why no love for the pearly gates plus?

H

htwheelz67

Member
Over the last year or two I discovered the Pearly gates plus and I have found it to be just an amazing pickup, I have this partscaster which is a deluxe player ash body with an 85 MIJ contemporary neck, the last setup was hss with a p-rails in the bridge, it was good sounding but not outstanding, I picked up a loaded PG from a big apple strat with PG+ and reverse polarity 59 neck and I havent been able to put it down for 2 months...I have 16 strats with every pickup imaginable HSS,HSH,HH,SSS and these are just the bomb, I did add a mallory .001 cap for a treble bleed but thats it. I've never tried a regular pearly in any of my strats but the PG+/59 rp kicks ass. I also installed the same set in an Ibanez deluxe 59r les paul (mahogany body,sen ash top and maple neck)which has had super 70's,original invader, old 80's 59,pearly gates, custom/59 hybrid and same results on that guitar......just perfect and never coming out.......102_0734.jpg
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Re: why no love for the pearly gates plus?

Actually, I was just on another forum and they were raving about it. It is one of those things that isn't as commonly available, and when it came out, there was a lot more fanfare. I still see threads here mention it once in awhile. It is also a great pickup to blend with 2 single coils, too, due to the A5 magnet.
 
Re: why no love for the pearly gates plus?

Yeah, just stock in the Lonestar strat's, I think. I had a Lonestar setup and, while I loved the Texas Specials, the PG+ didn't do anything for me. And I'm a very ZZTop kinda guy.
 
Re: why no love for the pearly gates plus?

Actually, I absolutely love them!!! Personally I think they sound great in they're intended platforms (Lonestar Stratocasters) & in other solid body guitars like S.G.'s or L.P.'s!!! They are a touch hotter to my ears and I guess, more rounded sounding with the A5??? Of course "ROUNDED" is a pretty vague statement & as far as the quality of tone it's all subjective. That said, I prefer the original version in most cases but it is a very capable pickup IMHO.....
 
Re: why no love for the pearly gates plus?

I bought one of these a few years back and I never ended up using it, and my brother pieced together a guitar and I put it in there (with a full shred neck) and he seems to absolutely love it, I'm pretty sure its his #1.
 
Re: why no love for the pearly gates plus?

It is an interesting sounding pickup for sure. I tried it in one strat with a maple fret board and while it really mixed well with with the single coils it was a little bright for my taste. I had one in a Lone Star Strat with a rosewood fret board (stock) and it got a very VH sound and I dug it. Kind of chewy but still had the A5 definition.
 
Re: why no love for the pearly gates plus?

as mentioned above, never sold separately. So you'd need to either find one that's been picked out of a LS strat or do a mag swap, which I guess most folks never really bother to do.
 
Re: why no love for the pearly gates plus?

Coma said:
as mentioned above, never sold separately. So you'd need to either find one that's been picked out of a LS strat or do a mag swap, which I guess most folks never really bother to do.
Click to expand...

Actually they were available for sale at some point but as a Fender branded product IIRC but NOT as a SD product (even though it says Seymour Duncan on the pickup itself). I'm only going by my memory here...it has been YEARS since I saw one for sale at a store though. I think they stopped selling them as a Fender branded product when they stopped putting them in Fender guitars? Maybe Mincer can ask someone at the company about it if he doesn't know...like I said that's just my recollection.

Here is a used one for sale...

https://reverb.com/item/3333430-sey...-white?gclid=CMPQhbGFjtICFQlWDQodKxEPRg&pla=1
 
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Re: why no love for the pearly gates plus?

The Stratosphere often has them for sale as a "New Other" humbucker for like $65. That's where I got the two I've bought....
 
Re: why no love for the pearly gates plus?

they are awesome in strats, I have found you can buy them in floor customs and with TB spacing, the ones I have bought have been loaded PG's from big apple strats and one set of take outs, both sets the solder covered the volume pot value but the tones are 250k, whatever they are with the mallory treble bleed mod they are the BOMB.
Just the perfect set for a HH strat, just got another set today. I.m thinking they are 250k all around, all i can say is the PG+ is hot yet clear and fat a custom custom just doesn't do what the PG+ does. in a strat. The rp 59 makes pos 2 and 4 quack like singles do.
 
Re: why no love for the pearly gates plus?

I had that combo. I sold them to a friend when he needed pickup upgrade for his LP. It sounds glorious the LP becomes his #1 (interestingly the 4con '59 doesn't sound boomy as single con one. Anyone notice this?). I do like PG+, more than '59b.... and '59n. I have another PG+ as a neck pickup. It's my #2 favorite hb in the neck after Screamin' Demon. In the bridge, I prefer PG+ than Screamin' Demon to pair with single coil though.
 
Re: why no love for the pearly gates plus?

I think these were in Big Apple Strats (Double Fat Strats), too. Musician's Friend has a catalog page for the pickup itself, although it isn't available. So it must have been sld separately at some point, although I assume it was Fender packaging.
 
Re: why no love for the pearly gates plus?

Duncan never sold em. They were exclusive to the Fender products. I fell in love with a Strat model that had em when it was out new many years back.. Was the light green Fat strat Texas Special. had the PG+ in the bridge and Texas Special singles neck and middle. just couldnt swing the price.
 
Re: why no love for the pearly gates plus?

You can get very close by putting an alnico V magnet in a Pearly Gates.
 
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