Pearly Gates Plus vs 59

[jeremy]

WAT!!

[Ronnie_Snow]

Double thick magnet.

What does a double thick magnet actually do to the sound? Can I stack magnets? Is there anything I need to know about installing a double thick magnet into a humbucker that wasnt made for a double thick magnet? All I have 2 of are RCUOA5...

[Ronnie_Snow]

Ahem . . .

I have a SoloDallas Storm, Tubescreamer but have considered a Fortin 33 but I wanted that clarity of a PG but with more oomph without the compression. Mentions of the WLH has me wary considering the massive drop in treble from a PG to a WLH. I didn't find that treble to much at all. Maybe it added to the clarity. But I can't get on with Alnico 2 magnets as I miss that big bottom end...

[Mincer]

There isn't a 'massive drop in treble' from the PG to the WLH. Maybe from an 8 to 7.25. Also, don't decide on a pickup just by the magnet...there is more to the sound than just that.

[David Garner]

My main guitars are 2 Les Pauls both with the Custom Shop Pearly Gates set and a Strat with the Psychedelic Strat set.

The Pearly Gates sounds nothing at all like a Strat.

[eclecticsynergy]

I've had a 59B in a Les Paul since the mid-80s and loved it; haven't ever tried one in a 25½" scale bolt-on.

My only experiences with the PG+ have been in Fenders, and it always seemed a tad harsh there.
Have sometimes wondered if a doublethick A5 would help fill it out - maybe even a doublethick A2.

In its stock form I could imagine the PG+ doing well in a Les Paul, especially one with a dark natural voice.

[Mincer]

BTW, this is a really good thread about the PG+, which has some great info. This is the quote from Evan Skopp, who was at SD at the time:

Yes, you're right. And that's confusing. The PG+ has a hundred or so more turns. It's not enough to really affect the d.c. resistance and as you can see, it's within spec for the PG to have an ever-so-slightly higher dcr than the PG+. It's those extra hundred turns together with the A5 magnet that give the PG+ the 3dB boost over the PG as Fender's Mike Lewis requested from us way back when.

[gsammo79]

What does a double thick magnet actually do to the sound? Can I stack magnets? Is there anything I need to know about installing a double thick magnet into a humbucker that wasnt made for a double thick magnet? All I have 2 of are RCUOA5...

You'll need extra spacers to adjust for the size difference with the double thick magnet. It's taller than a stock magnet

[Clint 55]

Sorry, didn't see your post #32. If you were to stack magnets, it partially deguasses the 2 mags when you force the like poles together.. So to make one on your own what you do is bond 2 together (with epox) and then remagnetize them to act as 1 continuous magnet. Otherwise just buy them here: https://www.cermagmagnets.co.uk/alni...125mm-39-p.asp

To install yes, all you need are 2 extra spacers to stick in on either side. Wrap masking tape around them to shim if needed and fine tune the height.

Sound: the tone footprint is the same as the parent regular thickness mag. But there are some subtle changes besides the output being boosted. It makes it a little bassier and it sounds deeper and less clanky.

[Ronnie_Snow]

The closest pickup available in our regular line to a Pearly Gates Plus is a '59 Model with 4-conductor cable. The '59 is an Alnico V pickup with a wind very close to that of the Pearly Gates Plus.

The PGP is not wound on the Leesona.

So a PG+ is an overwound PG with an A5 but not wound on the leesona..

So a standard PG and a 59 are both Leesona wound, but have different magnets. The above statement from SD almost makes me think that a PG+ is just an overwound 59...

Either way now I actually just need to find a PG+. Anyone...?

[Clint 55]

The PG+ is an overwound PG. What you need is a double thick mag.

[Mincer]

From what I remember, the PG+ was opposite polarity from most SD pickups to work with Fender pickups. I see a few PG+ for sale on forums, Reverb, ebay, etc. I pretty sure you could order one from the Custom Shop, too.