What p/u to get the Billy Gibbons vibe

Pearly gates.

 

I believe Seymour Duncan makes the Tele bridge-sized double coil that he uses. Still called Pearly Gates I think.

 

http://customshop.seymourduncan.com/billy-gibbons-gilly-tele-lead/

 

I think BFG was using a Little 59 before the Tele Pearly and Gilly came out.

But realistically, any T sized humbucker will get you in the neighborhood. From there it's all knob twisting.

(Rev uses an EQ/processor in his live rig to make all his guitars sound as close to Miss Pearly as possible. )

 

I hope your son speaks more coherently than BG......

 

I've got one of the Pearly Gates for Tele in my home-brewed redwood Tele.

I picked mine up second hand from a fella who didn't care for the sound of it; he said it was
not quite what he had in mind. He was selling it for half price.

If you are looking for the sound of a real PAF type humbucker, you'll be disappointed because you won't find it in this pickup.

But on the other hand, if you're looking for more of an over-wound humbucker sound this pickup does it pretty good even though it isn't a standard full-sized humbucker.

I've got the S.D. Pearly Gates bridge for tele paired up with a Rio Grande Dirty Harry in the neck. The Dirty Harry has a P-90 kind of sound to it

Between the Pearly Gates and the Dirty Harry I can cover a lot of Blues/Rock territory .




I'm another Billy Gibbons fan. The first time I heard B.G. and ZZ Top live was in a joint in Fort Worth back in 1971. It was just before they came out with Rio Grand Mud, and they played most of the stuff from that second album. They were a much different looking bunch back in those days - more like Texas sheet-kickers !!!







Best Regards,
Geo.

 

I don't think the pickup is the secret when it comes to the Rev's Tele tones. He's used many and they all sound great.

 

This would be my choice. You can get a Pearly Gates for Tele, which sounds less Tele-like and well, more Pearly Gates like.

 

I have the Duncan BG 1400 bridge pickup in three of my guitars. I'm real happy with them (playing classic rock) but had I known about the Gilley I probably would have tried one in my most recent partscaster, a couple of weeks ago. This is the first I've heard about it. I love this place!

 

The Gilly is fairly new, so it hasn't been out there for very long.

 

The Rev. Billy's live ZZ Top rig is processed to sound like his LP Pearly Gates. All his guitars.

Check out Premier Guitar's Rig Rundowns.

You might have better luck trying to match his sound with some live, other than ZZ Top.

Then remember he uses .007's or .008's.

The SD offerings, which might be good, are a product of "marketing".

Just find "your" sound.