Please note these are priced per pickup. Please allow one working day for cover installation and ageing, if applicable for your order, before despatch.
A design from the brain behind Alegree pickups. We bring the most vintage accurate PAF designs and parts together to introduce the market's most affordable authentic vintage replica PAFs. Using intelligent design and state of the art technology to duplicate quality parts, we've managed to make a premium quality item at a wallet friendly price point.
The issue with replicating any PAFs is that there really was very little quality control and rigid guidelines on how they were initially made. They varied dramatically. All we can do is use duplicates of the parts that were used in every single one and have a variety of designs within the typical parameters that they would fall into. PAFs would normally come in between 6.5k-8.5k resistance of 42 AWG plain enamel wire. We're using premium made in the USA plain enamel wire here, just like the originals.
The real problem with nailing down the exact PAF tone that you're after is the magnet type. Gibson used whatever grade of alnico they could get their hands on! Rumour has it that alnico 4 has been most commonly used in the PAFs of the 50s, but Gibson would often use 2, 3, 4 or 5 interchangeably.
The magnet grade has a significant effect on the tone of the pickup, as each grade has a different magnetic strength at full saturation. Alnico 3 is the weakest, followed by 2, 4, then 5. Weaker magnets make the treble softer, the bass looser, and the mids more present. On the other end of the scale is alnico 5, with the sharpest treble, scooped mids, and tight bass.
As all of these pickups are wound with the same wire, we can compare them directly by resistance. Lower resistance makes the pickup weaker, brighter and clearer. The higher the resistance, the more mids, compression and push it will have.
These pickups are made with 49.2mm butyrate bobbins, single conductor braided output leads, and long legged baseplates - just like original PAFs. They can be used in either neck or bridge position. They are wax potted, unlike the originals, to prevent microphonic squeal with modern high gain and high volume use.