Am I looking for 59's? Pearly Gates?

Re: Am I looking for 59's? Pearly Gates?

Thundermtn said:
NO offense, but my PGn swap made my stock 496r sound like a turd covered in burnt hair.
Click to expand...

Was that with the Triple Rectifier in your sig? Or the Valvestate? Or something else? Tons of gain?

I had nearly the opposite experience using a hand-wired JTM45 and a JCM900 SL-X as well as emulator/modelers of the same. The Pearly neck sounds like a brighter chimey 59 with the same tubby bass, only slightly clearer. The 496R was among the best sounding neck pickups in a Les Paul I've tried so far. But I always stay at the edge of break up, play music similar to the OP (occasionally, not always), only push a little saturation occasionally for leads when needed.
 
Re: Am I looking for 59's? Pearly Gates?

rogue_one said:
I'm not really trying to nail that one perfectly. Basically, I play this one clean. Doesn't matter what guitar I use, play it clean and try not to screw it up. The other guitarist plays the leads and we have a violinist that contributes a lot for this one.
Click to expand...

Oh, I thought you were talking about the lead. I mean, the other part is an acoustic, so...

Well, if your lead player nails that tone, let me know how HE does it.
 
Re: Am I looking for 59's? Pearly Gates?

Both the Mesa and my Crate, haven't played it much with the Valvestate b/c it's pretty much a gig backup amp and doesn't see much use. At the time I was running the crate for practice and running it in high gain and the stage rig was boosted and gained up so much it needed a gate.

I still have one in my Gothic V as well and it sounds equally bad to me even after I have matured enough to use as little gain as possible to do the job. Played it a couple weeks ago on my brother's twin reverb and it sounded OK but still not great. Out of nine electric guitars including a couple that are pretty low end it is my bottom choice. Amp will make a difference but I just can't get on with that pickup.

I'm not doubting you can get yours to sound good as I have pups that everyone hates that I get to sound good, I just can't get it done with the 496r and my rigs.
 
Re: Am I looking for 59's? Pearly Gates?

Thundermtn said:
At the time I was running the crate for practice and running it in high gain and the stage rig was boosted and gained up so much it needed a gate.
Click to expand...
Sigh. How does this help the original poster, or is this thread being hijacked?

rogue_one said:
Music ranges from some lighter clean classic rock (Can't You See) to distorted country covers (Me First and the Gimme Gimmes - Goodbye Earl) to Fuzzed out alt-modern rock (Black Keys and White Stripes).
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Re: Am I looking for 59's? Pearly Gates?

You omitted the part where I was trying to get it to sound good through a twin reveb. I just can't get good tone out of it pretty much regardless of amp or gain level. I had one in a Classic like the OP'S and it was awful, and the PGn I currently have would in it that I'm recommending would be a spot on match for what he's describing so I'm not trying to hijack just declare that the PG he's asking about would be a better choice. Jack Whites distorted tone would be really close to the gain level I currently run.
 
Re: Am I looking for 59's? Pearly Gates?

I think you need a JB. Either stick with your Seth or A2P or go for the Pearly neck. But high output bridge is absolutely not just for the power slop styles on the demos. They sound fuller and provide more punch when turned up. I think the JB sounds very good for country too.

Good non power slop demo:
https://youtu.be/Y8T9ba7mxm4
 
Last edited:
Re: Am I looking for 59's? Pearly Gates?

Aceman said:
59's and either. clean boost, or an OD pedal set properly...something with bass control like a Bad Monkey.
Click to expand...

Ace, I run a Wampler Plexi-Drive, and Green Rhino MKIV, a EQD Hoof Reaper, and a BYOC Tri-Boost in my effects loop. Are you suggesting stock 59's or an A4/UOA5 (or A8) set?
 
Re: Am I looking for 59's? Pearly Gates?

Update - I tried a stock set of 59s, then changed the magnets and I just didn't like them in this guitar. Aside from being extremely bright, there was this weird pluckiness to the string attack that was very unpleasant. Granted I'm about as subtle as a silver backed gorilla when playing chords. I couldn't ever get them to be bearable. They are fantastic in my Sheraton, though.

I ordered a stock production floor set of PGs and put them in Friday night. At low volumes (wife and kids were sleeping) I was questioning them, but got to play at volume Saturday night at practice and I was very happy. I'm still in the honeymoon phase, but am very pleased for now. I'm going to keep the Seths around in case I feel like making a change again, but the 57 classics and custom shop alnico pro IIs are going up for sale.

Thanks to all for your opinions.
 
Re: Am I looking for 59's? Pearly Gates?

Happy you found a set that works (for now). Come back in a few weeks after you thoroughly tested them and give your opinion.
 
Re: Am I looking for 59's? Pearly Gates?

rogue_one said:
Update - I tried a stock set of 59s, then changed the magnets and I just didn't like them in this guitar. Aside from being extremely bright, there was this weird pluckiness to the string attack that was very unpleasant.
Click to expand...

Sounds like you took someone's advice and tried Alnico 4. A little too articulate for my tastes.

Or did you try something else?

My recommendation would have been to remove the polished A5 magnets and go for Roughcast A5.
 
Re: Am I looking for 59's? Pearly Gates?

A4 in the neck. Tried an UOA5 and A8 in the bridge, neither did it for me. The PGs are just much closer to the sound in my head anyway.
 
Re: Am I looking for 59's? Pearly Gates?

Can't imagine how a pickup could be too articulate. I find it far more likely for one to be too muddy or dull. But to each their own. It's all a matter of taste.

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk
 
Re: Am I looking for 59's? Pearly Gates?

left of field question:
How old are the tubes in your amp?
also...
what speakers are you running?
 
Re: Am I looking for 59's? Pearly Gates?

Tubes are about 6 months old. Currently running V30's in an Avatar 212 or a Bat Cat Celestion in a Jet City 112, depending on my mood. I also have an old Laney 212 with a V30 and an ET65
 
Re: Am I looking for 59's? Pearly Gates?

Mincer said:
What are they missing?
Click to expand...

Its not so much that the 59's were missing anything, but had too much. They weren't bad, by any means; they didn't give me what I wanted from this particular guitar. They are fantastic in my Sheraton. To someone else, with this same guitar, they may have been perfect.

The Seth Lovers in this guitar were absolutely beautiful, but I wanted some snarly attitude and the PGs delivered.
 
Re: Am I looking for 59's? Pearly Gates?

i love the seths and the pearlys. seths are more polite, though the bridge has a nice snarl to it, the pgs push the upper mids a bit more which works well for me
 
Re: Am I looking for 59's? Pearly Gates?

rogue_one said:
A4 in the neck. Tried an UOA5 and A8 in the bridge, neither did it for me. The PGs are just much closer to the sound in my head anyway.
Click to expand...

Too bad you didn't try a set of Roughcast A5 in the 59's. Oh well.

Glad I'm not the only one who doesn't care for A4 in a 59n.

My three favorite Duncan humbucker sets are the stock PGs, stock Seth Lovers and RCA5 modded 59s.

I think all this fuss over A4 will eventually die off.

But then, I said the same thing about Rap Music and it's more popular than ever!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top