To P90 or not to P90

88prs

OCD for PRS
Joined
Jan 19, 2013
Messages
297
So.... love P90's hate the hummmmmmmmmm..... but is it worth going to Mojotone '56 quiet coils? I know there are other brands, but that's what I would go to.

Any users of those? comments?
 
P90s rock!
What about a noise gate pedal?
The problem with noise gates is that if you lower the threshold enough to block the noise, you often lose the transient pick attack, and you also lose the tail of the decay envelope.

In my studio I turn until I find a good direction to face to minimize noise, or I just use both pickups, which creates noise cancellation like a humbucker.

But I see nothing wrong with experimenting with noise cancelling P90s, if the pickups sound ‘right’.

My feeling is that killing noise at the source is a better and more effective solution than trying to do audio repair with a dynamics processor like a gate.

Also, a good noise gate is an expensive studio proposition, a pedal gate…generally too many compromises in the circuit.

If you’re recording, however, iZotope’s RX10 has a plugin that very effectively removes single coil hum, even P90 noise. It’s killer, and isn’t a gate.
 
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May I suggest the Decimator II Noise Reduction pedal by iSP. I have a P 90 equipt guitar, tried a noise gate pedal but didn't have much luck with it. Seems like I could always hear some noise to some degree when I was playing. Did a little research and came to find out that noise gates work only when you are not playing. I have zero noise with the iSP pedal. They have two models. The one I have has your basic IN and OUT. The other model has the IN and OUT along with a SEND and RETURN so you can connect it to your amps effects loop. Check out YouTube for examples of both.

Hope this helps.
 
LOVE P90's ! My McSoapy's are NOT noisy , (much to my surprise) it is one of the first gen (01) . They are similar to Duncan Antiquity's .
Semour makes a stacked noiseless P90
Lindy Fralin makes excellent noisless P90's , (as well as everything else)
 
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Got them in my McCarty (Mojotone 56 quietcoils). No humz, what so ever. They sound very good, so if you detest the hum: they are a good option.

But it comes at a price, to me. They replaced magnificent Wolfetones mean/mean-5% and the mojotones don't have the magic pixie dust the wolftones have. You can say they lack some mojo?

However the mojotones stay for the forseable future. Otherwise the guitar is useless to me on stage in church, since we have some stage lights that cause a lot of magnetic interference. And did Insay they sound good?
 
Got them in my McCarty (Mojotone 56 quietcoils). No humz, what so ever. They sound very good, so if you detest the hum: they are a good option.

But it comes at a price, to me. They replaced magnificent Wolfetones mean/mean-5% and the mojotones don't have the magic pixie dust the wolftones have. You can say they lack some mojo?

However the mojotones stay for the forseable future. Otherwise the guitar is useless to me on stage in church, since we have some stage lights that cause a lot of magnetic interference. And did Insay they sound good?
The only drawback to P90's is the hum. I love the tone.

But the hum seems impossible to get rid of without also losing the "pixie dust" that makes you want to play P90's.

Kind of like how noiseless Strat pickups sound tighter and not quite as open or "right" as noisy vintage ones.

BTW, there was a noiseless P90 created by Gibson around 1955 or so. It's called a Gibson humbucking pickup. ;)
 
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Just acquired a Fano (see post about Jetsons) with lollar P 90s. Quiet with my rig. No complaints here!
 
Just acquired a Fano (see post about Jetsons) with lollar P 90s. Quiet with my rig. No complaints here!
I'm really liking the Bare Knuckle Nantucket set I put in my SE Soapbar.

They're single coils so there is some hum. But they're much quieter than the old Gibson P90's I had in there.

They lack a bit of the growly flatulence and sweet Mississippi Queen style overdrive tone of the Gibsons - but they get close.

They're less noisy and less muddy than the Gibsons when I turn down my guitar's volume control.

There's also that deep "twang thang" going on with the Nantucket P90's.

They're not a weak P90. They're powerful. But it's all muscle - no flab.

Cool sound with the RotoSound strings Bare Knuckle provides free!
 
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Duncan Antiquity P90s. That’s what PRS put in the 594 Soapbar, and they are “that sound” that comes to mind when P90s are brought up.

The noise is part of the sound, for both good and bad. You can roll the volume or use a pedal between songs like Tim Pierce does, because in the end a “noiseless” P90 never sounds like a P90, so you just learn to work with it, like a good Strat or Tele pickup. It’s not my full-time thing, but when I want that sound I just accept that there are some other noises to contend with.
 
I’m throwing a set of Fralin P92s in a S2 Single Cut in June. I like these pickups in a friends guitar. We’ll see how they do in the PRS.
 
I’m throwing a set of Fralin P92s in a S2 Single Cut in June. I like these pickups in a friends guitar. We’ll see how they do in the PRS.
I think Lindy tends to voice his pickups for a sound that's articulate and pleasing to the ear.

He's trying for a beautiful sound not a raw, barking, honking sound.

He plays with his fingers, not a pick, and when he's designing pickups that's how he tests them.

He's wants to hear a beautiful sound with chime but without harsh "ice pick in the ears" treble. Just enough to give some definition.

I have his single coils in a Tele and a Strat.

They're very good, musical and easy on the ears.
 
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I put a pair of single coil P-90’s.( Wolfetone‘s mean and meaner ) in a Rivolta guitar I used to own but sold towards the funds for a PRS and I was totally surprised how quiet they were compared to your typical Gibson P-90.. also they are wound reverse in the neck so when both pickups are on, they’re totally quiet. They sounded awesome!
I didn’t do this but Painting the cavity with non conductive shielding paint will help a lot as well …I am told….. the wiring cavity and the pickup cavities.
I’ve tried some P-90 noiseless pickups and they just ain’t the same. Being humbuckers or a silent coil, they don’t have the tone or the headroom
 
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I put a pair of single coil P-90’s.( Wolfetone‘s mean and meaner ) in a Rivolta guitar and I was totally surprised how quiet they were compared to your typical Gibson P-90.. also they are wound reverse in the neck so when both pickups are on, they’re totally quiet.
I didn’t do this but Painting the cavity with non conductive shielding paint will help a lot as well …I am told….. the wiring cavity and the pickup cavities.
I’ve tried some P-90 noiseless pickups and they just ain’t the same

I did all that with my Gibson P90 set, shielded the control cavity and pickup cavities and made one pickup RW/RP.

When I combined the pickups I had humcancelling - very nice! But the shielding didn't seem to reduce noise and hum when each pickup was used by itself.

You're right. Noiseless just isn't the same and I've never heard a noiseless P90 I would use.

I love the way the Gibson bridge pickup sounds flat out though!
 
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