Description
DiMarzio built the 36th Anniversary PAF neck pickup by reverse-engineering the good stuff — not a spec-sheet clone, but a re-creation of Larry DiMarzio’s own ’59 Les Paul, magnet weakness and all. That deliberately soft Alnico 5 field is the secret: it lets strings ring out longer and gives the pickup an almost single-coil clarity inside a humbucker’s body. Custom-coated 42-gauge wire, laid down on computer-controlled winders for consistent frequency response, gets wax-dipped to kill squeal before it starts. The nickel-silver cover uses a newer plating process that’s more magnetically transparent than vintage originals, so nothing chokes the signal. Output sits at 250mV with 7.31k ohm DC resistance, wired 4-conductor (1-conductor optional) — smooth in the neck, but plenty capable in the bridge too, the way the best 50s humbuckers always were.
On the bridge side, the Norton splits the difference between two DiMarzio legends: it borrows FRED’s snarling harmonic edge and pairs it with the push and midrange of The Tone Zone. Same dual-resonance design under the hood, tuned for output that’s bigger than anything vintage but stops short of full distortion-humbucker territory — which is exactly why it’s one of DiMarzio’s most flexible bridge pickups. It plays well with a wide range of neck partners, this 36th Anniversary PAF included, or the Air Classic, PAF Pro, and Air Norton if you want to experiment later. Spec-wise: Alnico 5 magnet, 352mV output, 12.62k ohm DC resistance, 4-conductor wiring.
- DP103BK PAF 36th Anniversary Neck — Alnico 5, 250mV, 7.31k ohm, 4-conductor
- DP160FBK Norton Bridge (F-spaced) — Alnico 5, 352mV, 12.62k ohm, 4-conductor
- Black covers on both pickups
- Includes free D’Addario EXL110 Regular Light string set
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