PAF

g.wizz

Nabs
Joined
Apr 26, 2012
Messages
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Location
Lebanon
Hello brothers
since I got introduced to electric guitar some 35 odd years ago and I've been hearing about the PAF pickups
now i Know it's "patent applied for" and it's the bench mark that many humbucker pickups are judged by since it's invention
but what I really want to know is why the " abbreviation" stuck, I'm sure they got the patent for the pickup long long time ago
or am i wrong here?
 
The early pups had a sticker on the bottom: "PAF". It certainly did mean "patent applied for", but many who didn't know better thought it was the actual name of the pickup. It stuck. And it stuck for the clones as well.

Not much different than people calling every copy machine a Xerox, regardless of it's true brand.
 
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Yeah, I don't think Gibson ever got an actual patent for designing the humbucker. Funny, DiMarzio has a trademark on the double cream colored humbucker, the look of it at least.
 
A good nickname is hard to shake. It's a useful descriptor to tell you what style a pickup is based on and to differentiate it from modern or alternative designs.
 
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