Should i change my orig. PAF Pro to a Fred?

[LTE]

Well im so happy with my jem, and i just traded my fender supersonic for a mesa boogie DC-5, MUCH better!!!


I love the Dimarzios in them, they are a change from the Steves Special and Air Norton in my RG1570.

The neck and single are perfect, and the bridge is good too. I just wish it had a little more. For a bridge pickup, its very versatile and its so clear and articulate. But sometimes it sounds flat, not that its bad, just it doesnt have any character. It could just be the very even eq of the pickup...

Im just wondering what the difference is between the Fred and the PAF Pro, IIR the Fred is based on a PAF Pro, so it must sound close to it. I love Joe Satriani, and i know that he uses this pickup.

[rastachild]

the fred is based off of the paf pro, with tweaked upper mids. the tweak is very apparent, as it makes the harmonics on this pickup jump out quite easily and it seems to have a little more cut than a paf pro. however, i believe both have similar or the same output (medium), so if you're looking for more output, you may want to look at the mo joe, which is based off of the fred, but with more output. joe has been using this pickup a bit more lately.

[CityofBlindingLights]

The FRED came about because DiMarzio was experimenting with the PAF Pro, by raising the mids (probably to get it to throw an amp into overdrive a bit better), and when they did this, a whole bunch of harmonics unexpectedly jumped out. The output of the FRED (305mV) is only 5mV higher than the PAF Pro (300mV) (which is big enough to make a difference between bridge/neck slot, but not that huge), so you won't see that big of an output difference.

The Mo' Joe (320mV), in my experience, actually differs from a FRED. Although they both have nasty (but not overbearing) harmonics, the FRED sears and burns a little more, while the Mo' Joe growls and has... more, if you know what I mean.

What sound are you looking for specifically? That really affects your final decision in pickups, if you tell us what sound you want we can give you a more accurate suggestion. And since you're using a JEM with PAF Pros in it, I'll assume you're talking about a basswood body and a rosewood neck (is it a 77FP?)

And on a side note, shouldn't this go in pickups?

[sledge76]

I changed the Paf Pro´s in my 777VBK to a Mo Joe in the Bridge and a Paf Joe in the Neck Position. I also changed the SC to a Red Velvet. It was a pretty good configuration.
Now I changed the Humbuckers to Breeds wich doesn´t sound that good in my opinion.
If you ever try out a Mo Joe you won´t go back to the Paf Pro´s I guess!

[LTE]

Im sorry i didnt know there was a pickup section, mabye an admin could move my thread/

But i have a 777VBK, so yes basswood and rosewood.

I guess i need something with just a bit more punch and bite to seperate it from the neck paf pro.


Im siding towards the fred, because i love harmonics and its so easy to get them even with the paf pro through my mesa.

[CityofBlindingLights]

Originally Posted by LTE

But i have a 777VBK, so yes basswood and rosewood.

I guess i need something with just a bit more punch and bite to seperate it from the neck paf pro.

PAF Pro neck + FRED bridge = winning combo.

PAF Joe's a bit more rounded, it gives less of the pick attack and more of the note, kinda like a thud. I personally like my pick attack, so it's PAF Pro for me.