scottosan
Well-known member
The last time I was on s Les Paul kick, I dabbled with low output PAF and tried to find the best combination of getting really great clean out of the neck pickup and in neck/bridge settings while trying to get the most touch sensitive and dynamic bridge tones that could venture into high gain. Back then, my favorite set was some Wizz PAFs. I loved everything about them except for high gain and moderate volume levels would squeal like crazy being unpotted. I eventually gave up.
Fast forward a decade. Gibson now uses ALNICO 3 in their custom buckers for their reissues. I’ve also become a Greco guitar enthusiast and have read countless posts on their famed Dry Z pickups from 80-82 that fetch stupid money for a set. They also use ALNICO 3’s. So, I started off with some magnet swaps with my stock Greco Screamin pickups that sit around 8.1k bridge and 7.9k neck. A5s for a few days, A4s next, A2s then finally the A3s.
A3s are the weakest of the ALNICO magnets and have long been thought to be too week for many guitar applications. by the time I got to them, it became clear that in the neck positions they were a clear winner for me in that the were clear and bell like with nice overtones on not overbearing in any frequency. Just Right! The bridge was just good, but practical for general use
i then came across the Geppetto Nomads that were supposedly based of off the famed Greco Dry Z. He uses a slightly overwound bridge ~8.7k and a slightly degaussed A3. They are scatter wound, so going a little overland won’t lose much clarity. But the big benefit for me is that I got them potted just like the original Dry Z pickups so that I could venture into high gain. I got them in last week and wanted to try them for a week before passing judgement. I haven’t picked up any other guitars except my LPs with A3’s for a week now. The biggest thing I notice now is that my other guitars sound obnoxious with too much of alot of frequencies in neck and middle settings. You realize how much of the pickups is imposing their their color to the tone, where as the A3 gives a very balanced and honest representation of the guitar with a very musical finesse about it. As for the bridge, the slightly overwound bridge gave it the little bit of needed mojo similar to the sweetness you get for A2 pickups. Honestly, it’s the best clear and balanced high gain tones I’ve gotten from my amps. This may or may not yield the same results with all amps but it really takes advantage of an amp that has alot of gain on tap that would otherwise be unusable after a certain point. I’ve ended up dialing in my rig completely different, but now that I have. I fell like I can’t stand the sound of my other pickups now. These are really a game changer for me. Curious if anyone else have tried these types of PAFs
Fast forward a decade. Gibson now uses ALNICO 3 in their custom buckers for their reissues. I’ve also become a Greco guitar enthusiast and have read countless posts on their famed Dry Z pickups from 80-82 that fetch stupid money for a set. They also use ALNICO 3’s. So, I started off with some magnet swaps with my stock Greco Screamin pickups that sit around 8.1k bridge and 7.9k neck. A5s for a few days, A4s next, A2s then finally the A3s.
A3s are the weakest of the ALNICO magnets and have long been thought to be too week for many guitar applications. by the time I got to them, it became clear that in the neck positions they were a clear winner for me in that the were clear and bell like with nice overtones on not overbearing in any frequency. Just Right! The bridge was just good, but practical for general use
i then came across the Geppetto Nomads that were supposedly based of off the famed Greco Dry Z. He uses a slightly overwound bridge ~8.7k and a slightly degaussed A3. They are scatter wound, so going a little overland won’t lose much clarity. But the big benefit for me is that I got them potted just like the original Dry Z pickups so that I could venture into high gain. I got them in last week and wanted to try them for a week before passing judgement. I haven’t picked up any other guitars except my LPs with A3’s for a week now. The biggest thing I notice now is that my other guitars sound obnoxious with too much of alot of frequencies in neck and middle settings. You realize how much of the pickups is imposing their their color to the tone, where as the A3 gives a very balanced and honest representation of the guitar with a very musical finesse about it. As for the bridge, the slightly overwound bridge gave it the little bit of needed mojo similar to the sweetness you get for A2 pickups. Honestly, it’s the best clear and balanced high gain tones I’ve gotten from my amps. This may or may not yield the same results with all amps but it really takes advantage of an amp that has alot of gain on tap that would otherwise be unusable after a certain point. I’ve ended up dialing in my rig completely different, but now that I have. I fell like I can’t stand the sound of my other pickups now. These are really a game changer for me. Curious if anyone else have tried these types of PAFs
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