Anybody Tried a DiMarzio PAF Joe?

[darkbluemurder]

The reason I'm asking is that most neck humbuckers sound muddy to my ears. Does the PAF Joe live up to Di Marzio's claim that it is not muddy?

Any opinions greatly appreciated.

 

[darkbluemurder]

Really nobody??

 

[Charlie]

I haven't tried one but I do know there are a few companies that make single coil pickups that 'look' like humbuckers. I'm thinking of trying one myself. Seymour makes the Stag Mag and I know Dimarzio makes one as well.

Anyway that's one possible solution if you are finding your neck humbucker muddy sounding.

 

[Charlie]

Fyi:

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/msg/411056799.html

 

[srf399]

Try the Air Norton.

Also you might want to look at the pot values... go to a 500k or 1000k pots and also try changing the capacitor on your tone controls. The higher the value of the cap the more bass output. If you have a 0.47 in there switch it to a 0.22 microfarad cap.

 

[srf399]

correction 0.047 and 0.022 microfarad respectively.

 

[darkbluemurder]

srf399,

Thanks for the tips. I got 500k pots in there. 0.033uF on the bridge and 0.015uF on the neck PU which made it a bit better but the tone is still muddy on the wound strings.

I had an Air Norton in the bridge position of one of my strats. I liked the tone (changed the guitar to SSS though as this suits the country rock music I play with my band better) but I am not sure whether it would solve the too much bass problem in the neck spot. I believe it would overpower the PAF type PU I have at the bridge but it certainly looks like a good candidate as partner to a high output bridge PU.

 

[enigma]

I actually tried it, and didn't like it. It was put on my Strat; I eventually sold the Strat along with it. Not muddy, but also not much character. Maybe it was the combination of the wood on the Strat as well.

I like Seymour Duncans.

 

[metal190]

I haven't done too much experimenting with lots of different pick ups (I haven't had the privelege of owning tons of guitars) but I remember with a strat that I had and couldn't get a very clear tone out of the neck pick up, I experimented a little with the pick up position. Just raising the pick up ever so slightly beneath the top three strings, and lowering it slightly beneath the wound strings. The nice thing is that it's a real easy solution to try as you go - no taking apart the guitar, messing with something, putting it back together and testing. Play and listen as you tweak. Even if it doesn't clear up the muddiness it can help you dial in a more personalized tone pretty quickly and easily. (This whole comment probably goes without saying for most people on this board.)

 

[darkbluemurder]

I did that - the treble side is fairly close to the strings and the bass side is as low as it goes. Didn't help much.

If I haven't said it - the guitar has 500k pots for volume and tone, 0.022uF cap on the neck tone - tried 0.015uF but did not really change much and it has 50s wiring.

I was recommended to try the Di Marzio Humbucker from Hell - any experiences?