School me on P90s

[Boudoir Guitar]

A bit more info on the Harmony:

(1). Both pickups measure 7.9k resistance so seemingly no difference between bridge/neck.
(2). The "faux gold foil" covers are just like any other soapbar cover in that they just slip over the pickup. Indeed, they fit over the Lollar I have on hand with mounting holes properly aligned, etc.
(3). I actually kinda like the look of it better with the pick guard (which covers nothing...no routing for wiring or anything) removed and the pickups just exposed or with black covers. Looks more "student grade" than "toy" or worse "faux retro" (I don't mind the kinda faux retro vibe of the offset they make for whatever reason).

Gonna throw some 11s on it and contemplating popping the Lollar in just to compare since pickup swap on this thing is so easy (master volume only, so just solder pickup leads to switch terminals without having to deal with soldering anything to a pot).

 

[Byrdman]

It's a bit worse in person, but also maybe not QUITE as bad on day 2 as I felt it was on day 1? These are built by Heritage basically, and fretwork/setup shows it...plays quite nicely. View attachment 9973

Shitcan that knob and I think it would look decent. Change the knob and pickguard to black and I think it would look great.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

Shitcan that knob and I think it would look decent. Change the knob and pickguard to black and I think it would look great.

I'm not sure it even needs a pick guard, honestly. But the knob needs to go for something significantly smaller and more subtle. Pretty sure I'm going coverless (or black plastic covers) on pickups, too.

 

[Gearzilla]

I'm not sure it even needs a pick guard, honestly. But the knob needs to go for something significantly smaller and more subtle. Pretty sure I'm going coverless (or black plastic covers) on pickups, too.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

Personally feeling this a bit more; still not lovin' the color but less bothered by it now:

 

[Achilles]

It looks so much better like this! Now all you need is a few toothpicks to fill the holes. I'm about 100% certain you'll find a color/gloss match in your local superstore nail polish section. I'm serious. That's where I found a good match for a black sparkle Ibanez I owned eons ago.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

It looks so much better like this! Now all you need is a few toothpicks to fill the holes. I'm about 100% certain you'll find a color/gloss match in your local superstore nail polish section. I'm serious. That's where I found a good match for a black sparkle Ibanez I owned eons ago.

I have ZERO doubt that I could find a color match in the nail polish section.

 

[Byrdman]

Personally feeling this a bit more; still not lovin' the color but less bothered by it now:

View attachment 9987

I still think a black pickguard would break up the boldness of the color a little more. Black knob was a definite upgrade. But what do I know, I took the pickguard off my red 335

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

I still think a black pickguard would break up the boldness of the color a little more. Black knob was a definite upgrade. But what do I know, I took the pickguard off my red 335

At this stage, the only way that’s happening is if I take spray paint to the stock pickguard because I’m definitely not gonna make one to fit this oddball body. Which is to say it probably isn’t gonna happen because lazy/prefer reversible changes.

 

[Piing]

I love the Harmonic Design Z90 on my Frankeinstrat.

Also love the Dimarzio Bluesbucker DP163 on my RG550LTD. It is the most P90ish non P90 pickup out there. It has a special character (with a 3-pos switch for Humbucker/single-coil/Parallell-Reverse-Phase). I started with a Bluesbucker neck, and I loved it so much that I also replaced the Suhr Aldrich that I had at the Bridge with a Bluesbucker. Even though I loved the Aldrich, the Bluesbucker has more nuances, it can also be wild when pushed, and sounds much better with clean and with edge-of-breakup tones than the Aldrich.

 

[FuzzyAce]

After all these years, I've yet to own a P90 guitar.

I love the Harmonic Design Z90 on my Frankeinstrat.
View attachment 10005

Also love the Dimarzio Bluesbucker DP163 on my RG550LTD. It is the most P90ish non P90 pickup out there. It has a special character (with a 3-pos switch for Humbucker/single-coil/Parallell-Reverse-Phase). I started with a Bluesbucker neck, and I loved it so much that I also replaced the Suhr Aldrich that I had at the Bridge with a Bluesbucker. Even though I loved the Aldrich, the Bluesbucker has more nuances, it can also be wild when pushed, and sounds much better with clean and with edge-of-breakup tones than the Aldrich.

Orange guitar, scalloped neck, P90s, Floyd....
That's an interesting mix most would not come up with. Cool guitar!

 

[littlebadboy]

Phil X loves them!

 

[Piing]

After all these years, I've yet to own a P90 guitar.


Orange guitar, scalloped neck, P90s, Floyd....
That's an interesting mix most would not come up with. Cool guitar!

That is a DIY made with a $78 scalloped neck and a $49 body from AliExpress . Surprisingly good quality and playability!

Here is that sweet P90 on the neck neck in action:

AliExpress floral neck, scalloped from 12th to 24th fret (finally ended building a new guitar from parts)

Already rockin'! Tuning is stable No intonation issues Truss rod is functional The trem can flutter I forgot how much I like the Gravity Storm The only issue is that fretboard pos#10 is unplayable. Fret #11 needs some leveling And they forgot to drill the hole for the ground cable to the trem

forum.fractalaudio.com

 

[EOengineer]

To be clear, I'm aware of loads of folks that sound great with P90s, just wondering why I've been struggling with them up to this point for the most part.

Gibson sometimes uses 300k pots with their factory p90 wiring. I’d take a look under the hood. 500k pots will brighten those p90s up. I have a Tokai LP Special using 500k pots and sometimes it’s almost TOO bright.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

Played these two yesterday and very impressed with both of them. Was running them into a Boogie Fillmore 50 combo, and the shop had a hardtail version of the Gretsch Jet p90 so was able to use that as a reference:

https://dangelicoguitars.com/guitars/excel-series/excel-59/ - REALLY woody sounding with a lotta pop. Bright and clear. Bigger and thicker sounding than Fender single coils but not at all humbucker sounding. So low-mid mud. Don't love the D'Angelico aesthetics, I found this pick guard to really get in the way (it was flush with the very top of the pickup covers and extended out parallel to the pickup covers rather than angling a little....I found I couldn't play the high e-string with fingers at all) and the chicken head pickup selector rotary switch is just dumb. Played pretty well.

https://www.eastmanguitars.com/t64_v -- Not as woody sounding; a little smokier and a little less bright, but still with lots of clarity. Also no low-mid mud. Like all Eastmans, felt, played great and gave off all the vibe. Not looking to drop $2k on a guitar anytime in the next few months, but this one (preferably the trapeze version rather than Bigsby) is on my short list.

So the moral of the story is that there seem to be plenty of p90 guitars out there that don't have that lower midrange thickness/mudiness that turns me off.

 

[Byrdman]

Anyone ever put a P90 in the bridge position in a Strat? If so, how did it sound?

I have a MIM Player's Plus and it should be routed out already. I'm going to peak under the hood this weekend when I change strings.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

Anyone ever put a P90 in the bridge position in a Strat? If so, how did it sound?

I have a MIM Player's Plus and it should be routed out already. I'm going to peak under the hood this weekend when I change strings.

My whole tour of p90 guitars started because I snagged a Classic Vibe Strat that had the Lollar 50s wind p90 in the bridge with a vintage gold foil pickup in the neck. Loved the p90, hated the gold foil, so I pulled the pick guard off, replaced with a classic be one I found on reverb, sold the guitar and the gold foil pickup.

 

[CakeEater]

Hi everyone!

This video has some of my favourite Marshall tones, and Dan looks to be using P90s:


Personally I prefer P90s to humbuckers, they seem to have just a little bit more focus, which I like, this may be the mid-spike to others.

My whole tour of p90 guitars started because I snagged a Classic Vibe Strat that had the Lollar 50s wind p90 in the bridge with a vintage gold foil pickup in the neck. Loved the p90, hated the gold foil, so I pulled the pick guard off, replaced with a classic be one I found on reverb, sold the guitar and the gold foil pickup.

I've got P90 sized single-coil in the bridge of my strat, I find it very usable and still compatible with the other two single-coils.

 

[richey88]

They can be smooth or nasty. I have been on a kick the last few years, trash twang and thunder! And yes, bought one of the Tributes back in’19. Next year the Epi (stuff came and went in between…… both sound incredible. Say what you will about ‘ol blue, flat out rock machine! SG sounds good too (on a tight budget lately, don’t tell the wife).

 

[richey88]

A little something with P90’s, c. 2018 run to sandy