Wolfetone Custom PAF

Calibrated Set of PAF wound to sound like Early ZZ Top records

Les Paul, Maple Cap

The sound is spot on! Great, non overly compressed and very musical with lots of dynamics and harmonics. Vintage output, great equalization and all the right formants in their place. Most of all: Wolfe managed to hit the sound like I wanted - great!

I' ve been playing for 25 years and like to try out different PU. In the Fender camp there is more choce I feel. PAF are more difficult to match, and the choice is narrower. I had competitors of Wolfe, which were ok, but not great. I even had an very balanced Tom Holmes set, and this is probably the way to go: Very low output, unflashy, woody but full. Most PAF do a goof and come quite overequalized and compressing. I feel Wolfetones are more in the elegant camp, more musical, open and dynamic. I have also a Strat set from him, which is also great! I think only Lollar goes the same way as far as Gibson and Fender Excellency is concerned. All without this goofy overequalization and with open ears for the customer.

Pickup features: Humbucker
Impedence or other specs: Alnico II magnets; About 10k at bridge and 8k at neck. Not wax potted. Polysol wire.

Model of guitar or bass: '74 Les Paul Goldtop
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Gibson Burstbucker 3, bridge; Seymour Duncan Seth Lover, neck
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Classic rock, blues, and a little grunge
Reason for pickup change: Could NOT find the tone I'd always dreamed about in a humbucker until I found Wolfetone! Got tired of spending all kinds of $$$ on a pickup and hoping it was "the one." I felt like I was depriving myself, found out I was!!

Perceived output level: Just the right amount of sizzle for what I play. They're hot, but not over the top.
Tone: The tone of these pickups is AMAZING! Very well-balanced. Excellent string definition. They drip with sweet ,warm, vintage PAF tone. After spending hundreds of dollars, I'm absolutely convinced you can't go out and buy an off-the-shelf pickup that sounds even close to this.
Sonic evaluation: First off, working with Wolfe has been a true pleasure. He is a very busy guy, but still cares enough about what YOU want to give you personal attention. I live here in Seattle, so I went to see him in person. He listened me play for a bit and then asked me to close my eyes and describe exactly the tone I wanted. I said,"Old-school PAF, like warm butter that's starting to sizzle." He said,"I can do that." He nailed it! The tone I now get out of my Les Paul is absolutely a dream-come-true.I play through a Marshall JCM 2000 DSL 100 with a Marshall 4X12 cabinet with Celestion Vintage 30's. The head has been re-tubed with SED EL34's and ElectroHarmonix 12AX7EH's. I primarily use the clean channel. I can now get PAF tone virtually identical to the sounds of older ZZ Top (ala: Tush, Waitin' For The Bus), Lynard Skynard "Gimme Three Steps", Aerosmith "Last Child", and KISS "Cold Gin". The pickups are very clean sounding but still have that wonderful vintage breakup and are very smooth when overdriven. No "mud" anywhere on the fretboard in any position. The neck pickup is warm but still very clear and articulate. Easy to get Clapton's "woman" sound. They are completely responsive to your attack and absolutely make the guitar sing! I got tired of playing hit-and-miss with other pickups. The Burstbuckers were OK, but just not clean and balanced enough. The Burstbucker 3 was so noisy with unwanted feedback, I could hardly practice with it. I think the Burstbucker 3 is RATED hotter, but these actually SOUND hotter when I attack the strings, but still very clean, balanced, and defined because of the way they're made.

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

Comments: I've been playing guitar for almost 30 years. I have owned lots of guitars and even more pickups! I have simply not been able to get the sound I was looking for until now. If you are looking for the Holy Grail of PAF tone, go Wolfetone! Tell Wolfe what you're after and you'll get it! He's a great guy who cares about his work and stands behind it. If you're not happy with your sound (very unlikely!) he'll rewind the pickup for you. Treat yourself to a Wolfetone. It's seriously the only way to go for PAFs.

Pickup features: Humbucking
Impedence or other specs: AlnicoII magnets about 8,2K bridge and 7,9K neck

Model of guitar or bass: Gibson Les Paul standard '97
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Seymour Duncan '59 bridge & neck
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Rock-Blues, Classic Rock
Reason for pickup change: The Duncans sound good and better than Gibson stock pickups but don't have the real PAF tone and feel.

Perceived output level: Low output
Tone: Balanced and ultra clear with that sweet sparkle-chime of a real PAF.
Sonic evaluation: Using the Wolfetone equipped Les Paul through a '69 Marshall plexi, the sound impresses me every time I plug it in. These pickups sound incredible smooth and overdrive beautifully.

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

Comments: I love these pickups and I can't say enough about the tone and quality of the sound.

Pickup features: humbuckers passive
Impedence or other specs: about 7.5 neck 8.5k bridge alnicoV magnet 42 gauge wire

Model of guitar or bass: 79" flametop lespaul k.m.
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: emg's
Other pickups on guitar: none
Artists using this pickup: don't know
You musical style(s): rock, classic allman's anybody with a paul
Reason for pickup change: The Emg's were nice but, didn't capture the sound of the guitar itself

Perceived output level: low like most older pups, but very musical and smooth
Tone: balanced, very nice
Sonic evaluation: marshall 25/50 anniversary jubilee

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: very good match for rock , blues very smooth

Comments: Well, I'm still searching all the time for cool pups. Wolfe is a great guy. I haven't bought anything from him personally myself. I tried his pups in one of my pauls and compared it to a historic 57' goldtop and a 99' standard FMT, that belong to friends of mine. Well, the out put of the historic with the 57' classics was noticeably louder and brighter. same with the standard with a 498T in the bridge. even though they both were louder, the wolfetone pups were alot smoother and creamier, not overly bright or brittle.I played Parrisiene walkways and still got the blues, back to back on all 3 guitars. mine with the wolfetones were noticeably smoother and warmer sounding. very musical. I like these pups