'59 v.s. Pearly Gates

Kommerzbassist

Thunderbirdologist
Ok guys, sorry for another PG question thread, but what are the main differences between these to (tone wise)?

thanks
 
Re: '59 v.s. Pearly Gates

Here you go man, my PAF style pup breakdown

The 59---The 59 is the quintessential A5 PAF (patent applied for) pup. Imagine getting in a time machine and going back to 1959 and swiping a brand new A5 pup from the Gibson factory in Kalamazoo and bringing it forward to today. They have found most homes in many neck slots. It has symetrical coils and lots of quack. It has thumping bass, a scooped mid, and cutting highs. Vintage 2 Conductor Wire

The Seth Lover---This pup is as true to the original as can be. This pup is unpotted and comes standard with a gold, or nickel pup cover. It has an A2 magnet and has good quack and fair mids. For this pup imagine going back in time to 1955 and grabbing one of the very first PAF's before they debuted in the LP's. This pup is warm and creamy, but can also get bright with the tone knob on 10. Vintage 2 Conductor Wire

The Alnico 2 Pro---The warmest of the Duncan PAF line. It has symetrical coils and is a modern take on the A2 PAFs. It has round bass and smooth treble, it also has lots of mids to make the guitar really sing. It will warm up the coldest or shrillest of guitars. The most well known Alnico 2 Pro user is Slash of Velvet Revolver and GNR. Standard 4 Conductor Wire

Pearly Gates---The PG is the hottest of the Duncan PAF line. It has asymetrical (mismatched) coils and an A2 magnet. The mismatched coils give this particular pup its rude personality. It has a frequency push in the Presence/Cut knob frequency band. This is the "Sizzle" PG owner talk about. It has the most mids of the Ducan PAF line and is also the hottest. Its patron is Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top. Standard 4 conductor Wire

The Jazz---The jazz is the pup that bridges the gap between Vintage and Modern pups. Its output is at or around the vintage level. Don't let the name fool you this pup is very versatile and smooth. It has an A5 magnet and is very widely used in the neck slot. It is articulate regardless of the tuning as well. This pup negociates cleans or overdrive very well. Standard 4 Conductor Wire

Hope this helps!

Luke
 
Re: '59 v.s. Pearly Gates

Didn't someone post a similar description before on this theme? was that you Luke? If not you nailed it. I usually just say
A2 = fat/vintage
59 = classic
PG = hot classic w/ bite

or some such thing....
 
Re: '59 v.s. Pearly Gates

Which is warmer ("round" tone) and more articulate of the two?

I'm been thinking whether to go C5/59 or C5/PGn on my LP.

Thanks!
 
Re: '59 v.s. Pearly Gates

PG=Bright with lots of mids and high end sizzle (mismatched wind). Sounds good in a darker guitar.

59= Bright without much mids at all...More "Sweet" sounding high end. Can be "boomy" in the neck or bridge. Sounds better in a middy instrument vs. a more balanced instrument (tonally), IMO.

If the axe is bright already, steer clear of both.
 
Re: '59 v.s. Pearly Gates

JeffB said:
PG=Bright with lots of mids and high end sizzle (mismatched wind). Sounds good in a darker guitar.

59= Bright without much mids at all...More "Sweet" sounding high end. Can be "boomy" in the neck or bridge. Sounds better in a middy instrument vs. a more balanced instrument (tonally), IMO.

If the axe is bright already, steer clear of both.

I guess then that an a 59 would sound better in a Les Paul?
 
Re: '59 v.s. Pearly Gates

fretburner said:
I guess then that an a 59 would sound better in a Les Paul?

Not necc...I've had them in Paulas and they sounded flippin awesome...and in a couple (and other gibson-esque stuff like Hamer) they were WAYY too woofy and/or bright.

Pends on the individual instrument/piece of wood. I think a pair of 59s woulda been perfect in the 60s neck Black Standard I had last year. That instrument had avg low and high end with more prominent midrange. In my faded standard I think the PG woulda worked great as the guitar already possessed good low end/low mids.
 
Re: '59 v.s. Pearly Gates

59 sounds better in a piece of maple, not mohogany. It sounds muddy, & weird. Unless you have 1 meg pots then that would boost the highs.
 
Re: '59 v.s. Pearly Gates

ponch said:
59 sounds better in a piece of maple, not mohogany. It sounds muddy, & weird. Unless you have 1 meg pots then that would boost the highs.
Pardon???? A 59 in a maple body would be an icepick through the ears and temples, seriously. It hurts just thinking about it...lol. A maple guitar needs something like the CC to tame the brightness of maple. The 59 works great in mahogany, but like Jeff said, it depends on the cut.
 
Re: '59 v.s. Pearly Gates

JeffB said:
Not necc...I've had them in Paulas and they sounded flippin awesome...and in a couple (and other gibson-esque stuff like Hamer) they were WAYY too woofy and/or bright.

Pends on the individual instrument/piece of wood. I think a pair of 59s woulda been perfect in the 60s neck Black Standard I had last year. That instrument had avg low and high end with more prominent midrange. In my faded standard I think the PG woulda worked great as the guitar already possessed good low end/low mids.

I really like a middy neck pup... i love the Air Norton on my Ibanez RG, and the APH1 on my Epi LP... I just want variety, so I don't want to get another APH1 (though that would seem to be more logical since they would have different woods anyway). This is a hard decision for some who doesn't have the luxury of availing that 21-day guarantee.
 
Re: '59 v.s. Pearly Gates

I'm in the process of sorting out my neck bucker dilemma at the moment as well. I think its down to a jazz or PG to pair up with a screamin demon in the bridge.
 
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Re: '59 v.s. Pearly Gates

fretburner said:
I really like a middy neck pup... i love the Air Norton on my Ibanez RG, and the APH1 on my Epi LP... I just want variety, so I don't want to get another APH1 (though that would seem to be more logical since they would have different woods anyway). This is a hard decision for some who doesn't have the luxury of availing that 21-day guarantee.

I think what you want/look into is a Seth Lover. Or a Gibson Burst Bucker1/57 classic. Something A2. With a bit more "bite" than a APH1, but still warm and middy.

I posted a clip over in Tips and clips of my Tokai Paula with a 57 neck a couple days back. Don't know how much gain you use, but may give ya an idea of how a BB1/57/Seth will sound (in general). Neck pup starts at 2 min in and runs to about 3 mins.
 
For my rig...Pearly. Hands down. The 59 sounded good, but the Pearly sounds GREAT. The A2 gives my guitar some much needed body. The '59 is SCOOPED with a capital T and has highs that can pierce. No matter what, you can't just dial it out by turning down the high knob on your amp, because the transient still responds the same underneath it. I wanted my leads to not sound so...spikey.

Shocking part about the PG is that it's got a lot of crunch to it, it just sweetens up the transient on the high-end and is more pleasant on the ears. I play hard rock and metal.

Find your tone is definitely a balancing act of knowing what your guitar is missing (or needs to miss!)
 
For my rig...Pearly. Hands down. The 59 sounded good, but the Pearly sounds GREAT. The A2 gives my guitar some much needed body. The '59 is SCOOPED with a capital T and has highs that can pierce. No matter what, you can't just dial it out by turning down the high knob on your amp, because the transient still responds the same underneath it. I wanted my leads to not sound so...spikey.

Shocking part about the PG is that it's got a lot of crunch to it, it just sweetens up the transient on the high-end and is more pleasant on the ears. I play hard rock and metal.

Find your tone is definitely a balancing act of knowing what your guitar is missing (or needs to miss!)

Welcome to 2006 MGREY!!!

Don't know that the OP is even here anymore, but thank for the review!
 
I went through this same thing a few weeks ago. I'm pretty dead set on a 59 neck to go with the 59 bridge in my Indio gold top. The stock neck pickup goes great with the 59 bridge, though. So I may end up just keeping the stock, unknown A5 neck pickup for now.
 
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