Golden Age Parsons Street Humbuckers with Restoration Covers

I bought a set a year ago, an Alnico 5,and a Alnico 2 for a build that I did for a customer/friend. I was impressed with the sounds and really loved them. I will buy these again on a future build that I intend to keep for myself!

I recently bought a set of these Pickups for my 1971 Gibson SG. I wasn't happy with the dark muddy originals. I tried Duncan Pearly Gates (too overwound), and Lollars. Both very nice pickups but not the "PAF" sound I was craving. Finally, on a whim, I tried a set of the Golden Age Parson Streets with Alnico 2 magnets. This is "THE" sound I was hoping for, the sound from the records I love. You can hammer them wide open for crunch: and, without rolling off volume, simply by using a lighter attack, play clean as Joe Pass. My Marshall now sounds like a great amp, not always overdriven or muddy. The folks at Stew Mac also hand selected the desired amount of aging I wanted. They also selected the pickups as close to the ohm rating I asked for. Try asking that from any other manufacturer. I am sold on these pickups and wish I could put em in all my guitars.

I grew up playing Gibson guitars with PAF's and Patent Pending pickups. At the time it never occurred to me how rare and valuable these pickups would become. I spent years playing fine pickups, I was a big fan of Bartolini guitar pickups as my upgrade of choice. But I was never satisfied with the results on my '73 SG Standard. I just installed these Parsons Street Restoration PU's in it. It took a few minutes to acclimate my ear to them. We forget the subtlety of the early humbucking pickups. They don't have the striking Hi Fi clarity and frequency response. But what they have is what I remember so well, laid back and creamy, and so very like those originals. Younger players will not like the microphonics or the squeal when your amp is pushed to it's limits. But for nuanced playing, no matter the style, these guys deliver. Really, if you want to experience the sound and feel of a real PAF without laying out the thousands of dollars StewMac has nailed it. My SG sounds EXACTLY like the one I played in high school, back in the day so many years ago...when you could still buy a '59 Les Paul for $250 cash in any guitar store. New Gibsons sound "right", but not THIS right. I know many won't agree and think new Gibson PU's have it, but I doubt they ever spent years playing the real deal. These sound like the PU's I had on my '62 Super 400, absolutely. I still have other guitars with designer Pups, but I am SO glad StewMac made these for us. And with the "restoration" finish they blend right in. It's almost criminal! No one would ever know the PUPs were lost years ago on my SG, and as it was a '73 I have NO doubt these sound better anyway. If you want the experience of playing the sounds of classic Gibson artists, be it Rock,Blues, or creamy Jazz, these PUPs are the only way to go. Save your second guitar for your big money modern big name pups. I bet you end up spending more time playing these. I got me some Satisfaction. Thanks to all involved in recreating these. Others have tried, but in order to meet modern demands and specs, don't give you the exact experience these do. There is a trade off in performance as I said, but you can't get closer. You can buy the real deal and still have the problems in performance specs,no potting etc... Who cares. These sound so good, and bring back so many memories...that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I got my pickups pretty fast, put them in my guitar and they sound and record well. They don't have that much output, which is good for me because I play a lot of Fender guitar alongside my Les Paul. I put the pickups in a newer Les Paul BUT they need waxing, they start to feedback at low levels. So I guess I'll have to take them apart and wax them - a bit of a shame.

Can anyone else see a picture of George Washington in the right side of the Golden Age Parson Street promotional photo used by our great friends at StewMac. They say they're vintage but heck, I didn't even know George played the electric. What an endorsement! Does every pickup come with a ghostly image of the man himself?