Gretschie Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 Hello All. Took my 2011 60's tribute les Paul with stock P90's to jam last night for another fellow who asked if he could try it out and ended up he was a no show, sooo I thought why not, I'll try out the LP even though I brought my ES335 Block as primary.. The 335 with Seth Lovers we recently changed linear taper volumes pots to audio tapers and ceramics to orange drop .027 caps, also cloth wire and 50's wiring scheme, Wow the transformation made it far brighter than it was in factory "jazz" form. I threw on a set of 11-52 Diaddario Chrome flat wounds last night before heading to jam and it certainly tamed the excessive brightness! I was running through my beloved 68' BF Princeton, Jensen C10NS, NOS tubes and typically occupy our Saturday nights playing old/classic rock, blues and honky Tonk. Man, did I get my eyes opened up to the amazingly well rounded spank bark/tones those P90's delivered from the LP Tribute. Neck was nice and subtle for rhythm yet still have just enough character I could play lead but fell in lust when both pickups blended and or bridge position. I normally take my 78' springy sound or Tele JV Squier with HD single coils to this particular weekly jam but had to try out the 335 to base an opinion on first attempt with flat wounds. I still can't get over how much I love the grind from those P90's and now wonder what direction I can go to replace the Seth's with single coil 90's in the 335. I'm finding more and more I prefer vintage tone over anything overwound I've tried thus far in my electrics. Typically not using any pedals either. Are dog ears my P90 option (have to drill more holes in body for mounting ?) for 335 and also what pickups/setup might you suggest ? Thank you in advance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayyj Posted April 13, 2014 Share Posted April 13, 2014 You should be able to find plenty of p90s that are designed to drop directly into humbucker mounting rings, so no need to permanently modify the guitar. I have two p90 guitars, a '65 ES330 and a Japanese Epi Casino, and I love the sound of them through a black face Princeton! Vintage spec versions sound a little more dynamic to my ears than the modern hot versions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gretschie Posted April 15, 2014 Author Share Posted April 15, 2014 You should be able to find plenty of p90s that are designed to drop directly into humbucker mounting rings, so no need to permanently modify the guitar. I have two p90 guitars, a '65 ES330 and a Japanese Epi Casino, and I love the sound of them through a black face Princeton! Vintage spec versions sound a little more dynamic to my ears than the modern hot versions. Thanks Jay. Are you saying there are P90 options that have same look and mounting as humbuckers ?? The only P90's I've had is in this 60's tribute but they have a steel mounting plate screwed to cavity bottom. I was under impressed these soap bar pups either mounted same as tribute or top mounted as with the dog ears. Would be nice if they mounted same as the buckers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayyj Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 Here are a couple of examples, should just drop into the existing mounting rings of your 335. https://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/main/pickups.php?cat=p90s http://www.creamery-pickups.co.uk/creamery-humbucker-sized-p90-pickup.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Peel Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 Bare Knuckle pickups from here in the UK are great pickups.All handwound. I fitted a pair of Mississippi Queens to an ES 339 and the results were superb. The 339 had Gibson classics fitted so the work was just a straight drop in. The 'Queens are sized to replace a Gibson sized humbucker so you will not have any structural mods to make. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldDot Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 Hello All. Took my 2011 60's tribute les Paul with stock P90's to jam last night for another fellow who asked if he could try it out and ended up he was a no show, sooo I thought why not, I'll try out the LP even though I brought my ES335 Block as primary.. The 335 with Seth Lovers we recently changed linear taper volumes pots to audio tapers and ceramics to orange drop .027 caps, also cloth wire and 50's wiring scheme, Wow the transformation made it far brighter than it was in factory "jazz" form. I threw on a set of 11-52 Diaddario Chrome flat wounds last night before heading to jam and it certainly tamed the excessive brightness! I was running through my beloved 68' BF Princeton, Jensen C10NS, NOS tubes and typically occupy our Saturday nights playing old/classic rock, blues and honky Tonk. Man, did I get my eyes opened up to the amazingly well rounded spank bark/tones those P90's delivered from the LP Tribute. Neck was nice and subtle for rhythm yet still have just enough character I could play lead but fell in lust when both pickups blended and or bridge position. I normally take my 78' springy sound or Tele JV Squier with HD single coils to this particular weekly jam but had to try out the 335 to base an opinion on first attempt with flat wounds. I still can't get over how much I love the grind from those P90's and now wonder what direction I can go to replace the Seth's with single coil 90's in the 335. I'm finding more and more I prefer vintage tone over anything overwound I've tried thus far in my electrics. Typically not using any pedals either. Are dog ears my P90 option (have to drill more holes in body for mounting ?) for 335 and also what pickups/setup might you suggest ? Thank you in advance Hands DOWN 100% winner (to me) would be the Gibson P94 pickup to drop-into your ES335 pup holes NO MODS. I've had a number of hard-rockin' stage guitars over the decades and I don't do permanent mods on anything!!! It ruins resale value!!! Here's a couple of my tools that I could find. Try a matched set ... you WON'T regret it. The P100's bite ... you want the P-94s from Gibson, not SD, not Lollar, not WD Music or anybody else .... Gibson. No, I don't work for them; I just happen to have a set of ears that made me buy a bunch of these due to my love of P90s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveFord Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 That's the best description I've ever heard for the P100s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldDot Posted April 16, 2014 Share Posted April 16, 2014 That's the best description I've ever heard for the P100s. Thank ya ... thank ya vury much ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CR9 Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 As much as I like the other pickup makers, I really like the Gibson P94s and agree with GoldDot.. check out Gibson's page for the specs: P94 They are available from most Gibson dealers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdgm Posted April 17, 2014 Share Posted April 17, 2014 Bought a Memphis ES175 last year; Bigsby, P94s - neck wound to 10k, bridge to 10.5. Fantastic. 21st century Scotty Moore and...mucho more. Stunning tones. Regards! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drog Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 Bought a Memphis ES175 last year; Bigsby, P94s - neck wound to 10k, bridge to 10.5. Fantastic. 21st century Scotty Moore and...mucho more. Stunning tones. Regards! I see that you mounted a pad behind the saddles, to stop unwanted overtones? How do you find that is working for you? What did you use? Any sound bites of your ES175 with the P94's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldDot Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 Bought a Memphis ES175 last year; Bigsby, P94s - neck wound to 10k, bridge to 10.5. Fantastic. 21st century Scotty Moore and...mucho more. Stunning tones. Regards! Gorgeous! I'm gonna have to get me one of those to park beside my 335! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gretschie Posted April 18, 2014 Author Share Posted April 18, 2014 Thanks guys for the suggestions and I'll look into a set of P94's, never hurts to have an extra set to try.. Mixed reviews on Gibson P90's they used in many different guitars and also in my 60's tribute les paul, I think they sound great.. For the time being I ordered a set of Harmonic Design pickups ordered from Scott earlier this year and blown away how nice they sound compared to anything else I've ever had in any tele I've played or owned, I decided to give his Z-90's a go, humbucker size and will drop right in.. should be done in the next few weeks.. some guys have mentioned with set neck on the 335, that dog ears will sit too high and not work, even if there were no height issues, I'd still have to route cavities, which I do not want to alter Love that ES-175 too !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdgm Posted April 18, 2014 Share Posted April 18, 2014 I see that you mounted a pad behind the saddles, to stop unwanted overtones? How do you find that is working for you? What did you use? Any sound bites of your ES175 with the P94's? I used velcro (under/over the strings) and put black felt on the sticky back part. The break angle from the bridge to the Bigsby is very shallow (see pic, before damping) and there was quite a bit of ringing and overtones - I sort of like that sometimes but it does sound better when damped off, plus the pad is where I often rest my right wrist. No soundbites yet I'm afraid but there are sound samples on the Thomann site (where I got it)! Hope this link will work - http://www.thomann.de/gb/gibson_es_175_reissue_eb_bigsby.htm Thanks all - cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gretschie Posted April 20, 2014 Author Share Posted April 20, 2014 I used velcro (under/over the strings) and put black felt on the sticky back part. The break angle from the bridge to the Bigsby is very shallow (see pic, before damping) and there was quite a bit of ringing and overtones - I sort of like that sometimes but it does sound better when damped off, plus the pad is where I often rest my right wrist. No soundbites yet I'm afraid but there are sound samples on the Thomann site (where I got it)! Hope this link will work - http://www.thomann.de/gb/gibson_es_175_reissue_eb_bigsby.htm Thanks all - cheers! cool idea, and I recently bought a few 3" 6-32 machine screws to drill and tap deeper in center block for saddles.. supposedly this tip came from Gibson Custom shop builder and suppose to give much better sustain... Just need time to do the install.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zigzag Posted April 22, 2014 Share Posted April 22, 2014 Aw man! I'm too late. I just put Lindy Fralin P-92s in my Epi Dot. I can't imagine that guitar sounding any better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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