Pearly Gates B to match Jazz N in Mahogany?

jafo

jafo

New member
Hello. I'm looking for a bridge pup to match what I already have; any thoughts on this combo? I want something kind of big and golden sounding, pretty and sweet, fluid but with a manageable edge. (Aren't we all! lol) The guitar is a flat slab of mahogany, and tends to accentuate the lower mids, but doesn't lack for highs. It tends to get woolly in the neck, even with the Jazz N there. I tried an A5 mag in the bridge pup, but it was too scooped and edgy. Also, wiser ears than mine say to use A2 in the bridge, but I don't want to accentuate the mids too much. All of which seems to lead up to the PG B...

I also tried demagnetizing the A5 in the bridge, and while I loved the tone, the neck pup overpowered it. I don't like high-gain, but I'm also considering a Custom coil with that.

Anyway, TIA!
 
Re: Pearly Gates B to match Jazz N in Mahogany?

Let me point out a few things you seem to already know. Your guitar must have a very warm tone naturally if the Jazz seems too wooly (warm). I am assuming you are running 500k pots with your humbuckers?

You don't seem to want a tone that emphasizes mids which rules out a lot of A2 pickups. BTW, If you have tried an A5 magnet in a pickup that was designed for something other than an A5 magnet, you have probably not heard what a pickup designed as an A5 to begin with sounds like.

Most of Duncan's A5 pickups seem to have a distinct dip in mids (59 & Screamin Demon) or have a spike in the mids (JB & Distortion). The only one that comes to mind as being balanced is the Patb-3. I think Dimarzio makes a good PAF bridge humbucker that might suit your needs (the new "36th? whatever" Anniversary PAF they are calling it). I have the older Virtual Hot PAF that it is the next Evolution of and I love it. I have not heard the new version, but from what they are billing it as, it seems they have addressed the very small shortcomings the Virtual Hot had.
 
Re: Pearly Gates B to match Jazz N in Mahogany?

Hmm, good points all, and nicely made. Now you've got me wondering about the 36th Anniversary and V PAFs... I assume that mixing Duncan and Dimarzio pups wouldn't pose as much threat to the space-time continuum as mixing Chevy and Ford parts? lol

Yeah, it is a warm guitar, an otherwise stock first-run Santana SE. I'm 99% sure it's 500k pots and A5 mags (no sound change when swapping in an A5). Like most PRS designs, it's heavy in the lower mids, and with gain the neck position tends towards a coughing kind of edge which grates on my nerves, even with the Jazz N. I think I may just be allergic to 260 Hz...
 
Re: Pearly Gates B to match Jazz N in Mahogany?

So you are the one that picked up the Santana SE from Mid-Mich Music in Bay City? I live in Bangor.

Per the PRS forum, the early SEs were notorious for bum electronics, i.e. pots and switches. I would recommend you start there, if you haven't already done that.

I'm not sure what "big and golden sounding, pretty and sweet, fluid but with a manageable edge" is. It sounds like a good P90 to me. The PRS SE P90s are lower output versions of the Seymour Duncan/PRS co-design. I'd trade in the Santana and get an SE Soapbar. (Being careful as some of the SEs aren't nearly as good as others).
 
Re: Pearly Gates B to match Jazz N in Mahogany?

veryhungrycaterpilla said:
So you are the one that picked up the Santana SE from Mid-Mich Music in Bay City? I live in Bangor.

Per the PRS forum, the early SEs were notorious for bum electronics, i.e. pots and switches. I would recommend you start there, if you haven't already done that.

I'm not sure what "big and golden sounding, pretty and sweet, fluid but with a manageable edge" is. It sounds like a good P90 to me. The PRS SE P90s are lower output versions of the Seymour Duncan/PRS co-design. I'd trade in the Santana and get an SE Soapbar. (Being careful as some of the SEs aren't nearly as good as others).
Click to expand...

Hola, almost neighbor! Nah, got mine from Guitar Center in Saginasty; got a buddy in the guitar department, else I'd go with the local shops. I'll definitely look into the electronics; that's a cheap upgrade, and so easily overlooked.

I think you're probably right about P-90s, and I adore the SE Soapbars; that may be even more of what I want than a PAF clone, but the hum drives me nuts. I think I'll try the Phat Cat bridge in there again.

Anyway, thanks for the tips.
 
Re: Pearly Gates B to match Jazz N in Mahogany?

jafo said:
Hola, almost neighbor! Nah, got mine from Guitar Center in Saginasty; got a buddy in the guitar department, else I'd go with the local shops. I'll definitely look into the electronics; that's a cheap upgrade, and so easily overlooked.

I think you're probably right about P-90s, and I adore the SE Soapbars; that may be even more of what I want than a PAF clone, but the hum drives me nuts. I think I'll try the Phat Cat bridge in there again.

Anyway, thanks for the tips.
Click to expand...

You are welcome.
 
Re: Pearly Gates B to match Jazz N in Mahogany?

Now that you mention what guitar you are playing....

I have 2 of the early Santana SE models, but very warm sounding naturally. I have a Seth Lover set in one of them and a 59 set in the other. If I had to choose just one my head would explode. They are both different and wonderful. You couldn't trade me a $2000.00 top of the line Gibson SG for either one of them. If you are still using the stock pickups, you are really in for treat no matter what replacement pickup you choose, Duncan or Dimarzio. And yes those are 500k pots.
 
Re: Pearly Gates B to match Jazz N in Mahogany?

Ooh, nice! Two flavors of PAFfy goodness... I agree, they're remarkably good guitars, so warm and resonant, and sweet at lower volumes. Does the Seth in the neck sound woolly or anything? Slightly increasing the distance between string and pup on the bass side did the trick for me, but A2 in the neck sounds like it might be too much of a good thing.

Anyway, I went with a Phat Cat in the bridge, and am learning to live with the hum. lol I also slightly demagged the Jazz in the neck to match tones a bit more closely. It's a great, great combo, very alive and versatile, and does vintage tones very well. Pro pups make a huge difference!

I'm still really tempted by the kinda greasy early 70s sound in the Dimarzio clips, but that sort of single-purpose tone is what secondary guitars are for. lol

Thanks for the responses, guys.
 
Re: Pearly Gates B to match Jazz N in Mahogany?

The PG bridge would be a fine choice. I have one in a Hamer Studio. It does have a nice bright sparkle, which you might like in your treble-deficient Sanatana SE.
The PG b is great for medium gain too. It's responsive, percussive and dynamic. You'd lose a lot of its coolest qualities if you ran it into a lot of gain.
 
Re: Pearly Gates B to match Jazz N in Mahogany?

First of all..try changing pots..
i've a santana SEII and changing the volume pot made no difference but the tone opened the sound a lot.
I changed simply because bought it used and the volume was broken..the tone because i want to split the original pick ups...and they sound very well splitted.

I don't think that the first run of santana se have the same pick up that are on mine...on singlecut and on custom..however...the neck measure 9k and the bridge 10k.

What about yours?
 
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