Brief Mo' Joe/PAF-Joe Review (RGA 121H)

[Big Red]

Hi Folks,

After spending a few hours playing with my new pups (in my RGA 121H CDO), all I can say is wow.

Here is my original thread asking what's a good, tight pup for an RGA 121:
http://www.jemsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60475

The Mo’ Joe has plenty of power/crunch, and the harmonics really stand out. It even does metal pretty good on high-gain settings on my Line 6 Pod; it’s crisp, very tight (even when playing power-chords on the low E-string), and the tone quality is awesome. It’s everything the V8 pup isn’t. Even though the output level seems only a smidge lower than the V8, it’s more than a fair trade-off. The flat EQ voicing also works well on this pup.

Plenty has already been said about the PAF-Joe, and I can confirm it’s strengths. It’s a great soloing/lead-melody pickup. It also handles cleans very well, especially when the pick-up switch is in the 2nd or 4th position.

Satch’s taste and perfectionism has really paid off on these pickups… I like these better than the Super Distortion/PAF-Pro combination (I have these in my RG 320FM). These are excellent all around pups that prove that you don't need high output-level pups in order to get lots of crunch.


Cheers

[Thrash]

Great choice, the Paf Joe is my favorite neck pup. I like that you put how the Mojo can do metal, I get tired of the lame hardcore metalheads that think it takes a super high output pickup to make metal sound good. (I used to think that, then I grew up).

The other guitarist in our band plays 57 classics in a Les Paul and sounds great doing metal.

Sorry, off topic, the pups you chose are awesome. Bottom line, if you have a quality amp for the type of music you play, the picpkups will sound good as long as they have good balanced tone and harmonics like Dimarzios do.

[TongueShredder]

Its nice to know that everyone here likes Paf Joe and had good things to say about it. I just got one and it would be a resident on my RG2620 in the very near future.

[Extant]

Good to hear. I'm contemplating selling my ESP Horizon, but if not I'm installing a PAF Joe in the neck position along with a Breed neck pickup in the bridge.

[acoustic1991]

I have the same combo in my JS1000 and it took the guitar over the top, even though the Fred/PAF Pro was good

Josh

[RG1820X]

Originally Posted by Extant

Good to hear. I'm contemplating selling my ESP Horizon, but if not I'm installing a PAF Joe in the neck position along with a Breed neck pickup in the bridge.

I installed a PAF Joe in the neck and a Breed Bridge in the bridge of one of my RG's. Oddly enough, I later removed the PAF Joe because I didn't get enough discrimination between the neck and bridge. They were way too close in sound. I can't tell you why this happened, it just did. I hope a breed neck in the bridge gives you better results.

[Extant]

Originally Posted by RG1820X

I installed a PAF Joe in the neck and a Breed Bridge in the bridge of one of my RG's. Oddly enough, I later removed the PAF Joe because I didn't get enough discrimination between the neck and bridge. They were way too close in sound. I can't tell you why this happened, it just did. I hope a breed neck in the bridge gives you better results.

That's odd. Isn't the Breed Bridge supposed to be a high-output Evo-style pickup?

I went with the Breed Neck because it's supposed to be good in bridge position in mahogany set/neckthru guitars, according to Dimarzio, and it sounds like a fatter PAF Pro, which would complement the PAF Joe well.

[RG1820X]

Originally Posted by Extant

That's odd. . .

I went with the Breed Neck because it's supposed to be good in bridge position in mahogany set/neckthru guitars, according to Dimarzio, and it sounds like a fatter PAF Pro, which would complement the PAF Joe well.

I just reread Dimarzio tech talk recommendations for the PAF Joe. They say it should work well for you. When I chose the PAF Joe and breed bridge I used the Dimarzio' "Pickup Picker". Because of my experience with it, I later scrapped using that and read the tech talk recommendations which led me to put the FRED (neck) and The Tone Zone (Bridge) in yet another and it worked out really well.

[Big Red]

So, now that the Mo' Joe has been on the market for awhile, have alot of people been dumping their Freds for it? Or is it one of those it's-too-close-sounding-so-I-won't-bother type of things? I have never owned a Fred, so I don't have any real point of reference on this.


Cheers

[70Seven]

I'm gonna get the Paf Joe / MoJoe installed in my RG 2550. I was going for the Paf Pro / Fred but I read alot about the Paf Joe and MoJoe, then I found these two for sale together on the bay brand new. Bringing my guitar to my local store tomorrow to get them installed. Cant wait to hear the difference from the Dimarzio IBZ.

[jaxadam]

I have a Mo' Joe/PAF Joe combo in one of my guitars, and it seriously rocks.

[vaughn]

im using the mo joe and paf joe in alder solo body.
im still not sure if i like the mo joe better than the fred

and the paf joe i didnt care for untill i flipped it around to my ears this made it a little brighter.....