KA Floating PAF vs Benedetto S6

**Spook410** · 09-28-2025, 02:16 PM

Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit

.. I don’t believe a pickup can hold anyone back from anything..

Much progress is made on unplugged tele's sitting on the couch. That being said, if you don't like the way something sounds or it seems off, may make it less fun.

**nevershouldhavesoldit** · 09-28-2025, 04:49 PM

Originally Posted by deacon Mark

I much prefer a KA it just sounds better and looks better. Not a fan of the Benny it is ugly to me and darkish sounding.

I agree with you - the Benedetto is somewhere between crude and ugly, for sure. And it's not as bright as many pickups. But it adds weight to the tone of the laminated 16" archtop in which I put it, pushing it into CES territory to my ears. It also has a coil tap that makes it a single coil, which is significantly brighter and more "acoustic" in tone with very little loss of output.

**Woody Sound** · 09-28-2025, 08:16 PM

Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit

I agree with you - the Benedetto is somewhere between crude and ugly, for sure. And it's not as bright as many pickups. But it adds weight to the tone of the laminated 16" archtop in which I put it, pushing it into CES territory to my ears. It also has a coil tap that makes it a single coil, which is significantly brighter and more "acoustic" in tone with very little loss of output.

That sounds like a different pickup than the floating S6 that we were discussing.

**nevershouldhavesoldit** · 09-29-2025, 07:40 AM

Originally Posted by Woody Sound

That sounds like a different pickup than the floating S6 that we were discussing.

It is. I described having a B in posts 4 and 14, and I compared my B in a laminated 16 to the set HW KA in my other 16. Both are dull black and far from the prettiest girl in the pageant. But the smooth black S Benedetto floaters are only slightly more attractive, IMO (and Deacon Mark’s, it seems).

I think the S and B pickups are very similar in design, build, and basic tone. SD describes them as identical inside on their website, although I think the nominal DCR is a little different in their spec sheets. Both are Alnico V humbuckers. The S is a floater and the B is set. So the big differences in sound between the two are largely from the different kinds of guitars on which they’re mounted. A sonic comparison of a B and a set KA in similar guitars is close to comparison of an S and a floating KA on similar guitars.

I think the sonic differences between the set versions are similar in nature to those between the floating versions.