best P.A.F type for high gain?

[VOLTAGE]

man there is a lot of PAF's out there!
which will get the best overall tone in a ibanez RG with bogner amps?
I want it to be able to get mean,and the higher output pups i have all have too much output, and are just overkill through my bogner
here are the ones that sound like they might be real good for the cash,

duncan 59
duncan pearly gates
dimarzio Virtual PAF
gibson burstbucker(used)
armstrong vintage

what i am looking for is a clean, balanced tone that gets mean when pushed
i like a clean signal from the guitar and ruthless gain from the amp

[darren wilson]

PAFs are by nature very medium-gain pickups. Any manufacturer seeking to make a PAF-type pickup will probably follow similar design and specs.

I haven't tried a huge number of pickups, but i tend to lean more toward the Duncan line.

[pinto79]

Get yourself a Gibson Dirty Fingers, new or old. Cleans up nice, but BRUTAL gain from your amp.

[frankfalbo]

I think the Dirty Fingers were wound pretty hot, like over 14k, maybe even in the 16k's. I can't remember exactly but I know it's not really PAF range. It's very "blasty" and aggressive if I remember correctly.

The Pearly Gates is hotter than a PAF, but may suit you the best for the "gets mean when pushed" part. Any PAF replica will be "underwound" just enough to lack that ability to really make the amp scream easily. Its that slight overwinding that puts just enough more upper mids into the signal to drive the amp better. I have a lot of PAF style pickups, so don't get me wrong, I like that sound. But if you're doing any real high gain work you want a little more bite from the pickup. Not because you need the extra gain to push the amp into more overdrive, but because the balance of frequencies does a better job of hitting the front end of the amp. The Dimarzio Virtual PAF bridge model could be good too. It looks to be a little hotter and meaner than a regular PAF but that "air" technology should retain some of the openness of a traditional PAF. Actually come to think of it, the Fred isn't that far off. Then again JS uses the Fred, but one or two guitars have the Pearly Gates, right? You talk and talk and eventually you make a big circle and end up right where you started!

[Reaper]

Pearly Gates is pretty good for the high-gain stuff, but a fair warning: it's bright. I've got one alongside a Fred in one of my axes, and I'd take it over the Fred. It's got a nice, singing clean tone, and gets dirty when you need it to.

[EnigmaUV7]

Originally Posted by pinto79

Get yourself a Gibson Dirty Fingers, new or old. Cleans up nice, but BRUTAL gain from your amp.

Ahh I remember Dirty Fingers, they were stock in Explorers and Vs at least in the '80s, very good metal/crunch pickups. I think the replacements for them, the "1959 Les Paul Reissues" were much better for what he is looking for though. Those would be almost impossible to find now, so I would go for the Gibson 498T bridge/490R neck for a hot-rod PAF sound or for a very hot-rodded PAF sound go for the extra sizzle go for 500T/496R combo, my personal favorite.

My old Gibson V had the covered PAF in the neck and open coil 500T at the bridge and was one of the best tone machines I have ever had, I still miss it when I listen to old recordings from that axe. I had to sell it to raise some funds for college unfortunately, but it was a great sound...