Tom Doyle PAF reproductions

[SpareRibs]

Hello,
Has anyone tried these pickups. Supposed to be as close to the real deal as you can get.

[Rick Turner]

Well, on Tom's website he's claiming that Les Paul invented the Les Paul guitar, so there's one strike against him!

As far as I know, he makes decent stuff, but it's kind of like Tom Holmes...good stuff, but no magic sauce any better than a bunch of the PAF winders here and elsewhere including in Santa Barbara, for instance.

[CheopisIV]

For that price I'll get me some Wizz PAFs or Throbaks.

[Rick Turner]

I would love to see everyone who claims to make the most authentic PAF clone be in the same room at the same time and hear how each would top the others with magic sauce claims, spectrographs of original materials, original Gibson wind machines, etc.

It would get downright hilarious...

Especially given the tolerances of all the parts in original PAFs...

[CheopisIV]

I would love to see everyone who claims to make the most authentic PAF clone be in the same room at the same time and hear how each would top the others with magic sauce claims, spectrographs of original materials, original Gibson wind machines, etc.

It would get downright hilarious...

Especially given the tolerances of all the parts in original PAFs...

Haha, it's bad enough when they all get to discussing the properties without ever saying much (trade secrets and all). Most of them seem to base their pickups off of a particular PAF that they've unwound and played with.

A lot just wind for sound instead of vintage accurate parts. Mine may not look like a 1950's genuine PAF by a long shot, but the sound is close to what I want to hear

[jonson]

I would love to see everyone who claims to make the most authentic PAF clone be in the same room at the same time and hear how each would top the others with magic sauce claims, spectrographs of original materials, original Gibson wind machines, etc.

Stay tuned Bro cus it's either gonna happen here or theys gonna shutup.

[big_teee]

Haha, it's bad enough when they all get to discussing the properties without ever saying much (trade secrets and all). Most of them seem to base their pickups off of a particular PAF that they've unwound and played with.

A lot just wind for sound instead of vintage accurate parts. Mine may not look like a 1950's genuine PAF by a long shot, but the sound is close to what I want to hear

That's exactly what I do!
My whole objective is to make a Bucker that Sounds Good.
Don't care about any special tool marks, etc.
The sound may not please everyone, but it pleases me!

[CheopisIV]

Stay tuned Bro cus it's either gonna happen here or theys gonna shutup.

Nobody who put the time and money into actual analysis is going to tell their findings... no need! A lot of guys will pretend to know more than they do and (quoting Jon from Throbak) 'unwittingly tip their hands' with random posts here and there but puff up real big when challenged.

I've seen a few questionable posts on various forums by winders who claim to know the Secret Sauce that really shows how little they do know... I've likely made a few myself!!!

[big_teee]

Also don't forget in the Days of PAF, there were no specific Neck and Bridge pickups.
So you may have got a Gibby LP with a 8k neck, and a 7.2-7.5k bridge pickup.
How could that have been a favorable outcome.
I like somewhat hotter bridge pickups than most PAFs, so the PAF deal is usually a non starter for me to start with.
T
BTW: The pic of the bucket of chicken is making me hungry!

[JGundry]

Well, on Tom's website he's claiming that Les Paul invented the Les Paul guitar, so there's one strike against him!

As far as I know, he makes decent stuff, but it's kind of like Tom Holmes...good stuff, but no magic sauce any better than a bunch of the PAF winders here and elsewhere including in Santa Barbara, for instance.

People want to think there is one single P.A.F. tone, but there is not one single tone. The variation is the fun part of the category. You can control the specs. within that framework to get different tones.

Shootouts never set ground rules that make sense for a P.A.F.. Like every pickup should have all the parts of a P.A.F., all machine wound, all the same grade Alnico, all wound to the same resistance target, but it never happens.

[big_teee]

The shootout IMO should be for best sounding Humbucker.
Enter your PAF or whatever you make, that you think sounds good.
If the PAF clones can't keep up, so be it!

[SpareRibs]

I would love to see everyone who claims to make the most authentic PAF clone be in the same room at the same time and hear how each would top the others with magic sauce claims, spectrographs of original materials, original Gibson wind machines, etc.
It would get downright hilarious...
Especially given the tolerances of all the parts in original PAFs...

Hello,
Of all people I am glad you were the first to weigh in, and as far as I am concerned you hit the nail directly on the head with very few words.

[Jim Darr]

People want to think there is one single P.A.F. tone, but there is not one single tone. The variation is the fun part of the category. You can control the specs. within that framework to get different tones.

Shootouts never set ground rules that make sense for a P.A.F..

Agree completely. The variation in final sound was huge before T-Tops and being able to produce a good tonal palette is the mark of a great winder. To me it is great fun, as a winder, to experiment with all the production variables to come up with different sounds. For every 10-20 I think will sound good, only 1 or 2 actually does.

Perhaps the best ultimate shootout is the marketplace. Those winders that deliver a sound that people like will survive and thrive.

To me the sound trumps everything...I'd rather have a new looking pickup (HB, P90, Single Coil, Filtertron, etc) with modern materials that sounds fantastic, than a run of the mill sounding clone with vintage correct parts and an aged look.

Concerning Tom Doyle's product, I have not heard or seen one of his pickups yet, so I cannot comment on SpareRibs original question in this thread. I also heard that Tom makes a good pickup and does quality work.

[Rick Turner]

It is interesting how bit by bit, Gibson humbuckers seem to have gone down hill. I'd say ditto to Fender pickups. Then, of course, when said companies "got it" and tried desperately to get back home...and I know both companies really did...it was too late for the market to accept, and so we wound up with a "my PAF can beat up your PAF" world. I think that with Fender in particular, there must have been a dark time when if they tapped on a pickup and a clunk came out, it was "Use it!" And the penny wise, pound foolish stuff at Gibson...well, let's not go there, but I do know how much effort both JT Ribiloff and Bill Lawrence put into trying to get humbuckers back on the right track. In theory, both Gibson and Fender should be able to make the best pickups they've ever made, even if there's nothing new. It just takes leadership from management putting that as a priority.

[JGundry]

The shootout IMO should be for best sounding Humbucker.
Enter your PAF or whatever you make, that you think sounds good.
If the PAF clones can't keep up, so be it!

I know a guy that has one guitar because it sounds the best. He had Fenders, Gibsons over the years but this one guitar he has sounds the best out of them all. So if you want to hear the best you should talk to him, the guy with one guitar...which is also the best sounding guitar BTW.