scottosan
Well-known member
Magnets:
1. It had been stated that EVH pulled the infamous and highly debated spec PAF from a 1961 Gibson ES-335
2. From 1956 until 1961 Gibson used whatever Alnico magnets were available in their PAFs. Gibson randomly used Alnico 2,3,4,5 grade magnets in PAFs until 1961, along with inconsistant wind counts account for how two PAF pickups sound different. Begininning in 1959 you started to see SHORT A5 magnets and by 1961 used those pretty much as a standard.
Specs:
There are at least 4 major claims that I've read
1. There were claims that one of the coils on Eddies PAF was "dead" or "open" and people claiming that it was basically a single coil. While a coil failing would lend to the later claims of EVH rewinding the pickup, the reality is that in a humbucker design, the the coils are connected in series. If the coil was open or dead, there would be no output. The only way it would act as a single coils would be in the bobbins were wired in parallel, which is highly unlikely
2. The 2nd claim is that he either wound the entire PAF to 14+k with 42awg or at least 1 coil of the PAF with 43awg wire to get a sum of about 14+k. I will start by saying a standard PAF bobbin with stock 42awg would have been between 3.7k to 4.5k. 5k would be approaching the limit with a perfectly wound coil with a machine control traverse. The later would require a bobbin of 43awg wound to almost 10k, so I want to rule out both of these scenarios because it can't be done. NOPE!!!
3. The third claim is that he rewound the PAF to around 9k. I have no reason to attempt to defend of debunk this idea.
4. The fourth claim is that we rewound both coils with 43awg yieling around 14k+. I have no reason to attempt to defend of debunk this idea either.
My thoughts:
Back to the magnets. I know most of the custom shop and signature models have A2 mags. I dont think in any way that solidifies any level of certainty that the magic PAF was A2. It simply means that either thats what they wanted to use for the model or chose to do so because it's a common magnet and also plays nicely more than other magnets due to the softer top end. This would make it a safe choice more most rigs. My personally observation is there are certian nuances that cannot explain that I hear in ALNICO 2, one of them is a compressed nature and a low end soft percussiveness I hear in single notes on the lower strings. In arguing of A2 vs A5, most will say it couldn't have been an A5 because it would have been too bright. I would agree if we were talking about about the commonly used 2.5" long A5, but I'm not trying to push that. I go back to the orginal fact that the PAF was from 1961, which stock would have been a SHORT A5. A short A5 doesn't have the same tonal characteristics as the commonly used long A5, so most that argue the brightness are comparing to other pickups they've had with a standard long A5.
Here are some generally accepted descriptions of the magnet types in PAF's
A2 long / Scooped mids, chimey highs, warm sweet tones, loose feel.
A3 long / Very weak, nice clarity for use in P90 pickups but very low output for PAF pickups.
A4 long / Balanced mids, treble and low end, drier toned than A2.
A5 long / mid dominant, focused tone, jazzy cleans.
A5 short/ mid dominant tone, fatter toned than long oriented A5.
I simply do not hear an A2 in any of those early albums. both the top and bottom for a lack of better terms sound "ratty and ragged" in which an A2 would have clouded in any overwound scenario you choose to subscribe to. I've wound mutiple sets in the 9K 42awg range and in the 14.4k range, and to my ears, the A5 short magnet was the clear winner. To me it retains the mids a high end clarity but less harsh.
Flame Away!!!
1. It had been stated that EVH pulled the infamous and highly debated spec PAF from a 1961 Gibson ES-335
2. From 1956 until 1961 Gibson used whatever Alnico magnets were available in their PAFs. Gibson randomly used Alnico 2,3,4,5 grade magnets in PAFs until 1961, along with inconsistant wind counts account for how two PAF pickups sound different. Begininning in 1959 you started to see SHORT A5 magnets and by 1961 used those pretty much as a standard.
Specs:
There are at least 4 major claims that I've read
1. There were claims that one of the coils on Eddies PAF was "dead" or "open" and people claiming that it was basically a single coil. While a coil failing would lend to the later claims of EVH rewinding the pickup, the reality is that in a humbucker design, the the coils are connected in series. If the coil was open or dead, there would be no output. The only way it would act as a single coils would be in the bobbins were wired in parallel, which is highly unlikely
2. The 2nd claim is that he either wound the entire PAF to 14+k with 42awg or at least 1 coil of the PAF with 43awg wire to get a sum of about 14+k. I will start by saying a standard PAF bobbin with stock 42awg would have been between 3.7k to 4.5k. 5k would be approaching the limit with a perfectly wound coil with a machine control traverse. The later would require a bobbin of 43awg wound to almost 10k, so I want to rule out both of these scenarios because it can't be done. NOPE!!!
3. The third claim is that he rewound the PAF to around 9k. I have no reason to attempt to defend of debunk this idea.
4. The fourth claim is that we rewound both coils with 43awg yieling around 14k+. I have no reason to attempt to defend of debunk this idea either.
My thoughts:
Back to the magnets. I know most of the custom shop and signature models have A2 mags. I dont think in any way that solidifies any level of certainty that the magic PAF was A2. It simply means that either thats what they wanted to use for the model or chose to do so because it's a common magnet and also plays nicely more than other magnets due to the softer top end. This would make it a safe choice more most rigs. My personally observation is there are certian nuances that cannot explain that I hear in ALNICO 2, one of them is a compressed nature and a low end soft percussiveness I hear in single notes on the lower strings. In arguing of A2 vs A5, most will say it couldn't have been an A5 because it would have been too bright. I would agree if we were talking about about the commonly used 2.5" long A5, but I'm not trying to push that. I go back to the orginal fact that the PAF was from 1961, which stock would have been a SHORT A5. A short A5 doesn't have the same tonal characteristics as the commonly used long A5, so most that argue the brightness are comparing to other pickups they've had with a standard long A5.
Here are some generally accepted descriptions of the magnet types in PAF's
A2 long / Scooped mids, chimey highs, warm sweet tones, loose feel.
A3 long / Very weak, nice clarity for use in P90 pickups but very low output for PAF pickups.
A4 long / Balanced mids, treble and low end, drier toned than A2.
A5 long / mid dominant, focused tone, jazzy cleans.
A5 short/ mid dominant tone, fatter toned than long oriented A5.
I simply do not hear an A2 in any of those early albums. both the top and bottom for a lack of better terms sound "ratty and ragged" in which an A2 would have clouded in any overwound scenario you choose to subscribe to. I've wound mutiple sets in the 9K 42awg range and in the 14.4k range, and to my ears, the A5 short magnet was the clear winner. To me it retains the mids a high end clarity but less harsh.
Flame Away!!!
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