Handcrafted custom guitar pickups & faithful recreations of vintage PAF's. Each coil is wound one at a time with dedication, passion and the finest materials. When it comes to amazing guitar tone... the devil is in the details
Tone Devil Legacy PAF’s
The Tone Devil Legacy PAFs are inspired by the defining coil shapes and winds from the Gibson Golden Era of the late 50’s. Each set has been developed from testing, listening and crafting a PAF that captures the sonic mysticality and feel of the originals.
Spellbound 57’ & 58’
The Spellbound sets are based off early PAFs - a perfect marriage of low wind and unique coil shape. Articulate, open and organic. Looser bottom end and spongey pick attack, in turn creating luscious harmonic content and note bloom
57’
NECK - ALNICO II - 7.45k
BRIDGE - ALNICO II - 7.5k
58’
NECK - ALNICO II - 7.7k
BRIDGE - ALNICO IV - 7.75k
58’ also available in configurations below:
A4/A4, A2/A5, A2/A2, A4/A5
An Empyrean neck pickup can also be substituted if preferred
Empyrean 59’ & 58’ Tom Bukovac
The Empyrean 58’ and 59’ sets have differing coil designs to each pickup. Unlike the Spellbound coils, both neck and bridge have more definition, focus and a faster attack with the bridge having a little extra treble response and compression. Both sets cover a lot of ground and are great for tapping into the tones of a variety of classic records. Tone Devil recommends 500k pots and 50’s style wiring for optimal performance for these pickups
The Empyrean 58’ set is inspired by Tom Bukovac’s 58’ Burst (from the Home Skoolin’ channel on Youtube). This set has been specifically designed and tested over several months using a good set of ears and refining it to perfection! (If you love the tone of ‘Oscar’ the 58’ Gold Top from The Doug & Pat Show, this is also the perfect set for you)
The 59’s have a little more output and a few tweaks to the coils to suit the magnet configurations. The differences between the 58’ and 59’ set are subtle
A Spellbound neck pickup can also be substituted in the 59’ set if preferred
Empyrean 58’ - Tom Bukovac
BOTH NECK & BRIDGE IN THE LOW 8k REGION
Empyrean 59’
NECK - ALNICO II - 8.2k
BRIDGE - ALNICO V - 8.4k
Also available in configurations below:
A5/A5, A2/A4, A5/A4, A4/A4, A2/A4, A2/A2
Witchery
The Witchery PAF sets are based off the higher winds that came off the factory floor at Kalamazoo. The story goes that when Gibson went through a period of using white bobbins due to a shortage in black dye, the ladies (winding the coils) could see the bobbins getting fuller a lot easier. The result, as we have found out decades later, is that some of these 'double white' PAF's have been as high as around 9k
Building on the Empyrean platform, these PAF’s have the same focused tone, faster pick attack and that beautiful compression synonymous with these winds. Many legendary guitar players and the guitars themselves, have earned a ‘god like’ reverence wielding these higher than usual DC rated PAF’s. Tone Devil recommends 500k pots and 50’s style wiring for optimal performance for these pickups
Comes standard as below but see also the tribute sets also listed
Witchery (standard)
NECK - ALNICO IV - 8.3k
BRIDGE - ALNICO IV - 8.6k
Also available in configurations below:
A2/A4, A5/A4, A4/A5, A5/A5, A2/A2, A2/A5
Witchery ‘Page’ - Jimmy Page’s #1 59’ LP
Witchery ‘Beano’ - Eric Clapton’s 1960 LP
Witchery ‘Beast’ - Bernie Marsden’s 1959 LP
Witchery ‘BFG’ - BFG’s Pearly Gates 59’ LP
Witchery ‘Koss’ - Paul Kossoff’s 1959 LP
Mojo
The Mojo set pairs a Spellbound neck with a similar unique coil design in the bridge. This wind accommodates more wire, producing more output without compromising the Spellbound tonal palette. Open… gritty…organic - again with that spongey pick attack and note bloom. This set is great for players that are enticed by the Spellbound set but need a little extra ‘mojo’ in the back!
An Empyrean neck pickup can also be substituted if preferred
NECK - ALNICO II - 7.7k
BRIDGE - ALNICO V - 8.25k
Also available in configurations below:
A4/A5, A5/A5, A2/A2
Revelry
The Revelry set pairs a Spellbound neck with a unique coil design in the bridge differing from the other sets. Specifically designed around A2 this wind retains some give in the pick attack like the Spellbound coils, but also incorporates more definition, tighter lows and increased treble response. This wind reigns in some of the ‘loosish’ feel that A2 tends to have with the more open sounding winds. The A2 projects midrange crunch, a more saturated tone, creamy highs and percussive lows. The Revelry PAF’s are the ultimate in growly, raunchy A2 tone!
NECK - ALNICO II - 7.7k
BRIDGE - ALNICO II - 8.3k
Black Magic
Based on the most famous Les Paul in the world - ‘Greeny' owned originally by Peter Green
This set has a custom wound neck pickup incorporating Heavy Formvar wire (as per the alleged Sam Li repair) with the middle position out of phase just like Greeny
Using the Phil Harris demo videos on Youtube and Fleetwood Mac recordings, countless hours have gone into experimenting - testing coils, resistance and magnets to get all three positions just right. The Black Magic set not only captures the sublime out of phase tones of the original Greeny the neck and bridge also sound phenomenal, unleashing classic PAF tones
The Black Magic PAF’s come as a set with shiny or lightly aged nickel covers. Contact Tone Devil to order