Modern P.A.F.
True PAF Tone, Modern Output
The Modern P.A.F. is our Pure P.A.F. on steroids. It’s great for more modern styles of music that need a little more output and power. The Modern P.A.F. features a thicker midrange with a quick and even breakup.
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True PAF Tone, Modern Output
Want to learn more about our Modern P.A.F.? Here's all the information you'll need:
Features
The Fralin Modern P.A.F. is the second best-selling humbucker we make. We took the specifications of the 50’s Gibson® P.A.F. pickups and added more power and output. We designed the Modern P.A.F. as a stronger, thicker, and warmer version of our Pure P.A.F. This pickup is for those looking for traditional tone only a little thicker and darker. With more turns and stronger magnets, the Modern P.A.F. will break up sooner and sound warmer and beefier than our Pure P.A.F.
- Our Second-Best-Selling Humbucker – low output, vintage tone
- Thick, strong while still bright. Features an early, smooth breakup
- Modernized Gibson PAF® specifications: medium output, with modern clarity and power
- USA-made Alnico 4 Magnets for vintage tonal balance and output
- Compensated Overwound Bridge for even volume across all pickups
- Hand-wound with our “Sectioning” technique for unique, dynamic tone
- Hand-built for unrivaled quality control
- 10-Year Warranty on manufacturing defects
Our manufacturing process allows us to achieve unparalleled quality control. Modern P.A.F.’s consist of USA-Made bobbins, baseplates, magnets, and wire. We wind each pickup by hand, one at a time. Each pickup is wound using our proprietary “Sectioning” technique. This gives the pickup a sweet, clear tone.
We assemble each pickup one at a time, by hand. Making pickups this way allows us to achieve unbeatable attention to detail. After assembly, we wax-pot the pickup to preserve the pickup and prevent microphonics.
Sound & Video
Thick, strong, yet clear. Expect loud, warm tones with darker treble strings and woolier bass strings. With distortion, this model will break up faster than our Pure P.A.F. and has a smooth and buttery grind. You’ll hear a pronounced midrange, smooth high-end and attack. AlNicCo IV magnets and Plain Enamel wire give the Modern P.A.F. a perfect balance of modern and vintage tone.
Clean tones are warm, round, and full. Single notes have a larger footprint, while bass strings sound bouncy and rich. You’ll be able to get warm jazzy tones out of this pickup with ease. Dirty tones will sound creamier and smoother than our Pure P.A.F, with a smoother attack.
Sound Samples for Modern P.A.F.:
About this Sound Clip:
All sound samples are played from Neck Position First and Bridge Position Last.
Tonal Graph For Modern P.A.F.:
The tonal graph below for our Modern P.A.F. features Lows, Midrange, Highs, and general Output.
Attack: Dynamic & Full
Videos for Modern P.A.F.:
Tech Specs:
See below for the estimated DCR and Polarity Information for our Modern P.A.F..
| SPECIFICATION | VALUE |
|---|---|
| Neck Ohm Reading (Stock): | 8K 1 |
| Bridge Ohm Reading (Stock): | 9K 1 |
| Neck Polarity: | Reversible with 3-Conductor or 4-Conductor Lead |
| Bridge Polarity: | Reversible with 3-Conductor or 4-Conductor Lead |
| Magnet: | USA-Made Alnico 4 |
| Wire: | USA-Made 42-Gauge Plain Enamel |
| Cover Material: | Nickel Silver |
| Baseplate Material: | Nickel Silver |
| Baseplate Leg Depth: | 6mm |
| Slug / Pole Piece Material: | Steel |
| Bobbin Material: | ABS Plastic |
| Recommended Pot Value: | 500K |
| Recommended Cap Value: | 0.02mfd 2 |
Additional Technical Info:
1 Ohm Readings can vary due to a multitude of factors, including ambient temperature, multimeter calibration, different wire batches, and other factors. Due to this, ohm readings are approximate. Learn more about Ohm Readings here.
2 We recommend a 0.02mfd Cap Value on most guitar and bass pickups. The exception is a Magic Cap, which Lindy prefers on the Bridge Pickup of Fender® guitars only. Learn More about Caps Here.
Polarity Information:
Here's how we wind and magnetize our pickups:
This is a Hum Cancelling Pickup.
If you're buying a set from us, all pickups will work together seamlessly. If you're buying a single pickup, all you need to worry about is Coil Direction.
To ensure your pickup will work, make sure you select multiple leads (2-Conductor, 3-Conductor, or 4-Conductor if available), or the 3-Wire modification so you can reverse the coil direction, if need be.
Lead Options
See below for our Lead color codes. For help with matching to other manufacturers, check out this resource here.
Gibson Braided Lead
Gibson-Style instruments
Phase Reversible
Coil Splitting
3-Conductor Lead
Phase Reversible
Coil Splitting
4-Conductor Lead
Phase Reversible
Series Parallel Wiring
Coil Splitting
Covered Humbucker
Uncovered Humbucker
Get It Prewired
Get our Modern P.A.F. prewired into a Prewired Pickguard!:
Featured Reviews
Reviews We Worked Hard For, and Are Proud Of
Customer Reviews
74 Genuine Reviews for Modern P.A.F.
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Amazing pickups!
I put these in an SG rebuild and the tone is incredible. Super crisp and clear, probably the best humbuckers I’ve ever heard. -
I replaced the stock 490 pickups in my SG with these Modern P.A.F.s, and the difference is night and day! They’re hotter, fuller, and yet much clearer too. The articulation is way beyond what I expected. It’s not the traditional P.A.F. sound, but it’s exactly what I wanted for turning this guitar into a hard rock machine. With the zebra bobbins, they even let me specify which order the black and white bobbins are, to give my guitar the perfect look.
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Simply superb. I installed the bridge modern PAF pickup on a 25” tremolo equipped PRS studio. It certainly fits the bill as a hot PAF. I find it more useful than core PRS pickups. It’s got more meat to it than the leaner 85/15 with similar outputs. The 58/15 LT and 57/08 would be best compared to pure PAF in terms of application/comparison. It’s less nasal and compressed than 59/09. It’s not nearly as hot or shrill as PRS \m/ or a tremonti bridge.
Its meaty but cleans up so well. Musical. And goes great with PRS versions of deep dishes or narrowfields, which are both thicker, higher output, single coil like humbuckers.
I could see this bridge pickup doing very well in an LP/SG/594 guitar as well.
In terms of similar : I could think of Seymour duncans custom custom (best in a hss) or slash’s 2.0 bridge pickup. Both give similar outputs but these modern PAF will offer more treble at your tips and are more versatile if you ask me. And I say this as a fan of all of the above pickups.
Kudos to Lindy’s team. -
I have a great SG that’s done a lot of shows and miles with me. So the neck pickup I put in way back had a bit too much bass for some reason and I couldn’t really dial it out, of course I finally called Lindy. And got a Modern PAF and it’s perfectly balanced & brighter like an sg should be and had a beautiful woody sound to it. And now I use it way more. Base hit! Thanks Lindy
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I got a Modern PAF for my Shecter PT. It’s not the original from the 80’s so I had no problem modifying it. Went back and-forth with Lindy once or twice. We decided on 9.5 K. And it’s now perfect. And the coil tap is the perfect volume difference now. And this guitar is perfect if you have to jump on the plane for a one off show etc. Now it’s even better. Thanks Lindy!
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I bought these pickups to replace the original 490r/498t pickups in my Les Paul Custom, and I have to say these pickups are excellent! I bought the 8.5k/9.5k neck/bridge since they were a bit hotter than the pickups in my other Les Paul’s so as to differentiate the sound of my different Les Paul’s. These have a slightly more modern sound with a bit more gain, but still maintain great character and I can achieve a wide range of tones with the different pickup selectors. These pickups can go from screaming leads to a nice clean shimmer by rolling off volume. I’m also quite impressed with the clean sounds I can get with these pickups into my Princeton-type amp. These are much better than the stock pickups I had so it is overall a huge improvement to the guitar.
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The modern PAFs sound fantastic in my PRS S2 Standard 24. Not muddy at all, not too bright, killer tone. I also have these set up as coil taps with a push/pull pot and matching resistors from Fralin; no noticeable volume loss, thinned out just right wthout sacrificing musicality.
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My local tech at Dang Decent Guitar Repair in Houston TX recommended a this for the bridge on my Charvel. Man the attack is great and it really makes an amp bark. Great for multiple styles. I love how wooly it gets with the tone rolled off and it keeps its clarity and is super percussive.
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Love the humbucker. I am totally stunned by how well it blends with the vintage hots. Hardly any change in volume structure. The tone is amazing. The only bummer is that it doesn’t match the color of the vintage hots, so we ended up putting the Chrome cover on it. I think it ended up looking handsome either way.
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Not what I expected from what you call a Modern P.A.F. The tone is too upper mid range, thin, and nasal. After I attenuated my Heritage H-150 guitars 500k Ohm volume and tone controls a couple of notches, it did it sound fuller, but still too upper midrange. This set is best suited for clean country style chicken picking, and definitely not for the 70’s and 80’s rock music that I perform. I am not happy.
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Hey Nicholas, I’m sorry to hear that you’re not happy with the tone of the Modern P.A.F.. We have a 30-day exchange policy – would you like to swap your Modern P.A.F.s for something thicker and darker-sounding? If so, please email us at [email protected]. We’ll be happy to swap these for you!
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Love my new pickups. Fantastic tone and with the ability to split the coils, I have more tones to choose from. Now I only need my one guitar when playing with my band.
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i had a custom built guitar really incredible,but the sound had no bite to it,was bland, wow what a complete difference with the fralin 9.5k bridge, and neck 8.5k, the sound was tremendous explosive and articulate,,… with these pickups in not including price,i wouldnt trade my guitar for the 59 les paul
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Great pickup, everything I wanted. Clean, strong sound. Pairs very well with the single coil middle pickup on my Strat.
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I put the modern PAF in the bridge position of my Balaguer semi hollow body, it turned it into a killer tone machine. It pairs perfectly with the stock p90 neck. What a combo. Thanks again to the Fralin team.
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