P-90 Questions

[piebaldpython]

Can somebody explain what exactly a P-90 pickup is, how it differs from SC's and humbuckers? Also, what's good and bad about P-90's? Thanks

 

[marnold]

It just so happens that this month's Premier Guitar has an article on this very subject.

 

[tot_Ou_tard]

Thanks for the link Marnold!

Pie, the short answer is that a P90 is a big single coil. It has bite & articulation due to being a single coil, but is fatter & more midrangy due to the wide magnetic field.

They can be noisy, but they have soul.

 

[Brian Krashpad]

Thanks for the link Marnold!

Pie, the short answer is that a P90 is a big single coil. It has bite & articulation due to being a single coil, but is fatter & more midrangy due to the wide magnetic field.

They can be noisy, but they have soul.

Bingo. A few other notes, since they are single coils they may not be good for uber-distortion metal-type sounds, as they can feedback and hum like other singles. Other than that they have a wide range of uses and can do clean and distortion (just not brootalz).

One helpful feature on some guitars is the "RW/RP" abbreviation. As with many Strats that have the middle coil reverse-wound and reverse polarity from the neck and bridge pickup, many 2xP-90 guitars have one pickup that's "RW/RP" from the other. On those guitars, with both P-90's on it kills the hum. Similarly there are a few 3xP-90 guitars, which may be wired like RW/RP Strats so that the 2 and 4 positions are hum canceling. In high gain sitches when between songs or whatever you can use the hum-canceling positions to quiet guitar noise rather than having to turn the vol down or hit a killswitch.

I really like P-90's and have 4 guitars with them.

 

[Brian Krashpad]

It just so happens that this month's Premier Guitar has an article on this very subject.

Did you notice it contains an small error?

Not sure if it's just a typo/omission, but the author says the P-90 was on the (note singular) "1957 Special Junior."

What he's referring to of course are the Les Paul Special and Les Paul Junior, the 1-pickup and 2-pickup flat-top P-90 Les Paul models. But they were two different guitars, there's no model called the "Special Junior" that I know of.

 

[marnold]

Did you notice it contains an small error?

Not sure if it's just a typo/omission, but the author says the P-90 was on the (note singular) "1957 Special Junior."

What he's referring to of course are the Les Paul Special and Les Paul Junior, the 1-pickup and 2-pickup flat-top P-90 Les Paul models. But they were two different guitars, there's no model called the "Special Junior" that I know of.

Actually, no I didn't. I don't know enough Gibson history to even begin to speak intelligently about it--he said with a split infinitive.

 

[Brian Krashpad]

Actually, no I didn't. I don't know enough Gibson history to even begin to speak intelligently about it--he said with a split infinitive.

Oh, I'm not really that knowledgeable about Gibson history either. Confusing the LP Special and LP Junior seems to be a common error though, even among people one would think would know better (like magazine article authors).

It's really easy to remember. Basically there were 2 flat-top LP's with P-90's, one pickup=Junior, two=Special. It gets a little confusing because each came in singlecut and doublecut versions.

At any rate I used to have a subscription to Guitar or Guitar Player, one of those magazines, and saw the same Jr. versus Special mix-up in an article there, too. I sent a somewhat smart-*ssed e-mail to them, using "Brian Krashpad," pointing out the difference.

They published it in the next issue in the letters to the editor column under "Corrections."

:thwap:

 

[piebaldpython]

P-90

Hey, thanks for the info. I'm looking to get a lap steel with a soapbar P-90 in it. Will be for blues and slide-type stuff. So, mainly lots of cleans but I want to be able to dirty it up a bit too. I may run it thru a mild OD pedal at most. No metal, no shredding.........not that those are bad things, they just aren't me.
So, does the P-90 sound like it'll work for what I want to play?

 

[tot_Ou_tard]

I really like P-90's and have 4 guitars with them.

I have 3 guitars & one of them has one P90 on it.

I love that P90.

Hey, thanks for the info. I'm looking to get a lap steel with a soapbar P-90 in it. Will be for blues and slide-type stuff. So, mainly lots of cleans but I want to be able to dirty it up a bit too. I may run it thru a mild OD pedal at most. No metal, no shredding.........not that those are bad things, they just aren't me.
So, does the P-90 sound like it'll work for what I want to play?

I think with a P90 on a lap steel would be perfect.

Another good option is a tele bridge pup.

I have no experience with either, but I think I speak truth nonetheless.

Actually, no I didn't. I don't know enough Gibson history to even begin to speak intelligently about it--he said with a split infinitive.

This is a travesty, up with which we dare not put!

 

[tunghaichuan]

I think with a P90 on a lap steel would be perfect.

Another good option is a tele bridge pup.

I have no experience with either, but I think I speak truth nonetheless.

You are correct. I had a 50s Gibson lap steel with a P-90 in it. Incredible tone, very greasy when the amp was pushed. Another piece I let go for a song, it is worth many times now what I paid for it.

tung

 

[markb]

I have 3 guitars & one of them has one P90 on it.

I love that P90.

I think with a P90 on a lap steel would be perfect.

Another good option is a tele bridge pup.

I have no experience with either, but I think I speak truth nonetheless.

This is a travesty, up with which we dare not put!

The tele bridge pickup was originally designed for steel guitar. That's what Fender made between 1946 and 1950. The amp names originally came from the steel and amp sets too.

 

[mrmudcat]

Another p-90 vote here for the lappy:beer:

 

[Brian Krashpad]

Yeah, P-90 should definitely work with a lap steel given the description of intended uses.

I see more and more P-90's out there nowadays. A lot are showing up in the more rocking country bands. Saw a nice sunburst Junior just yesterday in a live video of two people I'd never heard of on CMT. Keith Urban also plays a Junior and has a little schtick where he gives away his guitar at the end of a song during his concert.

Of course, he's no fool. The Junior he gives away is a $99 Epiphone bolt-neck version, not the Gibson he plays on other songs. I bet his guitar tech would be in hot water if he gave away the Gibby by mistake.