PAF and replica cover cosmetics - screw and hole diameter ???

[bjm007]

I've noticed that there is a very visible difference in the size of the screws and screw hole openings on real PAF's as compared with various aftermarket "replica" pickup maker's covers such as Duncan Antiquities for example.

In the photographs posted below you can see that -

1) Picture 1 - Real PAF hole diameter is approx 15/64ths
2) Picture 2 - Wolftone Dr. Vintage (DMC) hole diameter is approx 14/64ths
3) Picture 3 - Seymour Duncan Antiquity hole diameter is approx 13/64ths

You can see pretty easily by looking at the holes under the 2nd (unwound "B") strings in the photos below. The scale doesn't line up perfectly, but you can count 32'ths on the scale and the PAF is about 7.5 32'nds, the Wolf/DMC is about 7 32'nds and the Duncan is about 6.5 32'nds.

It's interesting to me that there is such a measurable difference among the three. To his credit, Wolf uses a DMC cover on his The Dr. Vintage and its very close to be sure, but the holes/screws on the Duncan Antiquities look to be a full 1/32'nd of an inch smaller than PAF's, which is really noticable when you look at them side by side...

Part of the difference is because of the softer beveled edge on the holes of an original PAF compared to the sharper edges on the holes in the newer covers. In any case, there is a very visible difference in diameter none the less.

For many of the experts on this forum, I would think that this attribute of a real PAF cover is probably very well known, but I was surprised when I lined 'em up tonight and saw how "off" the Antiquity cover looked compared with the PAF... I would have thought that 'ol Seymour would have gotten something as simple as that done right on the Anti's.

I like the tone of both the Dr. Vintage and the Antiquities as compared with the real PAF's, so this isn't a gripe about tone, I just thought that it was odd to see such a visible detail that was not historically correct on the Duncans...

Anybody notice this before ? Didn't see any previous threads when I did my obligatory search.......

HERE'S THE REAL PAF -


HERE'S THE DMC ON THE DR. VINTAGE - (very close...)


HERE'S THE ANTIQUITY -

[bjm007]

Bump......

Anybody?

[PoorMan]

Good post. Have you measured other PAFs? I can't help but wonder if PAFs in general are inconsistent in this manner (after all, we are talking about 1/64" - 1/32" difference). Especially when you consider the manufacturing methods of yesteryear and how the shape of the covers changed over time (more rounded).

Wish I could help, but I suspect very few forum bros have any experience with real PAFs. I don't.

Have you tried the LPF?

Now let's see some shots of the guitars in their entirety!