Difference between the Perpetual Burn and the Pegasus?

[BlueSkiesAndPaign]

I paired a Perpetual Burn with a Sentient in a Carvin DC400. Individually they're nice really pickups. Together...they're too far apart tonally. I have to keep reaching to my amp whenever i switch from bridge to neck and vice-versa.

On any given setting, the Perpetual Burn sounds relatively hotter, and way thinner, while the Sentient stays clean and relatively bassy - clear in a sterile sense. When i set a good tone on the neck, the Perpetual Burn gets too ice picky, and when i get a good tone on the PB, the Sentient starts losing articulation and its snappyness. Perhaps this is partly because the Carvin guitar is a 25 inch scale.

If i match outputs by adjusting pickup heights, the Sentient gets bassier higher up and the PB gets even thinner lowered. If i match tones better by adjusting the height - the Perpetual Burn becomes disproportionally hotter, and the Sentient begins to match the treble but there's a volume drop.

I understand that the Sentient was made to match the Pegasus and not the Perpetual Burn. But i don't see why my set doesn't match well. The PB is supposed to match well with the '59 and the Jazz.
Also, according to the Duncan site, the Pegasus and Perpetual Burn are nearly identical in terms of magnet type (Alnico 5), output and eq. So what exactly do you think the difference between the Pegasus and the PB is?

I'm more inclined to keep the PB, might go for a Screamin Demon or a Jazz in the neck.
What do you think?

(My amps: Orange Micro Terror, Blackstar ID Core 10. I also often play through my Line6 HD500)

 

[BlueSkiesAndPaign]

Re: Difference between the Perpetual Burn and the Pegasus?

bump

 

[Farkus]

Re: Difference between the Perpetual Burn and the Pegasus?

This is a great question. I have been thinking about a Pegasus or a Nazgul myself but I've never heard a PB. It would be nice to hear a comparison of the Pegasus and PB without brutal gain. Bump.

 

[BlueSkiesAndPaign]

Re: Difference between the Perpetual Burn and the Pegasus?

Never any answers. I've dug through the entire forum.

 

[orpheo]

Re: Difference between the Perpetual Burn and the Pegasus?

OK, my two cents.

the PB doesn't have as much output as the pegasus. the sentient is designed to go with hotter pickups, so I can fully understand how the sentient may not work well with the PB. The jazzN works well with the PB. The Screaming Demon? well... I quite that one a while back, it's too thick for my tastes. I prefer the JazzN for superclean runs, the JazzB if I want a bit more 'girth' or the 59's. (or just hybridize a jazz and a 59, but that's a different story).

The PB isn't as dirty, as nasty as the pegasus, for sure. the nazgul is even 'worse': superagressive, articulate and tight.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Difference between the Perpetual Burn and the Pegasus?

Orpheo is right. The PB seems to be designed for pickups that aren't as hot. There is a little bit of 'vintage-ness' in there that is really abandoned with the Sentinet/Pegasus set, which to my ears sound very modern. The PB still has that 'hot vintage' thing going on, and even EQ-wise, it is quite different, designed for different music.

 

[BlueSkiesAndPaign]

Re: Difference between the Perpetual Burn and the Pegasus?

Orpheo is right. The PB seems to be designed for pickups that aren't as hot. There is a little bit of 'vintage-ness' in there that is really abandoned with the Sentinet/Pegasus set, which to my ears sound very modern. The PB still has that 'hot vintage' thing going on, and even EQ-wise, it is quite different, designed for different music.

I think i may have read too much into the description of the Sentient on the site.

"The Sentient neck delivers a balanced, versatile tone that fits right between the ’59 model and the Jazz neck pickup. You’ll get pristine cleans for intricate chordal and single note runs with fluid leads under high gain. The Sentient is a vintage output pickup with great dynamic response and a wide harmonic range. It works great for low tunings in all humbucker-equipped guitars."

 

[BlueSkiesAndPaign]

Re: Difference between the Perpetual Burn and the Pegasus?

OK, my two cents.

the PB doesn't have as much output as the pegasus. the sentient is designed to go with hotter pickups, so I can fully understand how the sentient may not work well with the PB. The jazzN works well with the PB. The Screaming Demon? well... I quite that one a while back, it's too thick for my tastes. I prefer the JazzN for superclean runs, the JazzB if I want a bit more 'girth' or the 59's. (or just hybridize a jazz and a 59, but that's a different story).

The PB isn't as dirty, as nasty as the pegasus, for sure. the nazgul is even 'worse': superagressive, articulate and tight.

Thanks for the tips! I'd emailed Duncan support and made a thread on the forum for pairing my Perpetual Burn. I mostly got approval on the PB-Sentient choice.
I guess i'll go for a used Jazz then. My Carvin has an active treble/bass boost knob, what would be a good pickup for that?
BTW i'm wondering since i'll have a spare Sentient, what would a Jazz/Sentient hybrid be like.
Anyone tried?

 

[BlueSkiesAndPaign]

Re: Difference between the Perpetual Burn and the Pegasus?

So what i need for the neck: needs to be good for liquid-y shred leads in the vein of the Dimarzio Evolution when i add a ton of gain (not super high output, just capable of reaching there - like the Perpetual Burn), but still retains the PAF character and a good amount of dynamics, cleans up well with the volume knob, be neutral enough to really tailor with the onboard active EQ on my Carvin, and split well for cleans. Would that be the Jazz?

 

[allstarrme]

Re: Difference between the Perpetual Burn and the Pegasus?

BTW i'm wondering since i'll have a spare Sentient, what would a Jazz/Sentient hybrid be like.
Anyone tried?

it would either be a jazz or another sentient as the sentient is a jazz/59 hybrid. the coil mismatch is part of the reason for the modern sound.

 

[BlueSkiesAndPaign]

Re: Difference between the Perpetual Burn and the Pegasus?

it would either be a jazz or another sentient as the sentient is a jazz/59 hybrid. the coil mismatch is part of the reason for the modern sound.

I'd actually mailed Duncan support. They say it sounds like a cross between the 59 and Jazz but isn't actually a hybrid.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Difference between the Perpetual Burn and the Pegasus?

Yeah, my vote would be the Jazz or Sentient for that. I think you could get that sound with either...both are pretty close.

 

[BlueSkiesAndPaign]

Re: Difference between the Perpetual Burn and the Pegasus?

Yeah, my vote would be the Jazz or Sentient for that. I think you could get that sound with either...both are pretty close.

You just recommended something you said doesn't go with the PB, a few posts up!
Will go for the Jazz option, then, or hybridize them if anyone thinks it's tonally viable.

Orpheo is right. The PB seems to be designed for pickups that aren't as hot. There is a little bit of 'vintage-ness' in there that is really abandoned with the Sentinet/Pegasus set, which to my ears sound very modern. The PB still has that 'hot vintage' thing going on, and even EQ-wise, it is quite different, designed for different music.

 

[orpheo]

Re: Difference between the Perpetual Burn and the Pegasus?

imho, the sentient is like a 'bad marriage' between the jazz and 59. it's got the shrillness in the topend of the jazz and the boominess of the 59. It's too modern imho.

The 59/jazz hybrid (with bridge jazz bridge 59) is in a totally different ballpark. it's got the powerful mids and the tight end of the 59 but the top end chime and articulation of the jazz. Because the coils are really mismatched (in terms of winds as well as insulation material) you get much more harmonics. Much more than you could achieve via a regular, symmetrically wound pickup.

I have no idea what kind of wire+insulation is used in the sentient but you couldn't really go wrong by hybridizing the two. if anything, the jazz coil will clean it up a lot, add much more chime, attack and sparkle. Also, and that's what I really love, hybrids work REALLY well with the tonepot. the 59/jazz blends superbly from the honky jimmy page style tone to the thinker Gary Moore style leads to the thick, fat Slash-voiced solo to, at the end of the pot's taper, Santana like, vocal-like tones. It's got all four of the tones I want in a neck pickup, that's why I like it so much.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Difference between the Perpetual Burn and the Pegasus?

You just recommended something you said doesn't go with the PB, a few posts up!
Will go for the Jazz option, then, or hybridize them if anyone thinks it's tonally viable.

I think your description of what you want keeps moving the mark. A Jazz or some sort of hybrid...but I think the Jazz would work.

 

[BlueSkiesAndPaign]

Re: Difference between the Perpetual Burn and the Pegasus?

imho, the sentient is like a 'bad marriage' between the jazz and 59. it's got the shrillness in the topend of the jazz and the boominess of the 59. It's too modern imho.

The 59/jazz hybrid (with bridge jazz bridge 59) is in a totally different ballpark. it's got the powerful mids and the tight end of the 59 but the top end chime and articulation of the jazz. Because the coils are really mismatched (in terms of winds as well as insulation material) you get much more harmonics. Much more than you could achieve via a regular, symmetrically wound pickup.

I have no idea what kind of wire+insulation is used in the sentient but you couldn't really go wrong by hybridizing the two. if anything, the jazz coil will clean it up a lot, add much more chime, attack and sparkle. Also, and that's what I really love, hybrids work REALLY well with the tonepot. the 59/jazz blends superbly from the honky jimmy page style tone to the thinker Gary Moore style leads to the thick, fat Slash-voiced solo to, at the end of the pot's taper, Santana like, vocal-like tones. It's got all four of the tones I want in a neck pickup, that's why I like it so much.

That sounds amazing! How did the cleans turn out with the JazzB/59b hybrid?

 

[Farkus]

Re: Difference between the Perpetual Burn and the Pegasus?

After hearing more from the op...I'm wondering about a Full Shred neck model? I've got a lot of experience with the bridge model and it has some of the attributes he's asking for in the neck. Just a thought.

 

[chassless]

Re: Difference between the Perpetual Burn and the Pegasus?

^ agreed, it's a very vocal and smooth pickup for leads and i think its cleans are underrated. OP might not care for cleans but it's a plus i think nobody can refuse

 

[orpheo]

Re: Difference between the Perpetual Burn and the Pegasus?

That sounds amazing! How did the cleans turn out with the JazzB/59b hybrid?

amazing. it's very transparant, splits well and it's very articulate. the 59/Jazz is really one of the best neck hums I've ever heard. for virtually any style.

 

[BlueSkiesAndPaign]

Re: Difference between the Perpetual Burn and the Pegasus?

amazing. it's very transparant, splits well and it's very articulate. the 59/Jazz is really one of the best neck hums I've ever heard. for virtually any style.

Thank you for the review. I'm curious, since i already have a Sentient, if i pick up a Jazz and hybridize the two, which coils do you think i should use from which pup?