Pearly Gates Plus Converted to Pearly Gates?

cvansickle

cvansickle

New member
This may be a stupid question, but:

I may have a line on a MIM Lone Star Strat, which has a Pearly Gates Plus bridge pickup. If I replace the stock Alnico 5 magnet in the Plus with a genuine Alnico 2 magnet, will that make the pickup a true Pearly Gates? Or is the wind different as well as the magnet?

Thanks.
 
Re: Pearly Gates Plus Converted to Pearly Gates?

it will be very very close to a pearly gates once you put the alnico II magnet in it.

i didnt know they made mim lone star strats
 
Re: Pearly Gates Plus Converted to Pearly Gates?

Somewhere this question was asked before and someone(I think it was Evan) said it's more like a hot '59b than a PG, but it's one of my favorite pickups and I think it would sound great with an A2 mag in it.
 
Re: Pearly Gates Plus Converted to Pearly Gates?

weird, i thought they were the same

In any case I love my PG+, do you have a tone pot connected to it?
 
Re: Pearly Gates Plus Converted to Pearly Gates?

I had my PG+ wired to a modern Fender MVol, Neck Tone, Centre/Bridge Tone circuit with a No-Load pot on that lower tone control.
 
Re: Pearly Gates Plus Converted to Pearly Gates?

I remember a thread from way back that explained the differences between a pearly gates and a pearly gates plus, but the search function keeps kicking out my search parameter of (plus) and (+) when I add it to "pearly gates" or "PG", so I can't find it. IIRC, there is some difference in the wind, in addition to the difference in magnets. I personally found the PG+ to be too bright for my tastes, with the A5 magnet. I sold it before I learned about swapping magnets.

However, jeremy has a lot of experience with SD pickpups, so if he says it is close then it's close. Maybe not exact, but close.
 
Re: Pearly Gates Plus Converted to Pearly Gates?

In my experience, the PG+ is a bit hotter and has a bit more upper mids when loadeed with an alnico II mag and played back to back with a standard PG. It's a pretty cool sound.
 
Re: Pearly Gates Plus Converted to Pearly Gates?

If the plan is to keep the PG+ in that Strat, I wouldn't change it. From what I understand, the PG+ is different from the PG for a reason: It's supposed to compensate somewhat for the fact that it's in a Strat, and still give you a very Gibson-flavor sound. I used to have a Lone Star Strat, and at times I could have sworn I was playing a Les Paul or an SG, by the sound of it.
 
Re: Pearly Gates Plus Converted to Pearly Gates?

i dont think the pg+ in a strat sounds at all like a pg in a gibson.

the pg+ was made for fender to give them the sound they wanted in a guitar, its brighter and less mid heavy with more bottom (typical a5 vs a2) than a pg. the pg+ is supposed to have a few more turns than the pg but the biggest difference i hear is the magnet type.
 
Re: Pearly Gates Plus Converted to Pearly Gates?

jeremy said:
i dont think the pg+ in a strat sounds at all like a pg in a gibson.

the pg+ was made for fender to give them the sound they wanted in a guitar, its brighter and less mid heavy with more bottom (typical a5 vs a2) than a pg. the pg+ is supposed to have a few more turns than the pg but the biggest difference i hear is the magnet type.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't that be kind of misleading? I mean, wouldn't it have made sense for them to give it a different name altogether? What connection do the two pickups really have, when it comes down to it?
 
Re: Pearly Gates Plus Converted to Pearly Gates?

its not all that misleading. its a pearly gates with a few extra turns and a different magnet.
 
Re: Pearly Gates Plus Converted to Pearly Gates?

In my experience, the PG+ sounded "right" in a Stratocaster. It balanced nicely with the single coils but gave an extra kick in the pants when required. In other words, it answered the design brief. IMO, saying that the PG+ makes a Stratocaster sound like an slab o' mahogany with a TOM/Stopbar bridge system would be taking things too far.
 
Re: Pearly Gates Plus Converted to Pearly Gates?

Jeremy is correct, the PG+ is a PG with more winds and an A5 magnet.
It was originally made specifically for the Strat.
And, I think ParameterMan was correct to an extent, that Evan said that the PG+ "sounds" more like a '59+, iirc.
 
Re: Pearly Gates Plus Converted to Pearly Gates?

jeremy said:
i dont think the pg+ in a strat sounds at all like a pg in a gibson.

the pg+ was made for fender to give them the sound they wanted in a guitar, its brighter and less mid heavy with more bottom (typical a5 vs a2) than a pg. the pg+ is supposed to have a few more turns than the pg but the biggest difference i hear is the magnet type.
Click to expand...

oh.... i thought they had more mids and less bottom....

i think i need a crash course on pickups......
 
Re: Pearly Gates Plus Converted to Pearly Gates?

I had a PG set in my 99 Les Paul Classic. I swapped in a PG+ from Lone Star Strat. Awfully bright and thin. Than i swapped in an Alnico II from a Seth Lover neck. It did not improve that much. The original PG set is in again. IMO the PG+ is a total different wind than the PGB.
This was my inital thread about PG+

https://forum.seymourduncan.com/showthread.php?t=202438
 
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Re: Pearly Gates Plus Converted to Pearly Gates?

I haven't tried it, but I would think that the PG+ with an A2 would have more mids than a regular PG. Usually, if you add winds, you increase output and mids. This is all just theory since I have no experience with the PG+.
 
Re: Pearly Gates Plus Converted to Pearly Gates?

GuitarDoc said:
I haven't tried it, but I would think that the PG+ with an A2 would have more mids than a regular PG. Usually, if you add winds, you increase output and mids. This is all just theory since I have no experience with the PG+.
Click to expand...

I thought that too, but its not true. Its a different wind or wire.
 
Re: Pearly Gates Plus Converted to Pearly Gates?

Nice to hear from a inside person, but i can not give prove that in reality. My PG+ from a Lone Star Strat with a A2 from a Seth Neck sounded much brighter and thinner than a PGB. Are there different strength Alnicos from SD?? I dont have a gauss meter to check but this Seth neck magnet is really strong (and it really a A2 with the blue mark).

I changed back to the PGB. Although the PG+ A8 was real nice - fat mids, drive and bass.
 
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Re: Pearly Gates Plus Converted to Pearly Gates?

jeremy said:
i didnt know they made mim lone star strats
Click to expand...

Yep, Fender discontinued the USA series of those guitars; which included the Lone Star and Roadhouse Strats.

A couple of years ago, they reintroduced them in an MIM series. Analogy:

Old: American Standard = Lone Star/Roadhouse
New: MIM Standard = Lone Star/Roadhouse

The pickups are the same as they used in the original series'; Texas Specials and a PG+ with Texas Specials all the way with the Roadhouse. There are some subtle differences between the new ones and the Standard series Strats; but not much. Still nice stuff, IMO....
 
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