A little Review Of SD P rails

[Bigjoedo]

no replies

 

[Mincer]

Re: A little Review Of SD P rails

Thanks for the great review! Can we see?

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: A little Review Of SD P rails

BigJoe...I suppose that in your own mind you have a purpose for wasting your time with that post?

 

[Mincer]

Re: A little Review Of SD P rails

Wow, he deleted his review? I replied too...how strange...

 

[BriGuy1968]

Re: A little Review Of SD P rails

Bummer! Just got a set of P-Rails and was really interested in reading another review!

 

[dystrust]

Re: A little Review Of SD P rails

Here's a sort of mini-review I posted a year or two ago. I don't currently own a set, but am planning on getting another to install in my SG Standard. After another read, it sounds like I was thinking the same thing when I posted this originally. :lol:

I wouldn't say that the rail coil in a P-Rails sounds bad, it's just that it really doesn't sound like a vintage-style Strat pickup. It's sort of in the same ballpark in terms of output and general tonality, but it's really its own thing. I've used them before and I'm about to get a set for my SG, and I really like all 4 sounds you can get with triple-shots or similar. Since you wanted to know as much as possible about them, I'll include my impressions of the 4 sounds / modes.

1. Series: A rather fat humbucker that compares nicely with a Custom or JB. The coils aren't matched, so there's definitely some single coil personality coming through. I've heard some say it sounds like a humbucker-ized version of the P-90 and I can't say I disagree.

2. Parallel: P-rails' best-kept secret IMO; I don't know why this option isn't used more often. Sounds like a bright PAF (maybe a less-soft Pearly Gates?) with strong single coil personality due to the mismatched coils. When using both P-Rails I used the neck pickup in this mode or P-90 most of the time.

3. P-90: That pretty much says it all; the closest thing I've heard to a real P-90 that fits in a humbucker slot. I have a set of Phat Cats in my SG now, and I'm switching to P-Rails for the extra versatility and because this P-90 is MUCH better than a stock Phat Cat.

4. Rail: A very modern Strat-ish sound. The best description I can think of is maybe to imagine the Vintage Rails as a true single. They excel at a hifi clean sound, but I can't say I've used them for much beyond that. I definitely plan to play this one more once I change pickups in my SG.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: A little Review Of SD P rails

Standard config is rails toward the inside, right? Is there anything gained by putting rails to the outside for splitting and combining with a middle pickup?

Also, they are they naturally RWRP, right? (P90s hum cancel, Rails hum cancel)

 

[dystrust]

Re: A little Review Of SD P rails

Standard config is rails toward the inside, right? Is there anything gained by putting rails to the outside for splitting and combining with a middle pickup?

Also, they are they naturally RWRP, right? (P90s hum cancel, Rails him cancel)

I saw a post a while ago where Frank Falbo explained the orientation of the coils; he said that rails on the inside is the only way to get Strat-like quack when using both rail coils in the middle position. He also said that orientation is personal preference, so feel free to install them 'backwards' if you prefer. The last thing he mentioned is that orientation affects the P-90 coil far less than the rail. Personally I always found the rail coil to be really bright to begin with, so I never wanted to reverse the bridge pickup at least.

The stock set is RWRP so that like coils hum cancel in the middle position as you suggest.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: A little Review Of SD P rails

I've got a Seafoam Green Strat body, I need to just get a neck and some P-Rails for it already!

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: A little Review Of SD P rails

I have always mounted my P-Rails with the Rail coil next to the bridge. With the P-90 coils next to the bridge, there isn't much difference in the sound of the P-90 and Rail (thus reducing the potential versatility of the pup). With the Rails coil next to the bridge, the sound of the P-90 doesn't change but the Rail sounds so much more Stratish. It does reduce the output a bit, so I put an A8 mag next to the Rail coil...solved.

When the P-Rails first came out I did a lot of experimenting with them...orientation and many mag swaps. This is the combination that works wonders and in my opinion should have been marketed by SD in the first place.