[Drew]

I've been meaning to do this swap basically forever, but finally got a free day where I had the time to do the work while shooting video.

tl;dr - not only do I love the PAF Pro exactly as much as I expected to in this guitar, I forgot how much I like the Blaze (the one in my UV is dying so I haven't played one in ages). Tons of harmonic overtones on sustained notes, and while I really legitimately dug the Custom, the Blaze's softer response and rounder low-mids just feels like home. This pickup will pretty much always be what a seven string *should* sound like to me.

 

[Blankplank]

What came first, the idea for the pickup swap or the idea for the first album?

 

[zepp]

Sounds great dude. That Suhr is great looking too.

 

[noodles]

Jesus that’s a nice guitar.

 

[Naren]

That really is a beautiful guitar, and all of the pickups in the clip sounded great.

 

[Drew]

Yeah that guitar is fucking amazing. I'm lucky.

I really liked the Sentient/Custom set - I had it in there probably two years, and it kept me pretty happy for that whole time. The Sentient is more "vintage" than you'd expect of the name, medium output, very clear and open high end (it did everything I hated about the Pegasus, but that works for me in a neck pickup, just not a bridge). But, it was always my trying to get as close to a PAF Pro in seven strings as I could, so when I got the chance to grab an actual one, I did. And the Custom was great - very percussive low end, and if I was predominantly a riff guy I might have kept it in in there, as it's both thuick, but very, very clear. But, as a "seven stringer of a certain age," the Blaze is just what a seven string is supposed to sound like.

The recording rig here probably helps the tone somewhat too - I've done some pretty serious upgrading since my last album, and I think it shows. This was a SM57 and a MD421 in phase ands both slightly off axis, into a BAE 1073MP Neve-style preamp run fairly hot, through a (bypassed) set of Neve 551 EQs (wanted to make this as true to life as possible). I'm still demoing and whatnot, but I'm really happy with the sounds I've been getting.

 

[Drew]

BTW, DGAF and all, but I did check in with Dimarzio who confirmed that this is indeed a ceramic magnet in the PAF Pro, but with their Virtual Vintage technology being used to voice it more like an Alnico. Not that it really matters, but either way I'm digging the shit out of this set.

 

[1]

That's a bitchin' shirt.

 

[Leon]

That's a bitchin' shirt.

It really ties the guitar together!

 

[Leon]

I dug the Duncan tones the most, but I think I seem to in general.

 

[343]

That's a bitchin' shirt.

No Pink Polo = unwatchable

Sounds awesome Drew.

 

[Drew]

That's a bitchin' shirt.

LL Bean, bitches.

 

[zepp]

LL Bean, bitches.

:dillon: