I have heard different stories on how and why this pickup was made. Obviously the Pearly Gates is modeled after the pickup that Billy Gibbons has in his 59 Les Paul. But whenever I see a quote from Billy Gibbons, regarding Seymour Duncan, it is about how he loves the Antiquities. I have heard that Seymour Duncan actually used Billy Gibbons pickup and reverse engineered it, or analyzed it somehow, but that seems a little far fetched to me. Why would Gibbons allow anyone to take anything from his prized once in a lifetime guitar? I have also heard that Duncan wanted to make a 59 replica that had a few extra turns on it, making it have a little more sizzle. I was wondering if Mr. Duncan intended to duplicate the pickup with Gibbons permission, or just make a pickup that sounded like it, or even develop this pickup with the intentions of Billy Gibbons using it some of his other guitars.
How did Seymour Duncan actually develop the Pearly Gates?
- Thread starter groundef
- Start date
the guy who invented fire
Fuzzy. Guitars
Re: How did Seymour Duncan actually develop the Pearly Gates?
The Pearly Gates is a sonic copy of the pickups in Billy's 59 LP. Billy uses them in quite a few of his guitars but often with Antiquity covers.
The Pearly Gates is a sonic copy of the pickups in Billy's 59 LP. Billy uses them in quite a few of his guitars but often with Antiquity covers.
the guy who invented fire
Fuzzy. Guitars
Re: How did Seymour Duncan actually develop the Pearly Gates?
The Pearly Gates are my favorite bucker...love them!
The Pearly Gates are my favorite bucker...love them!
the guy who invented fire
Fuzzy. Guitars
Re: How did Seymour Duncan actually develop the Pearly Gates?
I got my answer from Evan...I asked him the same question less than a month ago...Evan said that Seymour copied the pickups in Pearly.
Aceman said:
I got my answer from Evan...I asked him the same question less than a month ago...Evan said that Seymour copied the pickups in Pearly.
dr.barlo
New member
Re: How did Seymour Duncan actually develop the Pearly Gates?
Cheap Sunglasses is recorded with a Duncan PG. Check out the link below for more:
https://forum.seymourduncan.com/showthread.php?t=12589&highlight=gibbons
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groundef said:
Cheap Sunglasses is recorded with a Duncan PG. Check out the link below for more:
https://forum.seymourduncan.com/showthread.php?t=12589&highlight=gibbons
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Scott Miller
New member
Re: How did Seymour Duncan actually develop the Pearly Gates?
I have met Billy Gibbons here at the factory on a couple of occasions, and have seen him interact with Seymour---and I can tell you he would definitely let Seymour mess with any of his guitars.
Here is the transcription (as best I can remember) of a phone conversation I had with Billy Gibbons about a year or so ago.
Scott: hello?
BG: Hi Scott. This is Billy Gibbons.....from ZZ-Top. How are you?
(I was so glad that he told me he was the Billy Gibbons from ZZ-Top because I would have gotten him confused with all of the other Billy Bibbonses out there)
Scott: Great. So what's up?
BG: Well, Guitar Player magazine is asking me to do another cover for them, but I don't really have anything new to talk about for the interview. For years Seymour and I have been talking about making a pickup using a magnet from a meteorite.
Scott: HUH?
BG: Yeah---meteorite is magnetic, and I have a guy going out to the gem show in Tuscon this weekend to get a few things for me, and if Seymour wants me to, I'll have my guy pick up some meteorites for him.
Scott: So you want me to leave Seymour a message saying "Billy Gibbons wants to know if you would like him to get you some meteorites to make pickups with?"
BG: Yep---that would be great.
Scott: Okay. No problem. (thinking: WTF??)
So when the meteor-bucker comes out, you heard it here first.
I have met Billy Gibbons here at the factory on a couple of occasions, and have seen him interact with Seymour---and I can tell you he would definitely let Seymour mess with any of his guitars.
Here is the transcription (as best I can remember) of a phone conversation I had with Billy Gibbons about a year or so ago.
Scott: hello?
BG: Hi Scott. This is Billy Gibbons.....from ZZ-Top. How are you?
(I was so glad that he told me he was the Billy Gibbons from ZZ-Top because I would have gotten him confused with all of the other Billy Bibbonses out there)
Scott: Great. So what's up?
BG: Well, Guitar Player magazine is asking me to do another cover for them, but I don't really have anything new to talk about for the interview. For years Seymour and I have been talking about making a pickup using a magnet from a meteorite.
Scott: HUH?
BG: Yeah---meteorite is magnetic, and I have a guy going out to the gem show in Tuscon this weekend to get a few things for me, and if Seymour wants me to, I'll have my guy pick up some meteorites for him.
Scott: So you want me to leave Seymour a message saying "Billy Gibbons wants to know if you would like him to get you some meteorites to make pickups with?"
BG: Yep---that would be great.
Scott: Okay. No problem. (thinking: WTF??)
So when the meteor-bucker comes out, you heard it here first.
Pierre
Stratologist
Re: How did Seymour Duncan actually develop the Pearly Gates?
:laugh2: :laugh2: hahahah I cracked up way too loud at all that! Thanks for this Scott.
Eh so if you ever get Malmsteem on the phone, do you think he'll say 'I'm Yngwie J Malmsteem' so you don't confuse him with all the other Yngwie Malmsteem out there?
:laugh2: :laugh2: hahahah I cracked up way too loud at all that! Thanks for this Scott.
Eh so if you ever get Malmsteem on the phone, do you think he'll say 'I'm Yngwie J Malmsteem' so you don't confuse him with all the other Yngwie Malmsteem out there?
... i wonder if they'd be trying to make 6 little rods out of the meteorite or one bar ... too cool
L
Lewguitar
Guest
Re: How did Seymour Duncan actually develop the Pearly Gates?
That was a cool story...thanks Scott!
Regarding the Pearly Gates: I always assumed Billy Gibbons asked Seymour to create a version of the PG so he could use it in his other guitars.
The PG's are calibrated though...the neck pickup is weaker than the bridge pickup.
That would NOT have been the case in 1959 and both pafs in Billy Gibbons Les Paul are probably wound about the same. That's how they were made in those days.
So the Duncan Pearly Gates couldn't be an exact recreation of the pafs in Billy G's guitar...at least not the neck pickup.
It seems to me that the bridge version of the PG would probably be the one closest to BOTH pickups in Billy G's guitar.
Lew
That was a cool story...thanks Scott!
Regarding the Pearly Gates: I always assumed Billy Gibbons asked Seymour to create a version of the PG so he could use it in his other guitars.
The PG's are calibrated though...the neck pickup is weaker than the bridge pickup.
That would NOT have been the case in 1959 and both pafs in Billy Gibbons Les Paul are probably wound about the same. That's how they were made in those days.
So the Duncan Pearly Gates couldn't be an exact recreation of the pafs in Billy G's guitar...at least not the neck pickup.
It seems to me that the bridge version of the PG would probably be the one closest to BOTH pickups in Billy G's guitar.
Lew
G
Guest
Guest
Re: How did Seymour Duncan actually develop the Pearly Gates?
+ The entire Forum!
Aceman said:
+ The entire Forum!
L
Lewguitar
Guest
Re: How did Seymour Duncan actually develop the Pearly Gates?
I don't think anyone would let anyone copy an old pickup by disassembling it and counting the windings...not if it's a working pickup anyway.
My guess would be that Seymour has unwound and rewound so many old pickups and logged all of that information that he knows from the DC Resistance of the coils, the wire type, the magnet type and from the tone of the pickup being copied what's probably unique about the way it was made and that he would then build a few differant versions and between he and the owner of the original pickup, they would decide which version captured the essence of the tone of the original.
Something like that I'd bet.
I don't think anyone would let anyone copy an old pickup by disassembling it and counting the windings...not if it's a working pickup anyway.
My guess would be that Seymour has unwound and rewound so many old pickups and logged all of that information that he knows from the DC Resistance of the coils, the wire type, the magnet type and from the tone of the pickup being copied what's probably unique about the way it was made and that he would then build a few differant versions and between he and the owner of the original pickup, they would decide which version captured the essence of the tone of the original.
Something like that I'd bet.
BachToRock
New member
Re: How did Seymour Duncan actually develop the Pearly Gates?
I would imagine that if some original PAF's were as hot as 9k there were some that were as un-hot as 7k given that 8k is around the median and they were wound by sight "until they were full". You could have any combination of underwound or overwound coils.
It is therefore very possible that the replicas are faithful to the originals... Seymour likely measued each individual coil to determine the DC resistance and then wound replicas with his knowledge of the winding techniques of the period and spec'd the correct A2 magnet.
I would imagine that if some original PAF's were as hot as 9k there were some that were as un-hot as 7k given that 8k is around the median and they were wound by sight "until they were full". You could have any combination of underwound or overwound coils.
It is therefore very possible that the replicas are faithful to the originals... Seymour likely measued each individual coil to determine the DC resistance and then wound replicas with his knowledge of the winding techniques of the period and spec'd the correct A2 magnet.
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