It was interesting reading what Dave Stephens found through his research.
Metalurgy technology in the 1950's as most would expect, was inferior to what is available today. Despite this, Gibson used the best metals and materials that were available in that era. Apparently, Gibson did segregate the materials in order to produce the best sounding pickups they could. In 1959 and 1960 Gibson hit on a combination of magnets, metal for the base plates, magnet slugs, wiring, etc. that produced the holy grail of PAF pickups. Dave commented that after he had done his research he then understood why the 59' & 60 LP's are so prized for their tone (especially the 59'). He also noted that it was also clear why there were so many different sounding PAF's in the 1950's...the metals varied significantly enough that in totality (all factors combined), they produced pickups with differing tonal properties.
By working with a metalurgist friend of his, Dave set out to find metals, magnets, wire, slugs, etc. that matched or were as close as possible to the materials in the 1959 and 1960 PAF's that he had disected and tested. He sent samples of the Formvar wire from several original 59' & 60 PAF for an analysis of the materials so that he could try to procure wire that matched as closely as the original. For the bobbins and other parts, Dave chose to make them himself because he could not find them commercially. Keep in mind, this is an obsession with Dave, and obsessions often push people into territory where most wouldn't bother to go.
I know that many of the custom winders out there try to duplicate the look and even the construction of the original PAF's. Most use the best and closest to original Formvar wire that they can find. But I've never heard of anyone going to quite the lengths that Dave does in trying to figure out as close to exactly what was used in the old pickups. I really admire his dedication, but at $450.00 a set it's not likely that I'm going to be purchasing any. But, I'm a hobbyist when it comes to my guitars. If I was a professional who used his guitars as professional tools, I'd want the best. These pickups could very well qualify.
So far to date, the humbuckers that sound best for my needs of those I've tried are the Guitarforce Lord of the Blues. That is not to say that there aren't many other custom wound pickups out there that sound equally good, if perhaps in a different way. But, I wanted a set of humbuckers that could capture the classic LP tone of the vintage era, and be capable of the elusive Duane tone with the right amp. Combine that with the fact that Kevin Taylor of Guitarforce pickups was (and still is) offering them to members of the mylespaul.com forum for $125.00 a set, and that closed the deal. As an added plus, Kevin even wound them for me on (shhhh!) double cream bobbins which I really love. 
Ah, nothing relieves the discomfort of GAS pains like the sound of the UPS truck rumbling down your street. It's like the musician's Beano.
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Originally Posted by Bloozcat