Lollar Pickups High Wind Imperial PAF Humbuckers // Feat. Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul R8
Lollar Pickups returns to the channel — this time with the High Wind Imperial PAF Humbuckers, the hotter sibling of the legendary Low Wind. Welcome back to Edge of Breakup.
In this episode the Lollar High Wind Imperial PAF Humbuckers take center stage — installed in the 2002 Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul R8 Historic, freshly wired with the Emerson Custom x Edge of Breakup Les Paul Prewired Kit and two Emerson Custom Treble Bleeds, into the Benson Amps Monarch 2x12" via the Boss Waza Tube Amp Expander. Origin Effects Revival Drive Compact, R2R Electric Rangemaster, and Effectrode Tube Vibe all feature.
Grab a set: https://www.lollarguitars.com/lollar-humbucker-pickups/lollar-imperial-humbucker Get the EoB x Emerson Custom Les Paul Kit: https://emersoncustom.com/products/eob-les-paul-prewired-kit-premier-pro?sca_ref=6282128.5O9h8BhMpG Treble Bleed Mod: https://emersoncustom.com/products/2017-treble-bleed-circuit-volume-mod?sca_ref=6282128.5O9h8BhMpG
The Lollar Low Wind Imperial is one of the most well-known boutique PAF humbuckers on the market — open, airy, dynamic, with a bloom and clarity that rewards touch sensitivity. The High Wind Imperial keeps the same fundamental voicing — drawn from the long-revered qualities of the original 1950s PAF — but adds winding to both the neck and bridge, pushing the output higher while staying within the vintage PAF specification range.
What this means in practice: the High Wind pushes your amp into overdrive territory at lower volume settings. The same amp that sounds clean with a Low Wind Imperial will sound fuller and more pushed with the High Wind at the same volume knob position. Clean tones have more body and girth. Cranked tones arrive earlier and with more authority. The overdrive interaction with the Revival Drive Compact is more saturated, and the R2R Electric Rangemaster stacking — explored from 11:03 — has an even broader range of cleanup tones available because there's more signal level to roll back into.
The R8 Historic platform is particularly well-suited to High Wind Imperials. The hide glue neck joint, long tenon, and solid mahogany construction are already voiced for warmth and sustain — the High Wind's added output gives the guitar's natural resonance more input signal to push the amp with, resulting in a more consistently singing, harmonically rich character even at modest volume settings.
Grab an Emerson Custom Les Paul Kit: https://emersoncustom.com/products/les-paul-prewired-kit?sca_ref=6282128.5O9h8BhMpG Emerson Custom Strat Blender Kit: https://emersoncustom.com/products/s5b-blender-5-way-strat-prewired-kit?sca_ref=6282128.5O9h8BhMpG
🎸 Lollar Pickups: https://www.lollarguitars.com/lollar-pickups 🔊 Benson Amps: https://www.bensonamps.com/guitar-amplifiers
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🎸 2002 Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul R8 Historic | Lollar High Wind Imperial PAF Humbuckers | Emerson Custom EoB LP Kit | 2x Treble Bleed | '50s Wiring | P/O Caps 🎛️ Origin Effects Revival Drive Compact | R2R Electric Rangemaster | Effectrode Tube Vibe 🔊 Benson Amps Monarch 2x12" | Boss Waza TAE
Recording: Universal Audio Apollo x4 | Lauten Audio LS-208 | Royer R10 & R121 | Sennheiser E906 | Ableton Live 12
