Gibson P94 Opinions? Truss Rod/String Guage Question.

[GibsonExplorer]

Alright, so I play a Gibson Explorer with 57 Classics installed. I came across the Gibson P94 pickups and the idea was interesting. What if I installed one in the bridge position? That could yield some interesting results and be a pretty different setup. I've played Seymour Duncan P90s before and I really dig the tone, it seemed brighter and raunchier than my PAFs. I play an Orange Rocker 30, which is a darker sounding amp to me.

 

So what's the Gibson Forum's opinion? P94 or 57 Classic Plus? Why do you prefer? What do you like, what do you not like?

 

 

Now for for my other question. I've been playing 11-49 guage D'addario strings and they feel great. But I've been getting used to them, and I'd like my guitar to fight back a little bit more. I want to be able to really dig in and abuse this thing. So if I were to get 12-52 guages installed, wouldn't I need a truss rod adjustment? And if I get this adjustment, would I need to re-adjust if I decide to move back down to 11s? I play mostly in standard tuning, sometimes in drop C# for one of my bands.

 

Thanks for any help I may recieve on these questions!

[strat-o-steve]

I don't have a reply for the pickup choice, that is all your preference. As for the truss rod question........Yes, you will most likely need to tweak it ever so slightly when changing string gauges, if you want to keep the same basic action and feel. But the only way to know (for any guitar) is to just change string gauge to what you want and see how much it affects this particular instrument. If you have a really stiff neck, it may not make much difference in the relief, but you may still have to set string height different to play cleanly with little buzzing. :) Don't be afraid of the truss rod. Better to adjust it when needed and have a good playing guitar, than to not even know if it works, or how your neck reacts to adjustment!