The PAF Joe™ is the new neck pickup that DiMarzio® developed for Joe Satriani. Joe wanted a neck position humbucker that combines the best qualities of the DiMarzio® PAF Pro® with those of a late '50s humbucker. Joe described this tone as being "tubular". Through the use of Virtual Vintage® technology, clear-sounding low frequencies are blended with warm-sounding mids and high frequencies, which makes the PAF Joe™ equally good for chords and single notes. It was first used by Joe throughout the 2003 G3 tour. Recommended for all positions, solid, semi-solid and hollow-body electric guitars.
Tech Talk: What does "tubular" mean? In this case, it means making low notes "speak" more clearly while giving high notes a rounder voicing. This accomplishes two goals: chords have better definition, and single notes at higher fret positions remain warm-sounding rather than getting thinner. The PAF Joe™ has slightly less power than the PAF Pro®. It balances well with bridge pickups like the PAF Pro®, Fred®, Breed™ neck model, Air Norton™ and Norton®.
DiMarzio Tone Guide:
Treble, Middle, Bass, pretty much like on your amp. Scale is 0-10. Relationship between Treble, Middle & Bass is important too.
- Treble - 6.5
- Middle - 5
- Bass - 4.5
DiMarzio Output (mv) Guide:
The higher the number, the more power you get. Humbuckers (generally):
200mv "classic"
300mv "punchy"
400mv "hot"
*Full-Size Humbuckers are available in Standard & "F"spacing. Pickup size is the same, but the polepieces are set further apart on F versions. Measure the E to E string spacing over each pickup. 48mm takes Standard, 51mm takes F-spaced.