Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates contra DiMarzio 36th anniversary

[Walgraeve]

In an attempt to reproduce the holy grail sound of the 1959 Gibson Les Paul both these pickup-godfathers created a pickup who might do the most legendary guitar eva justice; Seymour Duncan created the Pearly Gates (to the example of ZZ top's Billy Gibbson slightly overwound '59 paula) and Dimarzio the 36th Anniversary pickup (to his own '59 cherry burst). My question, wich one of these pickups achieves their initial goal the best? And how does the PG compares to the 36th?

 

[edbub]

Re: Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates contra DiMarzio 36th anniversary

I'm not sure if this is of value, but I tried a set of 36th's in my 95 Les Paul Standard. I pulled the Seth's I had in there out - three days later the Seth's were back. I found the Dimarzio's to be pick sensitive, but not in a way that suited my style. They broke up too easily on heavy pick attack, which was hard to adapt to for me. I foolishly keep thinking that there is something out there that will do it better for me than Seths and have pretty much proven this to be a futile pursuit. (I just ordered a set of uncovered zebra 4 wire Seths for my Godin xTSA which will be coil split). So, to answer your question - the Dimarzio's didn't do the 59 tone for me, the Seth's do, and have not tried PG's.

 

[Jeffrec]

Re: Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates contra DiMarzio 36th anniversary

I haven't tried the DiMarzio's, but my experience with the PG's is that they tend to be be too bright for my tastes. I agree with edbub about the Seths being closer to a real PAF (although real PAFs vary in tone. Some are great and some are dogs). IMO, the Antiquities comes closest to what most people consider "the" PAF sound, followed by Seths. I have both Seths and Ants and love them.

 

[Walgraeve]

Re: Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates contra DiMarzio 36th anniversary

I should have put the Seth Lover in the list of contenders indeed...And I'm not particulary interested in getting the exact ('59) PAF tone, if there even excists such thing, as well as improving my guitar with the typical warmth and clarity of a PAF

 

[Jeffrec]

Re: Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates contra DiMarzio 36th anniversary

Good luck with your search. Let us know how you make out:14:

 

[esandes]

Re: Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates contra DiMarzio 36th anniversary

i generally find dimarzios to have a more compressed tone and SDs have a more organic, vintage tone. considering Seth Lover designed the original PAF, i think SD has a lock on the vintage PAF tone market. same goes for single coils. i'd consider the antiquities before anything else.

 

[zenmindbeginner]

Re: Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates contra DiMarzio 36th anniversary

i'd consider the antiquities before anything else.

Word.