I discussed the 36th Bridge
HERE and the VHPAF
HERE, if that helps with any background on my thoughts. and there's one thread here that covers it (
http://www.dimarzioforum.com/forum/index.php?topic=5169.0 ).
when I asked DiMarzio about something they offer that'd fit into a Jimmy Page comparison, the 36th set is what was suggested. yeah, I don't hear it all that much either, but I went with what they suggested so the brand could be represented.
also, as of early 2016, I was told there were some still available. when I called back to order more (I think it was within a week) they were singing a different song. I don't know if they sold out in those few days or if they decided they didn't want to sell them at all any more.
anyhoo.... with regard to my thoughts on the VHPAF and the 36th Bridge in the same guitar. they are scary similar and I can see why they say to use the 36th Bridge in place of the VHPAF. I ran my LCR meter on both of them and the #s are also incredibly close.
to the guy that's a DiMarzio aficionado and just has to have the VHPAF, then definitely track one down. to the garden variety player, they'd have to be up into fart-sniffing territory to split the hairs. is there a difference? yeah. would I like to have more VHPAFs? yep. am I going to open a vein about it? pfft, far from it.
anything I can say about the differences would be nothing compared to the similarities. I can say there's a little bit of this in the 36th Bridge and a little bit of that in the VHPAF, but I'd not want to see it blown out of proportion.
but at the end of the day, I agree that they should re-release the VHPAF and keep it on the menu. just like the original DP103 PAF.