Good P90 suggestions

TLOPband

New Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2022
Messages
36
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?
PbH4Vxt.jpeg
 
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!
 
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?
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
+! for TV jones , I've used Filtertrons. supertons, Powertrons ...LOVE them I have 4 instruments with them
 
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.
SEu2lop.jpg
 
Back
Top