Albert
Member
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2003
- Messages
- 58
I recently acquired a pair of Monty's Original PAFs, made in England. Having watched this video
in which Tim Pierce demonstrated these pickups in his Joe Bonomassa ES-335, I decided to try them in my 2010 50th Anniversary ES-335, which (presumably) like the JB, originally had '57 Classics. I didn't care for the VOS appearance or the shape of the '57 covers. Their sound was OK, but I wanted to see if it could be bettered.
The Montys measured very close to spec, which is unusual in my experience with most other pickup makers--7.6k B (A2 magnet) and 7.2k N (A5 magnet). Yes, that's correct--Monty prefers the A5 for the neck in these and his underwound version. He created this set based on his experience examining original PAFs, trying to replicate the sound of what he considered the best-sounding PAFs. I mounted the Montys higher than I had the '57 Classics, which measured about 7.9k.
I recorded myself playing some guitar parts from the Blind Faith album, for which Eric Clapton used his 1964 ES-335, presumably containing Pat. No. pickups. I recorded the 335 with its original pickups and with the Montys, using the same set of new strings. I also recorded my 1966 ES-335, which has the same type of strings, but a year old. I used the same amp model, and adjusted it a bit for the Montys to match the record as closely as possible. So unlike many more casual pickup comparisons, I carefully controlled the variables in this experiment.
The results--I got closer to the record with the Montys than the '57 Classics. The 1966 was a close second; I couldn't identify it vs. the Monty 335 except from variations in my playing, which I remembered. The 1966, which has a Gotoh bridge with thicker posts than the ABR-1's and a stopbar tailpiece, has better sustain than the 2010 ES-335, a difference which others on this forum have noted when comparing Golden Era semihollows with modern ones. The '66 weighs about 12 oz. more than the '60 RI, partly due to its having Schaller tuners vs. the Klusons on the '60 RI. The '60 is unusual for modern 335s in having no major routing in the center block under the bridge pickup--just a small hole on the side through which the pickup leads pass. It also has a good neck angle, allowing the bridge to be positioned fairly close to the body, although not as close as many early '60s 335s which have the thumbwheels almost touching the body.
As Tim Pierce reported, the Montys are a great choice for a semihollow. I'm not sure whether I'd like them as much in a Les Paul, for which I like pickups with higher resistances. They were certainly not night-and-day different from the '57s in tone--just more clear and transparent. Also, the Montys cleaned up correctly when reducing the guitar's volume a little. This wasn't the case with the A5 Throbak and Wizz pickups I've used in my Les Pauls. So Monty's gets a nod for superior quality control or something; I've not figured out why the other (more expensive) boutique pickups don't clean up properly. I plan to try replacing the A5 magnets in them with an A4 and see if that helps.
The Montys measured very close to spec, which is unusual in my experience with most other pickup makers--7.6k B (A2 magnet) and 7.2k N (A5 magnet). Yes, that's correct--Monty prefers the A5 for the neck in these and his underwound version. He created this set based on his experience examining original PAFs, trying to replicate the sound of what he considered the best-sounding PAFs. I mounted the Montys higher than I had the '57 Classics, which measured about 7.9k.
I recorded myself playing some guitar parts from the Blind Faith album, for which Eric Clapton used his 1964 ES-335, presumably containing Pat. No. pickups. I recorded the 335 with its original pickups and with the Montys, using the same set of new strings. I also recorded my 1966 ES-335, which has the same type of strings, but a year old. I used the same amp model, and adjusted it a bit for the Montys to match the record as closely as possible. So unlike many more casual pickup comparisons, I carefully controlled the variables in this experiment.
The results--I got closer to the record with the Montys than the '57 Classics. The 1966 was a close second; I couldn't identify it vs. the Monty 335 except from variations in my playing, which I remembered. The 1966, which has a Gotoh bridge with thicker posts than the ABR-1's and a stopbar tailpiece, has better sustain than the 2010 ES-335, a difference which others on this forum have noted when comparing Golden Era semihollows with modern ones. The '66 weighs about 12 oz. more than the '60 RI, partly due to its having Schaller tuners vs. the Klusons on the '60 RI. The '60 is unusual for modern 335s in having no major routing in the center block under the bridge pickup--just a small hole on the side through which the pickup leads pass. It also has a good neck angle, allowing the bridge to be positioned fairly close to the body, although not as close as many early '60s 335s which have the thumbwheels almost touching the body.
As Tim Pierce reported, the Montys are a great choice for a semihollow. I'm not sure whether I'd like them as much in a Les Paul, for which I like pickups with higher resistances. They were certainly not night-and-day different from the '57s in tone--just more clear and transparent. Also, the Montys cleaned up correctly when reducing the guitar's volume a little. This wasn't the case with the A5 Throbak and Wizz pickups I've used in my Les Pauls. So Monty's gets a nod for superior quality control or something; I've not figured out why the other (more expensive) boutique pickups don't clean up properly. I plan to try replacing the A5 magnets in them with an A4 and see if that helps.
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