Re: Pearly Gates neck / APH-2 Slash Bridge
I have the Custom Shop version of the Pearly Gates, which is unpotted and mine are wound to 7.5 and 8.5 respectively, but I literally just A/B'd them against my buddy's APH-2s he put in his Epi Les Paul last night -- I had to correct Guitar Center's shoddy work when they installed them. They're obviously not the same guitars (mine is a 93 Gibson LP Standard), but close enough to get a feel.
The APH-2 bridge is brash. Very aggressive, but in a really good way. It's not like a hot overwound pickup (JB, Custom, 498t, Distortion, SD, etc.). It's way more of a PAF style in terms of output. But it has a little more hair on the tone than mine does, and I thought the Pearlies were already brash on the bridge. But honestly, I didn't hear a huge difference in the basic tone. Just that mine had a little less snarl than his.
The Pearly neck, to my ears, is very similar to the APH-2. If anything, his was lacking a bit in output by comparison. Going from his bridge to his neck pickup, there was a pretty obvious difference in output. Whereas on my set, both of them have a lot of punch. I could have raised his neck pickup some, but I had them at Gibson's factory recommendation and I figured if he wants to raise or lower them he can.
I too prefer the PG neck to the APH-2, though they are very similar to my ears. At least in my set, the PG has a nicer, rounder tone, but still a lot of high end and very flutey and woody. With added gain, it gets very, very smooth. Without a lot of gain, it just has a nice organic texture to it. I loved the APH-2's tone as well, for a lot of the same reasons. But I'd give the edge to the PG neck.
All of which is to say, if you like the APH-2 bridge and the Pearly neck, you really are in the same tonal ballpark with both sets. Mix and match them to your heart's content.
