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Has anyone tried the new TS Bloombucker PAF?

TM1

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Joined
Jun 27, 2003
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8,349
#1) Who's Ford Thruston? #3 I have a zebra PAF in my R-0 in the bridge and an early Pat.# in the neck(with a `50's long magnet)... If I want 50's PAF pickups I buy ThroBak's.. a real comparison would be the same guitar with real PAF's and then with the ones you "copied" in it.
#3 Every PAF is slightly different..
 

Swamp Thing

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May 22, 2018
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2
I installed these pickups into my LP R8 two days ago and I was immediately impressed by them. The first thing that stood out to me was the responsiveness to my picking and how useable they are with the volume and tone pots. They have this very cool almost compressed attack that opens up as the note rings out. The best way I can describe it is they react kinda of like a tube rectifier reacts. It’s a very sweet kinda squishy sound and you can really dig in. They sustain very well too.

They have a very warm and natural sound to them and they just sounded right to me. As a big Duane Allman fan I felt that these pickups gave me his sound, and to me I don’t think a les paul can sound much better. I didn’t have to fiddle around with adjusting the pickup height or the pole pieces. I’m sure I will experiment with that more as time goes on but the term organic definitely applies to the sound of these pickups. To me they sound killer; I was playing direct through a Swart AST JR.

Like any good pickup you don’t want to put your guitar down after you install and play them for the first time, and that was certainly the case with these. They brought new life to my guitar, and I’m very happy I made the purchase. I’m already considering another set for my ES175.

Since these are still so new to me I can’t comment on how they worked with my pedals, other amps, or band setting but that’s something I’m going to do in the next few days. I was drawn to them because of Ford, and he didn’t let me down. Hopefully this was helpful since there isn’t a whole lot out there on these new pickups. If you have any questions just let me know, I will be playing them more and more as the days go by. But right from the gate - articulate, dynamic, warm, and tasty would be how I would describe them. They just sound right to me, and they’re the first humbucker I can truly say that about.

Rock on.
 

WallyWorld

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May 22, 2018
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I’ve not tried the bloom bucker but I have the Tone Specific 1959 Blues PAF set and I’m just amazed by how great they sound. I’ve played all the big names and I was convinced that Virgil Arlo and Ron Ellis made the best PAF’s. They seemed to be a cut above all the other big names but then I tried these TS pickups and I’m just blown away. I would imagine the Bloombuckers are of similar quality. Makes me wonder what the difference between them might be?
 

TM1

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Joined
Jun 27, 2003
Messages
8,349
I’ve not tried the bloom bucker but I have the Tone Specific 1959 Blues PAF set and I’m just amazed by how great they sound. I’ve played all the big names and I was convinced that Virgil Arlo and Ron Ellis made the best PAF’s. They seemed to be a cut above all the other big names but then I tried these TS pickups and I’m just blown away. I would imagine the Bloombuckers are of similar quality. Makes me wonder what the difference between them might be?

Have you tried them against the real thing? It's hard for me to want to try new pickups anymore as I have a set of real PAF's in my 2002 R-0 (Historic Makeover) w/a matched set of 1960 pots. My guitar gets me almost every sound I want..
 

Jazzfinger

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May 23, 2018
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25
I’ve not tried the bloom bucker but I have the Tone Specific 1959 Blues PAF set and I’m just amazed by how great they sound. I’ve played all the big names and I was convinced that Virgil Arlo and Ron Ellis made the best PAF’s. They seemed to be a cut above all the other big names but then I tried these TS pickups and I’m just blown away. I would imagine the Bloombuckers are of similar quality. Makes me wonder what the difference between them might be?

I agree the TS 59 Blues pickups are above what most winders make, they sound nearly identical to a set of original PAF’s in my pals vintage Les Paul… but nothing beats a set of Arlo’s.

I’m always skeptical of new things… I was probably the last guy to get on the Strymon train. After years of thinking the reviews sounded good but there is no way digital would be usable in my world, I finally gave in and bought the Big Sky. I felt stupid that it took me so any years to try it out… I was so amazed quickly got the Mobius, TL, Flint & Deco.

Same goes for my Kemper amp and my Chase Bliss pedals. I just thought the hype was too good to be true. Once again, I was wrong & late to the party.

I have not tried the Bloombuckers yet but I have a set of the 59 Blues & Punch PAF. I’m believer in what the guys at Tone Specific are doing. All the other pickup makers name their pickups after a town, artist, year or some weird model number none of which tells us how they might sound. We all know old PAF had different specs so for these guys to make PAFs geared toward Blues, Jazz, Punch or Bloom tone is almost genius in its simplicity. I was skeptical at first, it seemed too good to be real.

After playing Blues and Punch pickups Im amazed how they both sound like what I expect from PAF but in different ways. Both are really warm, dynamic and give you that PAF bloom but at different eq’s. The Punch set have nice sting and a really tight bass…the Blues has more squish and more in the mids. I would imagine the bloom bucker does what they say it does. I can’t wait to try it for myself, now I just have to figure out what to put them in.
 

Swamp Thing

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May 22, 2018
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2
It was hard for me to choose between all the sets. I narrowed it down to the bloombucker and the punch. After speaking with one of the guys at Tone Specific I decided to go with the bloombuckers but I was informed that both sets are more similar than they are different. From what I gathered the biggest difference between the two was in the bridge pickup. I was told that the punch bridge is more clear direct sounding while the bloom is more full and warm but still has plenty of cut and output. The bloom is designed to be the “perfect PAF ” and the punch set was based around a SG type 60s PAF.

I don’t think I could have gone wrong with either. I’ve never been so impressed with a humbucking neck pickup though. It has none of the mud that other neck pickups tend to give me. These pickups cover a lot of ground and that’s kinda why I went with them over the punch. I’m sure the punch are very versatile aswell, but I play everything from hard rock to jazz and these pickups are just the ticket for me.


Dynamics were the main thing I wanted and the blooms are made to be dynamic and warm, while the punch are more direct pristine and clear. I’m bet a bloombucker neck and punch bridge would be a cool combination. But I don’t think you can go wrong with either. I enjoy buying gear from small companies with good customer service and my experience with this company was great. There are so many great pickup makers out there today that it’s really hard to choose, but I’m glad I gave these guys a chance and these pickups are never coming out of my R8.


Rock on!
 
Last edited:

Jazzfinger

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May 23, 2018
Messages
25
It was hard for me to choose between all the sets. I narrowed it down to the bloombucker and the punch. After speaking with one of the guys at Tone Specific I decided to go with the bloombuckers but I was informed that both sets are more similar than they are different. From what I gathered the biggest difference between the two was in the bridge pickup. I was told that the punch bridge is more clear direct sounding while the bloom is more full and warm but still has plenty of cut and output. The bloom is designed to be the “perfect PAF ” and the punch set was based around a SG type 60s PAF.

I'm curious abut the Bloombucker pickups so I emailed the guys at Tone Specific about what you said above and they said the Punch PAF and the Bloombucker PAF, here is what they said:

“The 1961 Punchy PAF & the Bloombuckers are definitely different designs. The similarities when compared to most modern pickups is in the warmth & dynamics of the pickups. We have video’s on every product page at www.tonespecific.com

When compared to each other the Neck pickups or somewhat similar in that they are both clear and articulate while retaining a great warmth and touch-sensitivity. They both stay articulate very when you roll of the tone. The 61 Punch Neck is more direct while the Bloombucker is a little rounder.

The Bridge Pickups are very different. The Punchy 61 PAF Bridge Pickup is very clear and direct while also being very fat & touch-sensitive. It cuts great but always sounds full and musical. The Bloombucker bridge has more in the mids and gives you more tonal variety based on your picking dynamics. It has more Bloom. Check out the video’s on the site to her the differences.”
 

El Gringo

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Apr 8, 2015
Messages
5,657
#1) Who's Ford Thruston? #3 I have a zebra PAF in my R-0 in the bridge and an early Pat.# in the neck(with a `50's long magnet)... If I want 50's PAF pickups I buy ThroBak's.. a real comparison would be the same guitar with real PAF's and then with the ones you "copied" in it.
#3 Every PAF is slightly different..
You must have been reading my mind as I have a Les Paul of mine out for service getting a pair of ThroBak's SLE -101 Plus pickups installed and I can't wait to get my hands on that guitar and Blast it thru my Marshall and hear the tone ! For my money I think they are the best alternative to real vintage Gibson PAF's.
 

WallyWorld

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Joined
May 22, 2018
Messages
11
I used to have the Throbaks and they are fine pickups. Way better than most of the current mass produced stuff but….

The Tone Specific 1959 Blues PAF are on another level there is just lot more going on dynamically and you can do so much by rolling off volume and or tone. In my opinion the only thing close are the Virgil Arlo or Ellis. Can’t wait to try the Bloombuckers.
 
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