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!:
Featured Reviews
Reviews We Worked Hard For, and Are Proud Of
Customer Reviews
245 Genuine Reviews for Pure P.A.F.
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See my review of Lindy’s DynaSonic. I had Lindy wind the Pure PAF slightly under so that the volume level would more closely match the DynaSonic. They are both in a Tele Style body with this pickup in the Neck Position. I use the DynaSonic for the Jangle/Chime music and the Pure PAF for leads like The Guess Who’s “No Time”. The combination is very versatile and the middle position of N/B combo shines as well.
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American Telecaster HH
I always liked playing this American Telecaster, but the stock humbuckers were muddy, compared to custom shop guitars. I was hesitant to spend the money on Fralin humbuckers for this guitar, especially because I didn’t know how much it would really improve it.I took a long time deciding which humbuckers to go with and finally ordered the Pure P.A.F. set, along with a new control plate with 500K pots.
I’m happy to say it worked out perfectly. This guitar sounds completely different. I can hear every string now, even with lots of gain from the amp. It’s tone is warm and bold. The overall sound is articulate. It’s a basic American Tele that sounds more like a custom shop.
It’s also important to mention that the Fralin people helped me all along the way. They run a first class shop and won’t let you go it alone, if you ask for guidance.
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Outstanding service and pickups!
I ordered a set of Pure PAFs for Gibson Les Paul Classic. I loved the neck and playability of the guitar, but the Gibson stock pickups were unacceptable. I called Fralin and they help me pick out the pickups based on the sound I was aiming for. They nailed it! The pickups are so clean and I basically have a brand new guitar. Great service and great pickups. Thanks!
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Cleans up mushy low end exactly the sound I was looking for out of the guitar I put them in. Lindy is a good guy, great listener and gracious with his time.
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Love the Fralin Pure P.A.F. tone!
Lindy Fralin was gracious to spend a lot of time discussing with me which humbucker pickups would work best for my playing style in my Gibson Les Paul Standard 2016 T (which offers coil splits, bridge tone bypass, and an out-of-phase option). When I explained that I play mostly rhythm guitar in my 60s-70s classic rock cover band, Lindy recommended the 4-conductor Pure P.A.F. humbucker pickups with a 7.5k neck pickup and an 8.5k bridge pickup. He was absolutely correct! The pickups are very clean sounding and very airy, woody, and articulate, with great note separation. I told him I wanted clean sounding pickups that would work well with all of my effects pedals and the Pure P.A.F pickups deliver! I highly recommend them. (I also have Fralin Modern P.A.F. pickups in my Heritage 535 and Fralin Stock Tele pickups in one of my Fender Telecasters—Fralin pickups rule!) -
Warm, Sweet and Clear! Not dark or muddy. Warm, sweet and clear humbuckers.
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Excellent! Lovely, warm and clean. Like butter on popcorn. Love those AlNiCo 2 magnets.
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My Herirage 150 came with Duncan Vintage ‘59s, which were good but just not quite hot enough. I installed the standard “hot” set of Pure PAFs ind they did the trick. Great vintage tone and just the right growl when wide-open.
One thing though: the pickup covers were just a little big for the pickup body routes so I had to re-solder the sides of the covers while squeezing them with a pair of pliers so that they’d fit inside the routes. Once I did that they dropped into place no problem.
All in all the Pure PAFs were a fine investment.
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I have to say that yes, Lindy you are correct in that saying the pure paf pickup you engineered is as close as you can get. Well what that means to me is not only thru the design and engineering phase did you come as close as you could get, but you actually ended up equaling the best original paf’s and then took it a step further in that they are better than the best, so yes, you went further than they did, and I couldn’t be happier…I’m completely blown away every time I play them in my R8 Les paul. ?
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These pickups are amazing!!! Before buying I called to discuss the options on Pure PAFs and was pleasantly surprised to get a call back by Lindy himself! We spoke for about 15 minutes discussing the various options and how they would affect tone. I had recently purchased a used Heritage H575, and it’s tone was very dark. I decided on the Pure PAFs with the neck at 7.5 in hopes of hearing more of the acoustic properties of the archtop. After ordering and putting in these Pure PAFs, the guitar has come alive. It’s tone is now balanced, and it sounds incredible.
Nice work to Lindy and everyone at Fralin Pickups!!
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It’s alive!! A true Frankenstein story. After gutting my guitar and putting it under a white sheet. A flash of light hit and all of a sudden it started playing itself. No human necessary. What an investment!
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Great replacement for stock pickups!
I replaced the stock pickups on my 18-year-old G&L ASAT Deluxe with Lindy’s Pure PAF set. A perfect choice. Original pups were Duncan ’59 and JB combination. They were decent enough, but the JB bridge pickup was a “one-trick” pony. It did one thing extremely well, but nothing else was satisfying to my ears. With Lindy’s PAF’s I immediately noticed the broader frequency response of neck pickup. Better low-end and no more artificial upper-mid bump. But the really shocking thing is the incredible increase in dynamic range — particularly in the bridge pickup. Now I know what a PAF is supposed to sound like! Especially since my G&L ASAT Deluxe is mahogany body with maple cap. And with a rare ebony fretboard, in many respects it should be voiced a lot like the Les Paul Custom. Now it is, and I could not possibly be happier with the switch. Also, a personal thanks to Lindy Fralin. He answered my original phone call to inquire about pickups, and he courteously guided me thru everything to consider, options, etc. If I could give a “ten star” rating I would! Thanks again, James -
I wanted to let you know how unbelievably happy I am with my latest purchase from you. I recently purchased a PRS CE 24 that had their standard 85/15 humbuckers in it. Many people like these. Not me. I have many Fralin’s, so I talked to Lindy and he suggested the Pure PAF’s. I ordered them with the nickel covers. I took the guitar to the PRS dealer here and they seemed skeptical to swap out “PRS pickups” until I told them they were Fralin’s. They had told me it would take a week, but he said he wanted to hear the Fralin’s in the PRS so he’d get it done quicker. I’m not kidding. He called the next day to tell me it was done and that it “sounded amazing!”…and…”looked great too”. Not making this up.
He wasn’t kidding. These pickups brought this guitar to life. The clarity and tone and warmth they bring to the guitar is amazing. It’s like a brand new instrument. Even the single coil option sounds better. These pickups have brought out the tone wood and snap of the guitar. It’s unbelievable. Before, the neck pickup was almost unusable with gain. Now, even with gain the neck sounds warm, but clear. These may be the best PAF’s I’ve ever heard. -
I put these pickups into my 1984 and my 1990 Tokai Love Rocks, the difference between the stock pickups and the Pure PAFs is impressive. Much nicer tone, better clarity, beautiful highs, perfect mids and enough lows. I play them through a Soldano, and it just sounds amazing. They are definitely a huge improvement and beat the stock pickups by far.
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Sounds good! Replaced my stock pickups from my 1980 ES-347. Sounds clean. I’m happy.
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The tone quest stops here!
Over the years I’ve had the good fortune of playing some real nice vintage guitars, thankfully. It’s hard for me to imagine a P.A.F. style humbucker that could sound any better than this one. You can stop looking now, and start playing. Thank you, Mr. Fralin and crew! -
Awesome!
These pickups are awesome. I put them in my LP Custom and can’t put it down. I highly recommend them! -
The Pure P.A.F. brings that classic HB tone that rings like a bell, then cuts through with incredible clarity in overdrive. I love to install it with a pot to adjust coil tapping, giving the player a broad range of tone: http://www.charleston.guitars/
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Totally Tonal Triumph- Not much to say. Bigger, warmer and more responsive than many HBs I´ve tried over the years.
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Turned my Epi Les Paul into a fire breather! I recently ripped out the wiring, pots, switches, jacks and pick ups on my epiphone. Put a jonesy blues 21 tone rig in there along with pure pafs 8.5k bridge and 7.5k in neck. Both with albino 4 mags…………. my guitar now has everything and more of what was lacking. These pure pafs are so clear and articulate on the cleans and the magic really happens when you hit them with overdrive and gain. Greasy quacky with all the bottom end bang and top end Kerrang.
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