Fender Fat Strat Texas Special owners... Sound Off!

[Lution]

I'm intrigued by this guitar. Thinking very much about picking one up. That Pearly Gates Plus and the Texas Special pickups sound like a strange, but good mix.

Questions: This Pearly Gates Plus.. is this a true Pearly Gates pickup or just another "Duncan Design" PG wannabe?

How are you FSTS owners using your guitar? Hard Rock? Country?

How do you like the mix of these pickups?

thanks-

[David-R]

It's a true Pearly Gates +, but not the same as the other Pearly Gates sold by Duncan. It's not one of those Duncan designed pups.

I used mine for rock and pop. Eventually I changed out the pickups. The Texas Specials really don't thrill me and I don't miss them but I miss the PG+.

[Lution]

Originally Posted by David-R

It's a true Pearly Gates +, but not the same as the other Pearly Gates sold by Duncan. It's not one of those Duncan designed pups.

I used mine for rock and pop. Eventually I changed out the pickups. The Texas Specials really don't thrill me and I don't miss them but I miss the PG+.

David, how is it different than the regular Duncan PG pickup?

[jec]

I love mine. Nothing special about the guitar except for the pickups. I love the Pearly Gates HB. Awesome classic rock crunch. The Texas Specials are okay..I'd be interested to try some other SC's though. Although the pronounced midrange works pretty well with transparent overdrives like the TIM, if you combine them with a TS9-type pedal, it will mush up more.

Overall, I'd think a used Fat Strat TS would be a better deal than a newer model used american-made fat strat just for the Pearly Gates alone.

[David-R]

Originally Posted by Lution

David, how is it different than the regular Duncan PG pickup?

I put a regular PG in another American Series Strat I owned and found the regular PG to be both brighter and harsher than the PG+. YMMV.

[boonhogganbeck]

The difference in the Pearly Gates that SD sells and the Pearly Gates + that Fender uses is the magent. The SD version uses alnico II while the Pearly Gates + uses alnico V.

[Lution]

cool. thanks for the info.

[jlagrassa]

I've had mine now for about 3 years, Great playing guitar. I do like the PG+ with Texas Specials but just changed out the whole pick guard and put in the SD Classic Stack Plus pickups!

[Lution]

what is fair market value of one of these in good shape?