Again, its not that BK are trying to tell you that you need a certain pickup for pages exact sound. Its that led zep were an energetic rock band and the BD is a slightly more powerfull but still PAFy pickup that has that sort of vibe.
Its not meant to be taken literally. If it were Tim would just make a replica of every pickup used by every band he wants to emulate the sound of. They arent that: they have their own character.
Edited due to a misunderstanding :(
I dont see the reason for repeating the same question in this thread, from what MDV and others (including myself) have posted. The differences are noticeable between the pickups, but they reflect the changes that have occured over the years that the PAf has existed (and the happy accidents that have occured in the originals to create some of these variatioons)
If I didn't know any better I would swear that somebody is 'yanking our collective chains' with the original question
You don't have to buy a Black Dog to get an approximation of the Zep tone, you can get similar with a mule. But the mule variations have been voiced to help you get some of the quirks of the artists equipment from an average guitar.
If you are not 'taking the rise' then I ask the following :
What is the classic PAF tone, everybody seems to agree that the following are, Santana, early Clapton, Page, Billy Gibbons, Angus Young Gary Moore & even early Van Halen. Most of them through marshalls but their tones are all very different. Santanna & Angus, both with SGs and PAFs, but they don't sound very similar. Spend some time with your kit trying to get all the PAF sounds and you will probably understand why it makes sense to have several variations.
The Mule will get you the the vast majority of classic PAF sound (whatever that is), but if you feel biased towards a particular tone then surely it makes sense to use something with that particular characteristic.
I can't beleive I actually bothered to reply to this !
Rob...
