I've had the TE PAFs in my Hamer for a few days now and love 'em. Price was about 89us before shipping... Can't beat that...
The pickups sound beautiful.
I'll try to describe the tone which is vague as hell describing ANY tone...
Referring to clean setting on tube amp:
If I had to describe them overall I would say balanced extremely well given characteristics of a pickup planted near the bridge differing with a pickup at end of neck. If you take those unavoidable differences due to placement, they are very balanced across the spectrum, if that makes sense. Sure the bridge is brighter with less low end, and neck is warmer because of placement. You can't get around that.
The tone of the bridge really surprised me in that it is NOT thin and tinny, it is actually pretty rich in content. I am one that upon hearing someone playing clean rhythm on the bridge pickup considers shooting them it sounds so bad... This pickup sounds very good. I think due to it NOT being a real hot pickup.
The tone of the neck pickup is simply righteous. It sounds open and actually round and woody if that makes any damn sense... There is no mud and the neck pickup will actually get spanky like an old weak P90 or old Minihumbucker but with more flavor. I can pick with fingers and do some snap licks and the spank is great. Not normal for a neck pickup.
With the tube amp heated up like a mug the Hamer simply sings... You don't lose the guitar in the stank...
I also, like a lot of Burst players, have the pickups pretty much decked to the rings... That's where the tone hides...
I don't care what Jason or Seymour say, I ain't looking for chainsaw-notching-concrete distortion....
The Hamer is a single cut Lester mass guitar. I would drop those pickups in a Lester in a heartbeat. I love em....
PAF "TONE" is a bullshit term because every so-called PAF is different as no two are alike. Pickups at that time in history were NOT super hot, nor were they consistent. One company's PAF is a copy of ONE PAF they took apart, counted the turns, measured the wire, and measure magnet gauss and tried to dupe it. Company B's PAF is a copy of a different PAF....
Therefore PAF "TONE" is bullshit. More accurate would be weaker ass humbuckers with weaker ass magnets... Less turns, weaker magnets, will pretty much give you spankier pickups as they will have a brighter sound... Physical laws kick in when you go bat shit crazy winding wire as many times as will fit on the bobbin... More turns and your top end will roll off... Way too many turns and you got mud...
The exception to high-winds is a Tele bridge pickup. Stock Tele Br pups are just plain too damn bright and tinny... We wind the dogshit out of our Tele Br pups to actually roll some of the top off besides making it hotter'n hell... I hate 90% of Tele br pups with a passion. Middle position with both is cool but just br is like a nuclear ice pick to me in most...
A band mate will sometimes play one of his Nash Teles (vintage style out the ass) and I've threatened him for flicking to br only. Bastid hurts my ears and even eyeballs up close to the amp. He can play his old ass pink paisley Tele and it sounds good as that pickup is hot as hell and the ice pick highs are rolled off, it being hot as hell...
Oh well, even though the pickups are Canuckistani pickups (as much as I hate to admit it), next time I need humbuckers, I will order those again. Damn good pickups for a killer price. I don't care if they are made in the red light district of Garden Peas, Taiwan...
I give them a full five star eval.
I don't care what Jason or Seymour say, I ain't looking for chainsaw-notching-concrete distortion....
