DiMarzio Forum
DimarzioForum.Com => The Pickup Place => Everything you wanted to know about .... => Topic started by: KH Guitar Freak on October 11, 2009, 09:12:01 AM
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I'm sure some of you Dimarzio whores have owned one. Time for you to sell me on one. Never played one, but I have played a PAF Pro numerous times. Describe the differnces in detail as possible...
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The PAF Joe in comparison to the PAF Pro is a much sweeter sounding pickup than the smoother sounding Paf Pro. It's got more of a Rock n' Roll vibe and still maintains a lot of clarity even under disgusting amounts of gain. It's also a very chimey sounding pickup that's got some of the qualities strat and tele players seem to love. Other than the Humbucker from Hell, the Paf Joe would probably be the next brightest pickup closer to a single coil vibe.
Bascially, if you like the Humbucker from Hell and the Paf Pro and want something in between the two, give the Paf Joe a try.
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Just to give a slightly different perspective than buddy, I think the biggest difference between the PAF Pro and PAF Joe is in pick attack. While the Pro has an immediate reponse with a tight, defined and relatively sharp attack, the Joe has a very dull & swallowed, almost non-existant pick attack, which makes it great for some styles but really bad for others. The dull attack is followed by a relatively brightish tone which makes this pickup very unique - but for some players (including me) very unappealing. Let's put it this way: if you're into speedy, heavily distorted solo playing on the neck pickup and need definition and clarity, stay away from the Joe. But if your focus lies in clean and semi-dirty sounds with a mellow style and unique tone, the Joe is worth a try. Personally, although I'm a big DiMarzio fan, I think the Joe is a swing and a miss! By far.
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Actually, it's in my top 3 list of "pickups to avoid and tell others about it" ;)
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Cheers for the update. The other pickup the store has is a Fred. Not too sure about that one, cause I have yet to hear clips of those in the neck position...
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Cheers for the update. The other pickup the store has is a Fred. Not too sure about that one, cause I have yet to hear clips of those in the neck position...
FRED is incredible, both in the neck and bridge. In the neck, you'll hear harmonics you wouldn't think possible, and they're actually a hell of a lot more controlled than I thought they would be. In the bridge, it's hot and drives incredibly well, and there's that harmonic content that I (and many others here) love.
It's high up on my list of favorite pickups.
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Oh btw, this is suppose to be going into an Ibanez 540S-LTD. The stock neck pickup is a Ibanez USA pickup F1 made by Dimarzio. It sounds fairly similar to the Breed bridge, but even darker and slightly hotter. Me no likey. It just sounds too dark, very hollow body neck pickup like. Would sound good if you are into that type of tone, but for this guitar, I would like something else really...
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For the sake of experimentation I put a PAF Joe into my 22 fret, Maple neck Super Strat and did NOT like it at all. Was very muddy on a 22 fret guitar, series split or parallel. I have used this pickup in other guitars with great results, but they were 24 fret. That half inch or so up the scale really makes a difference with this pickup. I like clarity over all; A warm humbucker tone, or split to a convincing single coil tone, from one pickup. I am stumped now as to what I could try to get my desired response in the neck of this guitar, being paired with an Airzone in the bridge, something (alnico 5) single coil in the middle....
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Interesting, as Joe Satriani uses that on a 22 fret guitar. Anywho, late update, but that Ibanez got traded away for an old Grover Jackson that came with Seymour Duncan Full Shred in the bridge and Seymour Duncan Pearley Gates bridge in the neck. Me likey. The Full Shred is so far the only high output Seymour Duncan I like...
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Actually duncan and dimarzio alike, whenever I heard people saying that this pickup is muddy etc etc. Either you're setting the pickup too near or you need to reset the settings at the amplifier.
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Hi.
I've A/B a Paf Joe I own for more than 2 years (neck position of RG550: basswood body with maple neck and rosewood fingerboard).
The Joe lacks of bass in the situation, the Pro is just what I was looking for.
But after reading many reviews of the Joe looks to be very sensitive to the wood configuration and position (22frets or 24 frets).
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IMHO, the PAF Joe is the worst pickup Dimarzio makes. I've tried almost all their humbuckers. The PAF Joe sounds really cool on paper, but in practice... bleh. I couldn't recommend it to anyone, for any reason, for any style of music.
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I really like it in the neck position due to its enhanced treble (compared to most humbuckers) and slight bass cut. It gets a nice bubbly sound with distortion and clean, it's smooth and clear. My reference points are other neck pickups I have tried or have like the Air Norton, PAF Pro, Humbucker from Hell, 36th PAF Neck and the Chopper.
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I have to agree with slugworth. The PAF Joe is my least favorite Dimarzio I have tried. I have been a fan of the PAF Pro in the neck, but recently sold off 11 of my 16 guitars and picked up a Gibson Les Paul traditional. The open coil 57 Classic pickups are amazing, very warm and responsive. Thru my newly aquired 90's Orange OR120 the tone is awesome! Seems as tho I may no longer be monogamous with Dimarzio
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I really like it in the neck position due to its enhanced treble (compared to most humbuckers) and slight bass cut. It gets a nice bubbly sound with distortion and clean, it's smooth and clear. My reference points are other neck pickups I have tried or have like the Air Norton, PAF Pro, Humbucker from Hell, 36th PAF Neck and the Chopper.
I really agree with Matt_B, I absolutely love this pickup and can't understand how you cannot like it! The classic rock n' roll vide is awesome!
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I used the paf joe in the neck of a 22 fret guitar and a 24 fret guitar and it just didn't have the cut and body I was after. I couldn't get a good sound out of it and it didn't pair well with either a Tonezone or Dsonic. That's when I tried the PAF Pro and fell in love. I recall the Paf Joe feeling squishy and undefined. I was looking for a clear articulate pickup, with quick picking definition.
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Love the tone but hate the pick attack.
Sounds good in a 21 fret strat. If they could only release a Paf Joe v2 (with more pick attack lols)
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I bought a paf joe and put it into the neck of my 22 fret Epipone LP, paired with a Dactivator bridge. It has two sets of adjustable poles. Recently, adjusting them, optimizing pickup height, and wiring the pickup in parallel gave a much more vibrant sound. I definitely recommend using a very small bright cap to keep the delicate overtones if you like doing volume swell.
Super classic rock n roll tone, wired the bridge pu in series so that when I switch from this there is significant volume boost. This is very much a rhythm guitar pickup. Everyone was right about pick attack, but I use a heavy pick like .7mm minimum, and I like the amount of definition. very low noise. The sound was super punchy and clear for leads when I had it in series, and I may add a switch for that later, but I wasn't as happy with that tone as the 10/10 parallel.
PS this would be mud in a fender neck position... someone already said do not try and I won't.
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I bought a paf joe and put it into the neck of my 22 fret Epipone LP, paired with a Dactivator bridge. It has two sets of adjustable poles. Recently, adjusting them, optimizing pickup height, and wiring the pickup in parallel gave a much more vibrant sound. I definitely recommend using a very small bright cap to keep the delicate overtones if you like doing volume swell.
Super classic rock n roll tone, wired the bridge pu in series so that when I switch from this there is significant volume boost. This is very much a rhythm guitar pickup. Everyone was right about pick attack, but I use a heavy pick like .7mm minimum, and I like the amount of definition. very low noise. The sound was super punchy and clear for leads when I had it in series, and I may add a switch for that later, but I wasn't as happy with that tone as the 10/10 parallel.
PS this would be mud in a fender neck position... someone already said do not try and I won't.
That's great to know! Thanks for sharing man!
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Okaaaayyyyy, I'm a bit late to the game on this one.
What a freaking neck pickup!
I'll mirror what has been said previously.
1. The attack is somewhat dull.
2. It is a bright pickup
3. It is super sensitive to touch and gain.
4. I've noticed that it has a touch of strat single coil to it.
If you take all of the above points, it works really well for a neck pickup.
The dulled attack offsets and balances the brightness of it.
It works really well with the mo'joe btw. They are both kinda the same bright, so adjusting eq, tone, gain and guitar volume for one means the other will sound good too.
This is a blues to hard rock pickup without a doubt.
Clean to mid gain, it bright.
With heavy gain, it becomes clear and very smooth/liquidy in that air norton kinda way.
It's not as height sensitive as the mo'joe. That one is interesting.