Kent Armstrong M-213K OEM PAF

M213k PAF Kent Armstrong
CERAMIC / D.C. =7.8Kohm- open coil pickup with special construction and embossed logo, 4-conductor wiring for multiple coil-tap wiring options, and low profile custom baseplate. Vintage sounding humbucker pickup with bright, smooth tonal response.

Replaced a stock Ibanez SV470 neck pickup with this one. I have a seymour duncan super distortion in the bridge position. The guitar is HSH setup. I wired a coil tap switch for the kent armstrong M213k and the SD pickups.

I could tell the ibanez stock neck pickup was muddy compared to the seymour duncan in the bridge. I wanted a warm sound with better definition in the neck with reasonable costs. The Kent Armstrong completely exceeded expectations! The KA pickup is very warm with nice definition. It's not as high output as the SD super distortion but it sounds more rounded. With the coil tap on the pickup sounds very spanky like a strat - nice treble sound there. The Kent Armstrong is much better than the seymour duncan in single coil mode.

It has a lower output than the Seymour duncan super distortion - perfect for a neck position. Very warm les paul tone sound. My guitar is mahogany wood - WOOT!.

I use with various pedals that include Zoom 9150, digitech hotrod distortions, digitech RP90, line 6 echo park into a valve jr amp with a 1x12 or 4x12 cab. The amp is set to a clean sound - all distortion by effects. I play regularly in a classic rock band, 2 church rock bands, and regular jamming. With the coil tap switch I can play almost anything (by switching to single coil to humbucker). Pickup is a great match.

My only caution would be to get the Kent Armstrong M214k for the BRIDGE position. I have a 214k in another guitar on the bridge position. The 213k is very warm sounding but doesn't overdrive as easy as the M214k or my seymour duncan super distortion. If you play rock the M213k may not be the best bridge pickup because it is more mellow sounding.

The M213 is very warm sounding - think Allman Brothers kind of sound - not a shred sound. If you want a warm neck pickup you can't go wrong with this one.

I love this pickup. It got me into a great tone range without costing a fortune. I bought a 213k, 214k, and a M112k for less than $90 from Wilburn Custom Shop. For that cost I could have only bought one SD or Dimarzio pickup.

I've got 6 guitars with various pickups. In the past I have bought dimarzios, seymour duncans, and carvin pickups for upgrades. The Kent Armstrong is in the same quality/tone range but less costs.

For the coil tap you wire a toggle switch to ground and connect the green and red wires. Very, very useful feature to have.

Pickup features: passive humbucker, ceramic, 4 wires for coil tapping,( I use vintage s/u)
Impedence or other specs: n/a

Model of guitar or bass: Epi G400 SG
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: stock Epi
Other pickups on guitar: Kent Armstrong M214K bridge
Artists using this pickup: unknown
You musical style(s): Classic Rock, Blues
Reason for pickup change: Epi PU's seemed muddy, lacked definition, clarity

Perceived output level: PAF style, open coil, good at low vol.or cranked
Tone: balanced, good: treble, mids, bass
Sonic evaluation: Marshall AVT20 hybrid/combo,w/ext.cab(underrated amp)w/overdrive pedal, probably sounds good with any good amp, sounds great with my setup

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: classic rock, blues, could work for jazz, can use as bridge pu, too

Comments: would get again, been playing since 70's(off and on), also own a Fender Strat.,Walden Acoustic, compares with Gibson, Seymore Duncan, or Dimarzio's, satisfied with purchase, especially value,(considering the others),was influenced by another reviewer in this catagory,decided to take a chance, good choice, no regrets

Pickup features: Humbucking PAF
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Epi '61 re-issue
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: Epi stock
Other pickups on guitar: M214K
Artists using this pickup: ?
You musical style(s): Classic rock, blues and country
Reason for pickup change: I didn't like the muddiness and lack of definition in the stock Epi pups. I thought I'd take a chance on the KA's

Perceived output level: Slightly hot PAF
Tone: Very nicely balanced
Sonic evaluation: Line 6 Spider II with 2-10"s. These pups are remarkable for the price. Warm when I want, clean when I want, power and sustain when I want. WAY better than the original Epi pups with a articulate clean high end and a nicely balanced bottom.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable:

Comments: I'd buy them again in a minute. I've been playing 41 years and the sound a a really good classic SG is difficult to find. The Armstrongs delivered. I had the chance to A/B my KA equipped Epi with a $2,200 Gibson SG and the KA's blew it away. Seriously better. Whoo-hoo Best of all, they were really inexpensive.

Pickup features: Humbucking--passive--4 wire leads for coil-tapping, etc
Impedence or other specs: ?

Model of guitar or bass: Custom/homemade mahogany dual humbucker setup
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: Custom wound pickup designed to emulate an SD PAF
Other pickups on guitar: same
Artists using this pickup: ?
You musical style(s): Post-grunge rock
Reason for pickup change: I was not totally dissatisfied with my previous pickups, but I wanted the capability of coil-tapping for a more clear single, coil sound without having to buy a second guitar.

Perceived output level: A notch or two louder than my previous pickup...nothing too extreme.
Tone: Clear, but warm...its the damdest thing! Very versatile if you know how to use your tone knob and wire it with a push/pull pot for coil tapping.
Sonic evaluation: I'm running this through an all tube single channel Bogen PA head that puts out about 10 watts into a vintage 70's Woodson 2x12 cabinet. For effects, I'm using a Yamaha Magic Stomp...a digital box with amp modeling (I use it with the speaker sims off...essentially as a pre-amp) and stomp box modeling (a lot of which on the pedal are amazing). My guitar is something like a tele--it is a single cut made with two solid hunks of mahogany bookmatched to a maple racing stripe--a really unique guitar.
In fairness, I cannot compare these Kent Armstrongs to Seymour Duncan's, genuine Bill Lawrence's or Dimarzio's...the pickup this replaced was advertised as a custom wound alnico pickup manufactured to be a clone for a Duncan PAF for a small custom guitar company in Texas. I have no clue as to how realistic of a clone it was. I can tell you that the Armstong blows that pickup away. Because I think my guitar's construction is primarily mahogany, it can tend to get a bit muddy, but the Armstongs combat that very effectively and smoothly.
I had previously thought the old pickups sounded OK because they were at least warm and did not sound thin. Because of some previous associations with bad pickups, I had come to associate clarity with hair-raising, ear bleeding highs. The Armstongs are anything but piercing, but they are incredibly distinct...even with fuzz and heavy distortion engaged, you can hear the individual strings in chords...the tone knob actually allows for tonal variations that do not make your guitar sound like it only has 4 strings. This pickup can be warm, bright, whatever you want, but it always has good fidelity if that makes sense. I now realize how muddy my previous pickups were. In coil-tapped mode, the sound is not truly single-coil in the way that you expect a strat or tele to sound...no real twang or snap. However, you do lose some of that compressed mid sound of hum's...it seems to be decent for a tonal change up or for running some types of effects (some how, tremolo just doesn't sound quite right to me with humbuckers).

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I mostly work on my own music...I do very few covers, however I feel that these pickups can cover a wide variety of territory. They may have a tough time pulling off anything like surf or rockabilly, but jazz may be fair game. I think this would work fine in a bridge position, for a warm bridge sound, but I have the Armstong M-214K Distortion in the bridge position, and it seems to be a good combo. Very versatile!

Comments: I have been playing for about 10 years now, and I have never been happier with my tone. It is hard for me to imagine anyone hating these pickups, but who knows? I would highly recommend them. I had some questions about wiring and got a very prompt response from Armstong's customer support and the included documentation with the pickups seemed pretty decent. I bought both the M-213k and the M-214K from Wilburton Custom Shop under the ebay username cyberbozo for $45!!! A great deal and a really great transaction from a good ebay'r! For the money, I doubt that I could find better pickups, and even high dollar pickups may only be marginally better. I took some time and really listened to these pickups for a few months before writing this review. These pickups are cheap, but if you are like me, then sometimes $45 can be a decent amount of money, and its worth your time to do a little research. I hope that you read something that helps!

Pickup features: 4 conductor passive humbucker
Impedence or other specs: Unknown

Model of guitar or bass: Home made Les Paul Junior
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Seymor Duncan Seth Lover signature pickups
Other pickups on guitar: All Kent Armstrong M-213K OEM PAF now!
Artists using this pickup: Unknown
You musical style(s): Classic Rock
Reason for pickup change: I liked the Seth Lover's fine, but I missed the coil-tapping capability. Kent Armstrong pickups came highly recommended and are quite affordable.

Perceived output level: Standard PAF
Tone: Versatile! From warm to bright & nasal, the 4 wire conductors open many possibilities!
Sonic evaluation: Through my Zoom Amp simulator they sounded a bit dry and sterile, but plugged in my Peavey Transtube head through a custom 2 X 12" cab ... very nice! Loud, fat, warm (in neck position), nasal (in bridge position)nicely balanced with both pickups on. I wired each pickup to its own series-to-parallel switch, then to a phase switch. This is where the fun starts! In parallel mode, each pickup sounds equally loud if a tad less agressive, "in between" positions bring in various sonic shades, and that phase switch actually provides a nice "quack" tone, unusual on a Les Paul style guitar! I also own a Les Paul Studio (with stock pickups) ... both guitars sound pleasantly different: the home made Junior with the KA's has a slightly brighter tone with a wider sonic range. The Studio on the other hand has a smoother, darker tone. I love 'em both!

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Various! I'm a big classic Rock fan, I'm aslo into Blues Rock, Latin Jazz and Folk Rock. Those pickups are very versatile!

Comments: Here's the lowdown: if you want a genuine Les Paul sound, buy a Les Paul. If you want a good, round, decent tone that won't break the Bank, look no further: I've used pickups by DiMarzio, Seymour Duncan, Carvin, Lace and Gibson. IMOHO, Kent Armstrong's pickups are of equal quality at a fraction of the cost. They achieve what I want: complete wiring flexibility! From Ice Pick thin to Fat & Warm. A great bang for the buck!

Pickup features: humbucking vintage style has mounting ring for Les Paul type
Impedence or other specs: 7.8K ceramic DC multi wire configs

Model of guitar or bass: Epiphone G-310
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: factory epiphone bridge
Other pickups on guitar: epiphone oem neck
Artists using this pickup: ???? beats me
You musical style(s): rock
Reason for pickup change: bridge pickup failed

Perceived output level: Has vintage tone, Good volume, not designed for distortion push, softer volume than epi neck pickup
Tone: balanced sound, very clear, open, good treble especially, crunchy tone on bass strings
Sonic evaluation: Epiphone G-310/Fender Frontman 25 watt amp(bass). I think the sound is excellent overall. Painful volume easily obtained. I use an RP-100 pedal and some Danolectro pedals, too. For a cheap guitar the Epi sounds good.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Rock. I use the neck pickup for the bassy, distorted stuff. This pickup is better for some pedal effects and when you want a little "twang"

Comments: I think the pickup is definitely superior to the stock pickup (I didn't think mine sounded that bad but I see there are a lot of negative comments about Epi pickups) and an excellent value for the price. Very clean almost "singing" tone when played up the neck. Doesn't muddy up at volume. Would definitely recommend this pickup for vintage sound and would replace it with same. I bought it on price plus general positive reviews of this brand. Will probably try some other KA models down the road (have 3 guitars). Had trouble deciphering the wiring instructions because the wires were shown as 1-4 instead of black, green, white, red. Found a website with erroneous wiring info and wired out of phase. Contacted WD Music tech support and received email from Kent Armstrong himself with the correct wiring. Excellent tech support. I wanted a BIG contrast between the neck pickup and the bridge pickup and that's what I got. I replaced the pickups in my Les Paul with another brand awhile back(I won't mention names but they're big) and this pickup has better clarity for much less money.