DiMarzio PAF 36th Anniversary Set

The PAF 36th Anniversary humbuckers are DiMarzio’s really big stick-a-pin-in-it footprint for PAF pickups in the new millennium. After decades of the original DP103 PAF, there’s a curious flirtation in the very early 2000s with the now-defunct “Virtual PAF” series. All of that is groundwork for the world of PAF style pickups that DiMarzio has granted the world of guitars.

In the years since, we have the PAF Master set, the PAF 59 set, and the PAF 57 set. Personally, I do think honorable mention is very well-deserved of the mid-90s Air Classic set – if I say so myself. LOL! However, for the existing lineup of DiMarzio’s PAF line, the 36th Anniversary set can be seen as ground zero.

My happenstance upon these humbucker starts with over a decade ago. I’m looking to run a series of options to be connected to the Jimmy Page tone. Speaking to one of the DiMarzio technical engineers, he suggests the 36th Anniversary set. When you look at the product description on the DiMarzio site, it is cool that they so clearly allow many aesthetic options for an anniversary model… specifically if you are thinking of the covered neck and uncovered bridge.

But first, how about we take a peek at what’s under the hood.

Airbucker Technology

DiMarzio’s Air technology is literally about putting air between the magnet and the conductive screws and/or poles. To give some pickups a more vintage character, some might tinker with the gauss strength of the magnet. For more consistent result, DiMarzio uses that “air” as a way to alter the field of a fully charged magnet. Both the DP103 and the DP223 use this tech.

Dual Resonance Technology

Dual Resonance is basically mis-matched coils. It’s common for several pickup companies to allow about a 5% variance. But Dual Resonance is an intentional mis-matching of the coils to produce a specific “tuning” of the pickup’s voice. According to the patent, it is pretty much about putting a similar number of turns on each coil. But with different wire gauges. Only the DP103 neck is using this technolody.

Virtual Vintage

What’s that? For the most part, they put ”dummy poles” between the normal pole pieces. The installation is in the underside of the bobbin, so they are not visible when looking at your typical operating humbucker. The purpose is to alter the inductance to ”tune” the coil(s) in a way not traditionally possible. Just the DP223 bridge uses this.

So, yeah, DiMarzio is just about playing with every toy in the box with this set of pickups. And from my perspective, that cool. This is a great example of letting the end result dictate the path.

Installation

This is going in to a double-hum guitar with a maple neck 22-fret 25-1/2″ scale rosewood board. Bourns 500k pots, Switchcraft 3-way toggle, Switchcraft 1/4″ output jack, cloth push-back vintage style hookup wire.  Tuning is in E-standard with 09-42 strings.

Evaluation

Neck

In the spirit of the original PAF pickups, the DP103 36th Anniversary can be used in neck and/or bridge position. For this application, I went with the neck. It is warm and smooth, but it retains clarity and bite. The low end holds together without getting muddy, which is a big deal for me. I found the drive (as I call it) to be right in line with the neck models from the boutique custom shops. I also liked that I found it capable of playing rhythm parts without being too nasally or too throaty. Lead and solo lines had a rich presence that cut through.

Bridge

The DP223 36th Anniversary Bridge was an excellent suggestion, as it has that added extra that would put it a little more on par with the T-Top vibe. The DP223 is one that I already had and was testing prior to this series. If you have read my review on the DiMarzio Virtual Hot PAF, I was interested in how the DP223 36th Anniversary Bridge is as loud as the VHPAF, with more defined low/mids and bigger/smoother highs. Having tested the DP223 in a single-hum shred stick and now in a 2-hum Page setup, I find it a great pickup. Very versatile for a very wide range of applications. Riffing, power chords, open chords, bluesy leads, screaming leads, popish funky vamping, etc.

Both pickups conducted themselves like seasoned pros on a dirty amp channel. On a clean amp setting, I found them to behave a little better in split and parallel mode than in series, when compared to the other Page style pickup sets I’ve tried. Not a bad thing, just a defining characteristic. In series mode, both pickups are a little more prone to want to push to breakup a little quicker… which can be an appealing quality to players.

Specs

Demo

Here is Joe Duplantier of Gojira with a demo of the 36th Anniversary neck, with his signature Fortitude in the bridge position

For good measure, here is a comparison of Larry DiMarzio’s original ’59 Gibson Les Paul and compares a 2002 historic Gibson reissue with the DiMarzio 36th Anniversary Set

Conclusion

The 36th Anniversary set is a solid classic PAF character. Let’s remember that each original 1950s PAF was literally a unique snowflake. One after another off the same machine by the same machine operator could be as different as the stars in the sky. As such, your perfect idea of a PAF can be as different as the next guy’s. Adding the rest of DiMarzio’s PAF lineup (look back at the top) and you have most any option you can imagine to nail your classic

This set is available in 9 solid bobbin colors, 8 zebra colors, 10 cover colors, and 2 tops. There are 4 different pole piece colors to choose from and you can select standard or f-space poles for either. You can buy them direct from DiMarzio or you can go HERE for the neck and HERE for the bridge and your truly gets literally a few cents from Amazon. LOL!

For reference, this DiMarzio 36th Anniversary humbucker pickup set evaluation was conducted with the following: Fractal Axe-Fx II XL+ featuring Celestion Impluse Responses and Fractal MFC-101 MIDI Foot Controller. ADA MP-1 Tube Pre-Amp loaded with Tube Amp Doctor ECC83 Premium Selected tubes, using the ADA MC-1 MIDI Controller. Fryette LX II Stereo Tube Power Amplifier. Physical cabs use are Marshall 1960B, Mojotone British, and Peavey 6505 cabs loaded with Celestion Classic Series Vintage 30s and Classic Series G12M Greenbacks.

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