P-Rails. User opinions requested now that the newness has worn off

[Hagbard Celine]

I love the 59's in my SG but I find myself GASsing over an SG Classic with P-90s. Another guitar is out of the question. I don't play all the ones I have enough as it is. So my question is if I go to P-Rails can I combine the two?

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: P-Rails. User opinions requested now that the newness has worn off

IMO, slim-bodied all-mahogany guitars with P-90s are Special by name and special by nature. Based on my experience with a Gibson LP Junior Special and the SD P90s that I fitted, I recommend a regular P-Rail for the neck/rhythm position and a hot version for the bridge/treble.

Inevitably, the tone of a wide P90-style coil and a narrow Rail coil is not going to exactly reproduce the tone of a regular humbucker.

*

"Brain the size of a planet and they ask me to PICK UP a piece of paper!" - DNA

 

[blueman335]

Re: P-Rails. User opinions requested now that the newness has worn off

Inevitably, the tone of a wide P90-style coil and a narrow Rail coil is not going to exactly reproduce the tone of a regular humbucker.

That's the problem I see with P-Rails, three tones, but only one, maybe two, you'll use. You don't get three tones you're thrilled with. I love SG Specials (the real ones, with P-90's), and I think the best way to do that in your guitar is with HB-sized P-90's; Lord knows there's enough of those to choose from these days. Plain old P-90's will do wonderful things, think of 1970ish Santana, Townsend, West, and Iommi. You don't need to try to get HB and P-90 out of the same PU. The 'hot' P-Rail bridge is way too hot for me.

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: P-Rails. User opinions requested now that the newness has worn off

Wait, I'm not understanding this: you guys thought the P-Rail would not sound like a Rail and P-90 in series together, but rather like a regular both-coils-identical humbucker?
Really?

 

[Hagbard Celine]

Re: P-Rails. User opinions requested now that the newness has worn off

More questions

How would you describe P-Rails in full humbucker mode and in P-90 mode?

How much like regular vintage style P-90's can humbucker sized ones be?

The thing is I'm not dissatisfied with the setup I have, I'm just wondering if I can keep things in the same ballpark and add the p-90 option. I find stock '59's well suited to the classic rock tones I like the most, so change will be hard to justfy.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: P-Rails. User opinions requested now that the newness has worn off

I love the 59's in my SG but I find myself GASsing over an SG Classic with P-90s. Another guitar is out of the question. I don't play all the ones I have enough as it is. So my question is if I go to P-Rails can I combine the two?

I love the Classic SG with P-90's. Your SG with P-Rails is a great option to get that classic sound and yet also be able to get the PAF humbucker sound as well when you want it, and MANY other options also. With the Rail coils in parallel you can get some Strat quack.

The P-Rails Hot is a bit too hot for a LP, but may be ok in the bridge of an SG. I had to do a lot of experimenting with many magnet combinations to get it to work in the bridge of my LP. But it is absolutely terrific now. So it CAN be done.

I've got P-Rails and love it. It IS in fact a genuine P-90 with all of the goodness that you'd expect from a vintage P-90.

It also has a rail coil that sounds really good when you want those pristine Strat-like cleans. And in parallel humbucker mode can sound very PAFish. Humbucker series mode is very full/rich/heavy/powerfull.

I'm a real P-90 fan and use that setting most, but I do use all the other modes as well. Heck, in one song I play, I use all 4 modes.

The really glorious thing is that you can customise all of those sounds to suit your own taste with appropriate mag swaps which you can do to affect one coil more than the other.

Humbucker sized P-90's are in fact just regular sized P-90 coils in a humbucker setting and can sound just like vintage P-90's. There are many choices of hum-sized P-90's and they don't all sound the same. Some sound better than others. But, again, lots of tonal options with mag swaps.

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: P-Rails. User opinions requested now that the newness has worn off

It's not that they sound like a "vintage-PAF humbucker", it's that the P90, being a single-coil, and the Rail, being a single-coil, do not hum. That's what the "humbucking mode" in these are.

These are two pickups in one housing - a Strat Rail and a P-90.

 

[SFW]

Re: P-Rails. User opinions requested now that the newness has worn off

To the OP- yes, the P-Rails will sound great in your guitar. I would recomend the original P-Rails over the "Hot" version.

 

[DoronEsh]

Re: P-Rails. User opinions requested now that the newness has worn off

That's the problem I see with P-Rails, three tones, but only one, maybe two, you'll use. You don't get three tones you're thrilled with. I love SG Specials (the real ones, with P-90's), and I think the best way to do that in your guitar is with HB-sized P-90's; Lord knows there's enough of those to choose from these days. Plain old P-90's will do wonderful things, think of 1970ish Santana, Townsend, West, and Iommi. You don't need to try to get HB and P-90 out of the same PU. The 'hot' P-Rail bridge is way too hot for me.

1st of all, not 3, but 4 tones: Rail, P-90, PAFish, FullHB.
2nd: you'll use what you like. You might like one of them one day/setup/band, the other on another.
3rd: it's great for gigs and jams. I come to play in one bar, and the sound is muddy: I use P-90's or PAFish, and sometimes change to Full-HB when soloing. I come to another, and it all sounds waaaaay too clear and crispy for me: I use FullHB mode. I play with a bunch of guys that have a jazzy feeling to their music: I use PAFish or P-90. Another bunch on another day plays Knopfler or EC: I use Rails.
4th: Don't expect the PAFish or FullHB sounds to be exact replicas of PAF or heavy HB's. The P-90's are P-90's, the Rails are Rails, and that's that. PAFish are P-90's and Rails in parallel, and FullHB are P-90's and Rails in series.
5th: The fact that they don't sound EXACTLY like PAFs or HBs does not mean they don't sound good. They have an open feeling to them, even in FullHB mode (mind you, I don't have the hot version).

I'm a vintage kinda guy, playing blues and rock, and these P-Rails sound much better to me than a lot of modern ceramic HB's. Last week I gigged with a couple of guys. It was a drum-bass-guitar band and I joined in. The other guy had an LP standard. My old Jap LP clone, equipped with P-Rails, sounded better than his LPS. A lot of people came to me afterwords, commenting the same, asking about the guitar, pups, etc. BTW: mine has the full JP.

The bottom line: P-Rails are a very good solution if you're looking for a versatile guitar for gigs and jams. If you've a pro with a roadie to carry your stuff around: have him carry 4 guitars and replace them for you in the middle of the show. Otherwise: Use P-Rails.

Whatever you do : Have fun.

DoDo

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: P-Rails. User opinions requested now that the newness has worn off

It's not that they sound like a "vintage-PAF humbucker", it's that the P90, being a single-coil, and the Rail, being a single-coil, do not hum. That's what the "humbucking mode" in these are.

These are two pickups in one housing - a Strat Rail and a P-90.

You are absolutely right...it is a rail coil and a p-90 coil together.

Two uneven coils together to make........yes, you guessed it.... a "humbucker" pickup. Some humbuckers have evenly wound coils, some have very differently wound/uneven coils. Some (like the '59/Custom hybrid) have one coil from each of two very different pickups together. It's still a "humbucker" pickup.

True, the P-Rails is not strictly a PAF pup since its resistence is about 12k ohms in series and about 3k ohms in parallel (true PAF's are 7.3-8.3k), but it can sound pretty PAFish with the right mag combinations.

Isn't that what we're talking about? The sound?

 

[gueorgues]

Re: P-Rails. User opinions requested now that the newness has worn off

I had a '59 set in my SG Standard. Then I switched to Bareknuckles Mississippi Queen set. I like both. To tell you the truth - the only solution for me is to get another SG and fit P-90 in it, that way you will have both. I tought alot about it. I put the '59 set in my Schecter - they sound great, but it is different.
I am not sure if the Prails will do the job right.

 

[Razix]

Re: P-Rails. User opinions requested now that the newness has worn off

I've been using p-rails in my jagmaster for a while now, and I still like 'em. I like the overall darkness and thickness of the pickups in that guitar- makes it great for rhythm parts.

I did make a couple small changes to the bridge pickup though: I swapped the A5's for an A8 and ceramic mag (A8 on the rail side), and I swapped the slotted screws for Full Shred hex style screws. That helped tighten up the sound and give the bridge pickup a little more kick without mudding up.

I will admit though that I usually only use the in-series and P-90 options. I didn't wire my guitar up for parallel, and I think the rail coils are a little bright.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: P-Rails. User opinions requested now that the newness has worn off

Bottom line.............

Go for the standard P-Rails set for your SG. You will absolutely love them. Beautiful classic P-90 sound; or very heavy, full range, thick, humbucker; or bright chimey rails when you want it. You've got every option you could want. I suspect, however, that you'll be using the P-90 most of all.

 

[Conker09]

Re: P-Rails. User opinions requested now that the newness has worn off

If you decide on the P-rails, GuitarDoc and I both agree that it sounds MUCH better flipped. That is, with the rail towards the bridge and the P90 towards the neck.

This doesn't change the sound of the P90 hardly at all, but gives more brightness and twang to the rail, and thus to the humbucker mode. Definitely a necessary "mod," if you will, for the Prails.

I play a Schecter s-1 elite, which is based around the SG style body, and love my Prails for it. Unfortunately I can't use my rail or HB mode atm because I screwed up and put an A5 by the rail which made it too weak. Next time i switch strings I'm gonna flip it with the A8.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: P-Rails. User opinions requested now that the newness has worn off

If you decide on the P-rails, GuitarDoc and I both agree that it sounds MUCH better flipped. That is, with the rail towards the bridge and the P90 towards the neck.

This doesn't change the sound of the P90 hardly at all, but gives more brightness and twang to the rail, and thus to the humbucker mode. Definitely a necessary "mod," if you will, for the Prails.

+1.

Yeh, thanks Conker, I forgot about that. Definitely reverse the orientation of the bridge P-Rails so the rail coil is next to the bridge.

Makes a world of difference in the rail sound.

 

[bagouser]

Re: P-Rails. User opinions requested now that the newness has worn off

I have a slim, all mahogany guitar with a set of P-Rails. I posted a review when they were newly installed, but here is another after having them about a year:

The Humbucker modes are nice, plenty of highs and harmonics. Sort of chaotic sounding due to the different coils. The bridge is nice and bright, but still has a bit of punch, the neck is fat and woody, with more smoothness. They arent ideal for metal or super hard rock, but I have other guitars for that........

The P-90 modes are perhaps the best of the 3. I think a Phat Cat sounds more genuine, but both bridge and neck are sharp, smoky, warm, with just the right amount of treble. With a light OD (such as a Tube Screamer or Blues Driver), and a little reverb, they shine. The neck one in particular is my go to sound for scorching bluesy solos and the like. With both P-90's together, I get perfect clean tones.......the hum in single pickup mode is the only drawback, and IMO it's part of the sound so whatever, man

The "Strat" Rails, as I call them, are somewhat dissapointing. The sound is weak and hollow, brittle and tinny at times. With both selected together, you get a nice sound, but honestly, I have not used the rails on any recording yet. I wouldnt call them unuseable, but with a kickass P-90 mode available, I have a hard time using the rails.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: P-Rails. User opinions requested now that the newness has worn off

The "Strat" Rails, as I call them, are somewhat dissapointing. The sound is weak and hollow, brittle and tinny at times. With both selected together, you get a nice sound, but honestly, I have not used the rails on any recording yet. I wouldnt call them unuseable, but with a kickass P-90 mode available, I have a hard time using the rails.

That's what I thought too at first. But try putting in an UOA5 or an A8 next to the rail. That changes all the rules for the rail.

 

[Razix]

Re: P-Rails. User opinions requested now that the newness has worn off

That's what I thought too at first. But try putting in an UOA5 or an A8 next to the rail. That changes all the rules for the rail.

I agree with putting an A8 next to the rail coil. Definitely gives it the boost of output and thickness it needs.