To Clone a P.A.F., Destroy It? | The P.A.F. Paradox Upgrade your guitar with ThroBak Pickups 👉 https://www.throbak.com/ How close can a pickup maker really get to cloning a legendary vintage Gibson P.A.F.? In Episode #055 of the ThroBak Guitar Lounge Podcast, Jon Gundry and Matthew Quail tackle one of the biggest questions in the world of vintage guitar tone: can a P.A.F. ever be perfectly reproduced? Or does achieving a true one-to-one clone require taking apart—and potentially destroying—the very pickup you're trying to preserve? This thought-provoking Guitargument explores the fascinating paradox at the heart of vintage pickup research, restoration, and reproduction. If you've ever wondered what separates a great P.A.F. reproduction from the real thing, this episode is for you.To Clone a P.A.F., Destroy It? | The P.A.F. Paradox Upgrade your guitar with ThroBak Pickups 👉 https://www.throbak.com/ Episode 055 Breakdown 📬 **ThroBak Mailbox** We discuss the continuing fallout from Fender's cease-and-desist campaign and examine how the guitar community is responding. 🎸 **Pickups of the Week** A set of cloned high-output P.A.F. pickups through a Marshall amplifier. Hear the punch, harmonics, sustain, and classic rock authority that define these legendary pickups. ⚔️ **The Guitargument – To Clone a P.A.F., Must You Destroy It?** Can a pickup truly be cloned 100%? Or does complete knowledge require disassembling—and potentially destroying—the very pickup you're trying to preserve? Jon and Matthew debate the limits of reverse engineering, preservation versus discovery, and whether a perfect clone is even possible. ❄️ **The Guitargument Cool Down** After the debate, we put theory to the test by comparing our ThroBak cloned high-output P.A.F. pickups directly against a vintage set of high-output P.A.F.s so viewers can judge the results with their own ears. 🎭 **Rorschach Riffs with Matthew** For the first time on the show, Matthew presents a special Rorschach Riffs segment in Drop D tuning, exploring new sonic territory and riff ideas inspired by this classic tuning. 🎵 **Matthew's Musical Musings** Matthew reviews "The Late Great Paul," the moving presentation by British actor David Kossoff about his son, Paul Kossoff of Free and Back Street Crawler. Beyond celebrating Paul's remarkable guitar playing, the presentation serves as a powerful warning about the dangers of drug addiction and the importance of protecting your dreams, talents, and future. 🔬 **Outro** Jon Gundry closes the show with a brief discussion about the magnetic permeability of ThroBak's custom-made 1008 and 1018 steel pole screws and why details like these matter when pursuing authentic vintage pickup performance. Whether you're fascinated by vintage P.A.F.s, passionate about guitar tone, or interested in the intersection of preservation, history, and engineering, Episode #055 is packed with insights, great tones, and spirited debate. 🎸 Upgrade Your Guitar with ThroBak Pickups: [www.throbak.com](http://www.throbak.com) This episode has a strong central theme: **the P.A.F. Paradox**—the conflict between preserving a vintage pickup and learning everything necessary to clone it. That theme ties together the Mailbox, Pickup Demo, Guitargument, and Vintage-vs-Clone comparison particularly well and should perform strongly with the vintage guitar audience. 👉 Explore ThroBak Pickups: https://www.throbak.com ThroBak Electronics is a world leader in classic reproduction guitar pickups. To learn more visit.: https://www.throbak.com/p90-pickup.html https://www.throbak.com/paf-pickups.html https://www.throbak.com/stratocaster-pickups.html https://www.throbak.com/telecaster-pickups.html https://www.throbak.com/alnico-magnets.html https://www.throbak.com/pedals.html https://www.throbak.com/strings.html
