Help with pots and caps for P-Rails

[m1n2h3]

Hey all,
I am going to install a set of Prails (Hot & regular) in a Alder body H-S-H guitar with the triple shots and 3 on off switches. The middle pickups will probably be an ssl-1. I am by no means a soldering wizard and I wanted to get your opinions on which value pots and caps to use, seeing as that the prail is a Humbucker, P90 and single coil. I don't want to lose the single coil sparkle and I don't want to cheat the humbucker sound either. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Gingrel]

Re: Help with pots and caps for P-Rails

I'm using 500k pots and a .047uF cap for mine. As soon as I get my electronics working I'll tell you how it sounds, but I picked them because:

a) The humbuckers/P90 could sound muddy with 250k
b) I prefer having bigger cap values so as to have the option of more treble roll off. The difference with the tone at 10 is negligible to my ears. I mostly play rhythm anyway, so its not like I need more treble.

EDIT: Are you using a separate volume or tone for your middle single coil? If you are, I suggest 250k for that to prevent it being too harsh.

 

[m1n2h3]

Re: Help with pots and caps for P-Rails

I was planning on using one volume and one tone with three on-off switches. I play a fair amount of lead and really like the single coil sound of a regular strat. I don't know if this helps. I was also going to use the triple shots to maximize my tonal options.

 

[Gingrel]

Re: Help with pots and caps for P-Rails

P-Rails and triple shots were made for each other IMO.

It's all about personal preference. 250k pots are darker sounding than 500k. With caps, the higher the value the more treble your tone pot can roll off, but you lose a bit more treble with the pot on "10"

Strats typically use 250k pots to prevent the single coils from being too harsh and "ice-picky" and .047uF caps. However, by using P-Rails with 250k you risk the humbucker/P90 modes sounding too dark. My advice is to go with 500k pots and choose cap value to taste.

 

[m1n2h3]

Re: Help with pots and caps for P-Rails

Gingrel, thank you for your help. What are your thoughts about 300K pots. Or do you think it is better to go with the 500 and change the caps. Also, I know everyone seems partial to CTS or Bourns, but does it really make a difference. Furthermore, what kind of caps do you recommend. Orange drop, mallory, Oil, etc. The choices go on forever and I would love to get it right the first time around. Once again thanks

 

[Gingrel]

Re: Help with pots and caps for P-Rails

I've never used 300k pots, but a lot of high end Gibsons use 300k vols and 500k tones. My advice is to experiment! Start with 500k and if you need to lose some treble roll off your tone a bit. If your singles are still too harsh, try 300k. There's really no way of predicting how it'll sound till you hear it...

CTS are reputedly the best, not only tonally but in terms of build quality.

Orange drop caps get a lot of praise round here.

 

[tonuccio]

Re: Help with pots and caps for P-Rails

i have the same problem of you, (i'm italian sorry for my bad english), can you tell me what pot cts i have to buy and if you have some suggestion about a tre way switch....

antonio

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Help with pots and caps for P-Rails

500k pots. I prefer .022 - .010 caps. .047 caps will make your tone muddy when you roll down the tone pot.

Especially with the P-Rails Hot, you will need at least 500k pots. That pup is overwound and has A8 magnets...too much for that pup...even with 500k pots it sounds a bit muddy. I recommend A5 magnets and 500k pots.

I was one of the first to do a lot of experimenting with that pup and found that unless your guitar is EXCEPTIONALLY bright, it will sound very heavy/middy/bassy/muddy. I tried a dozen different magnet combinations and found that an A5 next to the P-90 and a UOA5 next to the Rail worked best. It also ws best with the Rail mounted next to the bridge and the P-90 toward the neck. 500k pots are a necessity with this pup. Cap value is your preference, but I like .015 with this pup.

The regular P-Rails is great just the way it is...two A5 mags. It works great either in the neck or bridge positions (still needs 500k pots).

 

[m1n2h3]

Re: Help with pots and caps for P-Rails

I ended up going with 300k CTS pots and .022 cap. The 500k pot was a bit bright for this particular guitar. I also tried switching the pickups around and found that the best results were the neck with rail towards the front and the bridge mounted normally. It is a h-s-h configuration that I have wired with 3 on-off switches and triple shot rings. I get a total of 49 different combinations. Most of which are undetectable, but its still col to have. I also found that the Prails sound the best when I turn the amp up and use just a bit of overdrive. This gets me about 85% of a good strat sound. I would love to see Seymour Duncan come out with Prail version with slug magnets instead of the rail.