Pearly Gates Plus vs 59

[Big Mike Blues]

Nothing stratty about a PG or PG+ to me, other than that the PG+ was stock in the old lonestars.
It works well in a strat.

Not a bad pickup, but I prefer the 59 a bit. Even thought that can come off a little too scooped for me in some guitars.
A3 loaded 59 (80's MJ wound) is my favorite 59 right now, bridge of my DGT and matched with a new Jazz neck it's great in that guitar.

 

[Clint 55]

Nothing stratty about a PG or PG+ to me.

Except it sounds like a strat pickup in humbucker form.

 

[jeremy]

as ive said before, you and i hear things very differently. the pg doesnt sound like a strat pup and neither does the pg+ regardless of what guitar its in.

 

[Lewguitar]

as ive said before, you and i hear things very differently. the pg doesnt sound like a strat pup and neither does the pg+ regardless of what guitar its in.

Jeremy's right. Other than that they are each guitar pickups attempting to reproduce the sound of a guitar's steel strings, no full size, humbucking pickup based on Gibson's original design sounds like a single coil Fender style Strat pickup.

 

[Clint 55]

That would be like if you guys told Seymour: 'the JB Jr doesn't sound like a JB, don't know what you're talking about.' Seymour: 'no duh jeremy. Its tone character (or to misuse the word - voicing) is borrowed from the real thing and put into a pickup with a different construction.'

Do you think I don't know that pickups built with broad construction differences won't sound identical? I'm talking about the TONE CHARACTER. What pickup exactly do you think the Pearly Gates borrows from to get its wet, scooped, jangly tone character? It's not a PAF! PAFs are dry and middy.

 

[Lewguitar]

That would be like if you guys told Seymour: 'the JB Jr doesn't sound like a JB, don't know what you're talking about.' Seymour: 'no duh jeremy. Its tone character (or to misuse the word - voicing) is borrowed from the real thing and put into a pickup with a different construction.'

Do you think I don't know that pickups built with broad construction differences won't sound identical? I'm talking about the TONE CHARACTER. What pickup exactly do you think the Pearly Gates borrows from to get its wet, scooped, jangly tone character? It's not a PAF! PAFs are dry and middy.

How many actual PAF's from the 1950's have you actually owned? I've owned at least a dozen in 50's Les Pauls, ES-335s and ES-355s.

 

[Clint 55]

I doubt the Pearly Gates is voiced like any of them.

 

[Lewguitar]

I doubt any of them sound like Pearly Gates.

So you have no actual experience with real PAFs from the 1950's?

 

[Clint 55]

No, why do I need to own a real PAF to say that the Pearly Gates is voiced similarly to a strat pickup?

 

[Lewguitar]

No, why do I need to own a real PAF to say that the Pearly Gates is voiced similarly to a strat pickup?

OK. It's obvious you don't know what your talking about so there's no point in continuing.

 

[jeremy]

WAT!!

 

[Ronnie_Snow]

Double thick magnet.

What does a double thick magnet actually do to the sound? Can I stack magnets? Is there anything I need to know about installing a double thick magnet into a humbucker that wasnt made for a double thick magnet? All I have 2 of are RCUOA5...

 

[Ronnie_Snow]

Ahem . . .

I have a SoloDallas Storm, Tubescreamer but have considered a Fortin 33 but I wanted that clarity of a PG but with more oomph without the compression. Mentions of the WLH has me wary considering the massive drop in treble from a PG to a WLH. I didn't find that treble to much at all. Maybe it added to the clarity. But I can't get on with Alnico 2 magnets as I miss that big bottom end...

 

[Mincer]

There isn't a 'massive drop in treble' from the PG to the WLH. Maybe from an 8 to 7.25. Also, don't decide on a pickup just by the magnet...there is more to the sound than just that.

 

[David Garner]

My main guitars are 2 Les Pauls both with the Custom Shop Pearly Gates set and a Strat with the Psychedelic Strat set.

The Pearly Gates sounds nothing at all like a Strat.

 

[eclecticsynergy]

I've had a 59B in a Les Paul since the mid-80s and loved it; haven't ever tried one in a 25½" scale bolt-on.

My only experiences with the PG+ have been in Fenders, and it always seemed a tad harsh there.
Have sometimes wondered if a doublethick A5 would help fill it out - maybe even a doublethick A2.

In its stock form I could imagine the PG+ doing well in a Les Paul, especially one with a dark natural voice.

 

[Mincer]

BTW, this is a really good thread about the PG+, which has some great info. This is the quote from Evan Skopp, who was at SD at the time:

Yes, you're right. And that's confusing. The PG+ has a hundred or so more turns. It's not enough to really affect the d.c. resistance and as you can see, it's within spec for the PG to have an ever-so-slightly higher dcr than the PG+. It's those extra hundred turns together with the A5 magnet that give the PG+ the 3dB boost over the PG as Fender's Mike Lewis requested from us way back when.

 

[gsammo79]

What does a double thick magnet actually do to the sound? Can I stack magnets? Is there anything I need to know about installing a double thick magnet into a humbucker that wasnt made for a double thick magnet? All I have 2 of are RCUOA5...

You'll need extra spacers to adjust for the size difference with the double thick magnet. It's taller than a stock magnet

 

[Clint 55]

Sorry, didn't see your post #32. If you were to stack magnets, it partially deguasses the 2 mags when you force the like poles together.. So to make one on your own what you do is bond 2 together (with epox) and then remagnetize them to act as 1 continuous magnet. Otherwise just buy them here: https://www.cermagmagnets.co.uk/alnico-bars-for-hb-double-width---62mm-x-65mm-x-125mm-39-p.asp

To install yes, all you need are 2 extra spacers to stick in on either side. Wrap masking tape around them to shim if needed and fine tune the height.

Sound: the tone footprint is the same as the parent regular thickness mag. But there are some subtle changes besides the output being boosted. It makes it a little bassier and it sounds deeper and less clanky.

 

[Ronnie_Snow]

The closest pickup available in our regular line to a Pearly Gates Plus is a '59 Model with 4-conductor cable. The '59 is an Alnico V pickup with a wind very close to that of the Pearly Gates Plus.

The PGP is not wound on the Leesona.

So a PG+ is an overwound PG with an A5 but not wound on the leesona..

So a standard PG and a 59 are both Leesona wound, but have different magnets. The above statement from SD almost makes me think that a PG+ is just an overwound 59...

Either way now I actually just need to find a PG+. Anyone...?