Good P90 suggestions

[TLOPband]

Hey all. I have a Chris Robertson SE model with the p90 in the neck. When I bought it from a guy, he was after swapping the bridge out for a Pearly Gates and the p90 for some Dimarzio stacked p90 sized humbucker that I can't get to sound good no matter what I set the pole heights to. Not a whole lot of difference between it and the bridge to be honest. What are some good p90 suggestions?

 

[RickP]

The Seymour Duncan Antiquity made a believer out of me, if true edgey 50s P90 tone is what you’re after.

Otherwise, Lindy Fralin makes several nice P90s, and you can adapt the P90 size pickup cutout to fit other pickups like mini-humbuckers, depending on what sort of tone you’re looking for. There are likely more P90 options out now than ever!

 

[dmatthews]

I second the SD Antiquity suggestion. That's what they put in the 594 Soapbar.

 

[RickP]

I second the SD Antiquity suggestion. That's what they put in the 594 Soapbar.

Yes, exactly. To clarify, it is my first and only experience with that pickup. But if I were putting a P90 into any guitar, that’s what I’d be buying. They’re just perfect in the 594.

 

[TLVA]

Lollar’s are fantastic.

I have a 50’s wind in my Noventa Tele and I put in a low wind neck and standard bridge in my CMG Ashlee.

They all sound amazing.

 

[veinbuster]

Probably hard to come by anymore, but Thorn’s GT90 are my favourite. I have a 3 pack on one guitar and a pair on another.

 

[El Fenix]

Fralin, Lollar, or Wolfe

I believe Wolfe is still running a 25% off sale

 

[matonanjin]

The Seymour Duncan Antiquity made a believer out of me, if true edgey 50s P90 tone is what you’re after.

Otherwise, Lindy Fralin makes several nice P90s, and you can adapt the P90 size pickup cutout to fit other pickups like mini-humbuckers, depending on what sort of tone you’re looking for. There are likely more P90 options out now than ever!

To make sure I understand. Lindy Fralin makes P90 pickups that can be fit to a mini-humbucker slot? I have a Gibson 325 that is just a beautiful guitar. And I think it objectively is; I don't think it's owner blindness. And it plays nice. It was one of my first nice guitars. But what makes it a 325, compared to a 335, is that it has mini-humbuckers compared to humbuckers. And it's a true hollowbody rather than a semi-hollowbody.

Because of the mini-humbuckers I have never been able to get the tone I want. As one would expect the tone is really bright. It's not wrong, a jazz guy might love it. It's just not what I want. I have tried a lot of different settings and amp sims and have come close. I've come close to selling it on several occasions, even to taking it to a local guitar store to sell on consignment. (After a week I missed it and went and took it back home! ) It's the only guitar in my stable I can say I honestly haven't bonded with.

Maybe this is my answer?

 

[TLOPband]

To make sure I understand. Lindy Fralin makes P90 pickups that can be fit to a mini-humbucker slot? I have a Gibson 325 that is just a beautiful guitar. And I think it objectively is; I don't think it's owner blindness. And it plays nice. It was one of my first nice guitars. But what makes it a 325, compared to a 335, is that it has mini-humbuckers compared to humbuckers. And it's a true hollowbody rather than a semi-hollowbody.

Because of the mini-humbuckers I have never been able to get the tone I want. As one would expect the tone is really bright. It's not wrong, a jazz guy might love it. It's just not what I want. I have tried a lot of different settings and amp sims and have come close. I've come close to selling it on several occasions, even to taking it to a local guitar store to sell on consignment. (After a week I missed it and went and took it back home! ) It's the only guitar in my stable I can say I honestly haven't bonded with.

Maybe this is my answer?

I assume he means minihumbuckers with the rings are the same size as a p90. The 70s tribute SG I have does have the minihums with rings and they're the same size as a soapbar.

 

[RickP]

To make sure I understand. Lindy Fralin makes P90 pickups that can be fit to a mini-humbucker slot? I have a Gibson 325 that is just a beautiful guitar. And I think it objectively is; I don't think it's owner blindness. And it plays nice. It was one of my first nice guitars. But what makes it a 325, compared to a 335, is that it has mini-humbuckers compared to humbuckers. And it's a true hollowbody rather than a semi-hollowbody.

Because of the mini-humbuckers I have never been able to get the tone I want. As one would expect the tone is really bright. It's not wrong, a jazz guy might love it. It's just not what I want. I have tried a lot of different settings and amp sims and have come close. I've come close to selling it on several occasions, even to taking it to a local guitar store to sell on consignment. (After a week I missed it and went and took it back home! ) It's the only guitar in my stable I can say I honestly haven't bonded with.

Maybe this is my answer?

I was referring to the practice of putting a mini-hum into the hole provided for a P90, much like Gibson used to do on their Les Paul versions in the early 70s on occasion (as @TLOPband correctly notes above). You’re right, mini-humbuckers are generally brighter compared to standard humbuckers, at least in part due to their smaller size under the string. Some players such as Scott Gorham of Thin Lizzy used the tone to add a dimension when playing with another guitarist using the larger pickups.

If you don’t care for that tone, though, I’d steer away from it in this case. It was just an idea, having no real sense of what you wanted. Check some of the makers noted by others here. There are lots of options, and many of their web sites have audio examples to let you compare and get a better idea before buying.

 

[TLOPband]

Heres a side by side

 

[ruger9]

I had a P90 guitar once, did a bunch of reading/research, and was all set to buy some Wolfetones for it (Mean neck, Meaner bridge)... but sold the guitar. But yeah, I've heard the Wolfetones, dig them.

 

[TLVA]

Fralin, Lollar, or Wolfe

I believe Wolfe is still running a 25% off sale

I have some of Wolfe's single coils in a strat and put his Legends in my SE HB II which I donated to our church worship group.

Fantastic pickups. The Legends really transformed the SE HBII.

 

[Greywolf]

Lollar, Duncan, Joe Barden

 

[Daveporter33765]

I installed a pair of Seymour Duncan Phat Cat P-90 Soapbar Pickups in one of my Les Pauls a few years ago. They are a good choice if one wants to just drop them in place of standard humbuckers. The trick to get a good P-90 sound out of them is to adjust the pickup heights until they sound as aggressive as you want them to be.

 

[SamIV]

TV Jones makes serval pickups that fit a p90 route

 

[Greywolf]

+! for TV jones , I've used Filtertrons. supertons, Powertrons ...LOVE them I have 4 instruments with them

 

[dogrocketp]

My suggestion would be to call Lindy Fralin. Aside from being a great guy, he’ll make you basically anything you want. His P90’s are excellent.

 

[doublescale1]

I've got no complaints with the company who developed them and brought them to the market, Gibson P90's. Here's my humble 50's Tribute Les Paul that I put an Ilitch Cavity Silent Single Coil system on to get the hum out. It works so very well.

 

[Greywolf]

+1 on Lindy's pickups I had him wire me a custom set, and I have another custom set that were on a guitar I bought. He's a great guy and builds awesome pickups