Looking for a Pearly Gates Plus pickup

[MN_JDTele]

The bridge pickup in my Big Apple strat took a dump on me, and fender has discontinued them  :\  The pickup is a Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates Plus.  It is nothing like the regular Pearly Gates PU.  Curious if anyone knows of a good source that might have one?

 

[Doughboy]

The Pearly Gates is rather different than the "Pearly Gates Plus" that is on various Fender instruments including the Lone Star StratT, Fat Strat, Big Apple Strat and some Showmaster guitars. The Pearly Gates Plus is only available on select Fender guitars or from Fender dealers. The main difference in these pickups is that a Pearly Gates has Alnico II magnets, while the Pearly Gates Plus has Alnico V magnets. Alnico V magnets tend to give a brighter, glassier tone, while Alnico II magnets tend to have a warmer, rounder, more mid-rangier tone. The closest pickup available in our regular line to a Pearly Gates Plus is a '59 Model with 4-conductor cable. The '59 is an Alnico V pickup with a wind very close to that of the Pearly Gates Plus.

 

[bbl4ck]

There is a used black Pearly Gates Plus on ebay right now:

http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=p3984.m570.l1313&_nkw=pearly+gates+plus&_sacat=See-All-Categories

Good luck &  :rock-on:

 

[MN_JDTele]

Need white to stay original on my Big Apple.  They pop up on ebay occasionally, but I always seem to miss them    Does one have to use the wider spacing on a strat, or will a standard pup work?

 

[tfarny]

I have a heavily used pearly gates bridge pup with an A4 magnet in it, normal spaced (not that it matters much). black bobbins, pretty scratched up, 4 conductor wires but cut pretty short. It sounds great though. I tried A5, A3, and A4 magnets and liked the balance of the A4 best. $50 shipped.

 

[MN_JDTele]

I have a 4-conductor 59 set in my VIP at the moment that I will likely be taking out to swap in a new set of pups, and could use those.  Guess I am unsure how much of a difference standard vs trembucker is

 

[NLD09]

How did the pickup die exactly? It might be worth it to send it to a pickup maker and see if he can't just fix whatever might be wrong with it.

 

[MN_JDTele]

The output dropped to less than half throttle.  Going to test the resistance per SD directions before replacing, but I am almost positive that is the problem

 

[Strat Avenger]

A '59 will have less mid-range.

 

[Dan025]

er why? thats a fender only pickup and sd wont sell it. specs are close to a 59 which you can get anywhere in normal or trembucker spacing. infact in seymour duncans q&a they recommend the 59 to anyone asking for a perly gates plus. 59's should be available as trembuckers as well.

tfarnys perly gates would also be close do to the hotter magnet than a stock pearly gates, the magnet being slightly less hot that the pearly gates plus might give a more desirable sound.

trem buckers are mostly needed for vintage strat trems. you shouldnt here a difference on a modern trem. 

 

[MN_JDTele]

alright, so the set of 59's I have already should work?  Otherwise, I thought about just watching for a 59 4 conductor trembucker in white to come up for sale.  Been watching ebay for a while now, and have yet to see a white PG+ come up for some time.  Had a snipe on one a while back, and lost by $1