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P90 suggestions for Memphis 335


Gretschie

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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

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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.

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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

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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. [smile]

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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.

 

post-64716-098062600 1397557082_thumb.jpg

 

 

 

 

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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.

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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.

 

ES175bodyJan14web_zps8b4a9da7.jpg

 

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?

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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.

 

ES175bodyJan14web_zps8b4a9da7.jpg

 

Regards!

Gorgeous! I'm gonna have to get me one of those to park beside my 335!

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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 !!

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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

 

ES175BridgeWeb_zps84fb4ac8.jpg

 

Thanks all - cheers!

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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

 

ES175BridgeWeb_zps84fb4ac8.jpg

 

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..

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