PAF 101: What Made Seth Lover’s Pickup Design So Innovative?

V8

P-A-F, three little letters that signify what is arguably one of the furthest reaching guitar innovations of modern gear. So how did Seth Lover innovate pickup designs and establish the defining standard of humbucking brilliance for decades to come?

Like so many stories of guitar and electronic innovations of the post-World War II era, this one starts with a young man whose electronics specializations were military grade.

So what went into the design of this pickup wizardry?

In some respects, the new humbucker design channeled the best of the P-90 pickups that were already a staple at Gibson. The PAF and P-90 designs share some common DNA including, Alnico bar magnets and 10,000 winds of 42 AWG wire. The big difference, however, was Seth’s tandem design that put an end to buzz.

https://riffcityguitar.com/paf-101-what-made-seth-lovers-pickup-design-so-innovative/

guidothepimmp

Pickups are fascinating. As my playing style has changed.. so has my taste in pickups.

I used to love high output pups that drove everything and provided a lot of thump.

These days i prefer low to medium output oups. It means i use more of the power in the amp. Changed my playing dynamic a bit. Not night and day stuff but subtle enough for me to think i can hear and feel the difference.

Heck.. not even sure the above makes sense.

Nice article btw

V8

Glad ya enjoyed it - I was always curious where the P.A.F bit came from!

guidothepimmp These days i prefer low to medium output oups. It means i use more of the power in the amp. Changed my playing dynamic a bit. Not night and day stuff but subtle enough for me to think i can hear and feel the difference.

I'm much the same, as time passed - went from high output, hairy chested pups to lower output, more dynamically responsive ones. Coupled with a change in musical tastes. I generally find the high output ones only really came alive with buckets 'o gain and the clean tone tends to be either to be muffled or brittle. And, (at least to me), there always a hint of compression with them?

Not great when trying to get a bluesy. slightly dirty sound & trying to develop picking dynamics to get tonal changes.

Graeme Hayward and I had a few chats about it - I've little idea of the technicalities - but, over time, I gravitated to lower output pups and learnt more about gain staging a rig (guitar+pedals+amp). He reckon that the sweet spot for dynamics was between 4-5k output and then add a boost in to get to volume you're looking for (pedal or at amp). We both were loving on the T.V Jones 'tron's - that hybrid firebird/tele he build had a set - damn...too good for my sloppy hands.

Slightly off-topic, I also found I disliked the vast majority of active basses for similar reasons. The dynamic window was much smaller vs passive basses - and my ears reckoned there was a bit of compression happening, that I wasn't digging. Of course...everything has it's uses, in a djent band it was pretty handy!

Tuckstir

So wait.. a P.A.F Looks like Humbucker but is more like a P90..?

V8

Tuckstir From what I read P.A.F is the "technology" of combining two single coil P90's into what we now call a humbucker. Patent Applied For was what Gibson branded early versions until the patent for that technology was granted.

So, AFAIK, all humbuckers would *technically" be PAF's because of the use two coil to cancel hum. All gets confusing when the term P.A.F came to define a 'sound' of a certain style of humbucking pickup - the debate over what that sound actually is, amuses and confuses equally?

I associate it with a lower output, rock n dirty blues friendly pup that can drive the hairier side of a Marshall and isn't overly muddy when clean. But. likely I'm wrong ?

Tuckstir

Ah so more confusing than a Confucius..

I'm only asking as I've been banned from buying another guitar this whole year.. so decided to upgrade my sound, I have 2 guitars I'd like to upgrade.. My Strat which has 2 no-name singles and a SD cool Rails strat Pickup in bridge, and thinking on going vintage singles for the neck and middle..

My SG has 2 no-name Humbuckers.. which I would like to swap out. to what I don't know, still deciding on a sound, somewhere between a strat brittleness and a metal axe and I've heard great things about P90's

V8

Tuckstir Ah so more confusing than a Confucius..

Completely! ?

I've been confussed by it all too - really just an excuse to play more guitars and find what does what, what works with what, and eventually (hopefully) what works for you (and when).

I'm torn between filtertron's and P90's atm - I've played some great P90's and some crappy ones - I like the clarity and middy-ness of them - kinda like a musclebound single coil? But then I played some filtertron's and liked the clarity and definition of them - alas, beyond my skills to exploit!

Personally, I've found that when someone say sounds like a XYZ in ABC format - generally this isn't quite true. E.g. Sounds like a P90 in a single coil size - there's a reason why a P90 sounds like the way it does and a lot of it has to do with the size/(form factor) of the pup itself - which doesn't lend itself to being stuffed into a smaller SC form factor - same for humbuckers

But, possible I'm channeling a bit of the cork sniffing purist here - which I'd like to think I try to avoid. There's many a happy accident and just because it's convention to have X in Y form factor doesn't mean it couldn't work in setting Z.

Tuckstir

V8
Filterwhats..

Ok I See they Another derivative of humbuckers...

V8 really just an excuse to play more guitars and find what does what, what works with what, and eventually (hopefully) what works for you (and when).

Never a truer word.. I'm only starting down this rabbit hole, and starting to discover what I do and don't like,

wern101

Tuckstir what I do and don't like,

I like guitar.

Has there ever been a more vague (vaguer?) statement...?

Tuckstir

wern101 I like guitar.

pfft .. I'm off to go join @V8 in the wine cellar

V8

Tuckstir Let's make it a wine friendly jam room and you're on. ?

Wern will get the bug.... ?

I don't really see type of pickups are good/bad anymore - more horses for courses. You wanna play ac/dc? - medium output humbuckers. SRV/Jimi? Higher output single coils. Shred like god - high output humbuckers (or a set of active pickups). Pay some attention to gain staging, eq and amp voicing and you're mostly there... Or so I think ?

Tuckstir

V8 I don't really see type of pickups are good/bad anymore - more horses for courses.

That's a good way of thinking, and I agree.. I have A SGR hanging on the wall, the Humbuckers are great sounding, but they don't have the sound I'm looking for... too metal ( Says the heavy metal head).and 10 years ago that would of been the sound I wanted, but Now I'd rather start off with a clean sound and distort it through a pedal, amp etc..

I find it very Fascinating that the sound of a guitar has 100's of different factors, and how pick-ups like any other aspect of a guitar can make or break it for YOU..

wern101

Seems these Humbuckers I ordered off of Blackbeard are 'PAF' Humbuckers - will be interesting to hear what they sound like.

V8 Wern will get the bug.... ?

Waaaay ahead of you. I am very fond of red wine. ?

guidothepimmp Even something simple like lowering pups has a significant difference on perceived output

Ok now see, this I find especially interesting - is there a specific height or recommended height?

V8

guidothepimmp Strings also - found a similar effect with higher output strings. Had a set of GHS bass boomers - then switched to a set of cheaper string (can't recall) - but the G string snapped and I just re-used the bass boomer G string. I wouldn't have noticed the output difference unless I had the strings side by side on the same bass - the GHS boomers are indeed a loud string - so much so I had to pull the that side of the pup down to compensate, That was a new one for me.

Tuckstir I find it very Fascinating that the sound of a guitar has 100's of different factors,

Yeah, a lot of variables - though what gets me the interactions between them is where the dark art lies (strings, pup heights/types, woods, construction,, wiring, pick vs fingers, pedals, etc...). Each one a topic on it's own. Evnetually, much like @wern101 I conclude I just like making music...

Though, the pot swop I did on the Pbass over Xmas mad a world of difference (now 500k pots vs 250k's). As the wise fellows on talkbass had already debated, more top-end and a hint of more presence - just what the Dimarzio split P pups needed (they can be a touch dark in some basses apparently).

guidothepimmp

Even something simple like lowering pups has a significant difference on perceived output

guidothepimmp

wern101 this is the ol proverbial can of worms. Gibson cited 1.6mm for bridge and 2.4mm for neck pups from the string. I think i remember other big brands also having specs somewhere. Others say its trial and error.

I fall into the latter.. i will raise or lower the pickup until i like the tone.. and then fiddle between the neck and bridge pups to try balance the vol output to more or less even.

My personal thought is the more you drop the pickup, the thinner the sound starts getting. Too close and it could be boomy. I also tend to lower my pups kore on the bass side with the treble side close to the strings. Again.. just a preference thing. Not sure any 2 prople will feel the same about pup height.

Active pickups should be as close as possible to the strings.
I have heard of passive pups too close to strings reducing some sustain as well. Magnetic pull and all of that. Im not sure about that though. Never had sustain issues on my fiddles

V8

guidothepimmp I have heard of passive pups too close to strings reducing some sustain as well. Magnetic pull and all of that. Im not sure about that though.

I experimented with height on my strat when I went from lofi squire pups to kinmans and then back - got a weird warble from both sets, particularly on open ringing strings. Apparently the magnets affect the string during it's oscillation, sounds out of pitch (or something like that).

For (passive) pup height I do try avoid is 'clipping' from the pup being too close to the strings. That's easy to hear - pick at your max with a clean tone and if it distorts (kinda crackly fizz, like clipping w/audio interface or when the cellphone mic just can't take the bass), pup is likely a bit close to the strings.