They sound great, I love the middle position tones when the neck and bridge are so different from each other, would be great to hear the neck pickup on it's own as well.
Great video Pat, went through a similar experience a couple of months back. I had replaced the stock P90 pickups in an Epiphone 1956 Les Paul Standard Pro, with a set of Throbak '55/'56-SB MXV P90's. We had already tried a few of the other high end P90 replacement pickups in other guitars, all impressive but the Throbaks were noticeably better sounding, say 15% or so. They sounded great initially, with the E poles about 1/8" away from the strings, absolutely amazing after adjusting the pickups down to about a 1/4" gap on those poles. Jaw-dropping clarity and tone. I've ordered a set of their Pro-90's for my '77 SG, can't wait to hear how that works out.
It’s not my guitar so it’s gone back to the owner …. The neck pickup was not as bonkers as the bridge pup … more like a real overwound paf … the blended sounds between the two was a big part of the mojo … and that bridge pickup just had gobs off majic
Pat …… on your recommendation , I installed a pair of Cornell Dublier PIO capacitors , 0.01 uf in my les Paul classic. All I have to say is wow! Best 20 bucks I ever spent.
The harness is also a big factor as Gianni says …. Pots caps and even the correct hook up wire add to the sustain in subtle ways ! & that’s the PAF “Secret” it’s 100 little things that were right from 57 to 63
Sounds great! I’m surprised at how nice the 2 pickups sound together considering how much hotter the neck pickup is. I’m curious how the neck pickup sounds on its own especially overdriven. I would think it might be a bit too dark or muddy sounding just cause that’s what I have found with hotter output neck pickups but your demo of these sound great. Do you still have this set of pickups in the guitar?
Stock other than thro backs and adding a 250k resistor to each volume pot (hot side) to make the pots pass more signal at lower volume as heard when people adjust the volume on the on the original guitar ! I explain this kind of stuff in my volume pot videos! Older pots choked off less signal when lowered… how the guitar plays half way up the pot is critical to the PAF era tone.
Throbak is the top dog in PAF and P90 reproduction. I’ve played on 3 of their PAF sets and it’s impossible to pick a winner. The Mojotone 59 Hot Clones and the Gibson Custombuckers are phenomenal too. This set has all the right stuff, even with the “hotter” neck pickup.
In this guitar, stock custom shop pots and caps, 50s wiring with a 250k resistor between the middle and hot lug on each volume… on my own guitars I use pio 50’s caps. The can still be reasonably purchased if you understand and can read the moulding marks on the caps … not all of the caps got the bumble bee 🐝 paint job! Hint!
They are pricey but so is buying several different paf clones to try and get the sound then caving in and buying these. There are other potential pickups to use, but then you have to start modifying pickups the make the adjustments. There are a very specific set of alloys in the metal parts of these that can be duplicated if you know what they are … but thro back has done all of the hard work… I worked out the alloys and have parts to convert any paf clone, I use motor city black belts with some parts swapped
Sounds great, but I can’t get away from the physics of a pickup. All it is wire wound around pole pieces and a bar magnet. All you can do is alter a few parameters I.E. wire guage, # of winds, magnet type etc. there is no magic involved
right: its also very interesting that Rewound P.A.F.'s usually sound really good.. while it seems simple physics there are literally hundreds of combinations of wire gauge winding pattern metal alloys and so forth to get right ...which is why its taken 60 years for the guitar world to start figuring out these tones...I would also note that it sounds like you've never played a real 50's les paul ...
@@voxpathfinder15r I have a couple of friends who have owned real ones for decades ... the expressions on my face tell the tale... these pickups are freaks of the PAF world ... but capture the two key attributes #1 astounding clarity #2 incredible dynamic range ie play softly and they are better than a great strat and play hard and you can peel paint like Billy Gibbons or Jimmy page ... and thats litterally what the Burst Fuss is really about ...and you can just buy these ... for an appropriate pound of flesh :)
@@patfurlan there is no magic to pickups, only physics. You give me your favorite PAF pickup - with the appropriate wire and magnet and I can duplicate exactly. The only difference I can see is manufacturing isn’t heat treating the magnets the same way snd you’re getting different properties of compression and attack. I think Pete Suhr did a deep dive on that topic and found an original manufacturer with the specs of the time on file.
There is no magic but there's a lot of trial and error in getting "your own personal vintage paf tone". I have made pickups that sound like these Koss model Throbaks and I don't like them all that much! Too nasal and treblbly. Turns out I like the airy open sound of the 57. Totally different winds (way more layers for a start). I think its also really important to point out/remain conscious of the fact that even if by some quirk of fate you came to posses Greeny or the Koss burst .. if you run it through a Quilter or a Champ 600, its going to sound like a Quilter or a Champ 600 by and large. Don't discount the real genuine variables inherent in amplifier design and critically speakers..
