Monty's pickups

hotpickups

I've got a set of his humdinger but I noticed he does an authentic PAF set too. Not sure what the difference is but has anyone got a set ? Your likely ?

skaguitar

My 335 now has a set 

http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/127650/my-335-is-now-equipped-with#latest

SunDevil

From memory, the Humdingers are Al IV and the PAFs are a II and IV set

hotpickups

skaguitar said:

My 335 now has a set 

http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/127650/my-335-is-now-equipped-with#latest

So they have clarity? Which I would like. The guitar build I'm thinking about he usually uses Seymour Duncan's but I like to support U.K. builders too  so monty's came to mind again. Cheaper than seymours too

hotpickups

SunDevil said:

From memory, the Humdingers are Al IV and the PAFs are a II and IV set

How do they make a difference do you you know?

Lebarque

Calling @RiftAmps ;

mburekenge

The pafs have crazy articulation.

RiftAmps

Clarity? Yes
Toneful? Yes
Articulate? Yes
Aggressive? Not really, if you want something hotter then look at House of Tone, Tyson, or OX4s. The Monty's sacrifice initial bite for a wider touch response range - perfect for me but not everyone.

I know @SunDevil didn't like them in the middle position, but I really do...they almost 'quack' and you can get a pseudo-PG tone if you balance the vol/tone pots right.

Buy a set, try them, flog them if you don't get on with them.

hotpickups

RiftAmps said:

Clarity? Yes
Toneful? Yes
Articulate? Yes
Aggressive? Not really, if you want something hotter then look at House of Tone, Tyson, or OX4s. The Monty's sacrifice initial bite for a wider touch response range - perfect for me but not everyone.

I know @SunDevil didn't like them in the middle position, but I really do...they almost 'quack' and you can get a pseudo-PG tone if you balance the vol/tone pots right.

Buy a set, try them, flog them if you don't get on with them.

Thanks Chris. Well I certainly like his humdingers in my les Paul so just want a different flavour in the possible guitar build. I'm certainly not a hi gain player mostly.

hotpickups

Anyone one selling their paf monty's ? Just thought I'd ask on the off chance lol

ThorpyFX

hotpickups said:

Anyone one selling their paf monty's ? Just thought I'd ask on the off chance lol

Never, they are amazing. And the closest thing to a set of real pafs I have heard.... and I have a set of those too

hotpickups

ThorpyFX said:

hotpickups said:

Anyone one selling their paf monty's ? Just thought I'd ask on the off chance lol

Never, they are amazing. And the closest thing to a set of real pafs I have heard.... and I have a set of those too

Ill take your word for it Adrian as I've never actually played any real vintage pafs

guitars4you

hotpickups said:

ThorpyFX said:

hotpickups said:

Anyone one selling their paf monty's ? Just thought I'd ask on the off chance lol

Never, they are amazing. And the closest thing to a set of real pafs I have heard.... and I have a set of those too

Ill take your word for it Adrian as I've never actually played any real vintage pafs

maybe going of tangent here - but original pafs vary immensely - they were never built to a 'template' that we'd accept today - different magnets and winding for starters and almost different variations regarding ingredients on a day to day basis - Today's builders tend to use a far more dedicated format, to achieve a level of consistency based on an original paf experience that they favour  - Hence the difference in build and tone between different Monty's and say OX4 etc etc - Most/all do a sterling job and as Chris said above, buy them, try them and if you don't get on with them they will be easy to sell 

Also take into account one set of paf replicas might work for you in one guitar but not another, as the natural acoustic tone of the guitar has an impact on the final voice - for example :-  a bright sounding guitar might not favour a crisp sounding paf - A more mellow sound guitar might not suit a darker sounding paf

I love this quote I borrowed from an old article in a USA publication regarding pafs :- 
The truth is, no one may ever be capable of reproducing the exact tone, dynamic and vocal character, clarity, bloom and rich harmonics found in a great set of PAFs, which were, after all, essentially happy accidents created by the convergence of extremely varied and largely undocumented materials and components, assembled by relatively unskilled factory workers laboring with flexible specifications and imprecise equipment

meltedbuzzbox

guitars4you said:

hotpickups said:

ThorpyFX said:

hotpickups said:

Anyone one selling their paf monty's ? Just thought I'd ask on the off chance lol

Never, they are amazing. And the closest thing to a set of real pafs I have heard.... and I have a set of those too

Ill take your word for it Adrian as I've never actually played any real vintage pafs

maybe going of tangent here - but original pafs vary immensely - they were never built to a 'template' that we'd accept today - different magnets and winding for starters and almost different variations regarding ingredients on a day to day basis - Today's builders tend to use a far more dedicated format, to achieve a level of consistency based on an original paf experience that they favour  - Hence the difference in build and tone between different Monty's and say OX4 etc etc - Most/all do a sterling job and as Chris said above, buy them, try them and if you don't get on with them they will be easy to sell 

Also take into account one set of paf replicas might work for you in one guitar but not another, as the natural acoustic tone of the guitar has an impact on the final voice - for example :-  a bright sounding guitar might not favour a crisp sounding paf - A more mellow sound guitar might not suit a darker sounding paf

I love this quote I borrowed from an old article in a USA publication regarding pafs :- 
The truth is, no one may ever be capable of reproducing the exact tone, dynamic and vocal character, clarity, bloom and rich harmonics found in a great set of PAFs, which were, after all, essentially happy accidents created by the convergence of extremely varied and largely undocumented materials and components, assembled by relatively unskilled factory workers laboring with flexible specifications and imprecise equipment

You beat me to it

Danielsguitars

I didn't like montys in the middle as they didn't balance well enough for me 
They are really good though and i did a back to back with a real 58, they held up well imo, it might be the alnico 2 in the bridge vs the alnico v in the neck for the middle balance, the guy that bought the guitar loves them, it's a personal choice 

Like others have said it's also the guitar you put them in 

ThorpyFX

meltedbuzzbox said:

guitars4you said:

hotpickups said:

ThorpyFX said:

hotpickups said:

Anyone one selling their paf monty's ? Just thought I'd ask on the off chance lol

Never, they are amazing. And the closest thing to a set of real pafs I have heard.... and I have a set of those too

Ill take your word for it Adrian as I've never actually played any real vintage pafs

maybe going of tangent here - but original pafs vary immensely - they were never built to a 'template' that we'd accept today - different magnets and winding for starters and almost different variations regarding ingredients on a day to day basis - Today's builders tend to use a far more dedicated format, to achieve a level of consistency based on an original paf experience that they favour  - Hence the difference in build and tone between different Monty's and say OX4 etc etc - Most/all do a sterling job and as Chris said above, buy them, try them and if you don't get on with them they will be easy to sell 

Also take into account one set of paf replicas might work for you in one guitar but not another, as the natural acoustic tone of the guitar has an impact on the final voice - for example :-  a bright sounding guitar might not favour a crisp sounding paf - A more mellow sound guitar might not suit a darker sounding paf

I love this quote I borrowed from an old article in a USA publication regarding pafs :- 
The truth is, no one may ever be capable of reproducing the exact tone, dynamic and vocal character, clarity, bloom and rich harmonics found in a great set of PAFs, which were, after all, essentially happy accidents created by the convergence of extremely varied and largely undocumented materials and components, assembled by relatively unskilled factory workers laboring with flexible specifications and imprecise equipment

You beat me to it

Fair enough.

kossofffan

I've used Monty's PAF's in a Les Paul for 18 months and really enjoyed them,,,, but till I changed the controls to 500k pots and 50's wiring now they REALLY came alive and the middle position of the pickup selector is were I spend more time than ever!

Frizer

As stock they nail the transparent telecaster's big brother sound which is what I wanted. He offers a few options if you want to go away from that.

hotpickups

Frizer said:

As stock they nail the transparent telecaster's big brother sound which is what I wanted. He offers a few options if you want to go away from that.

That'll do me

markr76

I have a set of his paf's in my r8 les Paul. I think they are fantastic. The best pups I've heard for what I was after. I've also had ox4 paf's which were also great pups. But I'd agree with Chris's comments above. That they are a little more aggressive sounding. Still very vintage sounding though.
I'll never take the monty's out of my r8 though. They just work in that guitar.
I've also played them in both Thorpy's sg and Chris's rift burst les Paul he has. They have both played/ heard my R8. They all sound fantastic I. There respective guitars.

hotpickups

markr76 said:

I have a set of his paf's in my r8 les Paul. I think they are fantastic. The best pups I've heard for what I was after. I've also had ox4 paf's which were also great pups. But I'd agree with Chris's comments above. That they are a little more aggressive sounding. Still very vintage sounding though.
I'll never take the monty's out of my r8 though. They just work in that guitar.
I've also played them in both Thorpy's sg and Chris's rift burst les Paul he has. They have both played/ heard my R8. They all sound fantastic I. There respective guitars.

I never realised that Chris's of @RiftAmps ;les Paul had a pair in that. Wish I tried it at the brum show this year now