Questions on the P-Rails (flipping over? Differences?)

[Buckeyedead]

I got a set of used P-rails for a double humbucker telecaster. I have a couple questions.

1. Can I flip them over so the rails are closest to the neck and bridge? I ask because when engaged, I'd like the rail to provide twang.

2. Do the rails provide a good country tone when engaged?

3. Do the pickups do well with high gain and get nice and crunchy when in bucker mode?

4. I was told both the neck and bridge p-rails are the same pickup with no difference between them, is this true or false?

Thanks in advance!!!

 

[dystrust]

Re: Questions on the P-Rails (flipping over? Differences?)

I got a set of used P-rails for a double humbucker telecaster. I have a couple questions.

1. Can I flip them over so the rails are closest to the neck and bridge? I ask because when engaged, I'd like the rail to provide twang.

2. Do the rails provide a good country tone when engaged?

3. Do the pickups do well with high gain and get nice and crunchy when in bucker mode?

4. I was told both the neck and bridge p-rails are the same pickup with no difference between them, is this true or false?

Thanks in advance!!!

1. Yes. I didn't flip mine because the bridge rail is BRIGHT in the typical orientation.
2. I can't say because tone is subjective and I don't play country. It certainly doesn't sound like a vintage Strat pickup. If you're familiar with Vintage Rails, the rail coils sound quite similar to that.
3. Absolutely. I have a set in my SG and all 4 sounds do well with high gain. In series they're really fat, while parallel gives a kind of bright tone with a slightly PAF-ish vibe. The P-90 speaks for itself.
4. False. They're the same in terms of idea / design, but the winds are different. In series the bridge pickup is around 18K while the neck is 13K.

 

[Buckeyedead]

Re: Questions on the P-Rails (flipping over? Differences?)

2. I can't say because tone is subjective and I don't play country. It certainly doesn't sound like a vintage Strat pickup. If you're familiar with Vintage Rails, the rail coils sound quite similar to that.

The vintage rail is a humbucker though or do you mean when the vintage rail is split?

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Questions on the P-Rails (flipping over? Differences?)

Everybody's take on most of those questions will be different. The most useful answers will come by trying the pickups both ways yourself. It takes under 10 minutes to flip both of them around.

In my Explorer with P-Rails, I tried all orientations until I landed on the one that sounds best to me: both rail coils toward the neck. I have them wired so that the "normal" setting is just the P90 coils, and the alternate setting is both coils in series (separate switch for each pickup). I find the bridge rail coil alone and the parallel settings on both pickups pretty useless, though the rail coil on the neck pickup is an okay sound (not good enough to make me want to wire it in as an option, though). FWIW, I also run two neck models, not a neck model and a bridge model. Being someone who only runs the P90 coil or both coils in series, the bridge model is just too hot for my taste (though it probably makes the rail coil alone sound better).

 

[BriGuy1968]

Re: Questions on the P-Rails (flipping over? Differences?)

The vintage rail is a humbucker though or do you mean when the vintage rail is split?

The Vintage Rail has two "half-rails," one side bass and the other treble, so it would generally not be split. However, because it still effectively has one rail per string it has a little thinner, single-coilish sound... at least more so than a standard humbucker. Still not very stratty though.

The P-Rails are extremely versatile. I have mine installed in the standard configuration as well and I find the bridge rail to be plenty bright for my uses. That being said, they're installed in a semi-hollow (very warm guitar), so my opinion on it may not be a big deal. I suggest that you go ahead and install them as they were designed... it's pretty easy to flip a humbucker around after installing it.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Questions on the P-Rails (flipping over? Differences?)

Yeah, you can't split the Vintage Rail- you'd only hear 3 strings! No need to do that though, it sounds Stratty on its own.

 

[Chad]

Re: Questions on the P-Rails (flipping over? Differences?)

I experimented and prefer the bridge normal and the neck flipped.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Questions on the P-Rails (flipping over? Differences?)

thats how i have my prails too. both rail coils toward the neck, looks a little funny with a backwards logo but im sure itll rub off eventually

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Questions on the P-Rails (flipping over? Differences?)

I took off the logos first thing (as well as putting trim rings around the pickups).

 

[Chad]

Re: Questions on the P-Rails (flipping over? Differences?)

My neck pickup's logo is indeed upside down. Not one person has said a word about it....not even a bandmate who borrowed that guitar for awhile.

 

[BriGuy1968]

Re: Questions on the P-Rails (flipping over? Differences?)

thats how i have my prails too. both rail coils toward the neck, looks a little funny with a backwards logo but im sure itll rub off eventually

I took off the logos first thing (as well as putting trim rings around the pickups).

My neck pickup's logo is indeed upside down. Not one person has said a word about it....not even a bandmate who borrowed that guitar for awhile.

Lol... I kinda like the logos on mine, even though they're hard to see (my P-Rails are cream colored).

I'm glad I like how they sound in the "typical" installation... having the logos upside-down or different from each other would just be an OCD nightmare for me! [emoji33]

 

[Demanic]

Re: Questions on the P-Rails (flipping over? Differences?)

I think that they also make an even hotter than normal bridge version.

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[PFDarkside]

Re: Questions on the P-Rails (flipping over? Differences?)

Has anyone compared the standard bridge to the hot bridge?

 

[BriGuy1968]

Re: Questions on the P-Rails (flipping over? Differences?)

I considered the hot version when I bought mine and decided to stick with the standard. Glad I did, too because it's PLENTY hot!


[emoji450]Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk [emoji441]

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Questions on the P-Rails (flipping over? Differences?)

A couple things...

+1 about the hot version, it's just way too hot to give a pleasant tone except in parallel and Rail coil alone. Even the P-90 alone is too hot for a good P-90 tone. Just stick with the regular version of the P-Rails.

As far as orientation goes, it is very much a personal preference. When the P-Rails first came out, I did a lot of experimentation with orientation, coil combinations, and magnets. While the Rail coil in standard orientation in the bridge may sound a little bright to some (especially to ItsaBass),it doesn't sound bright enough or twangy enough for country. I found that for the most versatility and variety of tones from a pair of P-Rails you should mount the neck P-Rail with the P-90 coil toward the neck and the bridge P-Rail with the Rail coil toward the bridge (this will give you greater tonal differences between the P-90 coil and the Rail coil...with the P-90 coil toward the bridge there isn't much difference in tone between the two coils).

Unfortunately, with the Rail coil (of the bridge pup) next to the bridge, there is a very definite power drop off when switching from P-90 to Rail. So I placed an A8 magnet next to the Rail coil and kept the A5 next to the P-90 coil. Voila, solved!

I use a Triple Shot mounting ring on each pup to get every tonal option available from the P-Rails, and an Oak Grigsby 4-way 2-pole Lever Switch so I can get 1) bridge pup, 2) neck + bridge in parallel, 3) neck pup, 4) neck + bridge in series.

But we all know that tone is subjective. Use our recommendations as a reference and try different things to get the tones that YOU like.

 

[dystrust]

Re: Questions on the P-Rails (flipping over? Differences?)

Has anyone compared the standard bridge to the hot bridge?

I considered the hot version when I bought mine and decided to stick with the standard. Glad I did, too because it's PLENTY hot!

[emoji450]Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk [emoji441]

Likewise I'm glad that I didn't order the hot bridge pickup. In my SG the bridge pickup in series is almost too fat; I can hardly imagine what a hotter wind and A8 would do.

 

[BriGuy1968]

Re: Questions on the P-Rails (flipping over? Differences?)

Likewise I'm glad that I didn't order the hot bridge pickup. In my SG the bridge pickup in series is almost too fat; I can hardly imagine what a hotter wind and A8 would do.

Yep. That standard bridge will rock right up there with the best all by itself. I actually ended lowering mine a little to compensate because, although I really like the tone, it was a little hotter than I wanted.

 

[dystrust]

Re: Questions on the P-Rails (flipping over? Differences?)

Yep. That standard bridge will rock right up there with the best all by itself. I actually ended lowering mine a little to compensate because, although I really like the tone, it was a little hotter than I wanted.

I ended up having to do the same. IME pickup height with P-Rails and Triple Shots is A LOT more important than with other pickups, especially if you want to be able to use all 4 sounds from each. I'm happy with mine presently; series mode isn't too fat while parallel is still usable. Of all the available sounds the only ones I don't really care for are bridge rail and neck in series.

 

[BriGuy1968]

Re: Questions on the P-Rails (flipping over? Differences?)

I ended up having to do the same. IME pickup height with P-Rails and Triple Shots is A LOT more important than with other pickups, especially if you want to be able to use all 4 sounds from each. I'm happy with mine presently; series mode isn't too fat while parallel is still usable. Of all the available sounds the only ones I don't really care for are bridge rail and neck in series.

Agreed. After installing the set in my AS83, it was also a lot louder than my other guitars... another reason I lowered them.

I don't mind the bridge rail sound, but I have yet to find a song where I prefer it over something else. Usually if I'm using the bridge rail it's along with the neck rail. I like the neck in series though, especially for soloing to switch from the rail or P-90 for some extra boost.

 

[dystrust]

Re: Questions on the P-Rails (flipping over? Differences?)

Agreed. After installing the set in my AS83, it was also a lot louder than my other guitars... another reason I lowered them.

I don't mind the bridge rail sound, but I have yet to find a song where I prefer it over something else. Usually if I'm using the bridge rail it's along with the neck rail. I like the neck in series though, especially for soloing to switch from the rail or P-90 for some extra boost.

+1

I had to lower mine as well to balance in volume with other guitars, and likewise that's the only thing I ever use the neck pickup in series for. It's one hell of a boost coming from the rail coil.