Deft Tungsman
08-22-2008, 01:56 AM
For the curious who've yet to try the new Seymour Duncan P-Rail pickups, I present the following tone report.
If there is one thing I have never liked about my '79 The Paul, it's the pickups. I tried replacing them twice, once with a pair of Bill Lawrence original blade humbuckers and once with Joe Bardens. The Lawrences sounded better in the heavily-modified SG I had at the time, and the Bardens seemed to work better in Fullerton than in Kalamazoo. So for the last decade or so, The Paul has remained chained to its original T-tops, which work well for classic rock crunch but are far too wooly and indistinct for clean/semi-clean tones.
The P-Rails offer many wiring options. The guy on Youtube who spanks away on the same little riff as he walks you through the various settings has two little three-way switches to get blade, P90 and full humbucker for both neck and bridge. I wanted The Paul to look the same as always, so I installed two push-push pots. With this configuration you lose independent control over each pickup, but you gain a fourth sound (both coils in parallel).
If I'd had my druthers, I probably would have wired the guitar for independent volume and tone controls as per original spec. The problem was I had no spare wire and had to make extremely economical use of The Paul's original leads. I opted for the single vol/single tone arrangement out of necessity, but after several hours playing the guitar yesterday, I've decided to leave it this way. Simple, fast and intuitive.
http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk56/SlowMRecords/guitar%20room%201mb/P1010325.jpg
http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk56/SlowMRecords/guitar%20room%201mb/P1010326.jpg
http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk56/SlowMRecords/guitar%20room%201mb/P1010327.jpg
Now, the tone report.
1) Humbuckers in series (both knobs down):
With respect to the original T-tops, this is the "apples to apples" setting. A big warm sound with nice definition and attack and no overcrowding in the midrange. Cleans up nicely as you wind down the volume on the guitar, but with fewer tonal nuances as you do so than with my benchmark 88 CU24. Better than the original pickups for sure, but not $180 better.
2) P90s (volume knob down, tone knob up):
Great P90 tones all around! I always suspected that my guitar would come into its own with a set of P90s, and that hunch has been confirmed in spades! The bridge is round and clear at lower volumes, and develops a hearty growl as you turn things up. Special mention goes to the neck at full volume, killer lead tone with excellent response to picking dynamics. These P90s seem a tad less harsh on some settings than those on my McSoapy, but you have to factor in the latter's maple top, which makes it a brighter guitar than the all-walnut Paul.
3) Blade single coils (volume knob up, tone knob down):
While no single coil will ever make The Paul sound like a strat, these pickups perform quite well. With neck and bridge on together, there's a bit of quack, but not nearly as much as on my CU24. Separately, both units give a nice range of tones that are neither spiky nor anemic. Not as harmonically rich as the P90 setting, the output is lower and has more air.
4) Humbuckers in parallel (both knobs up):
This setting has come as a surprise to me, and I'm so glad I went for the 4-sound wiring option. The sound is warm but not as dense as with the 'buckers in series. There's less bite and bloom than with the P90s, instead of sharpness you get smoother attack and a cleaner voice, and the bridge pickup on its own at full volume nails that Malcom Young sound. With both pickups on, there's a great "beefy strat-quack" tone that is very expressive.
All in all, the P-Rails are an amazing bit of design and engineering. Because I didn't have the right capacitor for the tone knob, it has no effect and is only part of the switching circuit. But with all the options on tap, who needs a tone knob? One volume knob is all it takes.
If there is one thing I have never liked about my '79 The Paul, it's the pickups. I tried replacing them twice, once with a pair of Bill Lawrence original blade humbuckers and once with Joe Bardens. The Lawrences sounded better in the heavily-modified SG I had at the time, and the Bardens seemed to work better in Fullerton than in Kalamazoo. So for the last decade or so, The Paul has remained chained to its original T-tops, which work well for classic rock crunch but are far too wooly and indistinct for clean/semi-clean tones.
The P-Rails offer many wiring options. The guy on Youtube who spanks away on the same little riff as he walks you through the various settings has two little three-way switches to get blade, P90 and full humbucker for both neck and bridge. I wanted The Paul to look the same as always, so I installed two push-push pots. With this configuration you lose independent control over each pickup, but you gain a fourth sound (both coils in parallel).
If I'd had my druthers, I probably would have wired the guitar for independent volume and tone controls as per original spec. The problem was I had no spare wire and had to make extremely economical use of The Paul's original leads. I opted for the single vol/single tone arrangement out of necessity, but after several hours playing the guitar yesterday, I've decided to leave it this way. Simple, fast and intuitive.
http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk56/SlowMRecords/guitar%20room%201mb/P1010325.jpg
http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk56/SlowMRecords/guitar%20room%201mb/P1010326.jpg
http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk56/SlowMRecords/guitar%20room%201mb/P1010327.jpg
Now, the tone report.
1) Humbuckers in series (both knobs down):
With respect to the original T-tops, this is the "apples to apples" setting. A big warm sound with nice definition and attack and no overcrowding in the midrange. Cleans up nicely as you wind down the volume on the guitar, but with fewer tonal nuances as you do so than with my benchmark 88 CU24. Better than the original pickups for sure, but not $180 better.
2) P90s (volume knob down, tone knob up):
Great P90 tones all around! I always suspected that my guitar would come into its own with a set of P90s, and that hunch has been confirmed in spades! The bridge is round and clear at lower volumes, and develops a hearty growl as you turn things up. Special mention goes to the neck at full volume, killer lead tone with excellent response to picking dynamics. These P90s seem a tad less harsh on some settings than those on my McSoapy, but you have to factor in the latter's maple top, which makes it a brighter guitar than the all-walnut Paul.
3) Blade single coils (volume knob up, tone knob down):
While no single coil will ever make The Paul sound like a strat, these pickups perform quite well. With neck and bridge on together, there's a bit of quack, but not nearly as much as on my CU24. Separately, both units give a nice range of tones that are neither spiky nor anemic. Not as harmonically rich as the P90 setting, the output is lower and has more air.
4) Humbuckers in parallel (both knobs up):
This setting has come as a surprise to me, and I'm so glad I went for the 4-sound wiring option. The sound is warm but not as dense as with the 'buckers in series. There's less bite and bloom than with the P90s, instead of sharpness you get smoother attack and a cleaner voice, and the bridge pickup on its own at full volume nails that Malcom Young sound. With both pickups on, there's a great "beefy strat-quack" tone that is very expressive.
All in all, the P-Rails are an amazing bit of design and engineering. Because I didn't have the right capacitor for the tone knob, it has no effect and is only part of the switching circuit. But with all the options on tap, who needs a tone knob? One volume knob is all it takes.