Do they sound like PAF's?

[JohnnyGuitar]

I have a question to anyone who has used a Rio Grande Tallboy/Halfbreed/Muy Grande humbuckers...
Everybody talks about them having great tone when split... but how do they sound when they are played together? Is it humbucker tone (vintage/modern) or just a fatter single coil tone?

[BigDaddy]

I had them in a Fender Tornado a few years back. I didn't think they sounded that good either as single coils when used that way or very good as humbuckers. When my amp was set for humbuckers it sounded poor as single coils and when set for single coils they sounded poor as humbuckers. Overall as humbuckers they were dark, muddy and very hot. I have just tried a stag mag from Duncan and I feel it's a much better choice. In single coil mode it sounds a lot like an SSL-6 and as a humbucker something like a C5 or close to a JB. That's hot but has a better tone than the Rio Grande.

I actually thought the stock Fender atomic junk pickups sounded better, I was a little disappointed. I was hoping they solved the age old problem of wanting a strat that sounds like a Les Paul at a flip of a switch. I have not been able to find that magic pickup. The stag mag is as close as I have ever come, but I did mod it. I pushed the magnets in so they are flat with the top of the bobbin, I re-potted and re-tapped it. It sounded much better and like I said very much like a hotter, fatter PAF, the Rio Grande did not. Same for the single coil mode, the Duncan sounded better as a single coil than the Rio Grande.

[Benjy_26]

I didn't think that the Muy Grande sounded much like a humbucker at all. it just sounded like a big, hot single all the time, split or otherwise.

[JohnnyGuitar]

I didn't think that the Muy Grande sounded much like a humbucker at all. it just sounded like a big, hot single all the time, split or otherwise.

big hot single coil is not really a bad thing
but it's not a real humbucker...