[CityofBlindingLights]

This is a pickup that defined the 80s. At the height of aftermarket pickup replacement, the PAF Pro was designed to be able to cut through heavy mixes and send a good tone/signal through large numbers of processors and effects. But the PAF Pro has become a pickup that also gives a great all-around rock tone. Steve Vai cemented this pickup's immortality with the first JEMs, running dual PAF Pros in the neck and bridge, and he was closely followed by the likes of Joe Satriani (his mentor- who else?), Paul Gilbert, and even Ritchie Sambora used these in the bridge of is signature strat. Fender used these as OEM on many humbucker-equipped guitars in the 80s and 90s, and with good reason.

I personally feel that the PAF Pro is a really organic, expressive pickup that allows you to do just about anything- cry, purr, wail, or laugh. Whatever you want your guitar to do, the PAF Pro is there for you.

Also worth noting is that the PAF Pro is a great overall pickup, and it's a great starting point to create a sound/rig on top of.

[buddroyce]

I should point out that tonally, the PAF Pro is a relatively bright pickup and works great in both neck and bridge positions. It's a great neck pickup when paired up with a high output bridge pickup like a Tone Zone or Breed or as a bridge pickup when paired up with single coils.

It also sounds great coil cut and parallel. When wired in series (standard) there's a slight vocal like quality that's kinda like a wah when cocked up a little.

[CityofBlindingLights]

Also worth mentioning is that 250k pots will really help darken it up a decent bit, and give it an almost mysterious quality (imho), while 500k pots will really open up the top end.

[DocNrock]

I love this pickup in the neck slot for clean arpeggios .  It just sounds so open and full.

[mi2tom]

It's still one of my favourite pickup of all time, I install this in my cheap Rg in the bridge with a inf 1 in the neck for nightclub playing every friday and saturday and it really is a versatile pickup, switch it into 4th or 2nd position and you can funk like mad Will be getting another paf pro to put it into the neck position of my rg350.

[alfaromeo90]

One of the top 5 great pickups of all time in my humble opinion!

VITAL STATISTICS:

alnico 5 magnet, 8.4 dc resistance, 300 mv output.  (comparison: vintage style PAF: alnico 5 magnet, 8.0 dc resistance, 230 mv output)

IN A NUTSHELL:

A tight, clear halfway step between PAF and 1990's+ mid boosted rock monsters.

SOLVES WHAT PROBLEM?

You love your fat, warm vintage PAF sound ala Boston or Aerosmith but after a while you realize that with the gain on 10, a bit of delay, a bit of chorus.....it's really flabby.  It sounds nice, but too nice.  The notes are fairly indistinct and with  more instruments added, the worse it gets.  The PAF pro is designed to preserve the tone you like but clean it up a bit.  The bass frequencies are tightened and the treble jumps out more.

NECK OR BRIDGE?

Either.  Often both.  

CHECK OUT THESE TRACKS FEATURING THE PAF PRO TO GREAT EFFECT:

"Shy Boy" - David Lee Roth.  Steve Vai guitarist.
"Perfect Timing" - David Lee Roth.  Steve Vai guitarist.
"You Give Love A Bad Name" - Bon Jovi.  Richie Sambora guitarist.

BE CAREFUL OF....

Actually I'm not sure because i'm nostalgic for this pickup and always view it thru rose colored glassed.  But i suspect that, with some of the lower mids taken out, if you don't match it well to your amp and guitar, it could sound a bit thin.

[oilpit]

Here's a quick demo I made putting the PAF Pro through his pacees in the bridge...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOj_JR7XhwQ

Ignore my awkward camera-shyness and focus on my average playing 

The Fred is next on my demo list if anyone cares...

[ibanez_boss]

I should point out that tonally, the PAF Pro is a relatively bright pickup and works great in both neck and bridge positions. It's a great neck pickup when paired up with a high output bridge pickup like a Tone Zone or Breed or as a bridge pickup when paired up with single coils.

It also sounds great coil cut and parallel. When wired in series (standard) there's a slight vocal like quality that's kinda like a wah when cocked up a little.

I could not agree more with this statement.  When I put the PAF PRO in the neck and the TONE ZONE in the bridge of my ibanez ---- it was like heaven....unbelieveble.  awesome pair. 

If not mistaken--didnt Paul Gilbert have the same setup with RACER X and Mr. BIG?

[alfaromeo90]

I think that was a bit after Racer X. 

[bzzdog]

great vid oilpit!

[slugworth]

I've been having a hard time finding the right neck pickup for my Dean Cadillac so I finally got around to trying a PAF Pro in there.  Installed it yesterday and I like it a lot.  I'm gonna give it some more time but right now it's feeling like a keeper.

When I first got it installed it didn't seem bright or defined at all.  Quite the opposite actually.  So I dropped the height and raised the neck side poles a bit.  Now it still has the warmth from before but with added clarity, crispness, and just enough growl.  Nice harmonics and grunt when I want it.  And it really lets my hands do the talking.  I can COMMUNICATE with this pickup, if that makes sense.  And it makes me want to ROCK.

I'd read before that the PAF Pro is PAF in name only.  I disagree.  Once I got it tweaked right, it sings with a rich PAF flavor, only clearer.  This pickup walks the line between vintage and modern.  Can go both ways.  It reacts extremely well to control changes, too.  Haven't installed parallel/split coil switching yet, but I plan to.

[Marshall Law]

I did a pu shootout this weekend and out of the many pu's that were used for it (JB,DD,custom,59,PG,AZ,TZ,norton, Fred,breed, At-1 and several different PAF clones,) the PAF pro handled it's own quite well! of these others the Pro had the better string to string to string clarity and definition. out of all the pups the paf pro worked best for covering different styles and has the easiest to get pinch harmonics too. the only slight downside is that the pro does not have a big bass end but did work best with single coil in the HSS charvel strat test guitar(alder,all maple neck,floyd) amp was a YJM plexi and a 5153 half stack.
I came out of this little experiment with a lot more respect and love for the PAF pro!

[LesPaulPlayer]

Having never ever dealing with the Paf pro- I was kinda oblivious to it until I bought 2 p'ups from slugworth-- ( thx slug ), the TZ and PP.  I ionstalled them in my frankenstrat after it gave homage to my super 3 and super distortion.
I can say that the PP is an awesome p'up and I will bow to it.... it is an excellent pickup paired with the TZ


LONG LIVE DIMARZIO

[MarvinMealer]

I use the PAF Pro in my bridge position with two area 67's in my standard mim hss stratocaster.  it doesn't over power the area's but still lets me switch easily between quack and crunch.

[JackGriffiths]

I've got a PAF Pro in the bridge of a Les Paul and it's exactly what I was looking for - enough grind and punch to give me sustain and power, enough clarity to be articulate and clean up very well and overall, just clean up the sound of my guitar. This pickup is essentially a filter for any nasty frequencies and merely accentuates those that you are trying to put across from your fingers. A very expressive, open, dynamic and responsive pickup. If I was to compare it to the DP223 I have in another Les Paul, it's slightly brighter, more open, with more clarity and response. It will keep you exactly where you need to be in the mix without being overpowering in any sense, particularly in the mid range. In my opinion, a perfect pickup at doing exactly what a great humbucking pickup should.

Jack