Blues Saraceno Trembucker vs Pearly Gates

nightwing122087

New member
I've been thinking about the pickups I want to put in my HSS Fender Strat.
Essentially, what I want is an overwound PAF type, and these two pickups seem to be the frontrunners for me right now.
What I'm looking for is a a bridge humbucker that has an open, sweet, PAF quality, but also has a little balls to it as well. I've never tried either of these pickups, but from what I've researched, they both sound great with overdrive. However, a nice clean sound is important to me as well.

Right now, I'm leaning towards the Saraceno because it seemingly has a slight boost in output. Another question about the Blues Saraceno is, does it come in any colors other than black?

What do you guys think?
 
Re: Blues Saraceno Trembucker vs Pearly Gates

as far as i know the patb3 doesnt come in anything but black.

i have both those pups and i think the patb3 has a little nicer clean tone, probably cause the alnico V magnet. the output is a little higher than the pg but the pg seems to overdrive the amp a little more. the pg is kinda like a great tele bridge pup in some ways, youll get the most out of it if you use your tone control.

i really love both of these pups
 
Re: Blues Saraceno Trembucker vs Pearly Gates

the saraceno is one of the best overwound PAF types for sure but if you find that you need another color,or dont like the look of a PATB design try a 59/custom hybrid. IMHO this is even better than the blues for splitting,cleans, a more balls to the wall PAF tone:)
 
Re: Blues Saraceno Trembucker vs Pearly Gates

the hybrid doesnt sound very paf like to me at all
 
Re: Blues Saraceno Trembucker vs Pearly Gates

the hybrid doesnt sound very paf like to me at all

Yeah but what does a PAF sound like,there were so many different examples of a PAF tone? You would literally have to name the player such as page,allman,green,etc
Usually when i refer to a hotter PAF tone i mean it is slightly scooped,has sparkling highs, cleans up well,has a warm bass that is not muddy.
 
Re: Blues Saraceno Trembucker vs Pearly Gates

Yeah but what does a PAF sound like,there were so many different examples of a PAF tone? You would literally have to name the player such as page,allman,green,etc
Usually when i refer to a hotter PAF tone i mean it is slightly scooped,has sparkling highs, cleans up well,has a warm bass that is not muddy.

there were lot of paf varietys, they hotter ones were usually less mid scooped than the less hot ones. the hybrid has a different voicing than what i think of a paf type tone. stll a cool pup and might suit people fine that are looking for a slightly hotter tone than a typical paf type pup like a 59 or seth
 
Re: Blues Saraceno Trembucker vs Pearly Gates

I still haven't made a decision about which humbucker to go with in my Strat. Right now, I seem to be going back and forth between the Pearly Gates, 59/Custom Hybrid, Blues, and the Dimarzio 36th Anniversary.
I think I am going to exclude the Blues model on account that I really wanted a zebra pickup to go with the new look of my guitar, as much as I hate to make any decision based purely on aesthetics.
The main things that I DO NOT want to end up with is a pickup that sounds weak, thin, or has a lack of sustain. Initially, I said to myself that if I didn't go with the Saraceno, then I would go with the Pearly Gates, but after going through the search function and finding a lot of people talking about the Pearly Gates bridge model being "thin", its kind of got me thinking twice...
Also as a side note, if I were to get any of these pickups, particularly the Pearly Gates whose reputation says that it is a little on the brighter side, would it be necessary to use 500k pots or 250k pots for the PG in a Strat?
 
Re: Blues Saraceno Trembucker vs Pearly Gates

a strat with 250k's plus the PG; awesome. I really love that tone. it can be a bit bright-ish if you use 500k's in a strat. it might work, though.

Anyway, I also like the screamin demon alnico8 in a strat. *drool*
 
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