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The Pickup Place / Re: Neck pickup to go with Air Norton in the Bridge of a Les Paul

« Last post by gregr on August 31, 2025, 08:41:17 PM »

If it reads ~8.6k out of the guitar then I guarantee the pickup is mislabeled. At that point it could be anything, really; so it’s probably most accurate to say that if it doesn’t measure ~7.3k then it most definitely isn’t a 36th Neck. I’ll be charitable and say anything between 7.1k and 7.5k. +/-200 ohms is a large variance for a modern DiMarzio pickup.

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The Pickup Place / Re: Neck pickup to go with Air Norton in the Bridge of a Les Paul

« Last post by Zoo Keeper on August 31, 2025, 05:18:55 PM »

So the 36th is definitely the neck model based on the model number on the base. Maybe it was an unusually hot version, although I doubt it based on the fact that they are not hand wired. I did a quick reading so there is a chance I got it wrong. What is 100% is the levels between the two pickups.  I decided to put the AN and 36th in the guitar because I wasn't happy with the previous pickups and I had these two waiting for something to do. A little research said that it could be cool, and by and large the AN in the bridge is pretty nice.  ( you are waiting for the "but", I know it. lol)

BUT in going down the rabbit hole I started gravitating towards a more classic PAF family of sounds.   I  was looking at Duncans  Alnico Pro II, Antiquity, and Custom Shop Pearly Gates. All some form of known versions of a PAF. 
I ended up putting in an order  for a Wolftone Legend set.  They seem to be a little bit of everything I ended up wanting, and was hoping to get when I bought the Skinnerburst set. Wolfe was great to work with, responded to my emails quickly and  with a great knowledge base. He already has them in the mail and I should get them this coming week. It might take a week to get them in unless I try it myself.  I've swapped pickups before but my soldering is not pro level so I might leave this to my longtime repair person.
I'll give my 2 cents once they are in and compare to what I have now.

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The Pickup Place / Re: Neck pickup to go with Air Norton in the Bridge of a Les Paul

« Last post by gregr on August 28, 2025, 10:42:06 AM »

You cannot compare the DC resistance of the Air Norton to the 36th for output because the coils are wound with a different wire.

This is especially true with DiMarzio pickups in general since air bucker, virtual vintage and dual-resonance technologies effectively render DCR numbers useless.

That out of the way I’m not sure why this is being raised.

The mV value is a better indicator.

The 36th Anniversary model that is spec'd with a DCR of 8.6k is spec'd with an output level of 285mV.

The Air Norton is spec'd with an output level of 270mV.

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The Pickup Place / Re: Neck pickup to go with Air Norton in the Bridge of a Les Paul

« Last post by darkbluemurder on August 28, 2025, 05:43:57 AM »

You cannot compare the DC resistance of the Air Norton to the 36th for output because the coils are wound with a different wire. 36th uses 42 AWG, and one of the AN coils uses 43 AWG which is thinner and has a higher DC resistance. The mV value is a better indicator.

Cheers Stephan

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The Pickup Place / Re: Neck pickup to go with Air Norton in the Bridge of a Les Paul

« Last post by gregr on August 27, 2025, 10:39:33 PM »

Okay, I am not great with guitar electronics but I cab use a meter. AM comes in at 12.5k ohms and the 36th neck at 8.5.

https://www.dimarzio.com/pickups/vintage-paf-output/paf-36th-anniversary-neck

Check the resistance specification of the 36th Neck.

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The Pickup Place / Re: Neck pickup to go with Air Norton in the Bridge of a Les Paul

« Last post by Zoo Keeper on August 27, 2025, 09:43:42 PM »

That someone might have a problem pairing the 36th neck with an AN in the bridge doesn’t come as a big surprise to me. It is no wonder that you would have to bottom-out a 36th bridge in the neck position, assuming that is what you have.

I have a DP103 36th Anniversary  neck pickup in the neck.

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The Pickup Place / Re: Neck pickup to go with Air Norton in the Bridge of a Les Paul

« Last post by gregr on August 25, 2025, 05:10:32 PM »

The spec for the 36th Anniversary Bridge model is 8.60k. The neck model is 7.31k. 8.60k connected to a 500k pot will measure 8.45k.

That someone might have a problem pairing the 36th neck with an AN in the bridge doesn’t come as a big surprise to me. It is no wonder that you would have to bottom-out a 36th bridge in the neck position, assuming that is what you have.

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The Pickup Place / Re: Neck pickup to go with Air Norton in the Bridge of a Les Paul

« Last post by Zoo Keeper on August 25, 2025, 04:10:18 PM »

Okay, I am not great with guitar electronics but I cab use a meter. AM comes in at 12.5k ohms and the 36th neck at 8.5. From what I can compare to a wiring diagram it looks to all be wired up correctly in 50's wiring. On the pots, would I just connect my probes on the end lugs of the pot?  If everything else is good, something is off with the AN to be fairly overpowered by  the 36th.

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The Pickup Place / Re: Neck pickup to go with Air Norton in the Bridge of a Les Paul

« Last post by gregr on August 24, 2025, 02:29:10 AM »

The PAF 57 is likely going to be closer to the Duncan Seth Lovers. The wire used on the APH (and Jazz which is the same pickup but with an A5 magnet) has a different insulator which reduces the inter-wind capacitance. I have no reason not to believe that the wind pattern is also significantly different between the APH and a traditional P.A.F. as this is something that I regularly see attributed to the design.

It doesn’t sound like you’ll be pulling the Fred out of your Ibby to try with the 36th, but do try The Breed Neck in the bridge if you haven’t already. Even if you don’t keep it, I think the experience is worthwhile.

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The Pickup Place / Re: Neck pickup to go with Air Norton in the Bridge of a Les Paul

« Last post by Zoo Keeper on August 23, 2025, 11:38:45 PM »

Thanks gregr!  I have looked at the Air Classic set in the past.  The more I look into this the more I am thinking about a new set. Another set I have looked at in the past is the Duncan Alnico II Pro set. Seems that the PAF 57 set might be in that category.