No two original PAFs sounded alike, so rather than claim one “accurate” PAF, I make three voices. Below: where they differ, what each sounds like through the same rig, and which I’d fit in your guitar.
Same bobbins, wire, magnets and covers in all three. Only the winding changes, and that is what you’re hearing.
Shared by all three: 42 AWG plain-enamel wire, butyrate bobbins, UK sand-cast Alnico II, nickel silver covers, unpotted. Typical measurements, inductance at 1 kHz. Why list inductance?
“The ’57s are the clearest but still sing, whilst the ’58s have a bit more body. Both are equally good.”
Neil P., owns both sets, in Les Pauls
Custom Shop ’58 reissue Les Paul, plexi-style amp, same mic, same settings. Only the pickups change.
1. Pick a clip
2. Tap a set
The clips are raw and not level-matched, so what you hear includes the output difference. The ’60 and PG were recorded on a different rig, so they’re not in this player.
Most people who email me describe the guitar and what they want to change. These are the three answers I give most.
A sweet bridge that never turns sharp and a woody neck that stays clear. It’s the set put up against original PAFs on The Doug & Pat Show.
The ’57 keeps low chords tight with every string audible, even with dirt on. The ’58 bridge keeps its sweetness, so the top never turns sharp.
The ’59 bridge brings thicker mids and smoother highs, with the woody ’58 neck alongside it.
A mixed pair costs the same as a set. Something else going on? Tell me about the guitar and I’ll reply myself.
Neither is a more-or-less version of the three above. Each has its own character.
Fast pick attack, assertive highs and a tight, punchy low end.
Hollow, vocal out-of-phase blues character with woody honk. A reversed neck magnet and a heavy-formvar rewound screw coil, as on the original.
Original PAFs came off different winding machines, and each machine shaped the sound. Our patterns are modelled on three of them: early limited-traverse, the Leesona 102 and the slug-coil winder. Used in different combinations, they give the ’57, ’58 and ’59 their voices.
Every coil is wound on a programmed winder, so your set follows the same pattern, to the same tolerances, as the sets in the clips. Each one is measured and logged before it ships, with a certificate in the box.
Nickel silver, in the original’s profile and dimensions, with no brass or copper plating to dull the top end.
42 AWG plain-enamel wire, butyrate bobbins, maple spacers, low-carbon steel screws and slugs, and UK sand-cast Alnico. Unpotted, like the originals.
You have 30 days to fit them and play them. If the voice isn’t right for your guitar, send them back for a refund or a swap to another model. The leads must be left uncut. Full returns conditions
All three. Under gain they’re different flavours rather than different capabilities: the ’57 stays the most defined, the ’58 growls, and the ’59 sings.
Yes. Each model is sold as a single neck or bridge at exactly half the set price, so any pair costs the same as a set. Pick Neck or Bridge on the product page.
If you’re keeping a pickup from another maker, the magnet polarity may not match ours, and the middle position can end up thin and out of phase. Tell me what’s staying in and I’ll check before you order.
Long legs come as standard and suit deep routes: Les Paul, SG, ES-335 and other semi-hollows, Explorer, Flying V.
Short legs suit shallower routes: PRS, humbucker-routed Strats and Teles, many Ibanez and Schecter models, some Epiphones. Ask for short legs in the order notes. Not sure which you need? Look at the legs on the pickups you’re taking out, or send me the guitar model.
Unpotted is how the originals were made, and it’s what keeps the response open. I put a couple of small drops of silicone gasket under the cover so it can’t rattle. At very high gain, extreme stage volume, or right in front of the amp, any unpotted pickup can feed back. Normal gig and studio levels are fine.
“It also remains squeal free when played at volume.” Steven I., ’57 neck in a semi-hollow
Vintage braided is the original single-conductor lead, for standard humbucker wiring. 4-conductor lets you split coils, flip phase, or wire series/parallel. Same pickup either way.
A little. When the strings move, small eddy currents flow in any metal cover and turn a touch of the treble into heat, which gently rounds off the very top end. Our covers are nickel silver, as on the originals. It conducts far less than brass, so the effect stays small. Brass covers, and the copper layer often plated under a cover’s finish, soften it more. Open bobbins skip the cover altogether, for a slightly brighter, more immediate top end. Covers come in nickel or gold; open bobbins in black, cream, vintage white or zebra.
DC resistance mostly reflects how much wire is on the coil, and the reading shifts with wire gauge and even a warmer room. Two pickups with the same reading can sound quite different. Inductance is a better guide. Higher inductance generally means more output, and it also lowers the pickup’s resonant peak, for a warmer, rounder top end. Every Olemy page lists both figures, measured at 1 kHz..
The pickups, mounting screws and springs, and a certificate with your set’s measured figures.
Tell me the guitar, what’s in it, your amp and what you want to change. I’ll reply myself, usually within a day, with the set I’d choose. No mailing list, just an answer.
Or the specialist voices: ’60 PAF or PG PAF
