Pearly Gates vs Alnico Pro II

[freefrog]

Re: Pearly Gates vs Alnico Pro II

Sycamore? Not a wood I've seen mentioned here before, possibly not a good reference wood.

Sorry to sound "esoteric" here and there: besides my membership on various guitar websites, I'm moderator on a forum of lutherie and sometimes, it leads me to use too "specialized" words.

Fortunately, Orpheo has replied for me (thanks, Orpheo) : I've mentioned this guitar made of (maple) sycamore because Walgraeve has a maple body axe.

Don't agree with a couple things: I find A2P's to be 'richer in the mids' and fuller-sounding than PG's.

How can PG's be 'a tad more powerful because of their mags' when both use A2's?

As explained above, I've found that A2P slightly lacked of richness in the mids when mounted in a maple body guitar. Anyway, if we think that a mere cable used to plug an axe can change the tone and power of its pickups, we can understand why our respective experiences might differ about the same pickup.

PG's use A2 mags too but they have a stronger magnetic fields (IME).

FWIW, alnico mags can be loaded more or less and it defines the power of a PU regardless of its DC resistance (example: with the same A5 mags, DCR and inductance, a Burstbucker Pro will produce 660mv of maximum power while a SH1 spits a mellower and more musical 440mv) ...

Not to mention than "alnico2" is a recipe but can vary widely in composition. Often, two A2 mags coming from two different makers won't sound the same. The A2 used in Classic 57's tends to sound more like an A5, for instance.

That being said only to clarify my statements, since you used interrogative sentences in your post: I posted initially to help Walgraeve and not to be "controversial". Thx for your understanding.

 

[Walgraeve]

Re: Pearly Gates vs Alnico Pro II

A2P bridge, PG neck. Done...

Disregard the output - let the amp, or the overdrive of choice do the work.

I'm pretty sure the result will be the other way around..as for my amp doing the work, that's what I always do, the 1/4watt switch on my AC4TV provides delicious tube overdrive on eardrum-friendly volume levels

 

[blueman335]

Re: Pearly Gates vs Alnico Pro II

FWIW, alnico mags can be loaded more or less and it defines the power of a PU regardless of its DC resistance (example: with the same A5 mags, DCR and inductance, a Burstbucker Pro will produce 660mv of maximum power while a SH1 spits a mellower and more musical 440mv) ...

Not to mention than "alnico2" is a recipe but can vary widely in composition. Often, two A2 mags coming from two different makers won't sound the same. The A2 used in Classic 57's tends to sound more like an A5, for instance.

I'm sure Seymour is using the same A2's for both PG's and A2P's. He'd only using a different gauss on something like an Antiquity. Any slight differences you may have detected could happen to any of his PU's that use standard A2's, which could be variations from Duncan's suppliers, or how the PU was stored.

The '57 Classics I've had definitely sound like A2's, they have a very rounded high-end, unlike the sharpness of an A5. I've struggled with '57's to get enough bite out of them. The way Seymour winds his A2 PU's, he's able to get around that and see that more treble gets thru.

 

[freefrog]

Re: Pearly Gates vs Alnico Pro II

I'm sure Seymour is using the same A2's for both PG's and A2P's. He'd only using a different gauss on something like an Antiquity. Any slight differences you may have detected could happen to any of his PU's that use standard A2's, which could be variations from Duncan's suppliers, or how the PU was stored.

Message received. If it's the case, I stand corrected. I like to learn as much as I like to share, even after so many years of tweaking with Duncan's.

Here is the reason of my statement in the previous post : the last PG that I've tested (8.02k / 4.6H) was producing a peak voltage of 460mv in bridge position, which is a robust output level for an A2 PAF replica IME (I systematically measure all the specs of the PU's that I mount for myself or for other persons since 2003). And in this case, it was more powerful than the (8.27k / 4.67H) A2P measured just before. YMMV.

The '57 Classics I've had definitely sound like A2's, they have a very rounded high-end, unlike the sharpness of an A5. I've struggled with '57's to get enough bite out of them. The way Seymour winds his A2 PU's, he's able to get around that and see that more treble gets thru.

Like many PU's, 57 Classic's vary according to their year of production, IME (what you say about Duncan's suppliers can obviously be applied to Gibson suppliers). Furthermore, their tone may change according to many parms that we all know : actual resistance of the pots used, cable capacitance involved and so on...
That's why we might have very different experiences with the same PU's, once again. All the interest of online discussions is in this diversity of our experiences, IMHO.

My own relationship with Classic 57's is exactly the same than in this review:

I put these into my own Les Paul Custom running into the Marshall Super Lead and was a bit surprised by a few things. First, the ’57 Classics felt as if they were closer to an Alnico V design as the attack of the pickups was much more immediate than a typical Alnico II. Second, the characteristic mids of a PAF was largely absent. The ’57 Classic has an emphasis on the upper lows tonally and so to my ears earn their spot as the “least PAF-like” of this group. I also disliked the neck position for being a bit overly bass heavy and it wasn’t very usable in the Les Paul/Marshall setup as I would’ve liked.

Source: http://www.legendarytones.com/vinpicup2.html

That being said for a better understanding of my past answers.

Peacefully yours,

"freefrog"

 

[Aceman]

Re: Pearly Gates vs Alnico Pro II

I'm pretty sure the result will be the other way around..as for my amp doing the work, that's what I always do, the 1/4watt switch on my AC4TV provides delicious tube overdrive on eardrum-friendly volume levels

I gave the "balanced" combo: FAtest highs in the bridge, best cut in the neck.

The opposite - PG/A2P, is the ultimate wide range in moderate style PAFness. Brightest in the bridge, fattest in the neck.

Also a very cool option. Having had all of these in Les Pauls, you just can't miss. Bass/mids with fat highs, or mids/treble with some growl, or any combination. They just work well together because of the eq on each and the wind and the A2.

Just a question of all fat, all cut or cut/fat balanced or fat/cut wide range.

The A2Pn / PGb also has a cool middle position, with volume adjustable tones, unlike the opposite combo, where you minimzed the tonal differences.

 

[LtKojak]

Re: Pearly Gates vs Alnico Pro II

Looking at that guitar, I'll give you the best possible sounding set:

* A2 modded Jazz set *

I have such a set in my Gibson L-5 CES copy and they're not going anywhere. They're so good that they replaced a Seth Lover set, which it was the obvious best choice.

This is the most articulated set known to mankind. Not for the sloppy player, though. It'll mercilessly show every single nuance of your picking, good and bad. Which at the end will make a better player. Win-Win!

That's the guitar I'm talking about:

You can thank me later, bro!

 

[rumblebox]

Re: Pearly Gates vs Alnico Pro II

i used a slash A2 pro bridge along with a regular A2 pro neck for about 9 months. i didn't hate them, but i felt like they were a bit TOO smooth, lacking enough "bite" and "crunch". so i replaced them with a pearly gates plus(see description below) and a burstbucker 1(still A2). this way i get the extra bite i want without a lot more output from either one.

i can't give a first hand testimony to regular pearly gates, since i've never used them, but the PG+ is wound about .5k more than the regular PG and has an A5 instead of an A2. before i bought it i had considered swapping in an A2 or A4, because i'm not normally a fan of A5 pickups, but this one sounds great the way it is. so i'm most likely never pulling it apart like i seem to do with EVERY pickup i own. the same goes for the burstbuckers. when i hear people b1tch about bustbuckers being "muddy", i assume they aren't using the pickups for their intended purpose.

 

[Walgraeve]

Re: Pearly Gates vs Alnico Pro II

Looking at that guitar, I'll give you the best possible sounding set:

* A2 modded Jazz set *

I have such a set in my Gibson L-5 CES copy and they're not going anywhere. They're so good that they replaced a Seth Lover set, which it was the obvious best choice.

This is the most articulated set known to mankind. Not for the sloppy player, though. It'll mercilessly show every single nuance of your picking, good and bad. Which at the end will make a better player. Win-Win!

That's the guitar I'm talking about:

You can thank me later, bro!

That's one interesting combo by now my choice is bouncing between a covered pearly gates and a seth lover, because this one is more accentuated, has this A2 modded jazz seriously more nuance than the unpotted and vintage PAF-proof Seth Lover?