Revel Retro P.A.F. Pickup

(3 customer reviews)

LEAD TIME AS OF 2/4/24: 6 TO 8 WEEKS

$175.00

The Revel Retro is a pure P.A.F. humbucker built to vintage 50’s specs.

Wound on our restored Geo Stevens coil winder (the same sort of winder used at Gibson during the 50’s and utilizing the same traverse mechanism as the infamous machines), we pour the knowledge of many years spent repairing original P.A.F.’s into each Retro P.A.F. and into the choice of every component. Wound with correct 42 AWG plain enamel insulated wire, the tension and TPL are true. The baseplate, cover, screw, and slug alloys have been examined and reproduced. Likewise the keeper bars (perhaps one of the most important components) are custom built for Revel Pickups. The bobbins are true, U.S.A made, butyrate bobbins. Vintage cloned Alnico 2 sand cast magnets, custom milled maple spacers cut in house, vintage correct braided two-conductor wire and threaded baseplates make the Revel Retro P.A.F., pound for pound, the best reproduction P.A.F. available.

Every Revel Retro P.A.F. comes in an in-house engraved commemorative wooden box because the pickups are truly a treasure.

Neck: 7.6k, Bridge: 8.1k

FEATURES

All of my pickups are built with the highest quality, U.S.A. manufactured, parts. But the Retro P.A,F. goes one step further and is built with reproduction correct everything

  • Vintage/alloy correct baseplates
  • Vintage correct Butyrate bobbins
  • Vintage/alloy correct keepers
  • Vintage correct Maple spacers
  • Vintage/alloy correct covers

* 49.2mm spacing per the originals. Black and Cream bobbins or Double Black. 

* These are unpotted pickups. If you’d like them potted please make sure you request it!

Approximate outputs are Bridge: 8.1k/Neck: 7.6k

These are approximations only. Retro P.A.F.s are wound to a specific number of winds and precise resistance will vary for a variety of reasons.

F.A.Q.’s

What’s the difference between the Retro P.A.F. and other/standard humbuckers? The Retro P.A.F. is our reproduction of a 50’s era P.A.F. pickup. The Retro P.A.F. coils are wound on a restored Geo Stevens 39AM, a mechanical coil winder similar to those used at Gibson during the 50’s and later (indeed a Geo Stevens was used to wind 50’s P-90’s). The Geo Stevens utilizes the same traverse mechanism as the more infamous Leesona and so is ideal for these pickups. The Retro P.A.F. is wound to the same turns per layer as an original P.A.F., a number only available to winders who have had access to enough of the original humbuckers to investigate them. They also use parts that are manufactured specifically to replicate the precise metallurgical properties of vintage P.A.F. baseplates, covers, screws, slugs and keepers.

The Retro P.A.F.’s are wound with coil offsets particular to them. The magnet is weaker and that, in combination with the low turn count and specific TPL (turns per layer), make for a very clear, vintage and articulate voicing.

3 reviews for Revel Retro P.A.F. Pickup

  1. Daniel Dillon

    I was looking for some pickups to put in an LP which I have been customizing extensively. I was searching for some interesting pickups to use. Having ordered pickups from other custom winders and waited for months to get pickups I decided to email Jesse to see what sort of backlog he had and when I could get a set of Retro PAFs from him. He responded almost immediately to me email and we had a quick back and forth and the timeline he suggested was great for my purposes. I placed the order immediately thereafter. A couple days later I heard from Jesse as he was starting on my pickups and wanting to confirm covers and potting preferences. We had another back and forth and decided on “lightly potted” with nickel covers. At any rate, this personal touch and communication followed throughout the whole process and I received my pickups in a very timely manner and just as expected. I put them in the guitar and they, simply put, sound amazing. Both the bridge and neck pickup have an amazing defined low end that has to be heard to be believed. They respond wonderfully to tone and volume adjustments and give me more sounds than I knew an LP could make.

    I could not be happier with Jesse’s service and product. I’ll definitely be sourcing more pickups from Revel in the future.

    My only regret is that when I initially went to order I noted that the engraved Revel logo on the front of the pickups looked really cool, but not knowing for sure whether I would like the pickups or not I decided not to have them engraved. In hindsight I’d be proud to show off the Revel name on the front of my guitar (as both a fashion statement and to alert others to the quality pickups that Revel produces).

  2. Chris Harden

    I’ve been wanting a true reproduction PAF for many years. I had been saving up for a set of Throbak’s but couldn’t bring myself to spend that amount of money on a humbucker, no matter how good. I’m not a rock star! So my friend Jeff has a set of humbuckers in his LP and they sound damn good. I asked what they were and he said “This guy I know makes pickups. Revel.” I emailed Jesse. I told him I heard a set of humbuckers he made and they sounded awesome and I wanted to try his Retro PAFs but because I never heard of him I was hesitant. He built and then sent me a set to “try” for free. Who does that?
    The Retro PAF is fucking amazing. That’s all I can say and that says it all. Fucking brilliant.

  3. Mo G.

    Installed my new Retro PAF bridge pickup in my customized Telecaster. Wow, what a difference! It’s somehow still twangy,  but with huge balls, like a prize breeding bull from a Texas ranch. Through my Deluxe Reverb, it retains – and improves – that beautiful Fender clean tone (I play a lot of surf and country,  so that’s perfect), and with some dirt on it sounds like a fat Gibson (first thing I played was the Hotel California solo,  and it sounded better than it does on my actual Gibsons) – best of both worlds!

Add a review