# Duncan P-Rails



## BSTheTech (Sep 30, 2015)

Anyone using these? What do you think? What did you put them in?

P-Rails


----------



## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

@mhammer


----------



## KapnKrunch (Jul 13, 2016)

I am interested. Especially in the neck model. They look great for those who prefer variety with less gear.


----------



## BSTheTech (Sep 30, 2015)

Sounds like you need to run mini switches to get all three styles which limits their placement, but you can pull off Hum/P90 with a pushpull pot. Might work/sound better in a Les Paul than just splitting the coils. Or maybe it’s just advertising which is why I’m asking.


----------



## KapnKrunch (Jul 13, 2016)

You can buy special pickup rings that have the switches built-in. "TripleShot"

Reviews I have read say that all three pickup sounds are compromised compared to one trick ponies. Others are happy with the versatility. 

Triple Shot Rings (Or How The Heck Did That Sound Emerge From My Guitar?)


----------



## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

Love this setup, but not as versatile as having the special humbucker rings


----------



## BSTheTech (Sep 30, 2015)

Maybe I’ll just get some humbucker sized P90’s


----------



## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Sulphur generously traded me a pair of P-Rails for a pedal. I installed them on an Epiphone Wilshire reissue. Because the Wilshire doesn't provide much space between the neck and bridge pickups, I installed them the "wrong way around", with the slender coils to the neck and bridge, rather than facing the inside as most (including the LP in the video) have them. That way I could have the most tonal contrast from the SC portion. I made a new pickguard and also installed 3-position toggles for each pickup to get P90, SC and HB modes for each, plus a master tone and volume. Tremendous tonal versatility. Do they "nail" P90, PAF, or SC tones? I don't know, and I couldn't care less. What I like is that they give me choices, and made a fun guitar even more fun.

This past year, I've been harping on about the "half phase reverse" option, found on the Jerry Donahue Telecaster. This cuts the bass from the neck pickup and puts the two pickups on a Tele out of phase. The result sounds startlingly like the neck+mddle "cluck" position on a Strat, using only the neck and bridge pickups. I implemented this on a dual HB Vantage I picked up earlier in the year. While it doesn't sound quite as Strat-like, it definitely provides a different tone, without the volume drop normally associated with N+B out of phase. I haven't tried it, but I suspect that the slender coil on the neck P-Rail, out of phase with the full HB on a bridge P-Rail would get something similar. If you've ever looked at some of Steve Morse's guitars and salivated over the pickup-combination possibilities, P-Rails will let you accomplish that in a neater format. You'll need to provide the toggles, slideswitches, or push-pull pots to make full use, though. Some folks find that a turnoff, and some are more inspired by the possibilities. Chacun a son gout.


----------



## bigboki (Apr 16, 2015)

to help you
















also interesting:






hope it helps


----------



## KapnKrunch (Jul 13, 2016)

mhammer said:


> You'll need to provide the toggles, slideswitches, or push-pull pots to make full use, though.


Bump. SeymourDuncan offers the Triple Shot Pick-up Ring with the necessary switches. Seems very tidy and easy.

Triple Shot Rings (Or How The Heck Did That Sound Emerge From My Guitar?)


----------



## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

BSTheTech said:


> Anyone using these? What do you think? What did you put them in?


I have one in the neck position of my Les Paul copy.
I really like it.
I use it mostly for slide/open G
I have it wired for P-90/rail & hum bucker with a mini switch.
I like & use all there sounds
It's got a nice growl in the P-90 setting.

I had considered a hum bucker sized P-90, but I found a good deal on a P-Rail & went for that--partly out of curiosity, partly because wile I have gotten more into P-90s I still am a humbucker player at heart--so this way I had access to both.

I did consider the Triple shots so I could have both coils in series or parallel (I just have them in series), but I was also trying to keep the cost down.

But if you can handle the cost--I would go with the triple shots--and give it a try.


----------



## Guest (Dec 17, 2018)

I looked into them a few years ago. Randy Bachman was hawking them online.

After researching online I decided against them. I would still like to try them though.


----------



## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

The demo of the "Ultimate Epiphone Les Paul" is not especially illustrative. Unfortunately, the guy attempts to demo the differences in nuance between the pickup settings, using overdrive. Really, the differences are best captured by contrasting clean rhythm playing, rather than single-note overdrive soloing. Not a diss; just a missed opportunity.

Additionally, what he did was apply the same coil-switching to both pickups simultaneously. On my Wilshire, I can have, for instance, neck in single-coil mode and bridge in P90 mode. Obviously, I'm in a more favorable situation, because I'm able to mount 3-position toggles on a pickguard, while he's trying to do what he can to an unblemished LP (pretty axe, incidentally), using switching pots alone.


----------



## KapnKrunch (Jul 13, 2016)

mhammer said:


> The demo of the "Ultimate Epiphone Les Paul" is not especially illustrative. Unfortunately, the guy attempts to demo the differences in nuance between the pickup settings, using overdrive. Really, the differences are best captured by contrasting clean rhythm playing, rather than single-note overdrive soloing. Not a diss; just a missed opportunity.
> 
> Additionally, what he did was apply the same coil-switching to both pickups simultaneously. On my Wilshire, I can have, for instance, neck in single-coil mode and bridge in P90 mode. Obviously, I'm in a more favorable situation, because I'm able to mount 3-position toggles on a pickguard, while he's trying to do what he can to an unblemished LP (pretty axe, incidentally), using switching pots alone.


Nice axe. So versatile, but not overly expensive. Canadian-made. Mod implemented beautifully, looks like it belongs.


----------



## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Thanks. Much appreciated. This is what it was, I gather, supposed to look like. What I bought from a guy on Kijiji was the set-neck body with bridge/tailpiece and tuners. The electronics were absent. I scored a piece of mint-black-mint pickguard material from Guitar Fetish and used the pickguard the seller provided as the template. I wasn't keen on the location of the pickup switch, and also didn't like the way the jack and controls were laid out. The jack, in particular, demands use of a right-angle plug. Not a hardship, per se, but limits choices. I also like to do pinky swell from time to time, and the layout, plus use of dual volumes, gets in the way. I made sure to situate the volume pot where I could reach it while resting my hand on the bridge., as well as use the sort of knobs that would accommodate the tip of my pinky more comfortably.

And, as I've rambled on about in previous posts, when you have a 22-fret short-scale set neck, with the space required for a decent tenon-body joint, the neck pickup has to be set back enough from the end of the fingerboard that there isn't much room between pickups, and less tonal contrast between neck and bridge. For someone who likes the sharp tonal contrast available on a Tele or Strat, that's a big turn-off. Ideally, Wilshires have mini-buckers, that afford as much tonal contrast as can be achieved within the physical space. And that's why I rotated the P-Rails around on mine.


----------



## KapnKrunch (Jul 13, 2016)

Your layout is a definite improvement @mhammer


----------



## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Thanks. Don't know that it would work for _everyone_ (dual volume/tone is a must-have for some folks), but it works for me.


----------

