Kent Armstrong Floating PAF Humbucker

This is a floating humbucker made in Korea (as opposed to the handmade models). I purchased this from WDMusic.com. Mine does not have the adjustable pole pieces. My version has a neck bracket, but I also have a Johnny Smith replica (hand made, see archtop.com) that is pickguard mounted to reduce feed back.

I use this on my Epiphone Emperor Regent (see related review) to replace the lousy stock pickup. I disliked the stock pickup for it's muddy dead tone and low head roam for feed back.

Kent Armstrong pickups were standard features for Benedetto guitars, and continue to be stock on the D'angelico and Stromburg reissues. I heard he hung around John D'angelico and Jimmy D'aquisto's workshops, so something obsioulsy rubbed off.

This pickup made my guitar. The Epiphones have great wood and finish, but lousy electronics. This pickup unleashed the great jazz box within and gave me a guitar that sounded at least 4x as good as the price I paid.

This is a jazz pickup and that's what it does best. The range is from the dry Johnny Smith sound to full bodied Kenny Burrell. If I played with my thumb I could probably get that mellowed Wes Montgomery tone, at least as much as any other mere moral.

The Epiphone has become my safety/experiment guitar. So I actually just gave the Kent Armstrong to the luthier who has been working on my guitar. I'm trying out a Dearmond rythm chief before deciding whether to put it on my more expensive guitar.

The bigger endorsement is that I liked this pikup so much, that I already bought it's more expensive ($150) cousin, the Johnny Smith replica, for the expensive guitar. Had I not stumbled upon the Dearmond, and felt bad for the luthier, I would have kept these pickups on both guitars.

Humbucking pickup epoxy encased, slimmer than a PAF, so will mount on many archtops, without routing. 12 allen key adjustable polepieces

Attached to pickguard of an acoustic archtop Gibson L4, neck position
(about the same as an ES-175 neck position. Replacing a very nice but very noisy floating single coil.
Replaced cause I wanted a fatter, quieter sounding pickup.
This is essentially the Kent Armstrong handmade archtop pickup, made by Kent's son in the UK. The same line as Benedetto uses, and is sold through archtop.com in the USA. They also do a floating p90, dearmond single coil type which has very good reviews.
These pickups are on lots of high end handbuilt archtops

Moderate, very tonally balanced, string to string. Use with small fender amps. This pickup is superb, it does the gentle jazzy sound very well, and sounds more like the 'electric' jazz guitar sound (Jim Hall's d'aquisto with Guild humbucker), rather than some magnetic floating archtop pickups which sound 'acoustic'. It is beatifully buzz and hum-free, and feedback-howl resistant, and amazingly, sounds brilliant overdriven, through effects, you name it, even manages controlled feedback, which is rare for a full bodied jazz guitar with a floating pickup.
So you could use it for jazz, blues, rock,

Reasonably priced, great service. It sounds to my ears better than johnny smith floating minihumbucker, or a Gibson P90 and does a good PAF impression without having to cut a hole in the archtop. It is slim but a little too thick to be right up against the end of the fretboard, but it sounds perfect as it is.

Pickup features: humbucking, passive
Impedence or other specs: no idea, sorry

Model of guitar or bass: handmade archtop jazz box
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: stock no-name homemade mini-humbucker
Other pickups on guitar: none
Artists using this pickup: not sure... but... uhhh... ME!!! =)
You musical style(s): Jazz
Reason for pickup change: Previously discontented with my amplified sound.

Perceived output level: about the same as an aged PAF humbucker on an old Gibson... to my ears, anyway.
Tone: balanced
Sonic evaluation: I'm using a handmade archtop and I plug into a Boss reverb pedal and a Fender Pro Junior.
Man, this pickup smokes! It rocks! Or maybe I should say, it bops! Like a muthaf__ka.
Previously, my axe sounded perfect acoustically but left a bit to be desired when amplified.
Now my gear sh_t sounds perfect. (except perhaps for the reverb part of the equation... ahhh, if only the Pro Junior had onboard reverb!) Now all I have to blame for whatever sonic shortcomings my sound may still have is... me! =)

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play post-bop contemporary straightahead jazz (no smooth jazz, please!). This pickup is a perfect match. Period.

Comments: If it were destroyed or stolen I would definitely get another one just like it.

Pickup features: Humbucking, handmade by Kent In U.S.A.
Impedence or other specs: same Ohms out same as stock PAF, Alnico magnet changed to Ceramic

Model of guitar or bass: Andersen StreamLine
Position: middle
Pickup being replaced: Stock K.A. PAF that came on the axe
Other pickups on guitar: n/a
Artists using this pickup: Me- somebody's gotta do it!
You musical style(s): Acoustic/Electric Jazz & Gypsy Swing
Reason for pickup change: To get more "brashness" in the tone- I want a late Django "Stimer/Dearmond" kind of sound. Kent disassembled my Stimer and determined it had a ceramic magnet. I tested 2 prototypes and on the third time he nailed the sound, but in a humbucking package for my StreamLine. Had S.A.build a new guard and route a slot in the guard more toward the bridge, and now the guitar has some BARK! I dislike the "smooth jazz" sound- I wanted some rudeness and Kent delivered the sound. A total Prince to work with- ultra professional! I can't reccomend him enough!

Perceived output level: Very robust output- it will easily overdrive small tube amps
Tone: clear as water turned down, somewhat rude turned up
Sonic evaluation: I use a number of amps from '38 Gibson EH-150&185 to Fishman Acoustic performer Pros to Bronson "Singing Electric" 1X10, Polytone- depends on mood and gig.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Early Prewar acoustic & Electric Jazz & Postwar Gypsy Swing

Comments: Been playing nearly 30 years(gasp) I would go thru the pickup "design" process w/ Kent again if need be.I ended up with a very playable Jazz box that has a vintage tone without the hum or hassle of a Dearmond or Stimer.

Pickup features: passive humbucker, attractive housing (seems to be ebony), 12 adjustable polepieces
Impedence or other specs: Don't know

Model of guitar or bass: Heritage Sweet 16 Jazz Guitar (built 1997), solid maple body, handcarved solid spruce top
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: Stock Heritage floating pickup
Other pickups on guitar: None
Artists using this pickup: Don't know
You musical style(s): Fingerstyle Jazz and Blues
Reason for pickup change: The acoustic tone of my heritage Sweet 16 is full and rich in the entire frequency range. Unfortunately the stock floating pickup could not reproduce this potential, sound was mild but compressed, not dynamic enough for my taste. May be good for smooth jazz, but i needed more flexibility.

Perceived output level: Output is higher than the Heritage stock pu output.
Tone: Balanced an dynamic. Compared to the stock pickup, you're just removing an curtain between you and the guitar. A true inspiration!
Sonic evaluation: I am playing mostly through my fender acoustasonic sfx and blues junior amps. Few additional effects (ibanez chorus and marshall bluesbraker II), but mostly clean and pure. The guitar now sounds great throug both amps, dynamic and articulated. In combination with the acoustasonic amp the Kent Armstrong pickup reproduces the full acoustic potential of this jazz box. Together with the fender blues amp (reduce the treble some ticks) you get the range between B.B.'s blues and Wes's sound, just depending on your finger strike.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Blues and Jazz. I still play a lot of acoustic music. The Armstrong PAF is a ideal combination to this Heritage jazz box. No stuff for high gain guys!

Comments: I would certainly buy it again, if it were stolen. I am playing guitar since 1975, mostly acoustic music but in the last years I detected my love for jazz music. Playing in small combos.
Some words to WD Music/Kent Armstrong: Immediate and professional response to my mails. First shipment (Floating jazz mini humbucker) had some scratches on the top but WD offered me a replacement without hesitation. Larry Davis from WD even offered me Kent Armstrong to build me a custom made pu with adjustable polepieces (I offen have problems with the string balance) and credited the first pu. That's the right way to treat customers. I am really happy now with this adjustable PAF. Highly recommended!

Pickup features: Humbucking, passive, adjustable pole pieces, very thin and attractive pickup
Impedence or other specs: 8.13

Model of guitar or bass: Aria Pro 11 PE190 Robert Conti solid top archtop
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: old unpotted Johnny Smith non-adjustable floating mini humbucker
Other pickups on guitar: none
Artists using this pickup: Don't know but I understand he makes the pickups for a number of the top archtop makers
You musical style(s): Jazz
Reason for pickup change: old pickup just wasn't articulate i.e mushy plus extremely microphonic. I tend to play over the pickup with a relatively hard pick and the clacking was getting to me.

Perceived output level: Volume, tone wise its is close to the old Johhny Smith i.e warm PAF sound, a bit more treble ( only have a volume knob mounted on the pickguard and had to drop the amp treble a couple of clicks.
Tone: well balanced and the ability to individually adjust string volume is very useful
Sonic evaluation: My primary amp is a 76' 45 watt Fender Pro Reverb and with this pickup the guitar sounds great. Clean tone, articulate. I tend to play mostly in the chord melody style and complex chord voicings are very clear yet warm. I recently played this same guitar/pickup combination through a Ultrasound 100 acoustic amp and was blown away by the very lush articulate tone. Next on my buy list

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Perfect for Jazz. Its a floating pickup on a solid top acoustic guitar.. No death metal here

Comments: Yes I would replace it a minute. I've been playing since 71' but quit in 1980 and in 98 picked the instrument up again. I've got the bug again and its great.
I dealt directly with Kent Armstrong when I purchased this pickup and the service was quick and the product was super and reasonabbly priced. Kent is now located in the US and I was provided his phone number by Dan G (thanks Dan) who responded to a my post in the rec.music.makers.guitar.jazz news group. Great, friendly bunch of people. I so enjoyed my experience with Kent that I asked him to rewind the stock Schallers in a 84' Fender Flame Elite I own. The rewind made a huge difference in that guitar. I'll file a seperate post on that one.