[HELP] JB or Pearly Gates Plus in a Strat bridge

davidrf

davidrf

New member
Hi there, loooooooong time lurker. First post.

I am looking for a used Fender Stratocaster Lonestar and I found two of them. One is completely stock, so it has the Pearly Gates Plus humbucker in bridge position, the other had the Pearly Gates substituted with a JB.

I never had the chance to try any of those two pickups in a Stratocaster, and I actually am not so familiar with them anyways.

Could anyone explain to me what are the differences? I heard the Pearly Gates is a bit less hot but has more "character", but other than that I have no clue. I ALWAYS heard good things about the Pearly Gates, and I can't say the same about the JB.

Thanks!
 
Re: [HELP] JB or Pearly Gates Plus in a Strat bridge

What are you playing? What amp are you using?

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Re: [HELP] JB or Pearly Gates Plus in a Strat bridge

I'd say get the stock one and if you don't like it switch the bridge out. The PG+ in a Lonestar Strat is one built specifically for Fender by Seymour Duncan and as such harder to come by than the JB which you can practically trip over on the used market. That's not to say the PG+ is uber rare or anything like that.
 
[HELP] JB or Pearly Gates Plus in a Strat bridge

Welcome! The PG is a play on the PAF so vintage but with a bit more midrange and yes, a special character compared to a PAF.

The JB is much higher output and has an upper midrange spike that is epic for rock lead (IMHO) but not ideal for cleans (again IMHO). IME it’s polarizing, some people love it others don’t, sometimes it depends on the guitar. I have one I love but I took it out of another one. At the end of the day, the JB is the most sold humbucker ever for a reason, it’s a characteristic sound behind many awesome solos. A strat with JB is quite classic.

So I would say it depends on what you plan to play.


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Re: [HELP] JB or Pearly Gates Plus in a Strat bridge

One other thing, the JB isn't quite too friendly to for bedroom playing, but it sounds amazing in a band mix.
 
Re: [HELP] JB or Pearly Gates Plus in a Strat bridge

Thanks for the answers. I currently use a Blackstar HT5-R and occasionally a Blues Jr. and an old vintage italian amp. What I play is a trickier question because even if I mostly play rock/hard rock, I very often step into the territory of punk, classic rock, blues and even bit of jazz. I surely DON'T play any kind of metal (except for two or three Metallica tunes) or country.
 
Re: [HELP] JB or Pearly Gates Plus in a Strat bridge

I would go with the JB here. You can split the JB for a nice country sound and just use your neck pickup for jazz and blues.

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[HELP] JB or Pearly Gates Plus in a Strat bridge

davidrf said:
Thanks for the answers. I currently use a Blackstar HT5-R and occasionally a Blues Jr. and an old vintage italian amp. What I play is a trickier question because even if I mostly play rock/hard rock, I very often step into the territory of punk, classic rock, blues and even bit of jazz. I surely DON'T play any kind of metal (except for two or three Metallica tunes) or country.
Click to expand...

I encourage you to check YT demos but I would go PG based on that. Do you solo and play in a band? (Christopher’s point above is important.)


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Re: [HELP] JB or Pearly Gates Plus in a Strat bridge

I think most definitely the PG+. The JB may be too hot for you and may be voiced incorrectly.
 
Re: [HELP] JB or Pearly Gates Plus in a Strat bridge

Decide if you want low or high output. There are benefits to both and both are good pickups.
 
Re: [HELP] JB or Pearly Gates Plus in a Strat bridge

Going by the kind of music you like, I'd opt for the PG+. It is suited to more stuff, and even sounds good clean, which isn't the JB's strong suit. There will be a volume jump if you go with the JB...the singles will be like 1/2 the volume.
 
Re: [HELP] JB or Pearly Gates Plus in a Strat bridge

Forget the pickup, buy the the better guitar and then go from there. Both pickups are fine, but considering you have no idea how either guitar sounds through your rig, the pickup is irrelevant. Start with the guitar and then tailor from there.
 
Re: [HELP] JB or Pearly Gates Plus in a Strat bridge

Pg+ is by no means a slouch in the power dept, it's definitely on the"hot PAF" end of the spectrum, It's pretty darn versatile for almost any type of music. I've had several in lone star strats and American Fat Strats and it's gonna be brighter and tighter than the JB and works great with 250k or 500k pots.
 
Re: [HELP] JB or Pearly Gates Plus in a Strat bridge

I have a stock HSS with the PG, my best friend has a HSS that he replaced the PG with a JB. The best way to describe it is the PG for 70s rock and JB for 80s metal. Some people will argue the point but that's one thing my friend and I agree on. I'm not saying the PG won't play 80s metal or the JB won't play 70s rock. But for some reason it works better that way for us.
 
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Re: [HELP] JB or Pearly Gates Plus in a Strat bridge

He's talking about a Pearly Gates Plus... It's hotter than the regular PG. I always really liked the one in my old Double Fat Strat. I'd take that over a JB any day.
 
Re: [HELP] JB or Pearly Gates Plus in a Strat bridge

Yeah, pretty much. I believe Duncan used to state it was wound slightly hotter and was closer to a '59.
 
Re: [HELP] JB or Pearly Gates Plus in a Strat bridge

The SD Custom Shop PG+ is an overwound A5 PGb. I cannot confirm, but there are rumours that the Fender PG+ is different from the SD Custom Shop PG+.
 
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