The Pearly Gates Poll

[blueman335]

Re: The Pearly Gates Poll

While an interesting question….not what the pole is about.

Which 'pole' is that?

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: The Pearly Gates Poll

CAn TOTALLY cop CC Devilles greatest tones

Wait... CC had great tones? Where?

 

[BloodRose]

Re: The Pearly Gates Poll

I voted its good! I cant say best cuz it depends on the application. In a Les paul, its an Awesome all around go-to set! i did replace the PG set with the WLH set. The pg set covered more ground, but th WLH set is amazing too!

 

[DreX]

Re: The Pearly Gates Poll

So if the Pearly Gates are replicas of pickups found in a particular '59 Les Paul, why are the '59's so different from Pearly Gates? Were the Pearly Gates like an especially "off" production PAF?

 

[ExplorersRock]

Re: The Pearly Gates Poll

So if the Pearly Gates are replicas of pickups found in a particular '59 Les Paul, why are the '59's so different from Pearly Gates? Were the Pearly Gates like an especially "off" production PAF?

Gibson had poor consistency w/pickups in the late 50's. They were wound "until they were full" with no specified number of turns. Magnets as well were inconsistent as the used several type of Alnico Bar mags. Hence the wide variance of tones from one P.A.F. pickup to the next.

 

[ExplorersRock]

Re: The Pearly Gates Poll

I chose love the neck, bridge OK. Nothing wrong with the bridge I just would prefer other humbuckers. The neck I dig a lot and can pair well with number of bridge pickups.

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: The Pearly Gates Poll

So if the Pearly Gates are replicas of pickups found in a particular '59 Les Paul, why are the '59's so different from Pearly Gates? Were the Pearly Gates like an especially "off" production PAF?

This isnt true... the PG were created for Billy to make his other guitars sound like pearly... So they really arent a copy of those pickups... but are similar to the situation with Slash where the slash model was created so that slash's other guitars could sound like the Derrig.

 

[Chris of Arabia]

Re: The Pearly Gates Poll

I went with 'It depends'. They didn't work out in the guitar I tried them in, but then again, that guitar didn't work out either...

 

[DreX]

Re: The Pearly Gates Poll

They're by far the most satisfying when played loud. Played at casual volume, they can sound a bit thin and not especially "musical", but when cranked, they have a great presence, loud without being overbearing. So if someone dislikes PGs, I have to wonder what context they had tried them in. They definitely have more character than the '59.

 

[dominus]

Re: The Pearly Gates Poll

Pearly Gates for black metal? But only if mediated through a warlock? Sorry, the name + genre stereotypes I find vaguely hillarious here. Was that guitar named heaven and hell?

Back in 2003 or so I bought a used Warlock that happened to have a Pearly Gates set in it.

If I was to try one again, it'd probably be in the bridge of a Strat-style or Telecaster guitar as I've started picking guitars based on comfort and not aesthetics. I would still be playing evil music.

 

[Securb]

Re: The Pearly Gates Poll

You mean fat and not too bright?

Why do you have to always be a dink?

 

[Aceman]

Re: The Pearly Gates Poll

Wait... CC had great tones? Where?

I didn't say that...just said it could do CC

 

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: The Pearly Gates Poll

One factor with the PGb may be whether its covered or not.

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: The Pearly Gates Poll

One factor with the PGb may be whether its covered or not.

What does the cover do?

 

[jeremy]

Re: The Pearly Gates Poll

smoothes out the high end just a touch. its noticeable but not a big difference

 

[mojosman]

Re: The Pearly Gates Poll

I voted good. I have a set in my Les Paul. I like them 100% better than the stock Gibson pickups. I'm not sure I'm in love, but I'm definitely in like. The guitar was very bland to start with, and now it sounds much more like what one would expect a classic Les Paul to sound.

 

[Aceman]

Re: The Pearly Gates Poll

smoothes out the high end just a touch. its noticeable but not a big difference

I would love to see the experiment where ten PG's with covers were compared to ten without covers, to see if this is real.

I agree - I think the effect would be slight, but perceivable at greater than a chance level.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: The Pearly Gates Poll

Which 'pole' is that?

Aw, come on. Everybody knows which pole a Freudian likes to talk about the most.

 

[jimijames]

Re: The Pearly Gates Poll

Interesting...

The pearly gates are my favorite as well. They may not be as versatile as the jb/jazz set or the 59/custom (the pickup not the set) but they sound like heaven through my cranked 1974x clone. Incredibly dynamic and when you really lay into them quite fat as well.

The neck is warm with a very vocal sound. Allman brothers sound is there in spades. I can understand that it is too warm for some but for smooth classic rock leads they are very good.

I've said before that I don't understand how people don't like them, which needs some clarification - a lot of guys like the Goldilocks zone in both the neck and bridge, which IMO leads to two sounds that are too similar to one another. That works great for some people but not for me. Sure they're bright and dark with loose bass and thin and raspy and what have you, but I don't know. When I have an opportunity to turn my amp up all the way invariably I pick up my pg loaded Les paul - my tele is a close second but the Pearlies in the LP are just right.

I understand that people hear one as being too dark and the other as being too bright but straight into an amp they're the most versatile set of humbuckers I've played.

 

[Aceman]

Re: The Pearly Gates Poll

A great point Jimi.

I tend toward extremely DIFFERENT sound neck and bridge. But I understand why guys gravitate towards the same. Perhaps a discussion…..in another thread.