Duane bought his second burst, a Gibson Les Paul Standard Dark Burst, from Kurt Linhof in June of 1971 on the closing day of the Fillmore East. Although Duane never personally referred to this guitar as Hot 'Lanta, that is the nickname it picked up along the way. The headstock of Hot 'Lanta was broken off and replaced before Kurt got it so no one really knows if it was a '59 or a '60. He also reversed the bridge and neck pickups (8.7kΩ and 8.3kΩ) before selling it to Duane as they left the Gibson factory with the 8.7kΩ in the neck. These pickups rank among some of the hottest P.A.F.s we have come across, giving them some built-in nastiness... along with a fair amount of gain.
By 1959 Gibson had stopped using AlNiCo 3 magnets in humbuckers, the pickups being chosen entirely at random from a box of A2, A4 and A5 magnets. P.A.F.s manufactured in 1959 could have been any of these (or even a combination). Pickup historians, at least those studying Duane’s pickups, tend to believe the magnets in Hot ‘Lanta were A5, and we tend to agree, based on their brightness and clarity. So that is exactly what we chose to pair with the 8.7kΩ and 8.3kΩ DC Resistances for this set of clones.
Darkburst (Hot 'Lanta)
While Duane did not have much of a chance to show off this guitar before his untimely passing in October of 1971 quite a few recordings are floating around in which he played it. Our favorites are: Boston Common on 08/17/71, A & R Studios on 26th August 1971 and S.U.N.Y. At Stonybrook on 09/19/71. Having a listen to any or all of these will clearly reveal the power and heat Duane loved so much about this guitar (and its P.A.F.s).
As with the Layla/Fillmore Set, the ear is the most useful tool in reproducing such a tribute sound and we believe we have replicated Hot ‘Lanta to perfection. When that tribute is applied to the articulation, responsiveness, sustain, bloom, decay and chiminess of the Wizz Premium Clone P.A.F. Pickup Set you will find a set of pickups that you will never want to part with.