PAF repros: who makes the quietest under mid/higher gain?

[AmpliFIRE]

Looking for a set of un-potted slightly hotter PAF’s that won’t squeal with JMP/tube screamer level gain. I had a set of Wagner Godwood’s a while back that were very quiet. Any others?

Thanks!

 

[AmpliFIRE]

what is JMP/tubescreamer level og gain?

they both can be set to clean, and the tubescreamer is a pretty mild OD, and then JMP can be somewhat more gain.

maybe considered you play with too much gain? too close to the amp, and need to control the guitar?

Gain about 1/2 way on the JMP and TS just used as a clean boost. it is a decent amount of gain, but that’s how I like it. You are correct…I do stand fairly close to the amp. However, that wasn’t a problem with the Wagners or Rolphs that I had in the past. It is an issue with other pups though.

 

[AmpliFIRE]

well the wagners are potted, so i could be a part of the explanation. They weren't not just potted ! they got the magic wax !
"
Are JWP pickups potted?

Yes, but not with the "great tone killer" wax. JWP pickups are potted with my own invention, which actually enhances the resonance

of the pickup, while still suppressing the squeal."

Interesting…I always thought they were unpotted

 

[cooljuk]

You should not need potted pickups with such mild gain.

Many famous artists have played much higher gain and larger rigs with unpotted pickups. If you are too close to the amp, or if your guitar is at a bad angle to the amp, that can be an issue but it's usually easily corrected by turning your or the amp a few degrees one way or the other or taking a couple steps in some direction.

If you're talking about an old JMP, they can also be temperamental. I've had old Marshalls where moving a wire from a pot, tube socket, or jack a quarter inch in one direction or another has changed the entire setup from going in to self oscillation at the slightest bit of gain to dead-quiet and well behaved. In fact, I'd say that's about every 1970s and earlier Marshall I've ever worked on. If you are getting a difference in squeal / no squeal from various pickups, all with the same rig, it's probably not the amp, though.

it may be that you don't need potted pickups but you just need quality pickups.

Even the Gibson T-Tops of the 1970s are highly prone to squeal and it's not because they are unpotted, but because the parts started to become of sloppy tolerance and assembled loosely. The screws and slugs rattle in the bobbins and baseplate. The later stamped keeper bars are wobbly and make poor contact. The magnets are thinner and smoother and oscillate. It's almost never the coils that need potting to fix squeal in those pickups.

By contrast, the early DiMarzio Super Distortions were unpotted and didn't have such problem, even with the much louder ceramic magnets.

 

[Andrew1225]

Definitely not Wizz.

I’d say OX4 are pretty quiet for being unpotted.

 

[jcsk8]

Looking for a set of un-potted slightly hotter PAF’s that won’t squeal with JMP/tube screamer level gain. I had a set of Wagner Godwood’s a while back that were very quiet. Any others?

Thanks!

Wolfetone Dr. Vintage.

 

[1allspub]

Unpotted BKP Mules (they come in potted or unpotted, I ordered unpotted) work great with decent amounts of gain. Don't know that they are advertised as necessarily as a "hot PAF" but they have balls aplenty.

Also, have a set of Jared-era Brandonwound 59 Clones (unpotted) that are very well behaved. The BW bridge is rated at 8.65 and comes across to me as a slightly hot PAF tone-wise.

Wolfetone Marshallheads I had were also unpotted and non-squealy... but in the end they just didn't fit (tone-wise) the guitar I was trying to fit them to... so I sold them.

 

[AmpliFIRE]

Unpotted BKP Mules (they come in potted or unpotted, I ordered unpotted) work great with decent amounts of gain. Don't know that they are advertised as necessarily as a "hot PAF" but they have balls aplenty.

Also, have a set of Jared-era Brandonwound 59 Clones (unpotted) that are very well behaved. The BW bridge is rated at 8.65 and comes across to me as a slightly hot PAF tone-wise.

Wolfetone Marshallheads I had were also unpotted and non-squealy... but in the end they just didn't fit (tone-wise) the guitar I was trying to fit them to... so I sold them.

Excellent, thanks for the reply!

 

[dc007]

If it squeals take the covers off

 

[rogue3]

Ime, Seth Lovers have more output and my pair has been quiet.Covers on.

My set was purchased long ago(2004). Cannot vouch for current winds.