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STEPHENS DESIGN HUMBUCKERS
To be honest I was never a fan of humbuckers. But,
after seeing Chris Cain play live, with a 335 and some old PAFs
Joe Pass gave him, it sent me on an eight year obsession with
PAFs. Their clarity and soulful vowel tones, single coil type
vibe; all those things are what makes blues players smile endlessly.
In the hands of Peter Green, Jimmy Page, Paul Kossoff, Duane Allman,
Eric Clapton, Michael Bloomfield, how could you ever equal those
tones with any other pickup? Needless to say I have collected
almost every recording and video of all those artists, listening
intently to those famous hands and vintage guitars.
Unlike almost every other pickup maker out there, I don't buy
a pile of offshore pickup parts that everyone uses, wind 'em all
up an call it a "PAF." There is little in those parts
that are true to what you find in vintage examples of old Gibson
humbuckers. That road has been beat into the ground by others
and you find little tonal difference in those products. Many hand
wind these pickups, which is a huge mistake. The signature tone
of a real PAF relies on a "signature" turns per layer
formula that gives a distinctive resonant peak that no hand wound
pickup can match, period. You don't need a vintage winding machine
to replicate that pattern; I built my own machine that can copy
and type of winding pattern perfectly with impeccible results.
I own 2 real PAFs and have repaired many others, and with the
help of many wonderful people in the steel industry in the area
of magnetic alloys, magnet wire, and vintage parts dealers and
historic Gibson experts who consult for other companies, I spent
literally thousands of hours of personal research, experimentation,
and lengthy dissection of real PAFs, noting every oddity every
dimensional measurement, unwound many coils one turn at a time,
got many lab results of chemistries and microphotography of the
crystal structure of every alloy used in the magnetic circuit.
And other things I can't talk about... My results speak for themselves.
I was not trying to "get that sound" by using parts
that have no relation to real vintage PAFs, from modern bulk parts
sellers, I WANTED TO RECREATE EVERY TINY DETAIL I FOUND, HISTORICALLY
ACCURATE, TO NAIL EXACTLY WHAT THOSE VINTAGE TECHNOLOGIES DID
IN AN ELECTRIC GUITAR, AND LEARNED TO MAKE THOSE PARTS MYSELF.
The only thing I wanted to be known as a copycat for was copying
the actual actifacts; I call this "Tonal Archaeology."
I put my heart and soul, and many many hours into these products
and you can be sure you get what you pay for.
VINTAGE LAB PAF REPRODUCTION STOCK SET
The Vintage Lab II set recently came about with
the sudden disappearance of one company making plain enamel wire.
Deprived of that source it forced me back into research mode,
which produced new discoveries in examining more PAF's sent in
for repairs. Everything in this set is the result of metals analysis
and close study of every aspect and measurement of genuine Gibson
Patent Applied For humbuckers. Nothing was overlooked. No attempt
was made to "improve" the pickups over vintage accuracy.
Everything is as accurate as is possible in modern times. Some
things can't be perfectly copied, the vintage magnet wire and
its aging process, and minor differences in the old steel alloys
of the 1950's. PAF magnets were inconsistent alloy mixes, yet
modern alnico magnets come very close. I have learned to adjust
modern materials for desired outcomes.
 
Here
we see a microphotograph of a specific steel alloy; the forms
of steel are endless, I have reproduced the correct forms of PAF
steels, through endless research with the aid of a magnetic alloys
specialist. Also shown are real PAF magnetic circuit parts, compared
to modern sloppy commercial parts and the parts I make and plate
in my own shop. No detail has been overlooked, these parts are
the critical secret of PAF tone.
In my research I also dissected and had analyzed
many commercial and boutique pickups claiming to be PAFs. NONE
of them were correct, and none of them sounded right. I GUARANTEE
YOU WILL NOT FIND THE EQUAL OF THESE VINTAGE LAB SETS. The amount
of time it takes to make set is very high, because I am not using
commercial kits like most others do, because kit humbucker parts
have nothing to do with real PAFs. I make all my own magnetic
tone circuit parts myself, using the same authentic methods to
duplicate perfectly as possible the technology and parts of those
days. Making these parts is time consuming and tedious but the
rewards are in the tone. Every set sold so far has only brought
joyous praise from every customer, so the time and effort has
been worth it in delivering a great sounding authentic product.
CLICK
HERE TO WATCH THE YOUTUBE VIDEO COMPARING A REAL 1960 BURST TO
GIBSON HISTORIC WITH STEPENS DESIGN VINTAGE LAB PAF'S,
done by Adreas Straub, a professional studio musician at 48 Windows
Studio in Los Angeles. This video is now out of date and shows
the first incarnation of the original Vintage Lab set, but you
can see how close they were then. For now I am only offering the
Vintage Lab II set, and the Vintage Lab Peter Green sets. Shortly
I will have a lower wound VL set wound to Jimmy Page's preferred
specs. Coming very soon.
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VINTAGE LAB PAF PETER GREEN SET
This set took a year to finalize and involved studying
virtually every recording made by that guitar, done by Peter Green
and Gary Moore. And videos of Peter and also Gary Moore's "Blues
For Greeny" live video, that is now out of print.
The recipe for this set is very complex, but I have
not altered or simplified it because it just works. I don't sell
alot of these sets because, admittedly not everyone wants a permanently
out of phase middle switch position, and the expense of making
the set is more than the stock set. But the TONE is well worth
the time I spent on this project. The sets I have sold have ALL
produced customer emails saying "YOU NAILED IT, these ARE
PAFs!"
The neck pickup tone on this set is just amazing
to me and was a total epiphany and lucky break during experiments.
Even the metallurgist who has sent me lab results from what I
did said no one will ever be able to figure out what you did or
be able to copy it. Sounds good to me :-)
The bridge is robust and full of sweet vowel tones.
The set is wound to Peter's specs of approximately 8.6K bridge
and 8.2K neck. Neck pickup must be installed backwards as his
was and has reversed magnet polarity that was found examing his
guitar. To see and hear this set, WATCH
THE VINTAGE LAB PETER GREEN VIDEO ON YOUTUBE.
SILVER SERIES STOCK SET
These are wound as a matched set with alnico 5
bar magnets, plain enamel vintage style wire, and come with nickel
silver covers. The A5 magnets give crisp, punchy pick dynamics
and crisp output. This set used in the sound clips has a stock
wind, but I can tailor the set to your needs, especially if you
want a stronger set intended more for rock style playing. This
was my earliest designed set and a great all round set, crowd
pleaser.
Click
to hear Silver Series Stock Humbucker set played through
a '73 Princeton Silverface amp with a kind of bright Jensen speaker
installed in an Epiphone Dot Deluxe 335 style guitar. The clip
plays a short clean sample, then clicks through the 3 switch positions
separated by a tone. Also check the reviews
page for actual gig samples.
SILVER SERIES ALNICO II SET
Some consider the best sounding PAF buckers to have been made
with alnico II magnets. My A2 set is what I would call a "blues"
set. Alnico 2 has less magnetic pull but also loads the coil more
with eddy currents, thus darkening the tone. This can be useful
for a set that is wound to lower DC resistance. The combination
of darker affecting magnets and lower winds, plus some tricks
used in the orginal patent applied for buckers, makes a sweet,
warm sounding tone. They are hard to describe: they are warm yet
have plenty of sparkle when you need it.
Silver Series
A2's played clean through my '73 Princeton, which now has
a Weber speaker in it. Starting on the bridge through to the
neck position.
Silver Series
A2's played cranked through same amp, starting on bridge
proceeding to neck.
Also, so you can hear what these sound like in a live gig, here is V.
Dodson playing my Dot through his Magnatone amp with Premier
outboard reverb unit. This gives a better idea of how these
perform. More clips coming soon.
SILVER SERIES ROCKER SET
Jake E Lee of Ozzy Osbourne helped me design this
humbucker set, which he endorses (thanks Jake!). Here he is playing
a Procol Harum tune "Bacon" on a '96 SG:
Bacon-Jake
E Lee
TONE KING HUMBUCKERS
The Tone King bucker set is based on the use of
some rare old NOS wire I acquired before the company went out
of business. This is a rare BLACK plain enamel, is a bit oversized
and has a slightly fatter insulation, resulting in a more open
tone and a distinct character not found in other magnet wire.
At lower volume these are smooth, not too dark, not too bright.
Cranked up they really shine at higher volumes.
Take a listen to my sound clips using my LP nitro
finished test guitar, through my '73 Vibrolux. Take the "King"
for a ride and I think you'll know why they're called Tone Kings.
Tone
King cleanish '73 Vibrolux
Tone
King screaming '73 Vibrolux
Here's a new clp courtesy of Jeremy Blessing doing the Allman
Brothers thing, with a Marshall JCM800, jamming with his friends:
Allman
jam, Mrshall JCM800, '66 Melody Maker
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All my stock set humbuckers come with nickel silver
covers, which don't muddy up the tone and are the most expensive
covers; Gibson style braided/push back wire, and are wound with
plain enamel wire, the most expensive wire, except for the Vintage
Lab TTops which use the correct poly style wire used at the time.
Height adjustment screws and springs are included. Coils are taped
and not potted unless requested. Covers are treated to stop any
microphonics from cover vibration. Pickups can also be made without
covers if you prefer, but the price is the same with or without.
TV Jones '58 PAF repro, raw nickel silver covers are available
for $50 a set. I can also do four conductor wiring on request
for no extra fee.
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