparrow’s compass and wound by a blind milkmaid who (legend has it) has actually met Robert Johnson.


    I have no idea of the accuracy or truth of the matter but I can say that I wouldn’t dream of swapping these out - whatever they did to make them they are glorious and, for me, that’s what matters. I believe they sell these pickups for a small fortune but you occasionally see them come up on eBay; they’re very low output (which they should be) and some folks just don’t want that.

  • Wizz pups. I have 'em and love 'em. Amazing pickups.

    I have pretty much all of the ones mentioned (and several dozen or so more) and IMHO Wizz are indeed the very best. IF you can find a vintage 50s wire Wizz set you will have the closest thing possible to an original PAF. The vintage wire sets are quite difficult to come by though. My second favorites are OTPG (Over The Pond Guy) which are pretty much as difficult to get as old wire Wizzes... both do pop up from time to time though if you keep an eye out for them.

    The older I get, the better I was.