Tell me about the DiMarzio PAF Pro

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

I've rarely seen this pickup brought up, but the few times I've seen it, I've seen a lot of praise for it.

Can anyone tell me about it? I'm pretty interested. Seems really versatile.

 

[celticelk]

Wasn't Satriani using the PAF Pro in the *Extremist* period?

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

He apparently used them up until then, yeah. Vai and Sambora also used it.

 

[5150time]

I'll chime in and be another one of those "praise for it" folks.

The PAF Pro is quite bright and really cuts through without being a mega gain pickup. DiMarzio says that the mids create a half-cocked wah kind of sound, which is probably the best explanation of what it sounds like. I always thought it kind of sounded like having a high pass filter on your tone. That being said, I did find it a little crispy/brittle, especially in the neck position. But that's the price you pay for a mid voicing like that.

Overall, it's a great classic rock pickup if you want to significantly brighten up your sound. It's also really great for splitting or parallel, and, true to being introduced in 1986, makes a great match with singles. I had a Charvel with an HSS combo and a PAF Pro and it just screamed 80s rock. I can totally see why Joe Satriani would dig it.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Thanks for the tip. I was looking at one of these for an "all-rounder" guitar, and this was one of my choices, as well as the Duncan SH-5.

 

[Bloody_Inferno]

Wasn't Satriani using the PAF Pro in the *Extremist* period?

This was exclusively his neck pickup (Fred on Bridge) practically forever until he released a more vocal sounding sig (PAF Joe), and Vai was using these on all his older Jems pre Evo.

It's a popular all round pickup. It can do all kinds of styles and still handle metal very well.

I've actually got a guitar coming with a dual PAF Pro combo soon.

 

[Alphanumeric]

Cool for leads in the bridge for a vocal wail, for rhythm

honk town.

 

[Dooky]

I've got one in the neck position of my mahogany bodied Ibanez RG370MH. I really like it. I've also got another PAF Pro lying around that I'm going to try in the bridge position of one of my other guitar. I think they're great pickups and I'm kinda surprised I don't hear of more people using them.

 

[Given To Fly]

They sounded great in the Floral Jem, but I've never played a Jem that didn't sound great!

 

[7 Dying Trees]

Really like them in my jem dy, not massive gain, but a nice rock type of gain. For leads they rock and I love the sound out of the neck pickup. However, I do not think they are well suited to downtuning, although that might be the guitat I have it in as that's gt a dull-ish piece of wood associated with it I think, wel, not bright, still, I had the PAF7 in a mahogony guitar, and really didn't like it, yet love the ones in the jem...

 

[Lorcan Ward]

I'm nearly certain all Scar Symmetry, Obscura, Christian Muenzeur and Necrophagist solos were recorded using Paf Pros in Ibanez Jems so that should give you an idea of their tone..

I had the PAF7 in a mahogony guitar, and really didn't like it, yet love the ones in the jem...

I think I read here thats because its the Paf 7 model as oppose to the Paf Pro 7 which is only available in USA custom shops like Ibanez and Schecter.

 

[7 Dying Trees]

Ah yeah, that'd be it...! Forgot about that. A paf pro7 would have been dfferent

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

I was thinking about getting an all-mahogany guitar (LTD EC-1000 or EC-400) or a mahogany/maple one (PRS SE Singlecut) and throwing either dual PAF Pros or the SH-5/Jazz set in. How would those two compared in solid mahogany (w/ maple cap) guitar?

 

[5150time]

I was thinking about getting an all-mahogany guitar (LTD EC-1000 or EC-400) or a mahogany/maple one (PRS SE Singlecut) and throwing either dual PAF Pros or the SH-5/Jazz set in. How would those two compared in solid mahogany (w/ maple cap) guitar?

I think doing PAF Pros in mahogany would be slick. I've done it in a mahogany bodied Ibanez, and it was a great combo to help smooth out the brittleness it has. I've also done it in a BFR JP that helped tame the mids a little too.

I've used a Jazz in mahogany, and it was pretty good sounding too, especially downtuned. That says something, as it's absolutely one of my least favourite pickups. Maybe mixing and matching with a PAF Pro in the bridge and Jazz in the neck would give you an interesting result? Also, PAF Pros don't come in specific bridge or neck formats, so you could always buy one, try it in both positions and see if you like it in either one.

Too bad you don't live closer to me. I have all 3 of those just lying around.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

I won't tune down on this guitar much. The lowest I'd go is probably C# standard, or Drop C#. It'll mostly be used in Standard or down half a step.

I just heard so many good things about the SH-5 in mahogany, and plus it's also a take on a hot-rodded PAF, so I thought it would be a good idea to think about the two.

It'll be awhile before I get this guitar, since I have other priorities like a baritone and a 5-string bass, so I have plenty of time to think about it and get other opinions.

 

[Eight_String_Slinger]

Hello Friend

IMHO, the Paf Pro is perhaps the best passive neck pickup, for my taste anyway. I would add that all of the metal guitar virtosos of the 1980's also felt similarly. I think metal guitar was most exceptional and it reached its apex with guitarists such as Paul Gilbert, Jason Becker, and the like. IMO it is because of them that we have such options, and you might also say certain benchmarks or perhaps standards of what a guitar tone should be like. They are, in my view, a direct influence on the guitar tones of the early 2010's. It is quite a coincidence to find something similar on the Dimarzio page lol:

The PAF Pro® was created when chops-intensive playing was first starting to happen, and high-gain amps and rack systems were becoming popular. A pickup was needed that combined a lot of presence and “cut” with an open-sounding PAF® vibe. The transparency of its sound lets the PAF Pro® slice through heavy processing, where darker-sounding pickups get lost in the mud of the effects chain. Low notes have both snap and chunk, and there is a spike in the mid-range that gives the pickup a subtle “aw” vowel sound, like a wah-wah pedal stopped in the middle. Treble response is tweaked to produce highs that stand out without getting brittle. The PAF Pro® makes an outstanding neck pickup in almost any guitar.

Therefore, if that appeals to you, it is quite accurate IMO. I would love to get the Paf 8 if/when I get active wiring.

Good luck

 

[Hourglass1117]

I had a EBMM Silhouette with a set of these in it. I found them to be rather enjoyable. They were very airy/midsy. I felt like they gave me a very Opeth/Lamb of God-ish type of open/dry gain sound.

Here's a clip I recorded with them over a year ago, when my mixing wasn't the best. Even then, they held a nice clarity to them. I don't remember what processing I did, but I believe I did have to tame a little bit of that nasal honk everyone in here is talking about.

https://soundcloud.com/aaronbranches/riffage-w-ebmm-silhouette

 

[Zhysick]

My favorite pup combo for a mahogany guitar is PAF Pro in the neck with X2N in the bridge.

Yes, X2N is too much gain, but the split coil sounds like a single coil. Punchy in humbucker.

The PAF Pro, which is what we are talking about here, is perfect. Clear, articulated but with those huge dense mids its very "fluid" but without being dark.

You can play that kind of "petrucci" legatto runs easily but more audible and cleaner than the and you can also use the parallel mode to get amazingly great single coil'ish tones.

That's why I like it paired with an X2N... you can have a "Les Paul and a Strat in the same guitar"... not exactly but you know what I want to say

 

[Rook]

Another PAF Pro fan, very clear, lovely mids, really rich and feels great under your right hand, everything you do feels really assertive and rewarding.

If I had to chose one pickup to use for everything all the time and could never change, it'd almost definitely be a PAF Pro just because it's so reliable, does lovely warm laid back tones but can bring a bit of aggression (in it's own way) when it needs to. I know of no other pickup that has such balance across different styles.