P-rails - Anyone use them?

axisus

I recently acquired a pair and I am really liking them. Most people seem to think that the rails sound a bit thin and weedy, but I really like the combined sound of them, it has that strattyness that I was hoping to get out of my no1 guitar. Fabulous!  I’m not quite as into the P90 sound, but I think that may be the way that I like my tone. I basically use a slightly modded Eric Johnson AxeFx patch which is fairly sustainy with reverb and delay. At full whack the P90 seems pretty similar to the humbucker sound. Sounds better with other patches, but I’m on the EJ one most of the time.

I started off with the triple shot rings, but they are fugly buggers! Add to that the fact that my eyesight can’t see where the switches are pointing! I’m considering giving them another go though, and making up some new metal mounts instead.

Anyone else tried them?

ChrisMusic

Hey Axius, there were a couple of comments on my P90 discussion, which you could check >comments here<  -  >discussion here<

- that's if you've not already been there.

@Andyjr1515 certainly likes his, and recommended trying them, so here is an invite Andy.

@Chuffola had an LTD guitar on here recently with P-Rails in.

I recon on giving them a try, along with some other pickups, like Ash's Cow Trons and Brass Knuckle, and of course the odd P90 as well.

I've been following your discussions on here about switching and pickups etc, and I think we have a similar enquiring mind set in regards to the possibilities.

I appreciate your remarks about the triple shot rings, but they do look like a good way to try all the permutations without putting switch holes all over the guitar, at least to discover what you like.

I think my solution will be a couple of test guitars to allow AB pickup testing, and some way over complex switching, to narrow down what works and what I like best, and then to simplify the whole thing down, switching and all.

That's the theory anyway.

TTony

Glad you like them !!

axisus

Thanks for the links ChrisMusic, and thanks for the pickups TTony! Just don't ask for them back as all the bits are not in the condition that they were!!!

Andyjr1515

axisus said:

I started off with the triple shot rings, but they are fugly buggers! Add to that the fact that my eyesight can’t see where the switches are pointing! I’m considering giving them another go though, and making up some new metal mounts instead.

Anyone else tried them?

Hi  As @ChrisMusic says, I'm a fan of P-Rails.  I have put them on two of my guitars, one a home design and the other an ESP LTD.  I think they give all the flexibility I personally need for live use.  Here's the home-built with 'conventional' mini switches.  By the way, the 6 way rotary gives all the standard strat options plus a 'neck and bridge' telecaster option - each humbucker with the full P-Rail options of series, parallel, single rail and single P-90:

I haven't used triple shots with P-Rails but use them on my present regular gigging guitar which is fitted with Bare Knuckle p/ups.

They are very easy to fit, give me most of the sound options I need for live use and, I think, look OK.  I find them easier to use than push-pushes becasue they do not get accidentally switched and, to be honest, I feel the switch positions rather than look at what setting they are on (I also have difficulty focussing on the tiny switches!)  Here they are fitted, again on a home-design:

 

Andy

axisus

I particularly like the look of that last guitar! 

The surrounds look better in black (mine are cream), but I wasn't keen on the 'plastickyness' of them. I'm going to make a couple of metal surrounds for them and give them another whirl at some point. 

What do you think of the P-90 vs the humbucker sound? they seem pretty similar to me but maybe I just have a really bad ear! Either that or I'm soaking with to much distortion, delay and reverb!

Andyjr1515

axisus said:

I particularly like the look of that last guitar! 

The surrounds look better in black (mine are cream), but I wasn't keen on the 'plastickyness' of them. I'm going to make a couple of metal surrounds for them and give them another whirl at some point. 

What do you think of the P-90 vs the humbucker sound? they seem pretty similar to me but maybe I just have a really bad ear! Either that or I'm soaking with to much distortion, delay and reverb!

Thanks - it plays really nicely and sounds great.

The P90 of the P-Rails sounds fatter than a strat-type single coil but very different to the humbucker - I keep saying I'll post some sound clips...I MUST try to get some time to do that!  Having said that, I tend to use clean or medium overdrive and distortion...I think heavy distortion is going to become the overall dominating sound and so the changes will be less noticeable.

I will try to get some comparative sounds posted this week...