Gibson 57 vs Pearly Gates

[Aceman]

So, I have been playing a little more. At the end of the day, I could totally live with these pickups.

No doubt I'd prefer a PG neck to the 57 neck.
Rough call on the 9k PG vs the 57.

I'm changing them anyway, but not in any rush to so. Whenever custom shop pickup shows up that's cool. I'll probably wait until I'm ready for a string change too.,

 

[Aceman]

Gibson make great pickups but SD just outshines them. I was looking to replace my LP BB1/2 with 57s but then I heard a Slash/57 shootout in the same guitar and it was clear who's boss.

See, if I had BB 1/2, I'd have left them.

 

[ErikH]

The BB3 is a nice slightly overwound A2 PAF. At first I didn't like it much but it has grown on me. This thread compares it with the PG.

https://forum.seymourduncan.com/forum/the-pickup-lounge/252979-pearly-gates-vs-burstbucker-3

All these A2 PAF comparisons are like chili cookoffs or smoked brisket contests. Different flavors all in the same class.

 

[Inflames626]

I haven't done a personal shoot-out with 57s and Pearlys, but what I can say is that in every case where I compared Gibson vs Duncan that were near similar specs, the Duncans were clearer. Gibsons would have the same tone profile, e.g. a similar EQ profile, but the Duncans would be clearer and better defined from string to string when playing chords and lead runs across the strings.

I tend to favor the 498T over anything in the Custom line. But in my experience the Customs are much more versatile if you use diverse wiring options.

498T has more low end for me than a Custom, but doesn't have the mid scoop of the Custom 5. For me, 498T is a good all rounder.

 

[esandes]

See, if I had BB 1/2, I'd have left them.

I'd rather have the BB over the 57s too but I'd also rather replace the BB with SDs. I tend to play more with tones I enjoy more. if I don't like it I put it away.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

That's funny. I always considered the 498T as more of a JB-lite rather than a tweaked Custom 5. Like, not dead-on, but sort of middy, grindy, raspy, and squishy (kinda like a JB).

I know the DCR and (alleged) wire gauge might suggest otherwise, but I they must have really used a radically different way of winding the pickup, because the EQ is the complete opposite. I love the 498T and hate the Custom 5, personally.

Well, not hate hate, but it sits in an uncofortable spot for me where it's neither open, airy, and slightly twangy like a PAF, nor is it tight, fast, and grindy like a hot pickup.

I've never directly compared the 500T and the Distortion, but I'm under the impression the 500T is darker and louder, but well within the same family of pickup sounds. Kinda like a Black Winter on the top (more bitey rather than sizzly), but dirtier in the lows like a Distortion (rather than with a tight rolled-off low-end like the 'Winter).

 

[zionstrat]

The BB3 is a nice slightly overwound A2 PAF. At first I didn't like it much but it has grown on me. This thread compares it with the PG.

https://forum.seymourduncan.com/forum/the-pickup-lounge/252979-pearly-gates-vs-burstbucker-3

All these A2 PAF comparisons are like chili cookoffs or smoked brisket contests. Different flavors all in the same class.

BB3 and PG are both excellent, but a bit different in my mind.

I go with the PG if I'm looking for the sweeter side of a PAF and the BB3 when I want to crunch a bit more.

Both clean up well and can do pretty much anything.

 

[Inflames626]

That's funny. I always considered the 498T as more of a JB-lite rather than a tweaked Custom 5. Like, not dead-on, but sort of middy, grindy, raspy, and squishy (kinda like a JB).

I know the DCR and (alleged) wire gauge might suggest otherwise, but I they must have really used a radically different way of winding the pickup, because the EQ is the complete opposite. I love the 498T and hate the Custom 5, personally.

Well, not hate hate, but it sits in an uncofortable spot for me where it's neither open, airy, and slightly twangy like a PAF, nor is it tight, fast, and grindy like a hot pickup.

I've never directly compared the 500T and the Distortion, but I'm under the impression the 500T is darker and louder, but well within the same family of pickup sounds. Kinda like a Black Winter on the top (more bitey rather than sizzly), but dirtier in the lows like a Distortion (rather than with a tight rolled-off low-end like the 'Winter).

I found the 498T to be a lot tighter on the low end than the JB with a lot less grit. I was a little disappointed in the 500T by comparison. It was brighter but didn't chug as well for me.

In a mix I'd run 498T left and 500T right to offset each other.

The Custom 5 is for when I want a deliberately, extremely, obviously scooped and colored sound without a lot of breakup like you might have in a Distortion that is dialed in with a mid scoop on the amp.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I found the 498T to be a lot tighter on the low end than the JB with a lot less grit. I was a little disappointed in the 500T by comparison. It was brighter but didn't chug as well for me.

In a mix I'd run 498T left and 500T right to offset each other.

The Custom 5 is for when I want a deliberately, extremely, obviously scooped and colored sound without a lot of breakup like you might have in a Distortion that is dialed in with a mid scoop on the amp.

Yeah, I was not saying the 498T was a JB clone. Just that it reminds me more of a JB than of a Custom 5. I actually find the 498T grittier/raspier, but also, slightly more open in both the highs and lows to offset that compared to a JB.

And I find the 500T more bitey/cutting/focused rather than bright, but yeah, it's easier to get it to sound harsh. Although the 498T can sound pretty harsh in itself if you want it to.

What can I say... I just don't like the C5. I like the '59B and similar A5 PAF-types even if they're scooped because they're always bright and aggressive in an almost twangy way, and they respond well to picking hard like I do. OTOH, I also like the JB because it's so focused and easy to fit in a mix and easy to play through. The C5 has none of those characteristics. It's scooped, and it's not dark, but the balance is more towards the lows than highs, and I've never liked bassy pickups. So if it's not open and airy like a PAF, I'd want it to be at least mix-read, but it isn't IMO because it's not focused like the JB. So, to me, it kind of sits in an uncofortable middle ground that I don't like. Where as the 498T is a more comfortable middle ground (to me) where it's focused like a JB, just not quite as much, so it retains a bit of that mid-output openness to the lows and highs.

JMO, of course. And then again, I left my 498T at Mexico. BTW, I don't know if all 498T's are like that, but mine had a roughcast magnet?

 

[Inflames626]

Yeah, I was not saying the 498T was a JB clone. Just that it reminds me more of a JB than of a Custom 5. I actually find the 498T grittier/raspier, but also, slightly more open in both the highs and lows to offset that compared to a JB.

And I find the 500T more bitey/cutting/focused rather than bright, but yeah, it's easier to get it to sound harsh. Although the 498T can sound pretty harsh in itself if you want it to.

What can I say... I just don't like the C5. I like the '59B and similar A5 PAF-types even if they're scooped because they're always bright and aggressive in an almost twangy way, and they respond well to picking hard like I do. OTOH, I also like the JB because it's so focused and easy to fit in a mix and easy to play through. The C5 has none of those characteristics. It's scooped, and it's not dark, but the balance is more towards the lows than highs, and I've never liked bassy pickups. So if it's not open and airy like a PAF, I'd want it to be at least mix-read, but it isn't IMO because it's not focused like the JB. So, to me, it kind of sits in an uncofortable middle ground that I don't like. Where as the 498T is a more comfortable middle ground (to me) where it's focused like a JB, just not quite as much, so it retains a bit of that mid-output openness to the lows and highs.

JMO, of course. And then again, I left my 498T at Mexico. BTW, I don't know if all 498T's are like that, but mine had a roughcast magnet?

I think you, Dunco, and I had talked about recording with various pickups. I think I said I generally save brighter/raspier passives like the Distortion for solos these days and using something like the Customs for tracking rhythm because they are high enough output to hit an amp pretty hard but they dial it back a bit for the sake of clarity. They're not fizzy and they have a muscular sound. That's what I like about them.

I can see how someone would have issues with the Custom 5 because it is what it is. When I first heard it, I thought, "Sad But True," and I still associate it with that tone out of the box. That's why I have one in an LTD EC 256 that I can drop tune and such quickly. I like the Custom 5 as a chugga chugga pickup but not much else. It combined with the Custom in my Mockingbird can create a lot of sounds though if you play with the wiring options. It's surprising that you can split it or put it in parallel and you get a totally different pickup.

I like the Custom but it reminded me a little of an EMG HZ in that it just needed something. The 498T felt like it had the low end of the Custom 5 but had the brighter upper mids and top end of the Custom.

The 498T is the only pickup I've played where I thought it could do rhythm, leads, everything. An EMG 81 gets close but getting harmonics out of them unboosted is difficult because the highs are rolled off.

I wish I had as much luck with the JB as you and others have. I just never gelled with it. The one I have I pulled out of a 2008 Jackson DK2S with Sustainiac, and that guitar was much improved by replacing the JB with a Distortion.

I plan on putting the JB in the neck and a Dimebucker in the bridge of a Jackson Warrior I have. It will look a little off because the JB is trem spaced, but I'm fine with that. One of those when I get around to it things.

Edit: also my 498T has a chrome/nickel cover if that makes a difference.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

The 498T felt like it had the low end of the Custom 5 but had the brighter upper mids and top end of the Custom.

See, that's the thing. The 498T reminds me like 75% of the JB, just lower output (still plenty hot, though), and maybe 25% the Custom's openness and rasp. Regular Custom, though. Not 5. But that's just me.​

​

Edit: also my 498T has a chrome/nickel cover if that makes a difference.

Mine had a stock chrome (not nickel) cover that I removed, and it really opened it up.​ Mine is from the late 90's.

 

[Aceman]

My C5 is in my Ibanez Paul Stanley. He's a rhythm player. Oh wait - makes sense doesn't it???