Pure P.A.F.
The Ultimate PAF Replacement
$160 – $320
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:
Pure P.A.F. 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
See below for our Humbucker 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
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 |
More Information:
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
Pure P.A.F. Dimensions:
Pure P.A.F. FAQ's
General FAQs
Here are quick answers to common questions we get:
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What Ohm Readings does your Pure P.A.F. have?
Navigate to our Tech Specs Tab for complete Ohm Readings and more useful information.
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Will this pickup fit my instrument?
Check our "Sizing" tab for the size of the pickup. No Sizing tab? Check under the product image gallery for dimensions.
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Is your Lead Time of 3-4 Weeks accurate?
It really depends on the shop capacity at the moment, and the size of your order. Feel free to give us a call for an accurate lead time. We always try to underpromise and overdeliver.
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What pickup height do you recommend setting your Pure P.A.F.s to?
Our recommended Pickup Height is 1/8" (3.175mm) on the Bass Side and 1/16"( 1.5875mm) on the Treble Side. Measure by holding the corresponding side down at its highest fret and measure from the bottom of the string to the top of the pole piece.
Get It Prewired
Get our Pure P.A.F. prewired into a Prewired Pickguard!:
Customer Reviews
228 Genuine Reviews for Pure P.A.F.
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Byrdland type guitar
These pickups are the perfect combination of lush warm tones and screaming face blistering solo tones. The pickups have a transparent ring that sings through no matter what amp tones you are using. Jeffrey Knutson built a custom guitar Like an upgraded Byrdland, but with more modern jazz guitar touches. I owned a 70s Byrdland and this guitar with these pickups sound so much better than the Gibson. -
I have a thinline hollow body guitar, and these are the best pickups I’ve put in it. I got the low winding / lower output version for both the neck and bridge. They’re smooth, dynamic and perfect for my hollow body. They really brought out the guitars natural sound. The guitar sounds really good even when just playing it acoustically. And you can really hear more of that hollow resonance with these pickups, which is what I was looking for. They sound great clean and overdriven. I can get that sweet,
Controlled hollow body feedback with these pickups. This is the third set of pickups I’ve put on this guitar and have finally found the right ones. -
Beautiful! Not too bold, not too bright – just the perfect humbucker sound!
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See above: The P.A.F. is as Lindy said. Great choice in a HSS strat.
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Pure PAF bridge pickup: Excellent tone and clarity, superb with overdrive and clean. Great purchase.
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Customer added no additional comments
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Everything I hoped They Would Be
I put Pure P.A.F.’s in my Gibson ’58 Historic Reissue ES335. The neck pickup is so warm and the bridge is fat and bright. They are everything I hoped they would be. Definitely a major step up from the stock pickups.
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Pure PAF’s in an Ibanez L-5 Copy
The clarity of the new pickups is amazing. No more playing a dull-sounding instrument. High-quality great stuff.
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Worked very well for this build. Thanks so much for a quality product!!
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I put a set in my Ibanez AS153 and all I can say is wow. I spoke with Lindy on the phone and I was considering another set of pickups. He steered me toward the Pure PAFs. I am so glad I took his suggestion. These are warm, yet can be incredibly bright with unimaginable bite, so articulate, but with enough power to really drive my amp. Awesome!
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I purchased Pure PAF Humbuckers for my Cort Source (es 335) and it turned out to be a remarkable upgrade for this guitar. The Classic rocker II pickups although reviewed by many as being excellent, to me left a little to be desired. The upgrade I must say was enhanced by custom wiring from Guitar Sauce in Australia and the combination of these two component upgrades have given me a guitar that sounds better than any Gibson or Epiphone that I have owned. I have what I feel is a complete stable now with an American G&L Legacy and the upgraded Cort and have sold off all my other guitars. Thanks Lindy.
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THE PURE PAF ARE GREAT !
I USE THEM IN MY SHINEY BLACK HIGH PERF. FLYING V . IT ORIGINALLY WAS MADE W/ DIRTY FINGERS + WITH CHROME COVERS THEY LOOK & SOUND THE PART. I JUST WANTED TO HAVE WHAT WAS IN GUITARS WHEN I 1st. STARTED PLAYING. I DIDNT PLAY FOR SOME YEARS DUE TO AN INJURY TO MY FRET HAND. IT TOOK LOTS OF TIME HEALIN BUT I CAME BACK AT ALMOST
60 . THE FRALINS SOUND GREAT EVEN IN MY MARSHALLS . I GERERALLY PLAY EVERY DAY.
ROCK ON Y’ALL !,ROCKET -
These are the best sounding humbuckers I’ve ever heard. I put in my Es 335 along with an Emerson custom prewired harness and together it’s sheer bliss. Bright, articulate and badass! Highly recommended.
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Lindy Fralin Pure Vintage PAF’s
Great Pickup. Exactly what I was looking for! -
Amazing!!!
The craftsmanship and quality are the best I’ve ever played on. Turned my work of art Walking Dead guitar into a true player! Thank you so much !!!
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Perfect
Put these in my PRS S2 Singlecut……The difference is like night and day! Gigged with them yesterday and couldn’t be happier with the result!
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Almost the best pickups ever
My neck pup is still a little dark sounding but worlds better sounding than it was before. The guitar is really singing now !
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Super awesome pickup and crazy good customer service. When I received the pickup I immediately installed it and output was way low. So I contact Fralin pickups to see if I can get a replacement. About an hour later I get a call and it’s Lindy Fralin himself. He asked me what was going on and it turned out that I had wired it incorrectly and he stayed on the phone with me to help me wire it correctly. Super awesome customer service! The best I’ve ever experienced! Love the pickup so much! Clean and clear and matches my Tele blues special bridge pickup. Thanks again Lindy!
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Thank you for such an amazing product!
The pure P.A.F has such smooth creamy sounding.
It sounds so great that you would start appreciate the humbuckers clean tone itself.
And also the pure nickel cover is beautiful.
My search for perfect humbucker ends here. -
AMAZING!!!!! So authentic to the original, so responsive. LOVE these.
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