Late 70s, Early 80s Pickups

[Joe K]

So we all know Larry DiMarzio was winding pickups for Hamer and their specs were just slightly different than the PAF.  So other than having a boutique pickup maker wind custom ‘buckers, what’s the closer replacement pickup from DiMarzio, the 59 or 36th?  TIA.

[Dave Scepter]

59

[JGravelin]

The '59 bridge pickup, yes. It is excellent. Check out the Eric Johnson bridge pickup as a contender for the neck position! It is similar in spec to the DiMarz/Hamer PAF neck pickups of yore and as advertised, it's the same in regards to materials and magnet.  These two combined as a set is damn close to the originals.

[BadgerDave]

I've often replaced the bridge pickup in 80's Specials and Sunbursts with a DiMarzio Virtual PAF.  To my ear, the originals had an unpleasant spike in the upper mids.

[Jakeboy]

The originals have a cool raspiness to them….buzz saw in the best way.  Raspy Rockers.

[Disturber]

On 4/19/2023 at 10:33 PM, JGravelin said:

The '59 bridge pickup, yes. It is excellent. Check out the Eric Johnson bridge pickup as a contender for the neck position! It is similar in spec to the DiMarz/Hamer PAF neck pickups of yore and as advertised, it's the same in regards to materials and magnet.  These two combined as a set is damn close to the originals.

Weird though, the EJ bridge does not seem to be available in reversed zebra. The black bobbin should be the slug bobbin. Nothing else works for a correct vintage Hamer vibe.

https://www.dimarzio.com/pickups/vintage-output/ej-custom-bridge?v=24109