Which PAFs??

strat84

Hi guys,

 I'm looking at upgrading the pickups in my Les Paul standard (490/498 I believe). The Bridge isn't bad but I find when setting the amp up for a tone I like on the bridge, the neck can be a bit muddy and not open sounding. I play mostly clean/edge of breakup stuff through Blackface style Fender amps, I sometimes use a Barber LTD or TS for mild-medium overdrive, nothing too heavy.

I have BK Flat 50s in my Tele which I love so I've been looking at the vintage range of BKs for my Les Paul. I like the idea of the PG Blues but I'm not that keen on Peter Green's out of phase tone, I much prefer his live neck pickups tones and Danny Kirwan's bridge ( Boston Tea Party for example ). Then there's the Stormy Mondays, Mules, Riff Raffs, Potted/Unpotted, 2/4 conductor, 550k pots, new capacitors??.. From what I've read the Stormy Mondays sound like they would have a fantastic clean sound but maybe lacking when it comes to OD.. on the other hand the Mules sound like they are a great all rounder so that might be the way to go..

 Has anyone got any experience with the BK vintage humbuckers? Thanks for any help! 

 

 

mike_l

Try the Pearly Gates set. Lovely sweet sounding P/ups.


I had them in my Jackson for a while. I only got rid as hotter P/ups suit me better.

mr-mac

Deacci... Great price for something that's as close to a real paf as you'll get.. Choice of covers inc nickel, nickel backing plate, even makes his own slugs cos off shelf ones were never the same batch to batch so he ordered a big lump of metal made to his fact spec to make his slugs from.  He developed his own winding system and is also an experienced hand winder of some repute.  He developed the system to get sound of his very best hand wounds but repeatable.  He can even tweak the recipe to your request.  You want to know how good they are, a friend of Gary Moore reckons his greenfaze are closest he's ever heard to the real greeny les Paul which he has played at length thank me later

My set from deacci are customized.  Based on his Lp-zero which are the most accurate PAF copies.  I asked for out of phase magnet and as my maison 335 copy is solid maple with mahogany tone block (not laminate) it's a little less resonant/cooler than real 335 so asked him to tweak winding to add a little warmth.  Results are just what I wanted 

mr-mac

The peter green mention was just to show how good they are as he does a selection of in phase too sure he could even do greeny set in phase if that's sound you want or a pg neck and paf bridge . Can also tell you stormy Mondays sound superb overdriven as guy at out band jam had a set through my gsp1101

stimpsonslostson

The standard answer is "chat to Ash at OilCity or Marc at Mojo". They'll do something to match what you're looking for. 
I've yet to hear a bad word about the products of either. 

simonk

I've been through loads and have ended up settling for various Oil City's - love 'em. For the Peter Green thing I like Shed Supernatural's the best.

mr-mac

My mistake guy at jam has bare knuckle mule in neck and wolftone dr vintage in bridge.  He's a very experienced blues band player who has tweaked and adjusted his LP in pursuit of best tone possible and his guitar a great gainey blues sound and can tell you his pickup combo in his les Paul custom sound totally epic.  Personally my choice is deacci but you would be over moon with mule or mule/dr vintage combo.  That combo like my deacci respond amazingly to volume control or a light touch allowing you to clean up sound for non solo bits dead easy if needed. 

his recipe is 550k bare knuckle pots, BK mule bridge, wolftone dr vintage neck, and has changed his tailpiece to an aluminium one.  Again it's another route I can guarantee won't dissapoint if you want a PAF sound, blues gain.

rlw

I have just got back my Sheraton with Stormy Mondays fitted to it.  Clean tones are to die for and the overdriven tones sound fantastic -  think 335/Vox AC30 - while the airiness and subtlety are remarkable.  All compared to the original Epi pickups which weren't actually bad.  Probably the best £100 (secondhand) I've spent on guitars.

kossofffan

Monty's ?

strat84

This is great info guys thank you for the fast responses! 

 Oil City + Deacci sound very interesting 

 I'll take a look into all these suggestions thanks again!.. More choice :-( ;-D

 

not_the_dj

Oil City Blitz Spirits are great. I've got those in a Les Paul Smartwood replacing the 490/498 combination.  

mr-mac

strat84 said:

This is great info guys thank you for the fast responses! 

 Oil City + Deacci sound very interesting 

 I'll take a look into all these suggestions thanks again!.. More choice :-( ;-D

 

Speak to Declan from deacci about what you want and see what he recommends and have a think about what you want and if you think your guitar is cooler/warmer than ones your trying to emulate.  It's all info you can feed into process (can maybe present same info to mojo and oil city and see what sort of responses you get from all of them).  deacci have email, he's on here and responds quickly to messages to him on Facebook page and I am sure you won't believe the price for a pair of this quality.  Full money back promise too . Had my set made to my spec and out to me in under a week

John_A

mr-mac said:

Deacci... Great price for something that's as close to a real paf as you'll get.. Choice of covers inc nickel, nickel backing plate, even makes his own slugs cos off shelf ones were never the same batch to batch so he ordered a big lump of metal made to his fact spec to make his slugs from.  He developed his own winding system and is also an experienced hand winder of some repute.  He developed the system to get sound of his very best hand wounds but repeatable.  He can even tweak the recipe to your request.  You want to know how good they are, a friend of Gary Moore reckons his greenfaze are closest he's ever heard to the real greeny les Paul which he has played at length thank me later

My set from deacci are customized.  Based on his Lp-zero which are the most accurate PAF copies.  I asked for out of phase magnet and as my maison 335 copy is solid maple with mahogany tone block (not laminate) it's a little less resonant/cooler than real 335 so asked him to tweak winding to add a little warmth.  Results are just what I wanted 

My number one pickups too, there are lots to of others that are great too, but Deacci's are my favourites, and the service excellent.  A good PAF should sound sweet when played clean, Daicci P zeros, BK Stormy Mondays and Greco Dry Z (£500 a pair if you can find some) all do that and that translates into a great classic rock sound, mules are nice but hotter than a typical PAF.

Ossyrocks

I have Mules in my LP, along with BK Superpots and Luxe Bees.

I really like those pickups, and prefer them over the Sheptones and Custombuckers I have had. I think I just like Alnico IV's.

Rob

mr-mac

John_A said:

mr-mac said:

Deacci... Great price for something that's as close to a real paf as you'll get.. Choice of covers inc nickel, nickel backing plate, even makes his own slugs cos off shelf ones were never the same batch to batch so he ordered a big lump of metal made to his fact spec to make his slugs from.  He developed his own winding system and is also an experienced hand winder of some repute.  He developed the system to get sound of his very best hand wounds but repeatable.  He can even tweak the recipe to your request.  You want to know how good they are, a friend of Gary Moore reckons his greenfaze are closest he's ever heard to the real greeny les Paul which he has played at length thank me later

My set from deacci are customized.  Based on his Lp-zero which are the most accurate PAF copies.  I asked for out of phase magnet and as my maison 335 copy is solid maple with mahogany tone block (not laminate) it's a little less resonant/cooler than real 335 so asked him to tweak winding to add a little warmth.  Results are just what I wanted 

My number one pickups too, there are lots to of others that are great too, but Deacci's are my favourites, and the service excellent

You ain't joking.. Service is beyond belief.. And when you consider I probs paid similar/less than I would have for a large manufacturers machine made pair off the shelf for a custom specified set it's nothing short of astounding

strat84

Damn, some mules just sold on here ..

 Is there a big difference after upgrading pots/caps? 

mr-mac

Depends what was in there in first place my maison came from factory with 500k and 50's style etc so wasn't a huge difference just an improvement.  If you have 300k pots from factory difference can be like taking covers off humbuckers.  cap type I think makes a difference but it's not Hugh night and day, just very slight changes.  If I was spending money on faithful paf copies though I'd e popping in the loom style they were designed to use with 500k minimum pots etc and may as well have good jack socket and switch while at it

rash

Mules are my favorite out of the few I have owned, they have a bit more mid push and are a bit hotter than other Paf replicas. They do get criticism for not being a true Paf clone because of the extra push, but I love the way they sound.

xscaramanga

I have BK Mules in one Les Paul and Riff Raffs in another. I like both but prefer the Mules. The Riff Raffs have a huge amount of bite. I chose them because the guitar used to sound muddy and I thought the guitar needed extra bright pickups to compensate. Actually I think the stock pickups were just dull and I might try Stormy Mondays instead.

I'd recommend Riff Raffs if a Les Paul is very dark acoustically. Otherwise I love the Mules for just about any style. But I'm sure the Stormy Mondays would be great too, including under gain. Although BK's Tim Mills is not a huge fan of Alnico II for rock, lots of big name rock players are. Slash uses very low output Alnico II humbuckers. 

If you want the PG tone without being out of phase, Stormy Mondays would be the closest in the range.

Disclosure: I am a Bare Knuckle artist. Other pickup brands exist.

strat84

To be honest I'm not sure what pots it has at the moment.. I certainly have enough high end on tap if I want it, especially going through a Deluxe Reverb. It's just finding a balance between both is the problem and I think the tone could be improved on each individual pickup, I actually quite like the middle position though ;-)

 If it was BKs it would definitely be the SM, Mules or PGs.. or even a mix? @jonnyscaramanga yes this would be ideal, a PG set without the OOP ;-)

slacker

I got some Lollar Imperials fitted in my Les Paul Classic simply because they were in stock. IMHO if you want the low ouput PAF sound any of the makers with an OCD type dedication to making them will get you there. Oh and 500k pots with vintage wiring.