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:
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
Covered Humbucker
Uncovered Humbucker
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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I put Pure PAF’s in 40-year-old Dean Explorer that I never played, but couldn’t sell for sentimental reasons. Now it sounds amazing and I can’t put the guitar down. I’m really happy with the improvement!
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Outstanding pickups
The Fralin team did it again! Already the proud owner of a blues special set on my tele, I decided to give myself a treat with these pure PAF pups on my les Paul standard in replacement of the stock burstbuckers, which were quite good, but I wanted perfection for this beautiful guitar. I was looking for clarity and articulation to fit the style of music I play (jazz-blues mostly) and the pure PAFs deliver! I ordered a vintage zebra set that just looks awesome on my unburst LP model. You can’t go wrong with Fralin pups.
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These pickups really woke up my Epi LP Standard. The tone is now so full and beautiful. Highly recommended.
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Epiphone Dot – Blown away.
I bought this guitar used from my guitar teacher who had it in the studio where it was used by various students for several years. Totally stock Samick electronics. But you could tell that the bones were good. I put a matched set of the Pure P.A.F. pickups along with a complete set of Emerson pots, orange drop capacitors with a treble bleed set up, and now I have the best sounding poor man’s 335 in the Hudson Valley. Everyone in the studio is just amazed at the tone, sustain, and versatility of this guitar. Best investment I have ever made in terms of the sound improvement of any guitar I own. So much so that I am now waiting for the Firebird Mini and another Pure P.A.F. to round out the sound in another guitar that needs a bit of love. Very, very satisfied. This Dot hasn’t seen the inside of the case since I put these pups in. Just do it already. Get the Pure P.A.F.
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Customer added no additional comments
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Awesome. Fat sound love my new Fralins
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Amazing sound
Crystal clear, amazing sound. Replaced burstbuckers on LP standard and what a difference! Even better was the customer service from Lindy and team. I asked a question on the order form and Lindy called personally to make sure I was squared away. Extremely satisfied! -
Perfect clarity!
Put Pure PAFs in my Gibson SG ’61 re-issue. The Gibson ’57s weren’t bad, but these are fantastic! Perfect clarity and articulation. They sound a bit brighter than I expected, which I believe is simply their truly communicating the thinner body shape of the SG vs, say, a Les Paul or ES339. I’ve got Fralin pickups in 13 of my 16 guitars, everything from Teles, Strats, Jazzmasters, ES339, Les Paul, and semi-hollow and hollow bodies and they are all SUPERB! Pure PAF, hum-cancelling Fender styles and P90s, P92s, Big Singles, etc. Love ’em all! -
Customer added no additional comments
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I placed the Pure P.A.F. pickup into the neck position of my “Barncaster” (Tele) build. It’s very versatile, I can get nice deep tones that lend to Jazz and Hard Rock really well. The look of joy when I put my new the guitar through a valve amp – well it had both me and my luthier smiling. Make sure you team up the pickup with decent electronic hardware, infact use a Fralin kit, it all matches really well.
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Pure as pure gets
These are amazing pickups. My customers always love them. Always! -
Customer added no additional comments
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I wish I did this sooner
Oh man they sound SOOOO good. I put them in my epiphone dot I’ve had forever. It always sounded good but these pickups took it to a whole new level!!! Thanks!!! -
Love them
I’m a professional New Orleans musician who like everyone else in the industry has been sidelined by covid, so I took advantage of the down time and decided to ordered the Pure PAFs stock pickups for my 2016 335. It took a few months before I was able to play a live gig so I could really hear these babies in action. Wow! I’m impressed. Plugging straight into my Quilter Reverb 101 and runing through a 1×12 cab with a Celestion GM 12 65 Creamback, and OMG. I highly recommend these pickups. The output is amazing and the tone is perfect for the variety of genres I play, especially for Funk and blues. Yeah you right! -
Major upgrade!
Two Lindy’s P.A.F.s transformed my Schecter Custom Solo-II into a Les Paul killer! The sound transformation was absolutely magical! Also, when you call Fralin, there is a chance you speak with Lindy himself, which I find very special. Lindy is a pickup genius and one of the most humble people I ever spoke with. Do yourself a favor – call them and get yourself some magic tone! Warning: You will be sorry you didn’t do it sooner… -
First of all, I doubt you’ll find better customer service and attention to detail in a pickup maker than Fralin Pickups.
I recently purchased one of the new Gibson Original 50s Les Pauls (non-weight relieved, excellent attention to detail). Gibson hit a home run on this guitar, acoustically it sounds amazing even without being plugged in. Mark of a fantastic guitar. Burstbuckers were ok. But I ordered a Fralin set of Pure PAFs unpotted (like they would’ve been in the 1950s). After installing and playing…I can’t imagine different pickups in this guitar. These pickups match this guitar like ketchup to french fries. They are the perfect projections of the tone wood of the the Les Paul. I can’t imagine a better pickup for these type of guitars. If you have a fantastic Les Paul or similar type of guitar, Fralin Pure PAFs will bring your guitar to the next level. You can spend more, but you won’t find better for the price.
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Just what I hoped for. This pickup was exactly what I was hoping to get from a humbucker. It has remarkable clarity, and still plenty of punch. Sweet tone!
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A Classic Redefined: Clean and clear, articulate and not at all boomy or muddy.
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Pure Excellence! I replaced the stock pickups (S58) on my Ibanez AF 155 jazz box with Lindy’s Pure P.A.F’s. Finally I feel happy with my sound – the pickups are very dynamic – they follow my touch smoothly and can go from mellow to sweet bite. Compared to Gibson 57 Classic Lindy’s PAFs have a bit less highs and at the same time are not muddy at all. They look and feel like vintage PAFs. Great pickups for Jazz! Highly recommended!
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Badassery is the word!!! Used my LesPaul last and she sung that pure vintage was exactly the sound and feel for Robert Lee Colemans band thanks so much!!!
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