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On a similar note: PAF clones + GAIN = ?

AndyMan

Les Paul Forum Member, Classic Club
Joined
Jul 15, 2001
Messages
528
I know it's the Antiquities/Holmes/Frailins if I want vintage, singing PAF type tone. Question is, how are the above in a high-gain situation? Right now, my Classic Plus has a '59 in the neck (sounds kinda dead and muffled), and a Custom in the bridge (a little bright), and I would like to put some nice, singing quality pickups in.

I am not talking Metallica- gain using a Les Paul w/PAF's...but I would like to know I can still do early Van Halen, ZZ Top, UFO using these PAF clones without getting a squeeling, thin tone.

Know what I mean? Can I have my killer mellow old tone, AND a guitar that is happy growling out of a Marshall??

Thanks!
 

Dave Paetow

Les Paul Forum Member
Joined
Jul 15, 2001
Messages
13,524
Antiquity pickups are not potted, I've had some problems with squealing at higher gain/volume. I found that if you remove the magnet and wax it, and wax the polepiece threads, that most of the squealing goes away. The covers can cause squealing, too. I sometimes put a bit of wax under the cover before I put it back on, if I use the covers at all.
 

toni

LPF Tone Chaser
Joined
Jul 26, 2001
Messages
1,103
Andy,

try raising your 6 polepiece screws by 1/2 turn steps to your neck pickup to get more brightness.
Do the opposite for Bridge PU to get a darker sound.
Is your Les Paul fitted with 500K volume pots ? Maybe you have those muddy 300K in ?
 

EdA

New member
Joined
Jul 17, 2001
Messages
311
The '59 is a muddy neck pickup. The Antiquity would be brighter and sweeter. Even though they are not high output I think they actually sustain better than some of the more powerful ones. You could try a Seth neck for a ballsier sound than the Antiquity and it will still be a bit brighter and sweeter than the '59. Another possibility if your having a big problem with brightness in the neck position is the Alnico Pro II. They are even lower output than the Antiquity and bright and clear with an interesting nasal honk (Sweet Child of Mine). And nobody ever accused Slash of sounding wimpy. If youve got good tone, you still crank the amp for some balls. -Ed A
 

Dave Paetow

Les Paul Forum Member
Joined
Jul 15, 2001
Messages
13,524
I was just looking at the list of bands again, guess what kind of pickups they used?

early VH - PAF
ZZ Top (Rev. Billy) - PAF
UFO (Schenker) - T-bobbin Pat#
 

JimmyTaroh

New member
Joined
Jul 16, 2001
Messages
96
I play antiquities through a mesa boogie single rectifier and haven't had any squealing problems or feedback problems. They sound really good to.
 

fl_799

Member
Joined
Aug 12, 2001
Messages
724
Seth lover's experience

I loved the tone of the Seth Lovers...pretty much the antiquity pickup without the aging process. Nice hollow PAF tone remarkable similiar to an original PAF's I had (and sold) a few years ago. The only problem I had was a bit of microphonic feedback at ultrahigh volumes (i.e. Marshall Plexi 100 at "10"). I would guess wax potting would have cured this but it would have also changed the tone a bit. Right now, I am digging the '57 classics in an R8 I bought last week...they push my amps far better than I thought they would and don't feed back.

Perhaps you may want to call Lindy Fralin....his "9K" bridge is a killer pickup. It retains the PAF tone but adds a bit more ummph behind it. The Strat pickups I bought from him are nothing short of incredable! Nothing like a handwound boutique pickup!
 
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