Pure P.A.F.
The Ultimate PAF Replacement
$175 – $350
Experience what a humbucker should really sound like and get inspired by the Pure P.A.F’s beautiful tone. Lindy’s favorite humbucker, the Pure P.A.F. is a 50’s P.A.F. clone, using real Butyrate Bobbins and all USA-Made parts. Featuring a clean, clear tone with incredible versatility and dynamics and expertly crafted using 100% USA-Made materials, we guarantee the Pure P.A.F. will inspire you for years to come.
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The Ultimate In Vintage PAF Tone
Want to learn more about our Pure P.A.F.? Here's all the information you'll need:
Features
Are you ready to cut through in the mix? The Lindy Fralin-designed Pure P.A.F. is our best-selling humbucker. Based on the specifications of the original 50’s Gibson® P.A.F. pickups, this model features a clean, articulate tone that’s incredibly versatile.
The Pure P.A.F. is a lower output humbucker, which is more dynamic and expressive than higher output pickups. It’s more articulate and cleaner than our Modern P.A.F., but beefier than our P-92. Lindy’s passion for the sound of vintage 50’s humbuckers led us down the road to design and create the Pure P.A.F., and it’s easy to see why – this pickup sounds incredible.
Features:
- Our Best-Selling Humbucker – low output, vintage tone
- Original Gibson PAF® specifications: low output, with modern clarity
- Clean and clear, smooth grind and a sharp attack
- USA-made Alnico 2 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
Sound
How does it sound? Clean and articulate!
The Pure P.A.F. stays clean and features a late break-up and a smooth grind. This pickup is perfect if you’re trying to restore life to your guitar. Don’t let the term “vintage” fool you – you’ll find that it’s loud and versatile enough to play with modern-voiced pickups; it just features more clarity than modern humbuckers.
Built with USA-Made AlNicCo II and 42-gauge Plain Enamel wire, the Pure P.A.F. pickup is a gateway to instant vintage tone. When playing without distortion, you’ll find that this pickup sings what you put into it: it’s dynamic and warm. Highs are accentuated with a medium attack. With distortion, you’ll find that the grind is nice and smooth.
Our manufacturing process allows us to achieve unparalleled quality control. When Lindy designed this pickup, he wanted it to be as close to the originals as possible. Pure P.A.F.’s consist of USA-Made Butyrate bobbins, baseplates, magnets, and wire. We wind each pickup by hand, one at a time, using our proprietary “Sectioning” technique. Doing this gives the pickup a sweet, clear tone, reminiscent of the early Gibson Humbuckers.
Finally, we assemble each pickup one at a time, by hand, which allows us to achieve unbeatable attention to detail. After assembly, we wax-pot the pickup to prevent microphonics and preserve the pickup for years to come.
Sound Samples for Pure P.A.F.:
Compare Outputs
We have 2 outputs of our Pure P.A.F.. Compare them below.
About these Sound Clips:
All sound samples are played from Neck Position First and Bridge Position Last.
Tonal Graph For Pure P.A.F.:
The tonal graph below for our Pure P.A.F. features Lows, Midrange, Highs, and general Output.
Attack: Soft & Round
Videos for Pure P.A.F.:
Humbucker Lead Color Codes
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
Tech Specs:
See below for the estimated DCR and Polarity Information for our Pure P.A.F..
| SPECIFICATION | VALUE |
|---|---|
| Neck Ohm Reading (Stock): | 7.5K 1 |
| Bridge Ohm Reading (Stock): | 8K 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 2 |
| Wire: | USA-Made 42-Gauge Plain Enamel |
| Bobbin Material: | USA-Made Butyrate |
| Baseplate Material: | Nickel Silver |
| Cover Material: | Nickel Silver |
| Slug / Pole Piece Material: | Steel |
| Recommended Pot Value: | 500K* |
| Baseplate Leg Depth: | 6mm |
| 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.
* You can experiment with pot values for a different tone. This pickup will sound dark and warm on 250K pots
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.
Covered Humbucker
Uncovered Humbucker
Get It Prewired
Get our Pure P.A.F. prewired into a Prewired Pickguard!:
Customer Reviews
239 Genuine Reviews for Pure P.A.F.
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I have a set of Pure PAFs (7.5k neck, 8.2k bridge with raw nickel covers) in my PRS Sunburst Series 22 (a special run of the Custom 22 from 2009). I’ve had the bridge pickup for around 18 months and the neck pickup for 4-5 months, so I have solid experience with them at this point and am beyond any honeymoon phase. These are great pickups and very true to the description on the website–clean and clear, yet sweet. The clarity and string separation are very good. The neck pickup is definitely not muddy like many neck humbuckers. The pickups are also quiet. Customer service from Fralin is always top notch, you can call or email if you have questions. For the price, you cannot go wrong. Fralin’s pricing is very reasonable compared to many of the boutique winders. I have no plans or desire to swap out these pickups and highly recommend them.
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I just installed Lindy’s Pure PAF humbuckers in one of my Les Paul’s. I was so blown away by these pickups in my 50’s LP, I ordered another set for my LP Classic. I went with 7.8k in the neck and 8.2 for the bridge. These pickups are so musical and detailed. They have a sweetness and clarity that is just unmatched. My LP Classic came from the factory with ‘61 Burstbuckers. They sounded terrible in this particular guitar. Harsh. No clarity. Just awful. I tried another set of pickups, but no luck with those either. These Pure PAF’s were my last attempt to bond with this guitar, and they really came through. Finally, this guitar sings like it should. I wasn’t sure I’d keep this guitar. Now with these Pure PAF’s, I’ll never part with it. Thanks again to the Fralin staff for helping me with all my orders.
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I was looking for something to replace the stock pickup(s) in my PRS CE24. The bridge pickup just wasn’t cutting it. The PRS guys on the ‘net recommended 57/08s, but I was a little hesitant not having heard them, along with the fact that I didn’t care for the bridge 85/15 TCI. 2 different sets of pickups, I know, but still… That said, a few years back I put a set of Fralin Split Blades in my USA Strat, and loved them. So I decided to go with a Fralin Pure P.A.F. set. And I’m glad I did! These sound great! I let a buddy play that guitar. He just looked at me and said “Wow!”. If you don’t like your humbuckers, try these. You won’t be disappointed.
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I’ve had a set of these “pure PAF” pickups for a couple of years now. I just installed them in a ‘60’s Gibson Les Paul. Removed the ‘61burstbuckers because they sounded too muddy. These Fralin pickups have not only made this guitar better tone wise, but give it a tone of a vintage ‘50’s era guitar. I’ve played many vintage Les Paul’s and this guitar now is right up there with them! I don’t know why I waited so long to install them! Wonderful pickups!
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I love my Pure PAFs! I purchased them to replace the stock 60s Burstbuckers in my Les Paul Standard. The name really says it all…pure. I feel these pickups really just bring out the natural sound of the guitar without coloring it. I bought the stock pair and couldn’t be happier, thanks Lindy!
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It’s nearly impossible to be unsatisfied with what the Pure P.A.F. delivers. It is as versatile as it is true to the ’50s P.A.F. sound. There are many highly regarded pickup makers out there, and it can be hard to settle on a choice. I’ve tried a variety of them, some excellent and others relatively unimpressive. Following a number of upgrades I made to the stock hardware for my of my 2018 Historic VOS Les Paul, the final step in turning it from a living room piece into a tour-ready instrument was installing the stock-wind Pure P.A.F. in the bridge, along with the Big Single 43-wind in the neck. With these pickups installed, it is finally the scimitar it is meant to be. While previously I had all kinds of control cavity modifications installed in an effort to make the instrument more useful, this time I wired the two pickups to the switch with just a single volume knob and no tone controls. My thinking was that, with the right pickups, I wouldn’t need anything else, and my expectations were exceeded.
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I was very impressed with the workmanship and materials, excellent execution. However, all that was quickly overshadowed by the tone. Just amazing, crisp highs with an almost bell like tone and fantastic sustain.
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I recently received a Pure PAF neck pickup in the mail. It’s wired in, and sounds great. So just wanted to reach out and say thanks, and that I’m a big fan of your products. I bought a second-hand Lindy Fralin neck pickup for my Telecaster many years ago, and always received positive feedback on the tone. When it was time to upgrade my Gibson, it was an easy decision. When it comes time to upgrade my SG and strat, I’ll be back. Keep doing what you do!
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Pure P.A.F. overwound
I really like these pickups. They went into a budget Les Paul knockoff that always sounded great and punched 3 or 4x above its price. It’s taken a few journeys on pickups, for a while I had a much hotter set but with the purchase of a different guitar that came with its own hot pickups, I wanted to take output back down. After checking into options I settled onto this set and it absolutely nails what I wanted, which is just enough output to easily get slight overdrive tones on my Mesa Mark V:25.
Also, black/cream zebra bobbins are looking great with the cream plastics and binding on the black guitar.
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I need more stars. Sorry I took so long to write my review. I was lucky enough to have Gruhn Guitars remember my wish list for a ES-335 that was a little out of my price range so they kept their eye out for a trade in that might help me out. Lucky for me a Custom Shop ( Lindy calls them “FAKE” ES-335’s ) that some rich guitar collector purchased from Gruhn Guitars , a few weeks later lost the paper work and certificate of authenticity) then traded it in for A big loss. They called me and passed the savings to me. Now I have my “fake ES-335 63″ CS Cherry Finish” and the pickups sounded horrible. My luthier was gone for a while also and when he got back he was faced with a back log of work. Now I call Lindy and I tell him my long ass story, he listens politely and tells me he also has a ” back log ” but I will get the correct pickups for my guitar. I no longer tell Lindy what I what, I tell him my “long ass stories” and Always get the perfect pickups. I will say this…His P-90’s, My fake CS Fender 63′ Tele with his Pickups and now the PAF’s in my fake ES-335 ARE THE VERY BEST PICKUPS on the planet Earth for my guitars. I only use one Luthier for my guitars and ONLY ONE company to purchase my pickups. I no longer EVER have buyers remorse. THANK YOU Lindy Fralin and company.
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Pure PAF pickups are absolutely the best sounding humbuckers I’ve tried. Touch sensitive, articulate and the sustain is unbelievable. For 20 years I thought my Les Paul sounded good. It’s so good now I struggle to pick up a different guitar. Thank you Mr. Fralin.
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These give just the humbucker tone I wanted for my Gibson Les Paul. The potted stock pickups (Wildwood-spec PAFs) were fine, but a little dark and thick. The unpotted Pure PAFs from Fralin give me all the top end and note separation I was missing, while still providing some grit and growl.
I would definitely use Pure PAF pickups on another project. In fact, I am thinking about pulling the ’57 Classics from my ES-335 and replacing them with Fralin Pure PAFs.
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I vowed in my previous review to install a Fralin PAF in each of my arch tops. This latest PAF went in my Benedetto Americana and it has truly transformed the guitar- just excellent tone and response. The PAF has really brought out the potential of this guitar.
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Dear Mr.Fralin,
I am writing to express my gratitude for your work. I have been buying pickups and building/assembling guitars for many years, and I am still amazed at the depth of your knowledge on the subject. I believe bragging rights are available. Anyway, the point is to say thanks for your efforts. -
recently picked up a second hand 1992 Gibson Les Paul Studio that had a pair of gold Pure P.A.F. pickups installed by the previous owner, at first I was a little skeptical as I was wanting the original pickups for the most original sound to this guitar, however I have been overwhelmingly pleasantly surprised. These pickups have a beautiful warm, full tone that handles all types of effects very well and works great for the kind of music I play, which is predominantly punk rock. I had never heard of Fralin before acquiring this guitar, but I wish I had sooner. more guitarists need to know about Fralin pickups!!
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I put a set of Pure PAFS in my personal 25th Anniversary Hamer Special.
What a difference. These pickups sound great in all the areas you want for a 2 HB guitar.
Articulate in both clean and overdriven, smooth without the open air of some neck position pickups.
The tone is dynamic and right in the sweet spot.
Highly recommend the 5% overwind. It really is a GREAT sounding pickup. -
Finally the tone I have been looking for in my arch top. Have tried so many other pickups to no avail. The Fralin PAF is just right, warm and defined from low to high. These will go in every arch top I own now!
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Very nice, smooth, warm, clear.
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I’m very happy with the “Pure P.A.F.” pickups. They are clear and warm-sounding. The response of each individual string is distinct and perfectly balanced. I got exactly what I was hoping for. Thanks.
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