Any opinions on the Dimarzio DP103 PAF?

[john1880]

I've just aquired a RG with 2 DP103 dimarzio PAF humbuckers(in puke green). They sound pretty nice through my practice amp. a very open sound. does anyone use these? if so, neck, bridge? likes, dislikes?
THANKS!

john

[slugman]

Hi John,

I think I have this pickup. I bought a lot of 5 pickups on the evil auction site. One of them is labeled dimarzio and the seller insisted it was a paf pro. Looking through Dimarzio's site though, visually it looks like the PAF. I was unimpressed with it in the neck position of my 550, didn't have an exciting sound, and lacked some clarity on the low strings. Swapped out for Air Norton. Never tried it in the bridge.

Was gonna sell it but I threw it in the neck of my RG670 (swamp ash) and it sounds great there. Brought the guitar to life. It is still lacking some clarity on the low strings when the gain is up, but I have it set very low in the body and that helps out a lot. Using the in between setting with the S1 and turning the volume down gets the chord clarity when I need it.

So there's my $.02

[john1880]

i just ordered a PAF pro...in purple becaue it was 5 bucks cheaper. I've read good things about that one. I'm pretty happy with the PAF. It's nice to have a different type of pickup than just the high output pickups.
I like it better in the bridge too.

[David McCarroll]

If they are roughly the same as a Seymour Duncan '59, they'll make a great neck pickup, although if you are a fan of high gain sounds you may find the output a bit low in the bridge position - should have gobs of vintage humbucking tone though!

[slugman]

Originally Posted by john1880

i just ordered a PAF pro...in purple becaue it was 5 bucks cheaper. I've read good things about that one. I'm pretty happy with the PAF. It's nice to have a different type of pickup than just the high output pickups.
I like it better in the bridge too.

Now I'm tempted to try it out in the bridge It is nice to have that different sound though. I have been using single coils in the neck up until a few weeks ago, when I tried the Air Norton out, which I really liked. But the change is kind of extreme from single coils, so the PAF is nice since its a bit calmer though still fat sounding.

[john1880]

it's all a matter of taste. a single coil is nice to have in the neck. i have a RG550 with an added coil tap on the neck pickup.
my next hurdle is the middle single coil pickup. i like the sound of the S1, but i can't deal with the hum sine i play with distortion most of the time, so it's either put the switch in the 4th position, or deal with the hum. so i am trying out some noiseless SC pickups. The dimarzio YJM didnt work out. way too low output. very unbalanced with the humbuckers.
i'll have to give the air norton a try. i have a regular norton in the bridge of one guitar. not sure if i like it yet.

[slugman]

I tried the Air Norton in the bridge and wasn't really impressed. It is sweet, high gain sounding in the neck. Which is nice, but has its limits. I have not tried using the coils in parallel yet.

I need to replace the S1s in two guitars as well. I have some Fender Noiseless pickups and a Virtual Vintage 2.1. I have two IBZ C1s that sound very good too (stacked humbuckers), and a Hot Rails in the neck of another guitar. The Hot Rails sounds excellent with the coils in parallel. I also have a Scorcher Rails, which is a high output, cheapo SD pickup. I wasn't crazy about the output, but it makes a decent, noiseless single when the coils are in parallel. And it was something like $28 new at Guitar Center.

I wonder what happens you join two S1s together and make a humbucker? hehe.