I recently got the blues saraceno PATB3, screaming demon, patb1 and patb2 and I found it about time to tell you my experiences.
I paired the PATB3 and screaming demon in one guitar. PATB3 in the bridge, SD in neck. First, they went into a '59 les paul replica and later on a more modern les paul; walnut top and back, wenge neck, ebony board. first the 59er.
The patb3 is juicy and a bit fatty in the waist, but overall it retains it's slender figure. There is some push but not as much as in, lets say, a jb. there's raunchy dirtyness but not as much as in the PG. it's open but not as the 59. it's a GREAT pickup in a les paul. Seymour Duncan, PLEASE let the consumer know that it works amazing in a les paul. not just a strat!!!! It's a great blend of those 3 pickups. it's not as honky as 59. it's not as saggy as a pearly. it's less 'hairy' than the alnico2pro Slash and more 'masculine' than the regular a2pro. I love this pickup. I really do. in the 59 this pickup is great, but in the walnut LP it rocks too. It gave me a bit of warmth and 'girth' to my tone, something I was lacking. but it's not a fair thing to go fully on the walnut LP cause that thing was 'designed' to be a bit like a stratty guitar...
The SD. I tried it in the neck of a les paul some years ago and didn't like it. too soft, too weak. too gentle. What was I thinking?! It's so warm and juicy but so, so clear. in the 59 it's fatty and howling. in the walnut LP it's more clear, almost like a singlecoil. A hotter, juicier singlecoil with great split tones, to go with hot and medium output pickups? This is it, man. This is really it. it's about as hot as a '59B in the neck but less fatty, less compressed. more open and clear and sparkly. In the 59 LP it's fat and clear, and in the walnut even more so.
The PATB1 and PATB2. I tried them for a very short while 'as they were' but I wanted them to be hybridised, so fairly soon I pulled apart these pickups. Within 30 minutes I was done, soldered the guitar back together (les paul. bubinga neck, ebony board, 24.75'' scale) and gave it a go. Mind you. both pickups share the same coils, same magnet. so for intents and purposes: these pickups are the same.
The sound? Amazing. Hot yet super articulated. Fat yet very tight and clear. The dynamics are incredible. funky cleans, honky hollow crunch or fat crunch (depending on volume setting on the guitar and the coilsplit on or off), to superhot, articulated precision distortion. all with one guitar. It's a bit on the warmer side of things, but the bubinga gives me back some clarity (not to mention the ebony, of course).The neck is so darned juicy and dare I say, succulent... the bridge is like a fullshred/jb hybrid only more dynamics, more harmonics, broader, wider, fatter, tighter, more growl (less scream). The neck pickup is like a '59B but fatter, more precision and more forgiving. the 59B is very picky of my playing but the patb1/2 is much kinder.
The tone, man... the tone. these pickups seem to know exactly what I want. My fingers don't have to fight the guitar to get a tone. the tone comes naturally, by default. All I have to do is focus on PLAYING. and with the guitars set up exactly how I want them, these guitars are moving up in the herd towards becoming some of my all time favorites. The pickups have proven themselves. They are some of my favorites, now.
PS. I think I understand why the PATB1/2 is so much like the jb/fullshred only less screamy and more growly. the patb1 coil is, if my intell is OK, wound with 43 awg (lilke a fullshred) and some rumor even says the patb1 is an overwound custom (and we know, fullshred = custom5 + hex polepieces). PATB2 is wound with 44awg. JB is wound with 44awg. PATB2 is kinda like an overwound jb (tonally, with a magswapped patb2 to an alnico5, it sure as hell feels that way to me). this is of course speculation (and it's always fun to speculate
) on a possible reason. but at the end of the day, that doesn't matter. the tones speak for themselves.
I paired the PATB3 and screaming demon in one guitar. PATB3 in the bridge, SD in neck. First, they went into a '59 les paul replica and later on a more modern les paul; walnut top and back, wenge neck, ebony board. first the 59er.
The patb3 is juicy and a bit fatty in the waist, but overall it retains it's slender figure. There is some push but not as much as in, lets say, a jb. there's raunchy dirtyness but not as much as in the PG. it's open but not as the 59. it's a GREAT pickup in a les paul. Seymour Duncan, PLEASE let the consumer know that it works amazing in a les paul. not just a strat!!!! It's a great blend of those 3 pickups. it's not as honky as 59. it's not as saggy as a pearly. it's less 'hairy' than the alnico2pro Slash and more 'masculine' than the regular a2pro. I love this pickup. I really do. in the 59 this pickup is great, but in the walnut LP it rocks too. It gave me a bit of warmth and 'girth' to my tone, something I was lacking. but it's not a fair thing to go fully on the walnut LP cause that thing was 'designed' to be a bit like a stratty guitar...
The SD. I tried it in the neck of a les paul some years ago and didn't like it. too soft, too weak. too gentle. What was I thinking?! It's so warm and juicy but so, so clear. in the 59 it's fatty and howling. in the walnut LP it's more clear, almost like a singlecoil. A hotter, juicier singlecoil with great split tones, to go with hot and medium output pickups? This is it, man. This is really it. it's about as hot as a '59B in the neck but less fatty, less compressed. more open and clear and sparkly. In the 59 LP it's fat and clear, and in the walnut even more so.
The PATB1 and PATB2. I tried them for a very short while 'as they were' but I wanted them to be hybridised, so fairly soon I pulled apart these pickups. Within 30 minutes I was done, soldered the guitar back together (les paul. bubinga neck, ebony board, 24.75'' scale) and gave it a go. Mind you. both pickups share the same coils, same magnet. so for intents and purposes: these pickups are the same.
The sound? Amazing. Hot yet super articulated. Fat yet very tight and clear. The dynamics are incredible. funky cleans, honky hollow crunch or fat crunch (depending on volume setting on the guitar and the coilsplit on or off), to superhot, articulated precision distortion. all with one guitar. It's a bit on the warmer side of things, but the bubinga gives me back some clarity (not to mention the ebony, of course).The neck is so darned juicy and dare I say, succulent... the bridge is like a fullshred/jb hybrid only more dynamics, more harmonics, broader, wider, fatter, tighter, more growl (less scream). The neck pickup is like a '59B but fatter, more precision and more forgiving. the 59B is very picky of my playing but the patb1/2 is much kinder.
The tone, man... the tone. these pickups seem to know exactly what I want. My fingers don't have to fight the guitar to get a tone. the tone comes naturally, by default. All I have to do is focus on PLAYING. and with the guitars set up exactly how I want them, these guitars are moving up in the herd towards becoming some of my all time favorites. The pickups have proven themselves. They are some of my favorites, now.
PS. I think I understand why the PATB1/2 is so much like the jb/fullshred only less screamy and more growly. the patb1 coil is, if my intell is OK, wound with 43 awg (lilke a fullshred) and some rumor even says the patb1 is an overwound custom (and we know, fullshred = custom5 + hex polepieces). PATB2 is wound with 44awg. JB is wound with 44awg. PATB2 is kinda like an overwound jb (tonally, with a magswapped patb2 to an alnico5, it sure as hell feels that way to me). this is of course speculation (and it's always fun to speculate
) on a possible reason. but at the end of the day, that doesn't matter. the tones speak for themselves.
