P90 Update

[bigoldron]

Follow up for old thread I started about GFS P90's:

I wound up buying a Seymour Duncan Hot P90 off Ebay and put it in my Washburn Idol in the bridge. Mrmudcat helped out with a few parts and I got some copper foil shielding for the body cavity.

Now my latest addition really cooks! I was still a little unsettled about the sound, but I played it at church this past Sunday and watched the video and I am now sold on the P90 sound! It's definitely thinner than a humbucker, but fuller than a Strat. Plus it's got a nice, nasty bite to it!

By all means, if you don't have P90 equipped guitar or are unsure about getting one, GET ONE! You won't be sorry! :AOK: :rockon: :dude:

 

[just strum]

I have them in the WildKat I purchased recently and although I won't say I dislike them, I will say they haven't overwhelmed me. However, some nights they seem to kick @$$. The Dot still ranks #1

 

[bigoldron]

although I won't say I dislike them, I will say they haven't overwhelmed me. However, some nights they seem to kick @$$.

That's kinda the way I feel/felt. At times, they don't seem to move me, but at times they really rock! As I told muddie, standing in front of the amp it's not too good. But, when I heard the videotape (recorded from the balcony), I was really impressed. It has that nasty little bite. Don't give up on yours yet. :dude:

 

[Brian Krashpad]

I'll give a slightly different perspective. I began as a single-coil guy. My first vaguely playable guitar was a Fender Duo-Sonic, with 2 singles. My first main gigging guitar was a dual single-coil Ovation Breadwinner (althogh if anyone looked at it, they'd swear it was a regular dual-humbucker). I played a LOT of shows with that Breadwinner, and then finally switched to a Squier Stratocaster. In the interim, I had a Ric 430 with Ric Hi-Gains, which are also singles. Though sfaik I never gigged the Ric.

Anyhow, after the Strat I switched to a sweet MIJ Squier Tele. I owned the MIJ Squier Tele for the better part of a decade. It was my main axe for a couple years, and thereafter I got a MIM Tele Special, which had a humbucker in the neck. So I switched betwwen the 2 for awhile after that.

That neckbucker was my first humbucker, in over a dozen or so years of gigging! After that, in the mid-to-late 90's, I finally started getting a batch of HB guitars.

Still, I didn't have any P-90's.

By 2002, I finally got my first P-90 guitar, and I basically started at the top, with a Hamer Special with stock Seymour Duncans.

I now have 5 P-90 guitars, and suffice to say I'm a big fan:

I love P-90 guitars. I love playing HB's but P-90's kick behind. Over the last 9 guitars I've bought, only 2 have been HB's. Of those, the most recent was a guitar with 2 mini's (which are surprisignly different than full-size HB's), and the second most recent was a Peavey T-60 with splittable HB's.

I've definitely swung back to singles after a brief flirtation w/HB's, though I'll always still keep the HB's as an alternative to P-90's or singles.

 

[Spudman]

Brian
Across the board do all your different P90s basically sound the same or are there differences between them? Are some hotter, some have different frequency peaks etc?

 

[bigoldron]

Thanks for the input Brian. You've certainly got an enviable collection - some real sweet axes there! My first guitar was a Fender Coronado II, which had 2 single coils. I assume they were Fender's attempt at P90's and they sounded pretty good, just not real powerful. I STILL kick myself in the butt for getting rid of that one!

Anyway, I definitely like the Strat sound and have a low end Yamaha 112 that plays surprisingly well and a Washburn House of Blues which also is not a bad guitar for the money. Both of these are not "true" Strat copies in that their layout is HSS instead of 3 singles.

I've gotten hooked on the humbucker sound, though, and really like it. I love to play Southern Rock and it just fits. But, lately, I've been playing the Idol with P90's a lot and really beginning to like that sound. To me it falls between the Strat/Tele and the humbucker sound. In fact, after playing the P90's for a while, the humbucker now sounds almost too dark. Just my craziness...

Anyway, as I said in the other reply, if you don't have a P90 setup, you need to get one! Rock on, dudes! :dude:

BTW, did you see that UF is now the top party school in America? Big surprise there! :beer:

 

[Brian Krashpad]

Brian
Across the board do all your different P90s basically sound the same or are there differences between them? Are some hotter, some have different frequency peaks etc?

The answer is yes!

Seriously, both are true to a certain extent. From my somewhat limited experience (I know I should sit down and A/B everything, but I just never get around to doing things like that), compared to humbuckers, there is less difference amongst/between various P-90's. Maybe it's just me (probably) but so far, to me, though humbuckers can sound wildly different, a P-90 pretty much sounds like a P-90. Obviously, there will be differences, I'm sure if I sat down and really listened carefully between my alnico-magnet Seymour Duncans and my ceramic-magnet stock no-name Agile P-90's, there would be differences, but to me they seem much less pronounced than with HB's.

Fwiw, ymmv.

 

[Brian Krashpad]

Thanks for the input Brian.

Always a pleasure.

You've certainly got an enviable collection - some real sweet axes there! My first guitar was a Fender Coronado II, which had 2 single coils. I assume they were Fender's attempt at P90's and they sounded pretty good, just not real powerful. I STILL kick myself in the butt for getting rid of that one!

Wow, I don't think I'd ever noticed the pickups on those:

I bet you're right about them being in the P-90 ballpark. I tend to like low-output pickups, they sound a little sweeter to me.

I've gotten hooked on the humbucker sound, though, and really like it. I love to play Southern Rock and it just fits. But, lately, I've been playing the Idol with P90's a lot and really beginning to like that sound. To me it falls between the Strat/Tele and the humbucker sound. In fact, after playing the P90's for a while, the humbucker now sounds almost too dark. Just my craziness...

Not crazy at all. Although the lion's share of Southern Rock was played on HB's, there are a couple notable exceptions. The guitarist for .38 Special has always played P-90's, pretty exclusively:

Also according to Wikipedia, Allen Collins of Skynyrd played P-90's at various points, in addition to humbuckers:

For most of Skynyrd's tenure, Collins used a Gibson Firebird guitar fitted with a chrome, dog-eared P-90 pickup in the bridge position and a Gibson "teaspoon" nickel vibrato arm. In 1976 he switched to a natural-finished korina Gibson Explorer and would use that all the way through his tenure with the Allen Collins Band. Starting in late 1977, he would also use a Gibson Les Paul Jr. occasionally.

(Emphasis supplied).

BTW, did you see that UF is now the top party school in America? Big surprise there! :beer:

Haha, yeah UF officials are always a little embarassed when party school rankings come out. The official line on the new #1 ranking is that "because our Gator sports teams have been so successful, UF students have a lot to celebrate."

They actually said that. :whatever:

 

[bigoldron]

Yeah, I remember Skynyrd playing Explorers. I've always wanted one just because of them - one day...

As for the celebrating reason, well, you can't argue with the truth. Even us 'Nole fans have to accept that. But FSU did make the number 10 spot! :beer:

 

[Bloozcat]

Yeah, I remember Skynyrd playing Explorers. I've always wanted one just because of them - one day...

As for the celebrating reason, well, you can't argue with the truth. Even us 'Nole fans have to accept that. But FSU did make the number 10 spot! :beer:

Well, as a Cane fan, I have rebuilding to look forward to...not unlike FSU. And what a time to have Florida back on the schedule...game two this football season!

Despite the sometimes bitter rivalry between the big three Florida football programs, when it comes down to a national championship, I'm pulling for the Florida team...regardless of which team is in it. It was great watching UF's basketball team win back to back championships, and how can you not like a kid like Tim Tebow? It's guys like him that make watching college football so enjoyable.

 

[bigoldron]

Gee, Bloozcat, you're a nicer guy than I am. I'm from the school thought that FSU is Number 1 and whoever's playing Florida is Number 2. But, the older I get, the more tolerable I get. After all, it is JUST FOOTBALL!!!???

 

[Bloozcat]

Gee, Bloozcat, you're a nicer guy than I am. I'm from the school thought that FSU is Number 1 and whoever's playing Florida is Number 2. But, the older I get, the more tolerable I get. After all, it is JUST FOOTBALL!!!???

I used to be more adamant about my loyalties too, but I have too many good friends who are Gators and 'Noles. I value their friendships.

Now, having said that, you'd never know it on Saturdays when the "coach" (as my wife calls me) is screaming and yelling as he paces a rut in the living room floor. At the old Orange Bowl, I'd yell and scream 'til I lost my voice.

I'm gonna miss that run down, lovable, old Orange Bowl ... I had lots of great times there.