Churchhill
Inspired
I'm looking for new pickups for three or four of my guitars and am looking for input from anyone who has tried any of the following. What I'm wanting is a PAF replica or clone that is (mostly) historically accurate in materials and construction, and most importantly gets those great PAF tones. I'd like to find slightly different sounds, each along the same lines, for each of these.
If you have any first-hand experience with any of these, please vote (for up to four) and reply with your experiences, good and bad. Please let me know what you thought of the pickups and, if you've had more than one, how they compared against the other(s) of these sets that you've had.
Also, I could only fit so many on this list. So, if there are any other winders that make really good PAF clones, please let me know. (I've looked at probably 40 additional winders that, for whatever reason, just didn't catch my ear, probably 2000 more than I haven't found, so all suggestions are welcome and I'll take a or another look, even if I already have in the past.)
What I'm looking for is something that I don't already have, that extra 5% of quality if such a thing exists in this case. One tone I'd like to be able to get close to is Jimmy Page on Tea for One from Presence; I don't want to sound like him, just more in the ballpark than I am now. That middle position haunts me...
What the guitars are and what they sound like when not plugged-in and played acoustically:
Here's a list of other PAF-type pickups I've tried (not necessarily in the above guitars and not in any specific order) and liked:
If you have any first-hand experience with any of these, please vote (for up to four) and reply with your experiences, good and bad. Please let me know what you thought of the pickups and, if you've had more than one, how they compared against the other(s) of these sets that you've had.
Also, I could only fit so many on this list. So, if there are any other winders that make really good PAF clones, please let me know. (I've looked at probably 40 additional winders that, for whatever reason, just didn't catch my ear, probably 2000 more than I haven't found, so all suggestions are welcome and I'll take a or another look, even if I already have in the past.)
What I'm looking for is something that I don't already have, that extra 5% of quality if such a thing exists in this case. One tone I'd like to be able to get close to is Jimmy Page on Tea for One from Presence; I don't want to sound like him, just more in the ballpark than I am now. That middle position haunts me...
What the guitars are and what they sound like when not plugged-in and played acoustically:
- Gibson ES-355 - Sounds great, well balanced, almost scooped.
- Gibson ES-347 - Great sound, little on the bright side, but strong bass, too, probably from the maple neck.
- Gibson Les Paul Custom - As with the 347, this one is a little bright, another with a maple neck.
- (maybe) Gibson Les Paul Standard - little on the darker side, but still very much a Les Paul
Here's a list of other PAF-type pickups I've tried (not necessarily in the above guitars and not in any specific order) and liked:
- Gibson Custombucker - unpotted A3, 7.9k
- Gibson MHS - unpotted A2, 7.8k
- Gibson Burstbucker - unpotted A2, 7.8k
- BKP Stormy Monday - unpotted A2, 7.9k
- BKP The Mule - unpotted A4, 8.4k
- BKP Riff Raff - unpotted A5, 8.3k
- Seymour Duncan Antiquity - unpotted A2, 7.5k
- (didn't care for much) Gibson '57 Classic - potted A2, 7.7
- https://www.throbak.com/paf-pickups.html
- https://re-wind.net/Buckers.html
- https://www.ronellispickups.com/collections/humbuckers
- http://sdpickups.com/humbuckers.shtml
- https://www.gibson.com/en-US/pickupshop
- https://www.arcaneinc.com/humbuckers
- https://www.kleinpickups.com/c-21-humbucker-paf-pickups.aspx
- https://www.manliusguitar.com/collections/humbuckers
- https://sigilpickups.store/
- https://www.vineham.com/humbucker_pickups.html
- https://www.wolfetone.com/product-category/humbuckers/
- https://shedpickups.co.uk/collections/electric-guitar-humbucker-pickups
- https://www.bareknucklepickups.co.uk/pickups/humbucker
- https://www.fralinpickups.com/product-category/guitar-pickups/humbuckers/traditional-humbuckers/
- https://www.lollarguitars.com/lollar-humbucker-pickups
- https://www.seymourduncan.com/single-product/antiquity-humbucker
- https://www.montysguitars.com/en-us/collections/humbucker
- https://ox4pickups.co.uk/product/ox4-humbucker/
- https://www.wizz-pickups.net/product-page/wizz-premium-clone-paf-pickup-set