R
Rouse
Guest
Has anyone tried the P-Rails? How are they?
I just built an HSS strat. I finally have a strat with a bridge position that has balls. I made two of the pots push-pull, so in bridge position I can get series or parallel, in other positions I can get the "rails" in parallel with the single coils (in this case DiMarzio True Velvet, worth the $50 a piece - equivalent to fender tex spec but better above the 12th fret and better string to string balance) or I can have the p-90 alone or with neck or middle. Anyway back the p-rails...
In series, sounds like a warm ballsy humbucker to me. Good driving rhythms, puts hair on leads. Similar output to a SD STK-S2 Hot Stack. But now I can fake Carlos or Slash. In parallel, one person compared it to a vintage aged PAF, and I think that is a good description. Parallel does not make it thin for funk like other humbuckers in parallel. The P-90 split is the best single coil I've had in the bridge of a strat - sounds like a normal p-90 to me. Gives more low end for soloing (great if you are the only guitarist in the band), cleaner like a sc, but a little hotter than a tex spec. The "rails" split provides quack when in parallel with the middle or neck. Actually haven't tried the rails by itself yet... no need cause if I want sc in the bridge, I use the p-90 tap and it is wonderful. :hello2:
I LOVE THIS PICKUP. I would highly recommend this for anyone doing an HSS strat. Extremely versatile with no drilling by adding some push-pull pots and a 5 way 4 throw sw.
-Namklak
In series, sounds like a warm ballsy humbucker to me. Good driving rhythms, puts hair on leads. Similar output to a SD STK-S2 Hot Stack. But now I can fake Carlos or Slash. In parallel, one person compared it to a vintage aged PAF, and I think that is a good description. Parallel does not make it thin for funk like other humbuckers in parallel. The P-90 split is the best single coil I've had in the bridge of a strat - sounds like a normal p-90 to me. Gives more low end for soloing (great if you are the only guitarist in the band), cleaner like a sc, but a little hotter than a tex spec. The "rails" split provides quack when in parallel with the middle or neck. Actually haven't tried the rails by itself yet... no need cause if I want sc in the bridge, I use the p-90 tap and it is wonderful. :hello2:
I LOVE THIS PICKUP. I would highly recommend this for anyone doing an HSS strat. Extremely versatile with no drilling by adding some push-pull pots and a 5 way 4 throw sw.
-Namklak
TonyFlyingSquirrel
Master Member
- Messages
- 4,556
Keep the reviews coming, these are flying off the shelves but we're not hearing that many detailed reviews.
It helps to know what kind of body they're being installed in, what kind of amp played through, genre' of music, etc...
It helps to know what kind of body they're being installed in, what kind of amp played through, genre' of music, etc...
ok, alder body, maple neck, ebony fret board, stainless steel frets, graphite nut, graphite saddles on wilkinson trem. P-rail set to 3/32 from high E and low E when strings fretted at 22nd fret. I then backed off the bass side one full turn of a screw. D'addario 9s, nut hasn't been mod'ed from warmoth yet, but it will be.
I go directly into a Digitech gnx-2, into mostly clean patches playing Dave Mathews style pop to almost hard rock. It's surprising how the gnx-2 patches are sensitive to changes in pickups and pickup heights. Did a full PA practice and the p-rails could be potted. but I'm used to un-potted pickups. With the band I go DI to PA, with only a Vox Pathfinder (the best little $100 amp in the WORLD, EVER) as my amp/monitor. In self-humbucking (p-90 and rails in series), very low noise next to laptop.
Again, I LOVE THIS PICKUP!!! When finishing a tune that I need to drive with chunking bar chords (1-5-8) on the p-rails (series humbucking), my bass player said to me, "you finally have a guitar that ROCKS!"
I'd shameless plug my band Schofieldband.com, but I don't know if this guitar will be ready for the 2/15 gig at Cervantes. :toothy11:
-Namklak
I go directly into a Digitech gnx-2, into mostly clean patches playing Dave Mathews style pop to almost hard rock. It's surprising how the gnx-2 patches are sensitive to changes in pickups and pickup heights. Did a full PA practice and the p-rails could be potted. but I'm used to un-potted pickups. With the band I go DI to PA, with only a Vox Pathfinder (the best little $100 amp in the WORLD, EVER) as my amp/monitor. In self-humbucking (p-90 and rails in series), very low noise next to laptop.
Again, I LOVE THIS PICKUP!!! When finishing a tune that I need to drive with chunking bar chords (1-5-8) on the p-rails (series humbucking), my bass player said to me, "you finally have a guitar that ROCKS!"
I'd shameless plug my band Schofieldband.com, but I don't know if this guitar will be ready for the 2/15 gig at Cervantes. :toothy11:
-Namklak
bob7point7
Senior Member
- Messages
- 272
I just finished my latest Warmoth project and it happens to have P-rails, so I'll throw my 2 cents in. The guitar is a walnut Tele with an all rosewood neck (both from the Warmoth Showcase) and a set of P-rails. I built this guitar mainly for slide use, and I'm really happy with the P-rails in it. The series humbucker sound seems to have more output than the PAF style pickups in my other guitars. It's a thick humbucker tone with a little of the P-90 top end thrown in. I like to run the bridge series humbucker with the tone rolled off to get a meaty slide tone. The neck series humbucker is a little hotter than I'd like (I tend to like underwound PAF's in the neck), but it is a nice balanced sound. The parallel humbucker is pretty low output (lower than the P90 by itself) and seems to retain a lot of the P90 character. I don't find it as useful as the series humbucker sound, but it could work as a noiseless alternative to the P90 if I was in a situation where hum was a problem. The P90 sounds are definitely my favorites. The neck and bridge both have a nice fat sound with a great top end. Running both P90's in parallel produces a great tone that I'm really not sure how to describe. (Is that what people refer to as 'cluck'?) All three of the P90 sounds work really well with slide. The rail tones are nice, but I don't find them incredibly useful. I love the sound of a Strat neck pickup, but the rail on the neck P90 doesn't sit in the right spot to cop that tone. It's more of a cross between neck and middle. The sound is also a little on the thin side. In the case of both the neck and bridge, I prefer to get my single coil sounds from the P90's. Running both rails in parallel does produce some Strat 'quack', but in this particular guitar it's not totally convincing. It would certainly be good enough if that tone was only needed for a couple tunes thrown into a live set, but for me the rails are just there so I have something to combine with the P90's to get the humbucker sounds (I expected this going in). My goal for this guitar was to get great P90 tones and fat humbucker tones in one instrument, and I'd say the P-rails delivered for me.
Thanks,
-Bobbie
Thanks,
-Bobbie
