P-rails paired with Dynasonic

Techy Beccy

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P-rails paired with Dynasonic - P-rails in the bridge so if you want to get a hot sounding bridge pickup for lead or riffs - would the Dynasonic in the neck be sufficient to get a rockabilly/gretsch sound or is there another pickup I can use? Lo-hi filtertron??
 
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Well, the P-Rails is versatile, but I'd have to ask to clarify 'hot sounding bridge pickup'. The series P-Rails is hot, but pretty thick, and not it's best sound (the P90 is).
 
I'm not as convinced as most here that the P-90 is the P-Rails best sound. For people who like a Tone Zone or similar thick hot humbuckers, the P-Rails series is pretty good. And people variously describe the parallel humbucker mode as similar to a PAF or a Filter'Tron, or somewhere in between.

There is a major difficulty with the series mode, it's ridiculously hotter and different EQ profile, so getting amp settings that work with that AND with other modes or other low output pickups is not easy. But you run into that with other hot pickups, and have a lot less options. Experiment and see what works for you seems to be particularly good advice for the pickup.

Compared to a Dynasonic, the P-90 should balance pretty well, so using series mode should work, so if you like switching from P-90 to series, you should still be happy.

Rockabilly is typically Filter'Trons, but I've heard people mimic the tones quite well with a P-90 and EQ. P-90s have a lot more mids, so cautiously cut those until it sounds right. I don't see why a Dynasonic wouldn't work similarly, with its own unique spin on it.
 
I think it really comes down to what sounds you use in the P-Rail, or if you use Triple Shots. To me, the P90 and parallel mode works the best but it isn't a typical hotter humbucker sound, at all.
 
Here is a link from TV Jones that do a DeArmond type remake - this is sound I like - However, it doesn't make a very versatile guitar for playing fatter sounding stuff. I'm also a bit torn as to which pick up position would be best used - the bridge sounds a lot stiffer and brighter - great for stuff you want to stand out in the front. I'm just thinking if you're playing with people who like to turn up loud (unfortunately too many people I've played with do this before any groundwork has been done and I think it sounds like shit) - Also in a large band setting playing with keys especially! the sound gets lost.

I'm not really sure if I can pair another pick up with a dynasonic successfully. I'm thinking maybe a (this might sound crazy), ceramic medium - hi-output pickup might cut through the mix. Some of the DiMarzio (e.g. PAF Pro, EVO, AT) seems to have a stiffer ice picky type sound. I wonder what pickup Steve Vai and Joe Satriani would use if they played a rockabilly gig?
 
I'm not as convinced as most here that the P-90 is the P-Rails best sound. For people who like a Tone Zone or similar thick hot humbuckers, the P-Rails series is pretty good. And people variously describe the parallel humbucker mode as similar to a PAF or a Filter'Tron, or somewhere in between.

There is a major difficulty with the series mode, it's ridiculously hotter and different EQ profile, so getting amp settings that work with that AND with other modes or other low output pickups is not easy. But you run into that with other hot pickups, and have a lot less options. Experiment and see what works for you seems to be particularly good advice for the pickup.

Compared to a Dynasonic, the P-90 should balance pretty well, so using series mode should work, so if you like switching from P-90 to series, you should still be happy.

Rockabilly is typically Filter'Trons, but I've heard people mimic the tones quite well with a P-90 and EQ. P-90s have a lot more mids, so cautiously cut those until it sounds right. I don't see why a Dynasonic wouldn't work similarly, with its own unique spin on it.

I haven't tried a series mode that I know of. I've had a lot of different guitars and pickups, usually, I have a tech guy to do it and I stay pretty basic with the wiring (I don't have mega switches or kill switch). but recently (over the last few years I have learnt to solder and do a few things myself). I have a few treble bleeds I want to use - probably on a strat or tele.

I know a little bit about wiring from speakers (I come from one half of an electrical/tech/music background and had (and still do) a lot of speakers growing up. So I get the series/parallel wiring theory and how series is louder than parallel but parallel has more clarity in the higher end). I tend to like the cleaner chimmyer sound - but I was a teenager in the '90s when bands like Rage Against the Machine, Tool, Nirvana, Hole, Soundgarden, Metallica were around so I do like a bit of heavy too! I currently don't own any hi grain amps (I have a little Peavey valve king mini - but its more of a practice amp). Most of my amps are vox and fender (I have a couple of '90s create vintage club (I'd say they're more similar to a fender tone when dirty) and small - 15 watts.

I've looked at the triple shot surround and it looks cool. I'm still not 100% on what wiring it allows you to have (I will have to look it up), they're not easy to find in stock here in Australia - they're a bit expensive too. I figgered if I wanted different wiring, it might be cheaper to install an extra switch or push-pull pot or something - (clearly I haven't given this a lot of thought). I've wanted to try the P-rails for a while now but I also have literally 2 boxes or pickups to try!

I like the fatness of P90's - I haven't had a quarter-pound in any of my guitars but from the sound clips and demos that I've heard I like them a lot and sound like they would nail an overdriven grungy tone well.

From the sound clip of the TV Jones T-Armond - I think those dynamic type sound more on par to a telecaster pickup - even a Jazzmaster and no doubt the dynasonics would pair really well with any of these type pickups! I had a Fender Blacktop Jazzmaster with a humbucker bridge pickup/Jazzmaster neck - I replaced the standard neck pup with a fender vintage 65 -(nice) and the bridge position I put a humbucker sized T-pup from the Creamery - sounded mint. Really noisy on the bridge pup - needed noise suppressor or if you like that noisy type thing guess ok. The problem I felt was it might be ok for jangly pop or indie shoegaze, but lacked guts to me.

I don't particularly like the jump in lo-output to hi-output in pickups and that is why I typically stick to parallel wiring. However, this is something I haven't re-tried or played with for some time, I previously had less experience and understanding of different gear and ways to bridge the output gap. I try to be open to ideas, I don't really want to have to cart a lot of gear around with me to get the sound I want though.. I want to be able to plug into another (someone else's) amp and be able to play my guitar.
 
I've looked at the triple shot surround and it looks cool. I'm still not 100% on what wiring it allows you to have (I will have to look it up), they're not easy to find in stock here in Australia - they're a bit expensive too. I figgered if I wanted different wiring, it might be cheaper to install an extra switch or push-pull pot or something - (clearly I haven't given this a lot of thought). I've wanted to try the P-rails for a while now but I also have literally 2 boxes or pickups to try!

The Triple Shot rings incorporate a pair of DPDT switches, so you can get 4 sounds out of each P-Rail: series, parallel, P90, and rail. I have a P-Rails set with Triple Shots in my SG, and I probably use the parallel setting most. It's similar in output and brightness to a '59, while being thinner and having less output than my WLH set. Series mode sounds very similar to the Gibson Tony Iommi signature while the P90 is self-explanatory. I've heard that the rail coil is half of a Hot Rails, and the DC resistance is at least in the ballpark. I'd describe the tone as a true single coil version of the Vintage Rails; vaguely Strat-like but definitely a bit more hifi and modern. My main amp is a Marshall Silver Jubilee (either 2525H or 2555) and I've found settings that work pretty well for all of the various modes with the occasional boost pedal added.

The SG in question
h1sW8SX.jpg
 
dystrust - Nice!
How much bigger is the triple shot surround in width not height, than a standard humbucker ring mount?
Can you use the TS surround on any humbucker pickup?
 
dystrust - Nice!
How much bigger is the triple shot surround in width not height, than a standard humbucker ring mount?

I measured my TS rings and a set of standard rings on another guitar and both were 3.5" (~89mm) wide.

Can you use the TS surround on any humbucker pickup?

You absolutely can use TS rings with any humbucker, but I wouldn't bother unless you want both the split and parallel options. I've also found that most slug and screw coils sound very similar, unless the coils are wound unevenly like on the P-Rails and '59/Custom Hybrid. When I'm using a set of humbuckers with balanced coils I typically split the bridge to the slug coil and the neck to the screw coil for hum canceling when using both. I find that splitting a bridge pickup to the slug coil sounds a bit less thin due to being slightly farther from the bridge, while the difference is much less pronounced on a neck pickup.
 
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