[Uberriff]

What exactly are "Soapbar" P-90's and how do they differ from 'ordinary' P-90's?

[Searcy]

A P-90 is also called a Soap Bar pickup because it looked like a bar of soap in the 1950's. There's no difference between a p-90 and a soap bar pickup.

[stein]

"soapbar" is like searcy said, a p-90 that resembles a soapbar. the other p-90 is the "dogear", the surface mount one as seen on archtops. they are the same pickup, but the mounting is different. the baseplates are different for each one, and thus are not interchangable. so if you are buying p-90, the term usually comes up.

the thing is, while a bar of soap makes you clean, p-90 soapbars are usually quite dirty.

[Versatile]

Large dog ears have more pathos....

V

[Searcy]

"Oh I wish I were a little bar of soap."

[Delta Hurricane]

P-90's generally aren't "quite dirty", but it depends on the setup/axe. They produce clean true sound of the guitar.

[Fudloe]

I dunno, man. I love P-90's more than pie and I think they dirty up better than any buck out there.
Of course, they sound great clean, but I like mine nice and filthy.
So, in basically, what I think was being said is that they are great for overdrive, although they do, indeed, have the best clean tone out there, as well.

[Delta Hurricane]

Fudloe, on 05 March 2011 - 04:47 PM, said:

I dunno, man. I love P-90's more than pie and I think they dirty up better than any buck out there.
Of course, they sound great clean, but I like mine nice and filthy.
So, in basically, what I think was being said is that they are great for overdrive, although they do, indeed, have the best clean tone out there, as well.

Actually, I agree with ya champ. I'll go back on my original statement and just state that P90's are great for either! Maybe versatile is the word I'm looking for. : )-

Cheers

[stein]

everyone is right here..i agree with all of it.

i must say though, i have noticed that there are times that keeping back on the volume in clean mode is an exorcise in dicipline.

[ne14t?]

Fudloe, on 05 March 2011 - 04:47 PM, said:

I dunno, man. I love P-90's more than pie and I think they dirty up better than any buck out there.
Of course, they sound great clean, but I like mine nice and filthy.
So, in basically, what I think was being said is that they are great for overdrive, although they do, indeed, have the best clean tone out there, as well.

The P-90 is not a humbucker its a single coil, atleast not from the soap bar and dog ear days. Later on Gibson started stacking them and putting them side by side to mimic humbuckers, and a lot of Pseudo P-90s that were put into a humbucker style casing to fit into guitars such as the Gibson SG better as a vintage P-90 soap bar will be a little bit smaller then a humbucker and the dog ear will be a little bit larger then a humbucker.

[Jazz+]

ne14t?, on 03 May 2011 - 02:44 PM, said:

The P-90 is not a humbucker its a single coil, atleast not from the soap bar and dog ear days. Later on Gibson started stacking them and putting them side by side to mimic humbuckers, and a lot of Pseudo P-90s that were put into a humbucker style casing to fit into guitars such as the Gibson SG better as a vintage P-90 soap bar will be a little bit smaller then a humbucker and the dog ear will be a little bit larger then a humbucker.

Will a Les Paul Jr P90 black plastic dogear drop in to the holes of a 2018 Epi Casino ? I know black shims will be useful and anticipate tailoring those

[MichaelT]

stein, on 07 March 2011 - 11:33 AM, said:

everyone is right here..i agree with all of it.

i must say though, i have noticed that there are times that keeping back on the volume in clean mode is an exorcise in dicipline.

That's for sure. They're pretty hot pickups, actually. Mine seems to have a really powerful sound on the clean channel, and quite a bit of growl and crunch on the overdrive channel. Single notes sustain and cut through. I don't get as much crunch as I do from the humbucker guitars but they'll certain crunch well.

[Versatile]

Delta Hurricane, on 07 March 2011 - 11:24 AM, said:

Actually, I agree with ya champ. I'll go back on my original statement and just state that P90's are great for either! Maybe versatile is the word I'm looking for. : )-

Cheers

A belated confirmation that 'versatile' is indeed the word you are looking for.....

V

Long time dog ear and soap bar aficionado...…

[Versatile]

Regarding the original post.....

Soapbars tend to be height adjustable

Dog ears tend to be attached directly to the top in a fixed height position....

V

[gtm]

I'm just learning about P-90s. Are soap bars the same size as dog ears, only with a different cover?

My '56 ES-175D body had the dog ear style pickups but has none now. Not much info on the web for a newbie. Apparently, the internet wasn't such a big thing in 1956....

I have learned that humbuckers are typically a different size, so did Gibson change the size of es-175 cutouts in 1957 or were those humbuckers the same size as P-90s?


I am thinking of getting modern "no hum" versions. Nothing that requires modifying the guitar body. Might consider Gibson P-90s if anyone has an opinion, but I assume Gibson changed in '57 for a good reason

[LarryUK]

My 2018 Classic with P90's.
This one has a P90 Dog ear.