Doyle Coils promises "Les Paul's dream guitar sound" with its Tru-Clones PAF pickups

Tom Doyle, who worked with Les Paul as his personal guitar tech, co-inventor and soundman for more than 45 years, has introduced the Doyle Coils Tru-Clones PAF humbucker pickups for electric guitars.

The new pickups, according to Doyle, are the culmination of a project that he says Paul was working on in the last years of his life – to create a better-sounding humbucker boasting clarity and articulation but without the muddiness associated with the design.

Said Doyle, “Les had an incredible passion for making things ‘just right’ and would tinker and experiment on things he wanted to fix, tirelessly, almost to the point of obsession.

“Towards the end of his life his constant passion was for getting the high-impedance humbucker pickup – so named because they ‘buck the hum’ and deliver a noise-free signal – to come alive and deliver that clarity he so desired.”

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Each Tru-Clone PAF is hand-crafted by Doyle using vintage-spec 42-gauge wire, butyrate bobbins, nickel-silver baseplates, long-cast magnets and nickel-silver pickup covers, among other components.

The Tru-Clone PAFs are offered in neck and bridge models as a set, in prices ranging from $500 to $535.

They’re available in a variety of new and aged nickel, chrome and gold-plated finishes, in either vintage unpotted or lightly wax potted versions. Each pickup comes in a wooden presentation box and with a certificate of authenticity signed by Tom Doyle.

For more information, head to Doyle Coils.