Dimarzio PAF 36th Anniversary?

[jumpinjackf1ash]

Hey I have a Les Paul with a Jazz/JB combo installed. I'm honestly not that impressed with the sound. The jazz is a little too muddy and the JB is a little too bright and distorted.

What do you guys think about Dimarzio's PAF 36th? I watched the video on youtube about them and was really intrigued and kind of want to get a pair of them.

I play everything from Clapton blues to Zeppelin Aerosmith Queen rock and heavy metal and Joe satriani John Petrucci Paul Gilbert stuff.

The JB just seems too fizzy at high gain for me to get really good smooth lead tones.

Would the PAF 36th be a good choice? or Does Seymour Duncan have something better than these for what i want?

[NoOnesFang13]

http://www.backflashband.net/dimarzio.mp3 there are some more clips for u, another forum bro posted that a while ago

personally i would say go for it, i have a Virtual Hot PAF which is replaced by the 36th Ann Bridge model, and from my experience with the VHPAF it looks promising. With the VHPAF i get great hot PAF tones, Vintage PAF Tones (vol at 8) and phat single coil tones when split (vol at 8). I run with 250k pots.

BTW even suitable for metal! believe it or not

[jimmy]

The PAF Classics were awesome, but they don't make them anymore.

I would probably go PAF Pro in the bridge and regular PAF in the neck.

[jimijames]

http://www.backflashband.net/dimarzio.mp3 there are some more clips for u, another forum bro posted that a while ago

personally i would say go for it, i have a Virtual Hot PAF which is replaced by the 36th Ann Bridge model, and from my experience with the VHPAF it looks promising. With the VHPAF i get great hot PAF tones, Vintage PAF Tones (vol at 8) and phat single coil tones when split (vol at 8). I run with 250k pots.

BTW even suitable for metal! believe it or not

Yeah, but if you think the jazz neck is muddy, you're probably going to like a single coil like the phat cat in the neck a heckuva lot more. As for the 36th anniversary and the Vhpaf, if you can, by all means, find a vhpaf and put an A2 magnet in it. If you get the 36th anniversary, I'd keep the A5 in it, It sounded sterile and very slightly 'bloated' to my ears.

edit: the sterile and 'bloated' comment referred to the 36th with the A2 magnet. I tried it recently with A5 in the same guitar and it was a night and day difference - It went from having a very bland character to being very rich and fat, the extra output of the A5 makes it compress slightly on my amp, which is great because it gives you a singing, smooth sound on the high strings, while still being very open with great picking dynamics when you back off a bit. I'm really beginning to like this pickup.

[veryhungrycaterpilla]

The Jazz is muddy? You must have a defective pup.

[jumpinjackf1ash]

Well, it isn't necessarily muddy. Just darker than I would like it to be. Btw it sounds amazing when split. I think I'm gonna get the 36th anniversaries. Anybody want to buy a Jazz neck with nickel cover and a black/creme JB both basically brand new?

[Yngwiestein]

I put a PAF Pro bridge & PAF 36th neck in a PRS CE22 maple top. The sounds I got from it were fantastic. I was really impressed with the 36th. Doesn't sound like a PAF Pro. It sounds more vintage than most Dimarzios. The sound is woody.

The JB is a good all around pickup but it's compressed & muddy. What you described of the Jazz sounds a bit odd but not everybody likes that pickup. You might like a 59 better.

So back to the PAF 36th. It's just fabulous sounding. The only critique is that I think it lacks a little definition on the low E string when used in the neck. I don't know this to be fact because some PRS guitars can be that way in the neck so you have to carefully choose neck pickups for them. In a Les Paul it would probably sound better.

I say get one. You're going to love it bro. If not they are in high demand and you can get most of your money back on Ebay.

[jumpinjackf1ash]

Yeah the more I hear about it the more i want a 36th. I'm definetely going to get one for the neck. What made you choose the PAF Pro over the 36th bridge model that has a little more output? does it sound better?

[jimijames]

I guess I need to give the 36th another try, I didn't dig it too much in my epiphone.

[jumpinjackf1ash]

where in your epiphone did you have it? and what kind of epiphone?

[Yngwiestein]

Yeah the more I hear about it the more i want a 36th. I'm definetely going to get one for the neck. What made you choose the PAF Pro over the 36th bridge model that has a little more output? does it sound better?

The PAF Pro is one of my all time favorite pickups ever. It's articulate, punchy, warm, tight, expressive, insane harmonics & palm mutes. Nothing sounds like it. It's a soloists pickup but any rhythm player will love because you can hit a distorted chord and hear all the notes. Plus the palm mutes are extraordinary.

I chose it for the aforementioned reasons but also because it's a balanced pickup. Not too extreme on the eq curve like some Dimarzios. It really is one of those pickups that sounds good in the bridge or neck. That's something I like about the Duncan 59 because it works fantastic in both positions.

The output is higher than I like because I mainly prefer vintage humbucker sounds. I just lower it as low as I can get without affecting sustain and it works fine that way.

Eh I didn't even mention legato playing. Forget about it!

[jumpinjackf1ash]

tru. sounds very tempting to get a paf pro for the bridge. however, my les paul is a little bit bright. its mahogany body but has a maple neck with rosewood fretboard. the paf pro is apparently a little bit brighter than the 36th bridge model i have read? if so, i'll probably head toward a 36th bridge model

[jimijames]

where in your epiphone did you have it? and what kind of epiphone?

It's an epipone-strat hybrid that I converted to a slide guitar (read: raised the action super high and installed an elevated nut), and the 36th was in the bridge, and it had A2 in it. So, conisdering all of those variables, it probably sounded way way different than it will in your guitar, so I can't really give too much advice.

[Yngwiestein]

tru. sounds very tempting to get a paf pro for the bridge. however, my les paul is a little bit bright. its mahogany body but has a maple neck with rosewood fretboard. the paf pro is apparently a little bit brighter than the 36th bridge model i have read? if so, i'll probably head toward a 36th bridge model

The PAF Pro isn't a bright pickup. It has cut but it can't be categorized as a bright pickup. True the 36th is not as bright. The output of the 36th is deceptive. Mine was much hotter than I expected. If you want woody vintage Dimarzio tone go with the 36th. For a modern sound the PAF Pro.

[N_schon]

The PAF Pro is one of my all time favorite pickups ever. It's articulate, punchy, warm, tight, expressive, insane harmonics & palm mutes. Nothing sounds like it. It's a soloists pickup but any rhythm player will love because you can hit a distorted chord and hear all the notes. Plus the palm mutes are extraordinary.

I chose it for the aforementioned reasons but also because it's a balanced pickup. Not too extreme on the eq curve like some Dimarzios. It really is one of those pickups that sounds good in the bridge or neck.
The output is higher than I like because I mainly prefer vintage humbucker sounds. I just lower it as low as I can get without affecting sustain and it works fine that way.

Eh I didn't even mention legato playing. Forget about it!

This is so true about the paf pro.
My all time favorite dimarzio!

[seymourized]

I assume you have 500k pots on your LP. Why don't you try switching the neck pot with 1M and the bridge pot with 250k? The JB sounds good with 250k pots, it sound more vintage-y. 2 cents.

[alex1fly]

I assume you have 500k pots on your LP. Why don't you try switching the neck pot with 1M and the bridge pot with 250k? The JB sounds good with 250k pots, it sound more vintage-y. 2 cents.

+1. 250k tone pot on the neck of an LP would be way dark, probably. Also, you can try lowering your Jazz and raising the polepieces to increase treble and clarity. With the VPAF in the neck of my LP, I thought it was a little dark and muddy until I raised the polepieces about 2 whole screw heads above the pickup, then lowered it to a good height, just below amp breakup. Pretty cool. Easy to try too.

[alex1fly]

With Dimarzios, I've found that you don't need to worry as much about things like if the pickup will be too bright, or if your guitar is too bright for a pickup. They sound pretty much the way the site says they'll sound, and you can tweak pot values for fine-tuning. If you don't want the JB/Jazz, just get the pups you think you would like the most without thinking about it too much - odds are you'll be satisfied.

I think a 36th neck and PAF Pro bridge would be a slamming combo. Vintage woody neck tone, rocking cutting bridge tone. And if its anything like the VPAF (which it should be), the 36th neck will be able to handle high gain soloing.

[Yngwiestein]

With Dimarzios, I've found that you don't need to worry as much about things like if the pickup will be too bright, or if your guitar is too bright for a pickup. They sound pretty much the way the site says they'll sound, and you can tweak pot values for fine-tuning. If you don't want the JB/Jazz, just get the pups you think you would like the most without thinking about it too much - odds are you'll be satisfied.

I think a 36th neck and PAF Pro bridge would be a slamming combo. Vintage woody neck tone, rocking cutting bridge tone. And if its anything like the VPAF (which it should be), the 36th neck will be able to handle high gain soloing.

+1 I agree. Dimarzios sound just like they are described. You know what to expect. Good post!

[BloodRose]

so, am I safe to assume that the 36 is similar to the paf pro only woodier? If that is incorrect, whats the differences?