Rabs Posted March 29, 2015 Share Posted March 29, 2015 So for my next build ive been thinking about doing a single pickup double cut with a half and half body this is the body and im gonna try an match the neck so its the same all the way down the headstock.... and possibly look something like this and im also going to install this Artec on board boost circuit So it should be fairly interesting :) I was wondering what the best pup for the build would be and really like the idea of a lesser huming P90 if the guitar only has one pup.. But has anyone ever tried one? Any good? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdgm Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Bump..... As a P90 owner I'd very much like to know too - anyone tried stacked P90s? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 I had a flat top Les Paul Special, late 90's, maybe 98. It had a pair of what Gibson called P-100s, stacked humbucking P-90s. They were universally hated. I liked them a lot, and I do wish I had kept that guitar. I don't even know if they are making them anymore. I'm pretty sure that whatever Seymour makes that is called a stacked P-90 is a great pickup. I currently have an Epiphone 56 LP that has what they call P-90 Pro pickups in it. OutSTANding pair of P-90s, noise and all. rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Searcy Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 I made a whole pile of humbucking p90s for George Thorogood a few years back. He didn't like them . The problem is that once you tart canceling him you lose some of the single coil spank and sparkle of the top end dynamics. That's not to say that they don't sound good. But the done sound like single coils either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Searcy Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 The key is to just get a good noise gate and embrace the hum.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 They were always a problem for me out and about because of the volumes we worked at. Nowadays, nowadecades, a good noise gate really does help with recording without blanketing the sound of them, because like Leos pickups, they need the noise to be complete. I've never really bonded with a P-90'd guitar until recently with this Epiphone I have, I like the neck a lot and it just works well, noise and all for what I do with it. I'd probably hate it if I had to play at our typical volumes back then. George used to hang around at the music store I hung around at when I was a teenager. rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btoth76 Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Hello! I've just finished setting up my Studio 50s Tribute yesterday night. I plugged it in, switched on the Tube Screamer, Vox wah as filter. At that gain level the hum did not cut through the playing at all. Hum becomes annoying at higher gain. Using it with overdrive in TS gain range, hum is not an issue - as far as I am concerned. Cheers... Bence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan H Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 I'm a big P90 guy myself. My favorite pickup. I've also never found a hum-cancelling P90 I liked...until recently. A guitarist friend of mine introduced me to Mike "Smitty" Smyth of MJS Custom Pickups, since I needed to get my Melody Maker refretted (he's an accomplished luthier And a pickup maker). Anyways, I brought my guitar over, he showed me his workshop (a room in his basement), we talked options, and then we sat down and played. He had probably a dozen different guitars around, all with different models of his pickups. And I spotted a Melody Maker..a reissue, but still a Melody Maker. He had swapped the pickups for his P90's just as I had swapped the bridge pickup in My Melody Maker for a P90 (a Wolfetone). I picked it up, plugged into a fairly dirty Peavey Classic 30...and nothing..no noise. Played it for a bit, unplugged, swapped for my Melody Maker, played, rinse and repeat a couple times...and I couldn't find anything I disliked about his hum-cancelling P90. The output was even a little hotter than mine, but it still had that P90 bark and biting top end, and the low end popped just like my Wolfetone. Didn't have the money at the time, still don't..but i'm definitely going to be picking up one of these. His pickups are pricey; in the $150-$200 range normally, but worth every penny IMO. Probably way more than you want to spend, but just putting the option out there... -Ryan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted March 30, 2015 Author Share Posted March 30, 2015 Thanks for the replies all... Well I emailed the company who I was going to buy it from as they had no info on their site about the pickup.. Which I thought was odd cos they are usually quite good on that... And I got an answer today so now I know why.. "Morning Rabs. To be perfectly honest with you, I dont think anyone working here currently has ever actually had them in a guitar! the guy who designed them actually left soon after they where made, so they’ve been say in limbo for a good year or so now. They’re a bit of an oddball as far as i can tell – using alnico pole pieces rather then a steel/bar magnet setup, so the noiseless aspect aside, they’re probably going to sound more like a Stratocaster then they will a P90. (probably goes some way to explaining why no ones ever tried them out eh?) – but beyond that, i’d be guessing at what they’d sound like sadly." Well at least they were honest which I really appreciate but I wont be trying it out.. I guess I will just go with one of their other standard P90s... oh well.. personally I don't really care about hum too much either.. I love my P90 LPs hum be damned :) I just know a lot of people don't like it so I was just trying to make the guitar as user friendly as possible.. Maybe I will even try a mini hummer out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Farnsbarns Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Thanks for the replies all... Well I emailed the company who I was going to buy it from as they had no info on their site about the pickup.. Which I thought was odd cos they are usually quite good on that... And I got an answer today so now I know why.. "Morning Rabs. To be perfectly honest with you, I dont think anyone working here currently has ever actually had them in a guitar! the guy who designed them actually left soon after they where made, so they’ve been say in limbo for a good year or so now. They’re a bit of an oddball as far as i can tell – using alnico pole pieces rather then a steel/bar magnet setup, so the noiseless aspect aside, they’re probably going to sound more like a Stratocaster then they will a P90. (probably goes some way to explaining why no ones ever tried them out eh?) – but beyond that, i’d be guessing at what they’d sound like sadly." Well at least they were honest which I really appreciate but I wont be trying it out.. I guess I will just go with one of their other standard P90s... oh well.. personally I don't really care about hum too much either.. I love my P90 LPs him be damned :) I just know a lot of people don't like it so I was just trying to make the guitar as user friendly as possible.. Maybe I will even try a mini hummer out? Interesting. I think I'd be tempted to ask, if they aren't pushing them and have a few lying about, if you could have a set on a sale or return basis. You never know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted March 30, 2015 Author Share Posted March 30, 2015 Interesting. I think I'd be tempted to ask, if they aren't pushing them and have a few lying about, if you could have a set on a sale or return basis. You never know. Hmm.. yeah not a bad idea.... Maybe even get some new steel pole pieces for them (then if that works see if they will do a large order for cheap if they have them just lying about).. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 The problem is that once you tart canceling him you lose some of the single coil spank and sparkle of the top end dynamics. That's not to say that they don't sound good. But the done sound like single coils either. That's been true of ALL stacks I've ever tried. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 I had a flat top Les Paul Special, late 90's, maybe 98. It had a pair of what Gibson called P-100s, stacked humbucking P-90s. They were universally hated. I liked them a lot, and I do wish I had kept that guitar. I don't even know if they are making them anymore. I'm pretty sure that whatever Seymour makes that is called a stacked P-90 is a great pickup. I currently have an Epiphone 56 LP that has what they call P-90 Pro pickups in it. OutSTANding pair of P-90s, noise and all. rct If you would have hit me up about 4 years ago, I could have given you a good pile of them. P-100's, Texas Specials, and reissue Jensen C12N's I had piled up like bald tires on steel rims in the back yard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zigzag Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 I had Lindy Fralin wind some P-92s at 8000 (neck) and 8250 (bridge), and I put them in an Epi Dot. They may not be P-90s, but they are my favorite pickups. I was looking for something warmer and quieter than single coils without the mud and with that characteristic P-90 spank and growl- something in the area of a clean Grant Green sound. I think it's there. I also put some Thomastik-Infeld Jazz flatwound 11s on there, and it has a mellow, punchy low and mid tone with fairly bright highs- freaking beautiful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 I had Lindy Fralin wind some P-92s at 8000 (neck) and 8250 (bridge), and I put them in an Epi Dot. They may not be P-90s, but they are my favorite pickups. I was looking for something warmer and quieter than single coils without the mud and with that characteristic P-90 spank and growl- something in the area of a clean Grant Green sound. I think it's there. I also put some Thomastik-Infeld Jazz flatwound 11s on there, and it has a mellow, punchy low and mid tone with fairly bright highs- freaking beautiful! I am a bit curious as to what his "humbuckers" would be like. He makes some VERY good P-90's, and is very much an expert on them. One of his specialties, if not his main specialty. I saw where he recently (kinda recently) made a P-90 noise cancelling pup he seemed to be proud of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdgm Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Interesting. I think I'd be tempted to ask, if they aren't pushing them and have a few lying about, if you could have a set on a sale or return basis. You never know. Hmm.. yeah not a bad idea.... Maybe even get some new steel pole pieces for them (then if that works see if they will do a large order for cheap if they have them just lying about).. Then you can sell me a set! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Searcy Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Thanks for the replies all... Well I emailed the company who I was going to buy it from as they had no info on their site about the pickup.. Which I thought was odd cos they are usually quite good on that... And I got an answer today so now I know why.. "Morning Rabs. To be perfectly honest with you, I dont think anyone working here currently has ever actually had them in a guitar! the guy who designed them actually left soon after they where made, so they’ve been say in limbo for a good year or so now. They’re a bit of an oddball as far as i can tell – using alnico pole pieces rather then a steel/bar magnet setup, so the noiseless aspect aside, they’re probably going to sound more like a Stratocaster then they will a P90. (probably goes some way to explaining why no ones ever tried them out eh?) – but beyond that, i’d be guessing at what they’d sound like sadly." Well at least they were honest which I really appreciate but I wont be trying it out.. I guess I will just go with one of their other standard P90s... oh well.. personally I don't really care about hum too much either.. I love my P90 LPs hum be damned :) I just know a lot of people don't like it so I was just trying to make the guitar as user friendly as possible.. Maybe I will even try a mini hummer out? That sounds like something I used to make a long time ago. W.Jeffry Jones bought a bunch of them. I called it a Jazz 100. More like a Jazz Master pickup than a Strat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 That sounds like something I used to make a long time ago. W.Jeffry Jones bought a bunch of them. I called it a Jazz 100. More like a Jazz Master pickup than a Strat. What we REALLY need is a P-90 that replaces the Jazzmaster. I say that, only because I love JM's, but hate the pups in them. If I had one, we might be talking about it. But no orders for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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