Specs on Pearly Gates and PG+

[Falloffthebonetone]

Re: Specs on Pearly Gates and PG+

A5's are bright and bass-heavy, with scooped mids and a firm low-end. A2's have a lot of mids, a loose low-end, not much treble, and much more texture and earthy dynamics. When you change magnets from A2 to A5, or from A5 to A2, you get a very different sound. PG+'s didn't get enough extra windings to warm them that much. Whatever warmth that imparted, it was more than offset by the much brighter magnet (going from warmest alnico to brightest). A PG+ in a Strat doesn't have a lot in common tone-wise with a PG in an LP. Two very different things. As many members here have commented on over the years, they don't hear 'sizzle' with their PG's, and wonder about that term. I heard zero 'sizzle' with my PGN. Along with '57 Classics, they had less sizzle than any other neck HB's I've owned. But that's in an LP. They sound different in a Strat; then they get more high-end.

EET_FUK nailed it. Here's the actual quote.
"Adding a few hundred more turns will increase the d.c. resistance which bumps up the output a bit. But it will also lower the resonant peak. To account for that, we switched the magnet to an Alnico 5, which has a slightly sharper attack on the note; the effect to your ear is increased brightness. The result: the signature Pearly Gates tone with slightly more output."

 

[blueman335]

Re: Specs on Pearly Gates and PG+

Again - let's not overlook that "few hundred extra turns" comment. As always, a magnet alone does not a pickup make!

Evan's comments were about the two bridge models; I was primarily referring to the PGN, which is a warm PU with a rounded high-end. A PGN with an A5 in a Strat becomes a bright PU. Plus you lose some of an A2's rich texture and character. Interesting that Evan recommended pairing a PG+ bridge with a '59N, not a PGN.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Specs on Pearly Gates and PG+

theres all sorts of bs in this thread.

fender wanted more output and a slightly different tone to better match the texas special single coils in the lonestar strat or whatever it was called.

the pg+ in a strat isnt supposed to sound like a pg in a lp

The Pearly Gates is rather different than the "Pearly Gates Plus" that is on various Fender instruments including the Lone Star StratT®, Fat Strat, Big Apple Strat and some Showmaster® guitars. The Pearly Gates Plus is only available on select Fender guitars or from Fender dealers. The main difference in these pickups is that a Pearly Gates has Alnico II magnets, while the Pearly Gates Plus has Alnico V magnets. Alnico V magnets tend to give a brighter, glassier tone, while Alnico II magnets tend to have a warmer, rounder, more mid-rangier tone. 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 '59 usually comes in single conductor cable, but it can be ordered with the 4-Conductor wiring option.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Specs on Pearly Gates and PG+

the pg+ in a strat isnt supposed to sound like a pg in a lp.

That makes sense. Thank you.

 

[Adieu]

Re: Specs on Pearly Gates and PG+

Wait... so an original PG isn't supposed to be bright??!

Well sh!te, colour me st00pid. Note to self: turns out I like the Fender/Seymour PG+, not the PG.


PS btw, likely that many people in this discussion similarly have experience with only the Fender one.... don't see a lot of Pearly-equipped guitars in stores, after all. While the Lonestars are pretty common. personally only ever saw one other Pearly-equipped guitar, a PG-PG Flying Vee, and it sounded off - thought it was the Vee's fault, guess not.

 

[TattooedCarrot]

Re: Specs on Pearly Gates and PG+

Not supposed to make a strat sound like an LP, supposed to be a nice humbucker that matches the Texas Specials in the Lone Star strat. Mission accomplished.

 

[Evan Skopp]

Re: Specs on Pearly Gates and PG+

Fender now puts their own pickup in the Lone Star. I wonder if this is going to increase the value of the PG+ equipped Lone Stars, Big Apples, etc.

 

[elelpe]

Re: Specs on Pearly Gates and PG+

PG+ has became my fave pickup in the neck along with Screamin' Demon. I like it better than PGn.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Specs on Pearly Gates and PG+

Was there some magnet flipping in the Big Apple to provide hum canceling in the Split Neck + Split Bridge position? (Or was the slug/slug combo not hum canceling?)

 

[Aceman]

Re: Specs on Pearly Gates and PG+

Yep, yep, yep all around.

Remember - the PG+ is designed to bring that PG in a Les Paul sound to a Strat. Different guitars = same pup done slightly differently to achieve the same end.

Clarification; NOTICE here I said PG in a Les Paul sound....

NOT turn a Strat into a Les Paul. That takes way more than adding a hum bucker.

 

[Luke Duke]

Re: Specs on Pearly Gates and PG+

Fender now puts their own pickup in the Lone Star. I wonder if this is going to increase the value of the PG+ equipped Lone Stars, Big Apples, etc.

If it does then I suuuure messed up. I finally got aggravated with my big apple strat and went with APS n/m and then CS 9K A2 in the bridge...then traded it off for a Colt Anaconda. :wall:

 

[Chris of Arabia]

Re: Specs on Pearly Gates and PG+

If it does then I suuuure messed up.

Me too in a way. Mine has a Wilkinson VS100, Planet Waves tuners, a Screamin' Demon, a pair of SSL52's, a DiMarzio strap and roller string trees on it. A pristine original example it is not. Still got all the original bits though...

 

[Aceman]

Re: Specs on Pearly Gates and PG+

...then traded it off for a Colt Anaconda. :wall:

Sounds like a win to me....

 

[jeremy]

Re: Specs on Pearly Gates and PG+

Was there some magnet flipping in the Big Apple to provide hum canceling in the Split Neck + Split Bridge position? (Or was the slug/slug combo not hum canceling?)

yes, one magnet (neck i believe) was flipped

Clarification; NOTICE here I said PG in a Les Paul sound....

NOT turn a Strat into a Les Paul. That takes way more than adding a hum bucker.

i think your blood sugar is low. you should have a sausage ball

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Specs on Pearly Gates and PG+

yes, one magnet (neck i believe) was flipped

So does that mean that the two full HBs in parallel is out of phase (a la Peter Green mod)?

 

[ToddStaples]

Re: Specs on Pearly Gates and PG+

I had a Fender rep tell me back then that fender wanted to use the Pearly Gates name with the the new "Lonestar" strat. Seymour talked someone out of that, but came up with the PG+. He also told me it was nothing more than a re-labeled 59b.

...As I remember it.

 

[superpete]

Re: Specs on Pearly Gates and PG+

I had a Fender rep tell me back then that fender wanted to use the Pearly Gates name with the the new "Lonestar" strat. Seymour talked someone out of that, but came up with the PG+. He also told me it was nothing more than a re-labeled 59b.

i've always thought that if it wasn't a straight up 59b, it was so close the differences were negligible. i mean, they say themselves "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." i have a lonestar strat and a 59b, but i don't really have a burning desire to compare the 2. PG+ sounds great in my strat!

 

[jeremy]

Re: Specs on Pearly Gates and PG+

So does that mean that the two full HBs in parallel is out of phase (a la Peter Green mod)?

i dont believe so. i think the flipped the phase electonically too

 

[Evan Skopp]

Re: Specs on Pearly Gates and PG+

I had a Fender rep tell me back then that fender wanted to use the Pearly Gates name with the the new "Lonestar" strat. Seymour talked someone out of that, but came up with the PG+. He also told me it was nothing more than a re-labeled 59b.

...As I remember it.

Which Fender rep?

 

[ToddStaples]

Re: Specs on Pearly Gates and PG+

Which Fender rep?

If you are asking that, I'd rather not say. Don't wanna get anyone in trouble.
It was in the mid nineties when the lonestar first came out.