[marcwormjim]

Open to any brand, here. One of my heavier guitars came with a PAF Pro in the bridge, and I can’t lower the thing enough to tame it. I’m going to air it first, but relish an excuse to try a new pickup.

Ineligible suggestions include Air Classic, Bluesbucker, and EJ Bridge - I currently have them in other guitars.

I also have an old Carvin H22T that was transplanted between each new ‘main’ guitar for years, and has been out of rotation for a while. Anyone willing to help rekindle that romance is a hero.

Edit: I neglected to mention that I mainly use bridge pickups for lead sounds in the vein of EJ, Holdsworth, Lane, etc. In this particular guitar, I’m specifically looking for a weak humbucker.

[buddroyce]

May I be the odd person to suggest the Humbucker From Hell?

[greenlion]

Humbucker from Hell will be VERY bright in the bridge. The Air Classic would be a good bet. Have not tried the EJ Bridge myself, but the specs look right.

[buddroyce]

The HFH would be very bright but you can always roll down the tone control to tame it or even pair it with a 250k pot. It would end up being a bright low output humbucker that way although you're probably right about the Air Classic or EJ bridge, I just like to be weird and different

[darkbluemurder]

If you want something different you can go with a Filtertron style or Wide Range Fender style humbucker. Both would be brighter than PAF type pickups, and various sources (Lollar, Creamery) offer them in the regular sized humbucker format.

Cheers Stephan

[ziggyzipgun]

The EJ Custom pickups are made to sound like a Gretsch Country Gentleman with Filtertron pickups.  However, the neck version is even lower output and brighter than the bridge version...

Also, have you tried wiring the bridge humbucker in parallel?  It will still buck the hum, but lower the output significantly.

[corypheus]

I'd try the regular 36th anniversary in the bridge (not the bridge model, that one is overwound and not that much less loud then a Paf PRO), and would lower it a tad bit to get more sustain out of it. The output should be right at the sweet spot like that, not too feeble, but definitely not too loud for a PAF either.

Good alternative will be Paf Joe, while tad louder - will be slightly thinner too when you lower it down a bit into the body.


I personally wouldn't go with HFH, that thing is singlecoil thin in the neck, I can't imagine how it will be in the bridge.

[marcwormjim]

I'd try the regular 36th anniversary in the bridge (not the bridge model, that one is overwound and not that much less loud then a Paf PRO), and would lower it a tad bit to get more sustain out of it. The output should be right at the sweet spot like that, not too feeble, but definitely not too loud for a PAF either.

Good alternative will be Paf Joe, while tad louder - will be slightly thinner too when you lower it down a bit into the body.

Thank you. I have an F-spaced PAF Joe in a parts box, and have been curious to hear it in the bridge position. I’ll keep an eye out for a DP103F, though I’m concerned the highs would be too subdued in this particular guitar.