• Guys, we've spent considerable money converting the Les Paul Forum to this new XenForo platform, and we have ongoing monthly operating expenses. THE "DONATIONS" TAB IS NOW WORKING, AND WE WOULD APPRECIATE ANY DONATIONS YOU CAN MAKE TO KEEP THE LES PAUL FORUM GOING! Thank you!

Stephens design pickups versus throwbaks?

jackdonovan

Member
Joined
Mar 18, 2003
Messages
705
Happy new year everybody!

A question … can anybody tell me how Stephens design pickups compare with the throbak PAF offerings?

Just to get opinions on players that have tried out both.
 

m bernardi

Active member
Joined
Jul 17, 2002
Messages
534
I have both. both are great pickups. I have 1or 2 of most of the big names and reel paf's. no one can really tell you what's best for your ear and guitar! you need yo talk to SD and TB and tell them what tone your going for!!! I've had so&so's pick in one guitar sounded ok put it in another guitar it was great!!!!! buy used if need be and experiment.
 

duaneflowers

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 13, 2013
Messages
2,522
I have 3 sets of Stephens Designs and 1 set of Throwbacks... the SDs are superior in absolutely every way... when dealing with both companies you have to look beyond the incessant chest thumping, marketing hype, and non-stop political ranting in the case of SD, but when the dust settles SDs, IMHO, come closest to sounding, feeling and playing like the PAFs they emulate. Wizz, OTOH, blows them both away... :spabout

81447037_10220180778886267_4987771694375501824_n.jpg
 

duaneflowers

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 13, 2013
Messages
2,522
Just an FYI, Duaneflowers has a history as a forum troll when it comes to ThroBak.

Just FYI... throwback is one of the most dishonest companies I've had the displeasure of dealing with... and I'm really surprised you didn't use the word vintage in your post... you don't seem to know what it means and throw that word around like its candy... buyer beware... :salude
 

jwalker

Les Paul Forum Sponsor
Joined
Dec 10, 2004
Messages
2,592
I told you he was a troll. :troll:troll

A little searching makes it real easy to establish who is honest and who is dishonest. That is the great thing about the internet.

Just listen to honest opinions about tone as well as clips on youtube to make a decision. Hyperbole and personal attacks I would ignore.:salude
 

duaneflowers

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 13, 2013
Messages
2,522
I told you he was a troll. :troll:troll

A little searching makes it real easy to establish who is honest and who is dishonest. That is the great thing about the internet.

Just listen to honest opinions about tone as well as clips on youtube to make a decision. Hyperbole and personal attacks I would ignore.:salude

You mean personal attacks like calling me a troll? Are those the ones to be ignored?

I gave my honest opinion... and there are countless others who agree with me... just check the Internet!!! You are the one that responded with your usual misplaced and snarky attitude...

You think that since you are a vendor here you can say what you like without repercussions... and this is the only site where that may be true... have a look at ALL of the other forums to find out what people really think of you and your over-hyped pickups... buyer beware!!! :salude
 

jwalker

Les Paul Forum Sponsor
Joined
Dec 10, 2004
Messages
2,592
you seriously need to seek some help about that self-aggrandizing God complex... find yourself a therapist with a vintage couch for you... I hear they work better... :spabout

Honestly I find this sad.

Let the OP have his thread now.
 

duaneflowers

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 13, 2013
Messages
2,522
Honestly I find this sad.

unlikely... if it were so you wouldn't feel the need to vehemently attack anyone who voices their honest opinion about your company... get over yourself...

at any rate I have much better things to do than waste my time on the likes of you... :salude
 

jwalker

Les Paul Forum Sponsor
Joined
Dec 10, 2004
Messages
2,592
unlikely... if it were so you wouldn't feel the need to vehemently attack anyone who voices their honest opinion about your company... get over yourself...

at any rate I have much better things to do than waste my time on the likes of you... :salude

Oh hell. I have been sucked in again.

By all means everyone should search ThroBak. Search ThroBak on forums, the internet, Youtube, magazines, blogs. You will find lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of happy customers. 2019 was our best year ever. Gross sales were just under $500k. This is not a lot for the big guys but for a small business like mine it has allowed me to offer healthcare and a 401k to employees. You don’t build a successful business by alienating customers. You do it by offering great products and great service which is what ThroBak has always done. However I have been in business long enough to realize there are some people I cannot do business with. I can count those people on one hand and Duaneflowers long ago earned the distinction of occupying one of those fingers.
 
Last edited:

duaneflowers

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 13, 2013
Messages
2,522
However I have been in business long enough to realize there are some people I cannot do business with. I can count those people on one hand and Duaneflowers long ago earned the distinction of occupying one of those fingers.

I retain a finger for you as well my friend... :salude
 

jwalker

Les Paul Forum Sponsor
Joined
Dec 10, 2004
Messages
2,592
I retain a finger for you as well my friend... :salude

Sounds like you need to do one of your Reikee Attunements in the video below. The level of inconguence with this video and your forum persona reminds me of another guy who used to email me anonymous, late night, drunken, profanity laced emails telling me ThroBak pickups were crap and I didn’t not know what the hell I was doing. I searched his email on google and it turned up that he owned the url sundayschoolathome.com. :hee

https://youtu.be/3AL9c2VTI8w
 
Last edited:

latestarter

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 9, 2009
Messages
4,173
I have both. I like both. I’ve also had Ox4, Seymours, Zhangs, etc etc and own PAF loaded guitars in original configuration (as in factory loaded). I have not tried Wizz to date but will be in a routed ‘64 Firebird project.

I have a possible preference for my Throback 101+. All guitars I refer to are R9’s. The TB’s are a little more full in their tone profile which suits my playing. The SDs are great too - def lower output and more like a lower wind. They are brighter too, just like some PAFs. But there are too many inputs to be definitive. Both are excellent on their own merits, and will also return different results in different guitars.

Duane, you do Wizz a disservice with your constant non-objective preaching. You’re also rude. Show some class.
 

jwalker

Les Paul Forum Sponsor
Joined
Dec 10, 2004
Messages
2,592
Jeez, I just searched Duane Flowers on YouTube and it turned up 5 videos Duane did for Wizz, posted to the Wizz youtube channel. Clearly Duane is a fan of Wizz but at least be straight that you are shilling if you are going push Wizz pickups on a thread unrelated to Wizz.
 

Garincha

Member
Joined
Dec 25, 2005
Messages
385
Wizz, OTOH, blows them both away... :spabout

I thought he wasn't asking for Wizz's but for Stephens vs. Throbak.

But if you really must bring other makers PUs, I would advice anybody to visit the Doug and Pat Show and search for "chasing oscar". Unfortunately they don't feature SDs, but they do have Throbaks, Wizz and many other boutique winders offerings. There is a separate audio-file for every PU they tested. I downloaded all files and loaded them in my DAW (Cubase in my case) so I could switch between them on the fly and compare them. I found the sound differences pretty interesting as they show the different interpretation of "PAF sound" by the winders. It is also interesting to compare that Oscar (a '57 Goldtop) to the '60 Burst. Both are more different from each other than I'd have expected.

Anyway, for my taste regarding PAFs there were only two pickups of the whole bunch that fell short compared with the others and that were the Custombuckers and the Wizz. The Wizz was so far from sounding like a PAF in that test guitar that I even though it could be broken or not properly installed. In that incarnation that pickup certainly doesn't blow any other makers PU away...

YMMV of course.

After listening to those files for days I opted for Throbak KZ-115 A2 neck and A4 bridge. I was shooting for a very special burst-sound not unlike Oscar and I found the Throbak 115 to be the closest to Oscar and the 58 burst from Germany I was chasing.
 

RocknRollShakeUp

Active member
Joined
Jul 7, 2006
Messages
766
Forgive the possibly terrible description, but which Throbak set gives a lower wind, bright, dry and chimey “tele on steroids” type of tone? Danke Schoen!
 
Top