Wow, pearly gates split

[gimmieinfo]

I think at this point having used them a couple months i'm convinced that if they aren't the best HB's i have had they are at least as good as the best of them. I'd say best tho. But i have never like to split HB's in a LP, that just never sounds good. Well i decided to try it figuring what the heck, LPs don't clean up near as well as fenders so if they happen to sound good it will make my LP more versatile with less need to switch guitars at a gig when i'm using the LP and the next song requires more chime and cleaner tone. (i use volume for cleans to scream with treble bleed)

I'll be damned....they sound great split ! This just made me a whole lot happier with a LP i was already quite fond of. Like i said, in the past whenever i split HBs in a paul it was the same old thing....weak and toneless. Great set, now even greater !

 

[zionstrat]

Glad you like it and you ought to try them parallel! One of the best ways to knock the mud when the Les Paul is too thick.

 

[Artie]

Nice. And I agree with zion, try parallel. It's a little more complex wiring, but gives close to split sound, while remaining humbucking.

Oops. We posted at the same time. Ignore.

 

[gimmieinfo]

Glad you like it and you ought to try them parallel! One of the best ways to knock the mud when the Les Paul is too thick.

W/O going into a long explanation, suffice it to say that the way i wire my LPs makes that impossible. But i'm very happy as is to no need.

 

[Mincer]

There are several lower output humbuckers that sound good split, so blanket statements about how bad they sound don't really apply. I also love the sound of 2 humbuckers split, with the coil from each pickup in parallel.

 

[gimmieinfo]

There are several lower output humbuckers that sound good split, so blanket statements about how bad they sound don't really apply. I also love the sound of 2 humbuckers split, with the coil from each pickup in parallel.

I wasn't saying there aren't others, i was just saying of the HB's i have tried in a LP the PGs are the only ones i have liked split. Thats in a LP. The same pickups i don't like split in a LP i may like in for example a HSS strat

 

[Securb]

I had a split Pearly in the neck of my Strat, it was the stratiest tone I ever got out of a split humbucker, very Nile Rodgers.

 

[ToneFiddler]

need to try this:fing2:

 

[gimmieinfo]

I'm realizing that to me it sounds like taking the PG HB sound and sucking out a bit of that nasally range of mids and dropping the overall output to what would likely be how a set of HBs at about 6.5-7k would be like, but without the usual weakness and loss of dynamics i get splitting in an LP. I'm loving it for the much wider range of versatility with my LP. There are tunes that i would always switch guitars for because no matter how low i turn the volume the cleanest i could get would still be a bit too dirty Not anymore. And you can get 2 distinctly different sounds in the middle position by spitting the bridge but not the neck or visa versa. I'm really excited about this. I loved the PGs as full HB and was very happy with it like that. This is a BIG cherry on top ! It went from what to me was a on trick pony to much more versatile. Can't wait to gig it.

 

[zionstrat]

Sounds like you and I are wired a bit alike.. Although timber is important, dynamics and volume are also key for me.

Practically all of my builds have a mix of hot heavy thick positions along with thinner alternatives to switch between heavy fat leads and lighter rhythms.

 

[freefrog]

Not surprised the PG is appreciated in split mode when I think to the typically high Q factor of this model... Same kind of pointy narrow resonant peak than Fender single coils so it's as if it was made to be split. ;-)

About parallel wiring: personally, I keep this recipe for hi-gain humbuckers and I tend to split classic humbuckers. Reason: a powerful humbucker in parallel and a classic humbucker split have both the same kind of final inductance, which is most often in the ballpark of classic Fender single coils. Hence a "properly" located resonant peak and a "right" tone (1.8H for a split PG is closer to a Strat PU than it would be in parallel with only 0.9H, a very low inductance that no single coil exhibits: even a weak lipstick is still in the 1.3 to 1.4H range)....

Classic humbuckers found "weak and toneless" in single coil mode can be improved, BTW: if mounted without covers and associated to a higher resistive load, they should sound better when split (a push-pull disabling the tone pot while splitting the pickup might be something to try here)...

 

[gimmieinfo]

Classic humbuckers found "weak and toneless" in single coil mode can be improved, BTW: if mounted without covers and associated to a higher resistive load, they should sound better when split (a push-pull disabling the tone pot while splitting the pickup might be something to try here)...

My tones are not connected. I only have one guitar that i use a tone on and thats a strat which i have wired so the only position the tone works in is the bridge. I don't like tone controls even on 10 so i generally disconnect them.

 

[freefrog]

My tones are not connected. I only have one guitar that i use a tone on and thats a strat which i have wired so the only position the tone works in is the bridge. I don't like tone controls even on 10 so i generally disconnect them.

Ah yes, I remember your posts about that.

It won't change my stance : if I had an humbucker sounding weak and toneless when split, I'd try a higher resistive load in order to sharpen the resonant peak in a more single coilish way. IOW: I'd try 1M if a single 500k volume is not high enough (knowing that it might require a treble bleed, since 1M makes the sound brighter when full up but darker once lowered).

Then, if necessary, I'd try other tricks in the same vein: more powerful magnets, higher carbon content magnetic poles, fiberboard baseplate reducing eddy currents, shortened screw poles, low capacitance wiring (knowing that some Les Paul's are prone to develop an annoyingly high parasitic capacitance because of how much wire they host)... Pretty sure that applying ALL these tricks wouldn't be necessary: there's always a balance to find (I like how Bill Lawrence was comparing eddy currents to ingredients whose proportions contribute or not to a good soup)...

Have fun with your Pearly Gates anyway.

 

[Chistopher]

Interesting, the Pearly Gates neck pickup is what convinced me that it wasn't ever going to be worth it to me to put a split on a traditional humbucker. I think the only thing I have that "splits" now are my Lace Sensor Deathbucker and Sabertooth set

 

[Artie]

There are several lower output humbuckers that sound good split . . .

I was surprised by how good a Distortion is split. One of my favs. And, like you, one from the bridge, and one from the neck.

 

[gimmieinfo]

It's not about slitting HBs in and of itself i was saying don't sound good, it's in a LP standard type where i typically don't find HBs to sound good spit.