Let’s face it, we can’t all have a half dozen guitars with us everywhere we go. We’d all like one for the rude and and fat single-coil sound of a P-90 that is perfect for blues, rock and punk; another with single-coils with the brightness and snap for rock and blues; and yet another for the fat and warm sounds of a humbucker. The P-Rails with Triple Shots give you the ability to access as many tones as all those guitars combined, and then some. The P-Rails themselves let you switch between P-90, single-coil and humbucker tones, and the the Triple Shots make it easy to switch between these options without having to install push-pull pots on your guitar. And they also let you choose between series and parallel options (explained here).

You can now get your P-Rails pre-wired with Triple Shots in either LP and flat versions. With a regular 3-way switch you’ll get the possibility of 24 unique tones.

P-Rails

The P-Rails combines a full-size P-90 single coil and an Alnico-powered Rail single coil in the one unit, and each coil can be wired up to be selected individually, combined in series to become a humbucker, or combined in parallel for airier, glassier tones. The humbucker mode sounds big and expansive thanks to its mismatched coil configuration, while the parallel mode gives you a P.A.F.-style humbucker tone with less of the phase cancellation associated with standard parallel wired humbuckers, complete with present upper-mid “bloom” and pronounced string articulation. And the Rail coils are great at giving you those in-between Strat ‘quack’ tones when you use the bridge and neck pickups together. And the full-size P-90 coil gives you all the grit, attack and jangle you want in a P-90.

Triple Shots

The Triple Shot’s secret is its two mini switches stealthily tucked away on one side of the pickup ring. Slide each switch towards each other and you’re in humbucker series mode. Slide them both away from each other and your coils are in parallel. Slide both towards the neck and you’ve engaged the front coil only, or slide them both towards the back and only the rear coil is active. This works with any four-conductor humbucker but when you use the Triple Shot with a P-Rails these switches let you select between the P-90 coil and the Rail coil, or combine them for full humbucker sounds.

Tone Expert Specs:

If you’re interested in learning more about P-Rails and Triple Shots, there are several articles covering wiring and uses.

The P-Rails: Three Times The Tone

The P-Rails Wiring Bible, Part 1

Installing P-Rails and Triple Shot Mounting Rings

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