The holy-grail humbucker.  This is, beyond question, the tone that launched the sound of Rock-n-Roll electric guitar as we know it … and oh so much more! While original PAF specs and tone varied significantly, I've chosen the best of the best, for impeccable PAF tone. Warm & sweet, yet clear and defined, that's the 1957 Historic PAF.

These pickups are for you if you get your dirt from your pedals and/or amp and want a humbucker tone that is rich in complex harmonics and cleans up in a downright stunning manner. These are tremendously versatile; on one extreme, when played clean through a non-master volume Fender you get the tone Les Paul himself originally envisioned and folks like Chet Atkins milked for all it was worth. Turn up the volume on a tweed-era Fender and you get Freddie King tone. Play it with a slide ala Duane Allman. A little more gain? How about Tom Scholz, Gary Moore, man … the list goes on forever, Joe Bonamassa, Keith Urban, The Edge, even all the way to the famous high=gain Marshall JCM800 tones of Slash and the super-shredding of Avenged Sevenfold’s Synyster Gates. Yea … tremendously versatile indeed.

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“Best of” vintage specs include:

• Vintage correct size 1 15/16" (49.2mm) bobbins (all black)
• Vintage red Enamel 42ga copper magnet wire, wound to position calibrated historic 1957 specs.
• Vintage correct 2.5’’ x 0.5’’ x 0.13’’ sand cast AlNiCo II bar magnets.
• Vintage correct 1.5" x 2.75" covers, available in bare nickle, polished nickle-silver (chrome), or without covers
• Vintage pickup height tension conical springs
• Vintage Nickel Pickup height adjustment screws
• Vintage Braided Shielded Push-Back Cloth wireleads
• Available with or without Historic aging treatment.
• Light historic wax potting, for true-1957 tone without microphonics.

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Average Resistance & Induction at 70-degrees F:
• Bridge: 8.5 K/6.1 Henrys
• Neck: 7.7 K/5.0 Henrys

(IMPORTANT: Specs change with temperature and many other conditions/variables, especially RESISTANCE.
NEVER use resistance as a firm indicator of a pickups output, tone, or anything else!)

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Please note: The pickup cavities in many modern guitars are not routed deep enough to fit the historically correct long mounting legs, and so I have switched to only using "short" mounting legs that will work in all guitars. If you would prefer the "long legs", and are sure they will fit in your guitar, please include this request in the comments section when you place your order!