bagouser
New member
I just had a set of P-Rails installed in one of my guitars along with 2 3 way toggles for mixing and matching sounds. I have spent nearly 8 hours in the last 2 days tweaking and trying different combinations, and I thought I'd add this review for anyone considering a set of P-Rails.
BRIDGE:
The bridge pickup in humbucker mode was hotter than I expected. Dirty, it's warm and snarly, with plenty of balls and a nice midrange voice. Ideal for heavy rock and classic rock. Clean, It really sounds good and covers the entire sound spectrum well. Very rich, Gibson-y sound.
In P-90 mode, the familiar, but faint hum of a P-90 said hello as soon as I flipped the switch. This mode was also hotter than i expected, but not overly hot. It added a nice spank and shimmer to dirty rythmn chording, and sounded super sweet playing some bluesy solos with the volume knob rolled down a little. Clean, it sounded faithful to the classic P-90 sound, with recognizeable "throaty" sound.
In Rail coil mode, the output was noticeably dropped, but sounded very vintage Stratty. It had the familiar sharp edged high mids that make Strats so popular for shred guys. I'm using a mahogany guitar and neck with ebony fingerboard, so it really brightens up such a dark instrument. Rail mode was nowhere near as hot as the other two modes, which is nice, because you can use the toggle as a boost if you want.
NECK:
In humbucking mode, the neck P-Rails reminded me of a Jazz and Pearly Gates neck mixed together. Clean, it was big and full, with lots of lows to thicken up arpeggios. Dirty, is was meaty and rude, would be ideal with Fuzz or other "wacky" distortions.
The neck P-90 mode was right on....I have a neck Phat Cat in another guitar of mine and the sounds were similar, but the P-Rails has alot more balls to it. P-90 modes on both pickups were hot, brash and spanky.
The Rail mode of the neck p'up was again, noticibly weaker and "notched", but totally useable if you want a cooler, creamier sound from the neck. Some blues scales and slide mischief were both nice in this mode.
Overall, I would call the set versatile, well made, and accuratley voiced. None of the tones sound the same and the combinations of neck and bridge in different modes allow 15 different tonal variations.......and I didnt even do any series/paralell BS....
Well, there it is.....I found lots of useful posts about the P-Rails set on here before I decided to get one, and I figured I'd give back to the forum and provide this hopefully helpful review.
Jam On.............
BRIDGE:
The bridge pickup in humbucker mode was hotter than I expected. Dirty, it's warm and snarly, with plenty of balls and a nice midrange voice. Ideal for heavy rock and classic rock. Clean, It really sounds good and covers the entire sound spectrum well. Very rich, Gibson-y sound.
In P-90 mode, the familiar, but faint hum of a P-90 said hello as soon as I flipped the switch. This mode was also hotter than i expected, but not overly hot. It added a nice spank and shimmer to dirty rythmn chording, and sounded super sweet playing some bluesy solos with the volume knob rolled down a little. Clean, it sounded faithful to the classic P-90 sound, with recognizeable "throaty" sound.
In Rail coil mode, the output was noticeably dropped, but sounded very vintage Stratty. It had the familiar sharp edged high mids that make Strats so popular for shred guys. I'm using a mahogany guitar and neck with ebony fingerboard, so it really brightens up such a dark instrument. Rail mode was nowhere near as hot as the other two modes, which is nice, because you can use the toggle as a boost if you want.
NECK:
In humbucking mode, the neck P-Rails reminded me of a Jazz and Pearly Gates neck mixed together. Clean, it was big and full, with lots of lows to thicken up arpeggios. Dirty, is was meaty and rude, would be ideal with Fuzz or other "wacky" distortions.
The neck P-90 mode was right on....I have a neck Phat Cat in another guitar of mine and the sounds were similar, but the P-Rails has alot more balls to it. P-90 modes on both pickups were hot, brash and spanky.
The Rail mode of the neck p'up was again, noticibly weaker and "notched", but totally useable if you want a cooler, creamier sound from the neck. Some blues scales and slide mischief were both nice in this mode.
Overall, I would call the set versatile, well made, and accuratley voiced. None of the tones sound the same and the combinations of neck and bridge in different modes allow 15 different tonal variations.......and I didnt even do any series/paralell BS....
Well, there it is.....I found lots of useful posts about the P-Rails set on here before I decided to get one, and I figured I'd give back to the forum and provide this hopefully helpful review.
Jam On.............
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