DiMarzio Virtual Hot PAF

Humbucker
Passive

Ibanez RT 450 (Alder RG)
Bridge
Being Replaced:Stock V8
Other pickups in guitar:Virtual Vintage Blues (will be replaced with Virtual Solo)
The stock pickup was lifeless.

The output is slightly hotter than a PAF which gives it a bit of versitility. I run it in stereo through an Alamo Embassy 1x10 tube combo and a Line 6 Flextone II HD with a custom undersized 2x12 cab. My initial reaction from the pickup was it was a definate improvement over the stock pickup. However it was too trebley. i decided to replace the pots with 250k pots and this really made the pickup shine. it has all the awesome harmoic overtones of a high output pickup with the warmth of a PAF. I have found this to be the most versitile standard type humbucker. with it i can achive 2 very very good tones. With the volume all the way up it has the characteristics before mentioned. With the volume at about 8 it nails the vintage PAF tone. And just as the dimarzio website says it splits really well. The best tone i have found in single coil mode is with the volume about 8. I can get some convincing fat Richie Blackmore tones out of this, not easy to do with a single coil bridge. Overall the tone is very woody. The pickup can be used for anything really, except jazz, but who uses a bridge pickup for jazz?

if it were stolen or distroyed i would definatly buy another one. i cant get over how amazingthis pickup is. it is my #1 pickup. I have been playing for about 7 years, and recently have been more concerned about my tone rather than playing ability, so this is kinda the holy grail for this guitar, it will never leave. I highly recomend this to anyone with an alder superstrat, you can use this aweseome pickup but still keep the tone of your singles since 250k pots should be employed to fully allow the guitar to shine. Oh and dimarzio is also inexpensive.

Passive humbucker

Dropped in a Strat.
Bridge position.
Replaced single-coil pickup.
Neck and middle single-coils.
?
Wanted a great, classic-sounding humbucker.

Hotter than I expected, but not a distortion pickup.
Vox combo, and Line 6 modeling.
Sounds like the Holy Grail of PAFs. No noise. Breaks up easily, but cleans up nice with the guitar's volume control. Handles gain very well (Mesa, etc.). Can nail classic PAF tones without a problem.

If it gets fried, I'd probably opt for the non-"HOT" version of this pickup. That being said, it's not a bad pickup at all. It's quite lovely--it's the one that got me away from single-coils--but I think the non-"HOT" pickup would suit ME better.

Pickup features: passive humbucking pickup
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Gibson Flying V 67' reissue , Chandler 555 pro , Chandler 555 Classic
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Ceramic 500T & 498T
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Rock/Ska/reggae/blues
Reason for pickup change: Needed more 'tone'!

Perceived output level: medium humbucker output range
Tone: This is the perfect PAF tone? clarity, punch, PAF character, very 3-D . Clear and full in clean mode - very well balanced in overdrive. Really refects the guitars wood and construction type.
Sonic evaluation: Line 6 POD xt Pro, Fender 66' Pro Reverb, Hiwatt Lead 30 stack, Hiwatt Lead 30 combo
Gibson 67' V, Chandler 555 Pro & Classic Custom, Chandler chambered 25 3/4" scale Les Paul, Fender Custom Shop Strat Ultra prototype

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Perfect match for any style, More versatile with coil split pots.

Comments: I've been playing pro for 40 years. Owned and played all the cool stuff back in the day with real PAFs etc. These pickups sound great. No hi-gain squealing. And, unlike the old ones, they all sound pretty much the same!
I've got these pickups in all my dual humbucking stage guitars. (3) If you're guitar is bright acoustically, the PAF HOT is the way to go. If your's is on the less bright side, try the Virtual Vintage PAF normal version. The output is very close but with a tad more 'zing' on the top.

Pickup features: passive humbucker pickup
Impedence or other specs: 9.1k, 265mV

Model of guitar or bass: epiphone flying v
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: swineshead warthog
Other pickups on guitar: dimarzio paf dp103
Artists using this pickup: unknown
You musical style(s): 1970s classic metal
Reason for pickup change: wanted agressive vintage sound and good sustain

Perceived output level: its quite hot, hotter than it seems from the specifications. in reality i found its just a bit less hot than a super distortion. the magnets in this pickup aren't that strong - you can put it close to the bridge without affecting tone unlike the super distortion - so in a real application its actually quite hot.
Tone: a hot vintage tone, more infos below.
Sonic evaluation: i used a sansamp combo for these tests, and nothing else.
clean - the pickup gives a sparkly percussive tone. this is an excellent sound, would be suitable for jazz, 50s rock'n'roll etc. really paf-like tone. i heard people say the virtual vintage technology gives '3D' tone, its a good description.
bluesy breakup - again an excellent sound. breaks up really good and sounds PAF-like. with the sansamp it doesn't really matter, but i think with non-master volume amps the hotter output could be an advantage here. compared to a PAF it has a bit of an extra bite to the tone, hard to explain, its got dirt - in a good way!
saturated - this is why i brought the pickup - for classic 70s metal sound. the tone is warm sounding and blatantly vintage, but there are some other advantages as i'll explain. the pickup has a strong, almost piercing treble response, you may need work the tone control on your guitar or turn down the treble on your amp. when playing palm mutes that extra treble gives a crunchy and gritty tone which is music to my ears. it fits to metal and hard rock perfectly. with a more nasty amp setting you can get an excellent old-skool punk tone too. the pickup shows its from dimarzio in its sustain and the way it makes your guitar feedback. it sustains and feedbacks rather like the super distortion, but less artifically and more naturally. it has almost infinite sustain, and musical feedback comes very easily. pinch harmonics are there to be had, but they aren't really amazing.
extreme gain - the pickup doesn't really handle it. the warm bass response makes it sound like a neck pickup. i wouldn't say it was total mud, but its not really a great sound. but does any PAF style pickup work for extreme gain? if you know one - tell me ;)

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: this is a clear bridge pickup, i wouldn't even try to put this pickup in the neck. as i said above at really high gains it starts to sound like a neck pickup anyway. the warmth of this pickup would probably make it sound muddy in the neck position.

Comments: this is a good pickup, and i won't be changing it. if on the other hand something happened to it, then i'd probably try something new.
sure, the pickup has disadvantages - a slightly piercing treble sound, and too bassy with extreme distortion. however it does have quality tone.