Wizz Pearly Gates pickups

[AJK1]

The original PG Duncan pickups were designed to make every guitar Billy put them in to sound like Pearly (the guitar) so that he could just switch guitars live and not have to mess with his amps/EQ, etc.. IOW they were engineered/designed/wound to give a VERY specific EQ in other guitars and they are NOT clones. As an example Seymour has said the original PAFs in pearly are not A2. Seymour used A2 in the Duncans because that's what got the midrange to sound right in Billy's other guitars compared to Pearly. It's kind of like a SuperD or a Duncan JB- the overt voicing of the pickup takes over the natural voice of whatever guitar you put it in. That's what the production PG are supposed to do- make your guitar sound like the sum of all the parts, not just the pickups. Whether they succeeded or not, is a completely different conversation and highly subjective (I say nay)

The Custom Shop versions are not exact clones either (they use A2 for example, but I'm sure "dun-aged" in a specific way) but the winds and outputs are supposed to be much closer to the actual PAFs in Pearly. Based on my very limited experience with the CS versions (and tons of experience with the production models) The bridge on the CS Pearly is a huge improvement over the production model- it's still bright, beefier on the unwounds, and much clearer on the wounds with gain. The neck sounds better too, but I don't think it's as drastic a change from the production model that the bridge is. In fact if you got a shop floor custom production model PG neck without being wax potted and put it up against the CS PG, I'd wager they would be pretty close.

Hmmm, interesting reading, some of it plausible, other bits wrong…
I’m on my third set of CS Pearly Gates
Have gigged them for over 12 years approx
I first had a set of std prod ones and didn’t like them
The CS ones are nothing like the std ones
I don’t know why they are so different and I couldn’t care less
But Unpotted makes a big difference
All I know is the CS Pearlys are the best pickups I’ve ever owned/used
I’ve tried countless sets of various boutique pickups in my Les Paul’s and got rid of them all and have replaced them all with the CS Pearlys one by one over the years
Except my 60th R9
It stays stock
Many people have played my CS Pearly loaded guitars and said nothing and just looked up at me in astonishment and said What the fuck is in this guitar ?
They are that good
I would have no hesitation in putting my guitars up against anyone else’s and having a duel
Amazing !
Thanks MJ you are a legend

 

[coffeecupman]

Wizz pickups always stand out for me when I watch internet shootouts.

I might try a set of these as I'm a huge Billy fan.

The Cream Ts have the advantage of the real Pearly Gates pickups themselves being scoped.

Wizz were done by ear. But it's undeniable given his other stuff that the guy has an ear...

 

[jbash]

Hmmm, interesting reading, some of it plausible, other bits wrong…
I’m on my third set of CS Pearly Gates
Have gigged them for over 12 years approx
I first had a set of std prod ones and didn’t like them
The CS ones are nothing like the std ones
I don’t know why they are so different and I couldn’t care less
But Unpotted makes a big difference
All I know is the CS Pearlys are the best pickups I’ve ever owned/used
I’ve tried countless sets of various boutique pickups in my Les Paul’s and got rid of them all and have replaced them all with the CS Pearlys one by one over the years
Except my 60th R9
It stays stock
Many people have played my CS Pearly loaded guitars and said nothing and just looked up at me in astonishment and said What the fuck is in this guitar ?
They are that good
I would have no hesitation in putting my guitars up against anyone else’s and having a duel
Amazing !
Thanks MJ you are a legend

Wrong?

Please elaborate if it's not a subjective statement for my part.

 

[AJK1]

My SDCS Pearly Gates loaded planks