To A2P, or not A2P, which is the pickup?

[dressed2kill]

Listened on both YT and SC, for what my poor ears hear A is the T-Top, B is PG and C is the A2P. C sounded bang on for me.

 

[gsammo79]

I'm a little surprised now that I see an A5 t-top was included. I didnt hear *that* through my phone like I thought I would.

 

[Aceman]

I'm a little surprised now that I see an A5 t-top was included. I didnt hear *that* through my phone like I thought I would.

Remember - it has the tone on zero....so there is that.

 

[gsammo79]

Listened on both YT and SC, for what my poor ears hear A is the T-Top, B is PG and C is the A2P. C sounded bang on for me.

This is what I heard too. #3 sounded closer than the others. Close call though

 

[PFDarkside]

I thought #1 was A2P, #3 was PG and #2 was other.

I’m curious what #2 is, it sounds different from the other 2. I’d be very happy with 1 or 3! And probably just a mild tweak to be happy with 2 also.

 

[Aceman]

I am researching possible differences on #2. It's been mentioned a lot....

 

[Aceman]

Update:

I was wondering if the issue was pickup height differences. So I checked. Interestingly enough I will say:

Pup A is the closest - a little closer than standard neck distance.
Pup B & C are about the same distance, about 2-3mm (typical neck distance 3/32ish), but further than pup A

 

[Aceman]

And now for the big reveal!

Pickup A: Duncan Pearly Gates, that is a little closer to the strings than the other two

Pickup B: An A2P

Pickup C: A Gibson 1979 T-Top

I would be just fine playing Sweet Child on any of them. I do it most often/Always on the PG, and I think I like the overall tone of that the best. Bias note: I love a PG in the neck! I like the sound of the T-Top next best. It is in a darkish Les Paul, so there is that. I have always really liked that pickup in the neck of that guitar. As I have said (look it up) That pickup can out Slash Slash". I may simply have the longest history with that guitar and pickup, so am the most comfortable. I like the A2P, but am not overwhelmed by it. I may try raising it up just a touch and see what happens. I will say that I like them better than the stock Dean pickups (Generic Koreans). Again - I think the A2P is a solid overall pickup. I just generally like a more biting tone.

Thank you all for playing!

I hope you enjoyed, and continue discussion. Why did you guess what you did? Were you surprised.

I know the little sound blast as the phone picked up the SPL from the cabinet was a little distracting. And for those of you wondering....yes - this IS part of me gearing up the JB showdown.

 

[gsammo79]

At the time i guessed, i would've put money on my answer.

After hearing about the dark guitar the T-top is in i can see how it's more A2P-like. It does a bada$$ Slash tone, no doubt about it. I'm surprised how well all *three* neck pickups did covering GnR.

 

[PFDarkside]

Excellent Ace.

I will now work on my guitar playing instead of tone chasing. Literally any of the three would work fantastically.

And thinking more about it, to me the output sounded like 3 was the strongest, followed by 1, followed by 2, which I guess matches up with the results? Still, my takeaway is get some decent pickups in the guitar and spend more time playing, less time reading.

 

[jeremy]

listening on my laptop, the last one sounds the most slash like. the 2nd has a little bit of hollowness to the mids that the others dont. with that much gain and the tone rolled down, the tone is pretty similar

 

[Aceman]

Like I said - My T-top is more Slash than Slash....

 

[Aceman]

Excellent Ace.

I will now work on my guitar playing instead of tone chasing. Literally any of the three would work fantastically.

And thinking more about it, to me the output sounded like 3 was the strongest, followed by 1, followed by 2, which I guess matches up with the results? Still, my takeaway is get some decent pickups in the guitar and spend more time playing, less time reading.

T-Top is, I believe , the weakest output of all of them. And...marginally a little further than the A2P from the strings!

 

[EmiAba]

I am really impressed with how the this t top sounds closer to the Slash tone, much more than the A2P. As I said I thought it was the PGn. Mmmh I am getting deaf.. Anyway Aceman could you please share one more sample playing this t top with the tone up to 7/8?

 

[Aceman]

I am really impressed with how the this t top sounds closer to the Slash tone, much more than the A2P. As I said I thought it was the PGn. Mmmh I am getting deaf.. Anyway Aceman could you please share one more sample playing this t top with the tone up to 7/8?

Full disclosure - as I have said: I hate T-Tops. Most meh in the world, IMO. If you dig them, cool. I don't. EXCEPT....I love it in this guitar! So it stays.

I can clip a few other things of it.

 

[ErikH]

Thing is, the A2P in Slash's Derrig Les Paul is such a perfect combination with that particular guitar. That Les Paul (though a copy), has such mojo that it just works. Perfectly. Now, if want more bite and a little more push, then try the Slash A2P neck. That is the answer. I much prefer that one to the stock A2P. It's what makes his newer Les Pauls sound like the Derrig. As for the Gibson varieties, I have no idea about those.

Roll the tone up some too instead of it all the way back. Add some highs back in there for some bite. Live he may roll the tone back but on the album, I don't think he did. Doesn't sound it anyway.

 

[Aceman]

When I play the PG, I usually roll the tone to about 3 or 4. Sounds great. I just used zero here for easy consistency. I think PF nailed not though - it removed a lot of the differences.

 

[eclecticsynergy]

I love T-tops - in neck position. Only ever had one guitar where a stock T-top was genuinely great at the bridge though.

I consider T-tops singlehandedly responsible for the explosion of the replacement-pickup industry in the 70s.

In this clip, with a drive tone and the guitars' tone knobs all the way off, I'm surprised there was any audible difference.
Still, there definitely was.

 

[ToneFiddler]

i searched this forum up and down for t-tops some time ago, so i know your stance on t-tops and this particular one where you can smell the jack daniels in the room when you play it or something...

damn i was wrong on all of them, but to be fair i only had a brief moment with a t-top replica in the neck (reminded me of an A2P indeed) , but never a pearly gates neck. so i only now the A2Pn.
Do you have the same stringgauge on all of them? maybe different tonecap? more stringbuzz?
the A2P needs more gain to compete, me thinks.

Also funny that mister hears it all, didn't even bother to give a guess.

 

[Aceman]

Smell the JD - LOL; That guitar is 42 years old and been through 3 legit bands. Worse than JD has been on it!

The Deans are probably the same. Shouldn't be any funky caps in the LP. It has a full CTS harness inside.
- Same gauge, all 10's, likely GHS on the LP, and NYXL's on the Deans. The A2P strings are newer.

Again - the REAL issue is not which is which, but which do you like best? I like the PG best. My fave LP neck pup period. Cutting, juicy, and sweet.