Let me just put this out there... Tim Shaw PAF clones are NOT actual PAF clones. They're 'theoretical' PAF clones and are much closer to a T-Top than a PAF.
What does that mean? They're built to specs that were part of the original design dimensions. Moreso than actual PAF pickups ever were. Every Shaw I've peeked inside was machine wound to ~5000 winds per coil of poly wire in a very consistent manner. This consistency started to show up in the mid 1960s with T-Tops and not PAF pickups. I didn't unwind them and count every turn; I measured the wire at a few different points and took an average size, then did the math on the coil DC vs the wire dimension.
Real PAF pickups were machine wound. They were also wound '
until the bobbins were full' according to Seth Lover interviews. In theory that was ~5000 turns of wire but in reality, any PAF bobbin I've seen or some other winder has seen, the 5000 turns is out the window.
- First issue: human error and judgement. How full is a full bobbin? Visually to me, at different settings on the winder that number can vary widely! I can fit over 5700 turns of 42AWG on a bobbin at 90TPL and it'll look 'full'. Lowering the TPL and I get a far lower number before it looks full.
- Second issue: Wire variance. Copper smelting process was very crude in the 50's and was highly refined for better/more consistent production in the 60's. PAF pickups were wound with Plain Enamel coated wire made in the old process and varied in purity, dimension and consistency of all aspects. Those impurities are as much a part of the sound as the rest of the pickup. Even if the Gibson winders were counting to 5000 turns, each bobbin had a range of variance to it based on the inconsistencies and impurities. With 5000 turns of 42AWG wire, the length of that wire is ~800m or 2600ft per coil (very roughly). That's a whole lot of wire with a lot of dimensional changes to account for.
- Magnets: PAF magnets were ordered as 'Alnico Bar Magnet' on the original order forms. No specification to type. Some measure at levels of A3, A2, A4 and A5. But even magnets vary from source to source. I have no data on magnet manufacturing process from the 50's to now but my assumption (correct or not) would be that modern process has been regulated for tighter control.